Said Rodney Mims Cook Jr., "the Trump appointee who chairs the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal panel charged with advising the president on design matters, said in an interview last week," quoted in "Appointee wants to replace White House columns with the ones Trump prefers/The head of a federal arts commission is proposing the more ornate Corinthian style for the nearly 200-year-old columns at the building’s front entrance" (WaPo)(gift link, so you can see the drawings showing the number and location of the longstanding Ionic columns and the Corinthian columns to be built in the new East Wing).
We're told that Trump prefers Corinthian columns but also that, according to a White House spokesperson, "there are no plans to change the existing Ionic columns outside the White House." It's just Cook spreading the alarm about redoing the scroll-y tops into those leafy tops.
Do you have any preference with regard to the tops of Greek columns? Do you care what it meant to the Greeks or even understand the notion of "the highest order"?
The article cites an architecture professor, Steven Semes, to opine that Corinthian columns "express the height of formality and monumentality," while Ionic columns express "dignity, grace and a kind of intimacy or domesticity," and that's why Corinthian columns were chosen for the Capitol building and the Supreme Court, but Ionic were chosen for the Executive Residence, sometimes called the "People’s House."
I guess if the Capitol and the Supreme Court building housed the members of Congress and the Supreme Court, these buildings would have Ionic columns.
Personally, I prefer Ionic columns. Corinthian columns are overly elaborate — too fussy. Kind of a mess, frankly. Acanthus leaves. Do Americans relate to the acanthus? It's not a native plant. Eh. We don't use scrolls either. The whole thing is chaos. Therefore, go with tradition.
I'm sticking with the rule I devised back in 2005 (in the context of a 10 Commandments monument: Old things carved in stone should be left alone. (And yes, the Ionian columns on the Executive Residence are carved in stone.)
By the way, here's the Colosseum. Notice anything?
Do you have any preference with regard to the tops of Greek columns? Do you care what it meant to the Greeks or even understand the notion of "the highest order"?
The article cites an architecture professor, Steven Semes, to opine that Corinthian columns "express the height of formality and monumentality," while Ionic columns express "dignity, grace and a kind of intimacy or domesticity," and that's why Corinthian columns were chosen for the Capitol building and the Supreme Court, but Ionic were chosen for the Executive Residence, sometimes called the "People’s House."
I guess if the Capitol and the Supreme Court building housed the members of Congress and the Supreme Court, these buildings would have Ionic columns.
Personally, I prefer Ionic columns. Corinthian columns are overly elaborate — too fussy. Kind of a mess, frankly. Acanthus leaves. Do Americans relate to the acanthus? It's not a native plant. Eh. We don't use scrolls either. The whole thing is chaos. Therefore, go with tradition.
I'm sticking with the rule I devised back in 2005 (in the context of a 10 Commandments monument: Old things carved in stone should be left alone. (And yes, the Ionian columns on the Executive Residence are carved in stone.)
By the way, here's the Colosseum. Notice anything?
It's not matchy matchy. And "highest order" seems to have to do with literal height.
পোস্টগুলি
৫৬টি মন্তব্য:
Archived here: https://archive.ph/KhvYT
I've got an idea: Let's spend money and draw attention to things that actually need changing.
"Do you have any preference with regard to the tops of Greek columns?"
"If Trump's for it, I'm against it." - The Left
Corinthian is the highest order...
"Cordoba. The new small Chrysler. Available even in fine Corinthian Leather."
Do you have any preference with regard to the tops of Greek columns? Do you care what it meant to the Greeks or even understand the notion of "the highest order"?
No and no.
At this point, I wish trump would just say the hell with it, and make the White House just like his apt in NYC. Gold everything, hideously over the top. No matter what he does, or doesn't do, he is attacked, and vilified.
Just go for it. give the bastards something to really scream about.
AI answers: The Book of Corinthians (specifically 1 Corinthians) can be distilled into a single, grand truth: "Act like what you are."
It is a call to align practical daily living with the spiritual reality of being a new creation in Christ. Paul wrote this letter to address a church that, rather than impacting its corrupt culture, was being eroded by it, demanding a shift from a carnal, self-indulgent life to a life of holiness.
"Cordoba. The new small Chrysler. Available even in fine Corinthian Leather."
"Boss, de plane!"
"Khaaaaaaan!"
"By the way, here's the Colosseum. Notice anything?"
