When the Trump administration demolished the White Home’s East Wing in October to make room for an outsized, questionably-funded ballroom, it not solely sparked world outrage however deep concern amongst architects and preservationists in regards to the limits of presidential energy in relation to the nation’s architectural heritage. This month, the Nationwide Belief for Historic Preservation filed a federal lawsuit to dam the ballroom, on the grounds that, by skirting any formal evaluation processes, President Trump broke the legislation.
The White Home East Wing beneath demolition in October.
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There are probably extra modifications on the books: The administration has referred to as for the historic Eisenhower Government Constructing to be repainted and the ‘horrible’ Eero Saarinen-designed Washington Dulles Airport important terminal to be rebuilt as a result of it was ‘incorrectly designed.’ There are additionally plans for an Arc de Trump.
Preservationists and main architects are understandably involved about what different important federal buildings could be subsequent. And so they don’t must look far: the Basic Service Administration (GSA) issued an ‘accelerated disposition’ checklist – an ever-changing choice of websites in Washington, D.C. and different main cities – which were recognized as a ‘burden to taxpayers,’ and destined on the market on the open-market.
These predominantly modernist, brutalist and deconstructivist buildings had been picked-out, it could seem, as a result of they don’t mirror the administration’s current Making Federal Structure Stunning Once more govt order; doubling-down on its choice for a extra typical type of classical structure favoured by the founding fathers 250 years in the past. Whereas these buildings aren’t being torn down per se, there are little protections in place to make sure they will not be. Listed below are a number of the buildings that will come beneath menace within the 12 months forward, in keeping with architects and preservationists.
U.S. Tax Court docket Constructing
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Architect: Victory Lundy
Yr: 1974
Location: Washington, D.C.
Previous to the mandate to make federal structure stunning once more, the GSA adhered to a doctrine set forth by New York senator Daniel Moynihan that promoted the concept that public structure ought to embody the ideas of dignity, enterprise, vigour and stability however not in a single explicit model. ‘For 60 years, this method labored very effectively,’ says George Sensible, founder of in depth on-line archive USModernist.
Although not on the ‘checklist’ as of November 2025, the U.S. Tax Court docket Constructing is one construction Sensible notes might nonetheless be in danger merely due to its decidedly brutalist look. Designed by Victor Lundy in 1974, the construction is outlined by its damaged monolithic type, windowless partitions and dramatic overhangs. Reviewing plans within the late Nineteen Sixties, famend critic Ada Louise Huxtable described the constructing as ‘a progressive, delicate, modern resolution totally conscious of Washington’s classical custom.’
For Sensible, the constructing provides a sculptural and experiential high quality to the city panorama. ‘One of many present classicist arguments goes again to the founding fathers—they supposed for us to have a Greco-Roman ethic round development and that is what we must always proceed to honour,’ he notes. ‘Nonetheless, additionally they thought slavery was nice. Every little thing evolves: our insurance policies, structure strategies and the architectural types concerned. It’s vital to save lots of the most effective of those as they arrive alongside and bear in mind them as we proceed to develop as a civilisation.’
J. Edgar Hoover Constructing
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Architect: Charles Francis Murphy
Yr: 1965
Location: Washington, D.C.
Designed by Charles Francis Murphy in 1965, the huge J. Edgar Hoover Constructing (FBI Headquarters) is one other Brutalist edifice up on the market that has lengthy drawn ire from the president. He’s repeatedly referred to as it ‘one of many ugliest buildings within the metropolis,’ and for it to be ‘utterly revamped,’ if the FBI had been to remain. Nonetheless in July 2025, the administration introduced that the company would vacate its long-held seat and transfer to the close by, neoclassical Ronald Reagan Constructing and Worldwide Commerce Middle.
‘Was the FBI Headquarters ever actually that good of a constructing, I do not assume so,’ concedes critic Aaron Betsky. ‘I do, nonetheless, assume that every one such brutalist buildings signify an angle in direction of authorities and the way it ought to be held.’ For Betsky, the entire level of those sorts of buildings was to signify a authorities that was there to assist.
Nonetheless, argues Brigitte Prepare dinner of the New York preservation apply PBDW Architects, ‘Preservation just isn’t about imitating the previous, it’s about understanding and honouring the complete breadth of our historical past, each good and the tough, and defending it so future generations can study from it.’
HUD Constructing
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Architect: Marcel Breuer
Yr: 1968
Location: Washington, D.C.
The GSA checklist presently consists of the 1968 Robert C. Weaver Federal Constructing, the headquarters of america Division of Housing and City Growth (HUD), designed by Marcel Breuer. Present HUD Secretary Scott Turner has referred to as it the ugliest construction in Washington, D.C. Although on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations, the workplace block is up on the market.
The place is HUD headed? It’s going to more than likely transfer to a newly-constructed web site, not a reused historic constructing. This reveals the sheer monetary and carbon influence of the administration’s present push to relocate quite a few authorities companies.
Dulles Worldwide Airport Important Terminal
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Architect: Eero Saarinen
Yr: 1962
Location: Washington, D.C.
Initially of December, the administration ordered the Division of Transportation to place out a name for proposals to redevelop Washington, D.C.’s bigger worldwide airport, Dulles – specifically its important terminal constructing. Outlined by sweeping curvilinear eaves and dramatically slung roof, the emblematic 1962 construction was designed by midcentury fashionable powerhouse Eero Saarinen in his signature ‘area age’ model.
Based on reporting from PBS, president Trump acknowledged that the airport was incorrectly designed. ‘We’re going to show that round and we’re going to make it into one thing actually spectacular,’ he stated. The model of the proposal the administration in the end chooses won’t be so laborious to guess.
Wilbur J. Cohen Constructing
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Architect: Charles Klauder
Yr: 1940
Location: Washington, D.C.
The 1940, Charles Klauder-designed Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Constructing (dwelling to the Social Safety Administration) is one other non-Brutalist constructing nonetheless on the GSA Listing that Trump desires bought by 2026
Satirically, the constructing is neoclassical; only a extra Artwork Deco-influenced Stripped Classicism derivation that the administration, apparently, deems inappropriate. What could be drawing Trump’s consideration to Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Constructing? Ten giant murals – together with seminal Twentieth-century painter Philip Guston’s Reconstruction and Properly-Being of the Household – depict elaborate scenes that promote progressive values. ‘Some have referred to as the constructing the Sistine Chapel of New Deal artwork,’ says Sara C. Bronin, the previous Biden administration-appointed chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. ‘By Part 106 [of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act], covenants might be positioned on these properties that defend their most important components.’
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