What should we do with the blight of Brutalist buildings, especially in Washington, D.C.? On January 18, 2025, CBS Saturday Morning aired a segment on the subject, interviewing National Civic Art Society President Justin Shubow.
The host conceded that the majority of people dislike the buildings but observed that some modernist architects wish to preserve them nonetheless. Shubow responded, "I don't think the world is a museum of architecture. The world is a living, breathing place. These buildings are affecting everybody on a daily basis, and they are taking up valuable real estate... There are some buildings that are so ugly that only an architect could love [them]."
Shubow also praised the Executive Order President Trump issued in his first term: "I think that Executive Order was very important and highly popular with the public. It pointed out that the architecture of the American democracy is classical architecture. So this Executive Order wished to return federal architecture to that tradition, which essentially lasted from the Founders up until World War II."
You can watch the video on CBS's website HERE or on X HERE.