From Wikipedia:
The Romans also invented the Superposed order. A superposed order is when successive stories of a building have different orders. The heaviest orders were at the bottom, whilst the lightest came at the top. This means that the Doric order was the order of the ground floor, the Ionic order was used for the middle story, while the Corinthian or the Composite order was used for the top story. One example is the Colosseum, which has the Tuscanic order at the ground floor, Ionic at the first and Corinthian at the second and third floor.
“Do you have any preference with regard to the tops of Greek columns?”
Definitely Doric. Fancy-schmancy tops look goofy.
All three forms.
Colosseum est omnis divisa in partes tres.
The Ancient Greeks also emphasized symmetry and proportion, which Trump is obliterating with his massive ballroom.
Stalin showed the way. He tore down a cathedral. On the site he planned to erect a one hundred story skyscraper topped with a three hundred foot statue of Lenin. Sadly, WWII intervened to keep this great project from happening. But he showed how to think big. I guess the White House is off limits for a large monumental statue of Trump. The Democrats would probably object to a thirty story statue of Trump placed atop the White House. However, the Kennedy-Trump center is being redone. There-s no reason why they couldn't tweak the design and put thirty story statues of Kennedy and Trump atop it. It would be bi-partisan so the Demos couldn't possibly find cause for concern......FDR had the Jefferson Monument put up on the Mall to throw a Democratic counter-weight to the Lincoln Memorial.
Tu, Tui, Tibi, Te,Te
Ego amo te.
Two and a half years of Latin and that's all I got left.
Maybe some Mass words tu.
Rabel...
Latin is a dead language, dead as it can be.
First it killed the Romans, now it's killing me.
One year of Latin studies under "Lord Jim".
Ouch!
“Paul wrote this letter to address a church that, rather than impacting its corrupt culture, was being eroded by it, demanding a shift from a carnal, self-indulgent life to a life of holiness.”
Well, like St.Augustine, we all want that. But not yet.
I'll use trumps wife scenario "I dont realy care ,do you" Thats the discussion ? ,columns outside a building. Get serious please ,people are dying.
I came for the Ricardo Montalban jokes.
I was not disappointed.
No murders in six months youre welcome
You can make an argument that our most fabulous president evah deserves the fussiest columns the Greeks have to offer.
“Get serious please ,people are dying.”
It’s much more fun to discus Trump’s White House redecoration ideas, eh?
"Look... squirrel!"
Good job meade and ann. Distract us from thinking about the Marines being sent in to snatched the uranium and keep the straits open. You kids stay safe at home and nevermind the price of gas or how Israel's latest middle east war adventure is affecting American pocketbooks...
Silly old boomers. How bout those Beatles? And the US brought home gold in paralympic sled hockey over Canada, plus meade gets to earn his keep shoveling that lil driveway... frisky boy gonna drop a picture of his work and proud mama ann gonna show her boy some love...
Carry on, Madison lol
Prople are always dying, and they always will be. That’s no excuse to avoid talking about other th8n
Things.
And no, I don’t care what you call the columns or how the Greeks felt about them. I only care about how they look.
I see a white house and I want to,paint it black...
No colors anymore, I want them to be black...
Stones over the Beatle bugs, any day.
You should have named the first boy Mick, just sayin... butch him up.
Tattoo: Boss, why do those people from the Washington Post look so sad?
Mr. Roarke: Well Tattoo, discussions of Corinthian columns rarely play out as you or I might expect, but they always play out exactly as they should.
The killers who funded october 7th
Laugh all you want, that button tufted blue Corinthian leather in my Chrysler kinda made up for the plastic "wood" trim.
Who cares what critics think. They have squandered any semblance of objectivity . Whatever Trump wants that will piss them off I am for. Because they will be against a cure for cancer.
soundtrack:
That Cordoba Leather Song
This made me laugh because when we learned about the three column types, my least favorite was Corinthian. I had a definite opinion on that. I think Doric was my favorite, then Ionic.
I am also on team Doric. Simpler is better.
Though rather a Trump fan, I’m relieved there is no talk of gold leaf.
Democrats in Congress: Save Democracy — go Ionic! Trump’s choice is unconstitutional!
“"If Trump's for it, I'm against it." - The Left”
Entirely. For years now I’ve thought that the Democrats cannot possibly get more self-parodic. And I’ve been wrong every time. Which delights me.
