The NZIA Resene APL National Awards for Architecture were announced to the world last week in Christchurch, arguably the newest city on the planet, and one with probably the world’s greatest proportion of Architect-designed buildings in the CBD. Christchurch is looking fine! The sun was shining, the tourists are there by the thousand, and there are not any footpath beggars in sight. The buildings maketh the city – as Winston (Churchill) once allegedly said, “We shape our buildings, and then our buildings shape us”. In which case, our Cantabrians of the future will be predominantly steel and glass. You could say that the profession of Architecture is currently at a high point and that we’ve never been better.
Not so in the US of A. (Are they still United?). Maybe that should be the Fractured and Dis-United States of North America? The FADUSNA? Or shall we just call it: The Swamp!
In a typical limp dick move this week, Donut Rump has suddenly declared that Architecture is no longer a Profession. This infantile giant baby, orange-headed cloud of dung that poses as a Resident, evidently got his nose out of joint from the ruckus kicked up by Architects and people writing comments like this one about his appalling lack of taste. He does have taste – just a very bad taste – the Emperor of Kitsch. Unheimlich. Gilt. And Guilt.
Well, of course he would throw a hissy fit at Architects, as Rump never pays his bills, and often leaves his architects bereft of funds for the hard work that they do. And not to worry, because Rump always lies and so merely by him saying something, does not mean that it is in any way true, and usually the opposite. So many lies. So much bullshit. But evidently his snout has been hurt, because the AIA has got pissed off at the Architects of the Rump Balls Room, who asked some rather pertinent questions.
The official letter delivers five questions to McCrery:
- It appears that there were no permits for demolition applied for and we’re wondering if that is true and if you explained the proper channels to your client (the President) to proceed through proper channels? Additionally are you going through proper channels for approvals for new construction?
- The White House has claimed there was abatement in September of all hazardous materials and we were wondering if that is true and if all environmental laws were followed?
- We were wondering as to your opinion and knowledge of what conspired to have the President fire almost all the members of the National Capital Planning Commission which would normally oversee such modifications to the People’s House and replace them with his handpicked commissioners?
- We were wondering as to your opinion and knowledge of what conspired to have the President fire all the members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and his plan to replace them with his handpicked commissioners? Billie Tsien, AIA was the Chair of a reputable Commission and is well known for her designs. All the positions remain vacant.
- It has been reported in the news that you gave direction to have the East Wing demolished to make room for the new ballroom and are wondering if that is true? If you did, when did you direct the demolition of the East Wing and why weren’t normal approvals sought and the American people notified of the impending destruction of the entire East Wing?
Coincidence? I think not. America, we mourn your fall from grace. What a forelorn pitiful place you have become.
But never mind. In NZ, we still love Architects and our Architects are still a profession. THE Profession, you could argue. The Oldest Profession? Or was that someone else? But ever since we have crawled out from living in caves and invented corrugated iron, there have been architects (in the broadest sense of the word), and people have wanted houses.
Latest news today is that Rump has even had a spat with his “classical” architects, in that he now wants the Room of Balls to be bigger – from the old ethos “big is good” and so therefore “bigger is better”. Oh such a tedious man… The day of him ordering the actual White House to be torn down and rebuilt are drawing closer…
So let’s ignore all the bullshit from over the border and simply say, “I will ignore the fascist Dicks.”
I know that some of you may possibly be tired of me banging on about Rump and his fascist henchmen, like the abhorrent Stephen Miller and Bannon, but to some degree it is difficult to write about Architecture in Wellington at present – there is little new Architecture in the city. Certainly none of it is classical ballrooms.
I entirely share your abhorrence – but I find myself shying away from the endless coverage of the Trumpocalypse with its jumble of grim reportage, media munching and deluded op-ed speculation that he’s about to fall. The NY Times runs the three strands side-by-side on the same page – cognitive dissonance or a case of cake-and-eat-it?
I am developing a similar response to Wellington traffic management stories. Stupid things are proposed by stupid people – tolerable only because none of them are ever going to happen (we hope).
In either case, it could be those much maligned bureaucrats who bog things down in endless process. And that might just save us.
Much of the legacy media that’s purportedly dismayed by his bully-boying towards them boosted him to begin with — whether by accident or design — during his days hosting The Apprentice. This blurt from one-time CBS boss Les Moonves summed it up best: “It may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS.”
https://fair.org/home/trump-bad-for-america-good-for-cbs
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/leslie-moonves-donald-trump-may-871464
It’s good to vent! Get it out of your system buddy…
Were they drug runners? were they fisherman?
I guess we’ll never know now
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/28/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike/
Either way there are plenty of deaths that can be sheeted home to the orange one
https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths/
I’m not pointing these out to belittle his crimes against taste, more to say that they are of a piece
Larger than the current administration, Europe and the world need to heed the lesson that allies can be unreliable and the only thing that counts in the end is one’s own systems and processes
I think we could do with being a bit more Finnish in our outlook
preferably with less salted herring, mind
Welcome back 60MPa, I thought that we had lost you ! Yes – I’m hoping that eventually Rump and Hegseth and all their buddies get hauled before an international legal tribunal for war crimes – and get sent to prison for life, but get this – the ultimate act of punishment for these guys – with NO TV ! Ooooh the punishment!