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ALBANY To these eyes, the federal building across from the Palace Theatre is one of the regions architectural miscues. I'm talking about the building named after Leo O'Brien, the Times Union reporter turned congressman who died in 1982.

There are uglier prominent buildings, certainly. Hello Central Warehouse! But the ugliness of the O'Brien building, which looks like a box made from massive heating grates, is noteworthy because of where it sits: within eyeshot of the Palace and at the northern edge of Albanys downtown.

A better building would connect North Pearl Street to the citys emerging warehouse district. A better building would complement the theater. A better building would show more respect to its surroundings, nodding to Albanys rich architectural history.

Instead, the O'Brien building, with its vehicle entrances along Broadway and its big parking lot to the north, is a dead spot on the cityscape. Its a big, rotten tooth on Albanys smile. Its a wart that detracts from the Palaces grace. It's a toenail in the soup of ... well, you get the point.

Am I being too harsh? Well, hey, its just one mans opinion. What do I know?

And so I called Daniel Sanders, president of Harris A. Sanders Architects in Albany, for a professionals view. Sanders wasn't similarly disparaging, but he offered the building few compliments.

Its a nondescript modernist box, he said. Its not very contextual at all, and it could be anywhere. Its not hideous, but its also not attractive.

The thing is, the O'Brien building is not unusual for government architecture built after World War II. There are dismal federal buildings in just about every city. They do nothing to inspire. They seem built to depress.

And that brings me to an interesting recent move by President Donald Trump, who recently took a break from trying to overturn his election defeat and freeing convicted felons to issue an Executive Order on Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture.

Essentially, Trumps order makes classical or traditional architectural styles think the state Education Department Building on Washington Avenue the new default for federal construction, and for a simple reason: With a few notable exceptions, the order says, the Federal Government has largely stopped building beautiful buildings.

The order goes on to say that federal buildings should ennoble the human spirit and command respect of the general public for their beauty and visual embodiment of Americas ideals.

Who could disagree?

Before we go further, lets acknowledge that Trump is an unusual fellow to be mandating a classical architecture or standing up for beauty, given that he spent his career building greed-is-good glass towers with little respect for context or tradition.

I mean, its hard to imagine anyone looked up at the now-demolished Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and declared, Oh, isn't that lovely!

Still, given what we know about the O'Brien building and so many other federal buildings in communities big and small, might Trump be onto something here?

Civic architecture, especially, should raise us up and welcome us in, a standard by which the dismal O'Brien building certainly fails. It shouldn't be cold or make a person feel insignificant, like Empire State Plaza. Government buildings including courts, libraries, police stations and schools should be built to serve the humble citizen and therefore democracy.

The Founding Fathers, the Trump order says, sought to use classical architecture to visually connect our contemporary Republic with the antecedents of democracy in classical antiquity, reminding citizens not only of their rights but also their responsibilities in maintaining and perpetuating its institutions.

Wouldn't we feel differently about, say, the Supreme Court if it were housed in a glass box? The timelessness and seriousness of classical architecture is an advantage. It tells us whats happening behind its walls is important.

Plus, the public tends to like classical architecture. Put the state Education Building up for a vote against the O'Brien building and 99 out of 100 people will choose the former.

Critics of Trumps order, though, say the federal government has never had a preferred architectural style and believe it would be a mistake to impose one now. Why should a creative and forward-looking nation only look backward for its inspiration?

As Sanders said when we spoke, there is more than one path to great architecture. There may be times when classical architecture is appropriate and times when it isn't. Greek columns aren't always the answer.

Still, there is something to be said for an executive order that says government buildings should uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the human spirit, ennoble the United States, command respect from the general public, and, as appropriate, respect the architectural heritage of a region.

With apologies to the reporter who became a congressman, the building carrying his name does none of that.

cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill

Original post:
Churchill: Donald Trump the architecture critic? - Times Union