I do miss a sane opposition, though. I enjoy reading other viewpoints, but the Left has been so mired in absurdity for so long, that ignoring them is the only choice for a rational mind. How wild is it that Dinky’s comments here, in form and content, exactly represent the average Democrat?
They dont really mind swimming in a lake of sewage that calcutta would be ashamed about
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/14/potomac-disaster-demonstrates-environmental-hypocrisy/
One could call it the argument clinic but its just abuse at this point
Corinthian is nice. For one thing, it's easier to remember than the other two, but if everyone else has Corinthian, you better go with something else.
Monticello, AI tells me, has Ionic above and Doric below. I don't know why they mixed them up like that, but Ionic or Doric does seem more concordant with notions of Republican modesty -- no flutes or flourishes or acanthus leaves.
The White House was originally supposed to be more modest and republican than the palaces of Europe. Keep it that way. It's actually good populist PR to let the other branches of government keep their fancy gee-gaws.
The capitals are secondary.
I dig fluted columns
Personally, Trump's decoration is too "busy" for my tastes. I would've cut back on the gold in the oval office by 25 percent. Not ever square inch needs something going on.
However, I can imagine a lot of people going into the ballroom entrance and looking at the rich corinithian leather - I mean ornate marble - at the top of column and going "Wow, that's cool".
I thought I would prefer the Ionic but it seems wider at their very top and not as integrated in the facade of the White House compared to the Corinthian. The Corinthian seems more elegant. But not gauche as they are in Trump's NY apartment -- because the ceiling is too low for that imo.
Trump is more inspirational in areas not associated with politics than I ever expected -- he demonstrates the value of Carpe Diem and leadership -- not in the typical popular culture interpretation of not caring about future consequences, but in understanding the importance of taking action today because tomorrow isn't guaranteed.
BTW, I've seen tourists sneering at the colosseum. It held at least 60000 people and existed at a time when people in the rest of the world were living in mud huts and small stone buildings. By comparison the 2nd Hebrew Temple was 150 ft high, 30 yards wide, and and 50 yards long. It probably didn't take the Romans long to destroy it in 70 AD.
Hey, Trump likes gold.
Make it something wild, modern, and plated in solid gold. Tell everyone it stands as a mirror to the African American History Museum nearby. That building has no columns at all, is intentionally out of place among the Greco-Roman theme of D.C., and is dark brown. Gold is bright and shiny.
It's ironic that ionic is iconic.
The columns of Sparta were Doric. More laconic. Many Corinthian capitals are cast of metal, which is a poor substitute for carving.
AI answers.
The "Obama columns" typically refers to the neoclassical stage set used by Barack Obama during his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
Design: A neoclassical temple facade with four imposing Doric columns and ten pilasters.
Inspiration: The design was a smaller version of the colonnade at Chicago’s Soldier Field, intended to evoke themes of democracy, the White House, and Lincoln.
Reception: While supporters found it inspiring, critics and conservative pundits mocked the "grandiose" set, labeling it with nicknames like "The Temple of Obama" or "Barackopolis".
The rear of the art museum at Williams College has ‘Ironic Columns- non structural with scrolls at the top but they fall a few feet short of the pediment they are supposed to pretend to support. They were a tweak to the administration who demanded a traditional aesthetic…
Corinthian match Trump hair
If you're ever in the neighborhood in Tunisia, go see El Gem. It's in the middle of a small village, a coliseum style amphitheater that is in better shape than the one in Rome. During WWII the Nazis housed their officers there, knowing that the Allies didn't bomb antiquities. When I was last there a few decades ago, you could pretty much walk through the whole thing unmolested. Tunisia is full of Roman ruins just sitting there, roads, baths, so forth.
"The Ancient Greeks also emphasized symmetry and proportion, which Trump is obliterating with his massive ballroom."
A conservative critique of liberals. LOL
I'm for the column design that makes our woketard party cry the hardest. Trump should threaten to change the columns on the WH for good measure.
I also see the Left is interested in gas prices and people dying again. Question - is hypocrisy a required study to become a woketard?
I'm surprised and disappointed that Trump would put Greek style columns on the White House. Why not American columns?
What's impressive about the Colosseum isn't its dimensions but that it's made of cement.
He should just do two of the columns as Corinthian, as a tribute to his favorite part of the Bible.
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 2 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.