The inauguration of the 47th president of the United States takes place on January 20. What are the implications of Trump 2.0 on the built environment, design and cities? Inspired by the eponymous, omnibus crucible of dread in the New York Review of Architecture, we huddled with the best and brightest design critics we know, Kate Wagner (The Nation / McMansion Hell) and Zach Mortice (Bloomberg CityLab) to try to come to grips with the oncoming MAGAlopolis.


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Intro/Outro: “Elevator,” by The Cooper Vane


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Discussed:


Will They Build the Wall and its Ancillaries?


Trump Will Not Make Architecture Great Again


Make Tartaria Great Again


Journalists needed, maybe more than architects right now


The Harold Washington Library is not a relic of an advanced
19th century civilization


Will there be a Super State Fair?


Trump administration aesthetic = BioShock Infinite


Will the FBI Edgar J. Hoover Building (C.F. Murphy, 1975) be moved or demolished?


The Trads Have It


Tommy Tuberville: California will get Federal aid if “conditions
are met”


Scott
Turner: Putting the CHUD in HUD


Jason Tester: Insurrection


Post-fire price gouging in L.A.


Suspending environmental regulations in California to build the same thing over again


It’s housing affordability, stupid – look at Canada


What happened to the rent cap?


We’re a few election cycles away from “progressive” mayors
actually stepping up to the mic


“The future is about old people, in big cities, afraid of
the sky.” – Bruce Sterling


Hoovervilles > Trumptowns


DOGE = Department of Graft Enhancement




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