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In light of @realdonaldtrump's extremely stupid mandate on architectural taste, let's review some hilights of Trump's more architecturally profound moments as a way to remind ourselves what it means to be a person in Trump's actual spaces, not merely his imagined ones 1/
The most important architectural comment, imv, comes from Trump's family separation policy #AbolishICE - Kids in Cages.
let's talk about "brutalism," shall we?
2/ https://www.wdrb.com/children-behind-bars-kids-in-cages-immigration-ice-border-protection/image_16e98b2c-9c9c-11ea-8e07-bfdc3e3ca7b1.html
let's talk about "brutalism," shall we?
2/ https://www.wdrb.com/children-behind-bars-kids-in-cages-immigration-ice-border-protection/image_16e98b2c-9c9c-11ea-8e07-bfdc3e3ca7b1.html
This is, of course, a fluid prison-like experience. Remember those months of protests, and the many Democratic representatives who attempted to see these spaces and were rebuffed?
And we still do not know the total cruelty in these spaces. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/30/migrant-children-border-unaccompanied/
And we still do not know the total cruelty in these spaces. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/30/migrant-children-border-unaccompanied/
Sexual assault, COVID neglect, forced hysterectomies.
Trumps #AbolishICE camps are spaces of societal torture. 4/ https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/913398383/whistleblower-alleges-medical-neglect-questionable-hysterectomies-of-ice-detaine
Trumps #AbolishICE camps are spaces of societal torture. 4/ https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/913398383/whistleblower-alleges-medical-neglect-questionable-hysterectomies-of-ice-detaine
Another architectural mode Trump seems to like: the MOTEL! He likes it so much he had ICE seal detainees up in them, sometimes preventing them from having access to food, water, medical care, and more. #AbolishICE https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/21/hotels-face-battle-over-whether-to-help-ice-house-migrants-facing-detention-and-deportation.html
Side note: we know Trump likes his own hotels to be luxurious: the man has great taste in his spaces, after all! Too bad his @TrumpDoral had its little infestation nightmare: /6 https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/27/bed-bug-victim-outraged-trump-blames-radical-left-rumors-doral-miami-resort/2134410001/
His retirement home-that-isn't-a-home @MarALago seems to have spent all its $$ and forgot the appropriate flatware. SAD he couldn't feed detained migrants in their hotels, but also couldn't get away from plastic for his own caviar #AbolishICE /7 https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/mar-lago-guest-donald-trump-caviar-plastic-spoons-food-service-cost-florida-resort-a8172421.html
Trump's only architectural impact is likely the abysmal Border Wall, a project Mexico paid for (not!), and that is so strong and beautiful it will last forever (not!) /8 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trumps-border-wall-collapse-report
Another architectural space @realdonaldtrump is known for, aside from chainlink cages for children, bad motels, and collapsing garbage border walls, is the Arena Rally: He loves spaces and buildings that can FIT LOTS OF PEOPLE! /9 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/21/trump-tulsa-rally-scheme-k-pop-fans-tiktok-users
He CARES about all those people! He cares so much he wants them to squeeze in to feed off their energy! /10 https://apnews.com/article/trump-omaha-airport-rally-stranded-83d503981f51741ba2b4aecdf4629556
Speaking of how much he cares about the people in these crowds - Trump doesn't just use these spaces for the purposes of show. Sometimes he uses these spaces for Good Works. Like when he visited San Juan Puerto Rico : /11 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/it-totally-belittled-the-moment-many-look-back-in-anger-at-trumps-tossing-of-paper-towels-in-puerto-rico/2018/09/13/8a3647d2-b77e-11e8-a2c5-3187f427e253_story.html
And Trump doesn't ONLY bring crowds of people to arenas and airport hangers - we had some opportunities to get close looks at the airports themselves. Remember when we toured every major airport hanger in America at Trump's invitation? /12 https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/29/512250469/photos-thousands-protest-at-airports-nationwide-against-trumps-immigration-order
While Trump's architectural mandate creates interior spaces, much of the statements of space happened outside, on the streets, and continues to happen. It isn't always the walls that goes up; it is also the avenues that bring us together /13 https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/sunday-reading-a-year-of-new-urgency-for-black-lives-matter
The streets in Trump's world, that lead to these new "exquisit" buildings, have been ones of violence and oppression. It's hard to see those beautiful buildings through teargas and bloodied faces /14 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/29/us-police-brutality-protest
To close this thread, I have only two more marvels of @realdonaldtrump's architectural appreciation to consider, while you work to #AbolishIce. The first, of course, is the kind of spaces that Real Important Serious Lawyers go in Trump's world: /15 https://www.thewrap.com/heres-why-four-seasons-total-landscaping-was-chosen-for-trump-campaign-press-conference/
And the last piece of architecture we should consider, as we consider Trump's legacy of spaces, is the one that got us where we are: a bankrupt, ugly, abandoned shrine to the failures of capitalism, with debts and destruction in its wake. /16 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/atlantic-city-auction-blow-up-trump-plaza-hotel-casino/
So when @realdonaldtrump tries to tell us about the values of American life and culture by enforcing architectural values, keep in mind what the actual, lived spaces he's impacted have to say. And #AbolishICE. /e
