‘Dictator Feelings for Life’: Our Architecture Critic on Trump’s Bulletproof Hall | Build

AIf the violent tampering in pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize wasn’t enough, the sight of bulldozers storming the White House is further evidence of Donald Trump’s relentless pursuit of self-aggrandizement. Having ruled that the East Wing is not fit for purpose – its ostentatious purposes – he plans to replace it with a bulletproof faux-classical ballroom, capable of seating up to 650 party-goers.

Renderings show a spacious, ice-white hangar structure decorated with an ornate coffered ceiling, gilded Corinthian columns, and dangling gold chandeliers. Nero, who conceived the original domus AuraI will feel like home. The $250m (£187.5m) Trump Hall, a sum to be extracted from sycophantic donors, is one of the most lavish White House projects undertaken in more than a century, as it strives to bend the building – and American architecture more generally – to its will.

Upon reassuming the presidency, one of his first executive orders—titled Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again—stipulated that “traditional and classic architecture” be the preferred style for all federal public buildings, with Trump having ultimate veto power over designs. A similar directive was enacted during Trump’s first term in office, but was rescinded by Joe Biden.

So, since the American Institute of Architects has been here before, it is very concerned, saying: “The AIA is very concerned about any revisions that remove control from local communities, enforce official federal design preferences, impede design freedom, and add bureaucratic hurdles to federal buildings.”

The occupants of the White House have a history of tweaking, expanding, and redesigning. Theodore Roosevelt added the West Wing, Richard Nixon installed a bowling alley, and Harry S. Truman commissioned a complete reconstruction. Several First Ladies renovated the decor and furnishings, particularly Jackie Kennedy, who soigné The interiors were designed to more resonantly connect the presidential home to American history.

The now ill-fated east wing, dating from 1902, was a much-changed addition. It intermittently houses the First Lady’s office, and what remains of it is located above the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, a high-security bunker built during World War II. Vice President Dick Cheney and his entourage withdrew there during the September 11 attacks, as Trump did at the beginning of the George Floyd protests in 2020.

The man who got the ballroom job is James McCrery, founder of Washington-based McCrery Architects and a staunch advocate of classical architecture. “Americans love classical architecture because it represents our formative architecture — and we love shaping our nation,” he said. Ironically, McCreary began his career working for Peter Eisenman, the high priest of deconstruction, before a transformation of Damascene proportions led him to renounce the avant-garde and “rethink his modernist education.”

Specializing in the design of “traditional” Catholic churches, McCreary was appointed by Trump during his first term to serve on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency with the authority to review the “design and aesthetics” of all construction within Washington, D.C.

Trump’s edicts and rhetoric reflect an air of lifelong dictatorial paranoia as he serves out his second term, with the possibility of an unconstitutional third term in sight. However, he reportedly hates the White House, finds it on the annoying side, and prefers to move to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida at every opportunity. The tone of his last stay in the White House was set by his design of the Rose Garden courtyard, but it’s clear he now aims to leave a more substantive legacy than just a bit of paving.

His record as a “patron” of architecture was shaped by his career as a real estate developer. For him, buildings are just projected capital. He has a lifelong penchant for Louis XIV decorations, which in the 1960s included decking out a Manhattan skyscraper in gold-bronze cladding to transform it into the gleaming Trump International Hotel and Tower. The recent remake of the Oval Office, which White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt described as “the golden office of the Golden Age,” has been unflatteringly likened to a professional wrestler’s locker room.

However, Trump’s experience as a developer was formative, teaching him that he could get away with almost anything. This crystallized a toxic bravado, which is now embedded in the national political sphere. His obsession with classicism, a historically frequent comfort blanket for tyrants of all stripes, is grimly predictable.

“It gives Trump a narrative of authority and tradition, and fits into his overall strategy of undermining entrenched elites, including in architecture,” says Daniel Abramson, a professor of architectural history at Boston University.

Another imperial whistleblower, announced at a reception for potential donors to the ballroom, is the massive Arc de Triomphe, which will be constructed directly across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial. Modeled after the original Parisian Arch and topped with a gilded winged goddess of victory, the Trump Arch is intended to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States next year. In launching this latest vanity project, Trump said: “We love fixing Washington.” Again, Nero would no doubt approve.