It has been disheartening to hear, in both the press and in rantings by political commentaries, characterizations of the new Trumpist-MAGA speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, as the “architect of election denialism” and the “architect of Jan. 6″ Trump-led political destruction of the Constitution and of our democracy.
One would think that architects everywhere would find this adversely alarming, if not disgusting. Architects are generally the consummate professionals, always systematically seeing, as well as rendering clearly, the anticipated continuum of planet-community-site-function-spatial assemblage-energy balance-environmental effects-structure-enclosures-surfaces in a chain of elegantly envisioned alternatives in historical context. The role played by Speaker Johnson — in the hideous role he apparently played, and is still playing, in Donald Trump’s painful game of Putin-supported dominance — is anything but exemplary of this benevolence.
To assign to architects in any way the impacts of this horrible episode — however many towers and golf courses it may “develop” in order to cultivate Trump’s avaricious ego — is one of the most careless errors of terminology in what seems destined to be a negative turning point in our nation’s history!
Please find another profession to describe what is occurring, if there is one sufficiently adverse to communicate social psychological impact.
Ivan Weber, Salt Lake City
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible