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ALBION DISTRICT LIBRARY BY PERKINS + WILL IS A 2018 COTE TOP TEN RECIPIENT. IMAGE: DOUBLESPACE PHOTOGRAPHY

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Trump's Wall

  • 1.  Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-23-2017 05:23 PM
    Enclosed (attached?) is a piece I have written about Trump’s Wall from an architect’s perspective.

    While I realize that the AIA tries to avoid controversy so as not to have its members hostile to one another, in my opinion stopping Trump’s wall is something we architects should get behind as a group. I have been disgusted to see architects signing up to submit designs to Customs and Border Protection division of the Department of Homeland Security in the crudest, most amateur, rushed contest (competition?). Have we no shame? I realize its not concentration camps but still. If the AIA en masse declared itself unalterably opposed to the proposed border wall, it might have influence with congress (although the last congressman who was an architect, Richard Swett, left in 1995).

    Mac Gordon


  • 2.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-27-2017 03:05 PM
    As problem solvers, architects should not only reject the wall but come
    up with real solutions to the problems that it is attempting (rather
    crudely) to address. This would require a broad assessment of how and
    why illegal immigration occurs, whether it is actually a threat worthy
    of such incredible potential expenditures, and some positive actions
    that would actually improve the situation.

    Then, maybe we could have the influence desired.

    Donna Leban




  • 3.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-29-2017 11:51 AM

    The AIA should stand for inclusiveness and openness – not for a 'solution' to a 'problem' which in fact does not exist.  We have no Wall with Canada, we should not need one with Mexico.  Yes, we need border control, but an expensive & environmentally disastrous wall is not the answer.  We should treat it as any other design problem, and seek to define the broadest possible solution.  Stabilizing the governments & stopping paramilitaries in central America, and designing a rational immigration system would stop the flow across our southern border almost entirely. 

     

    AIA architects should not design such walls, nor state execution chambers, nor any other structures which are inherently intended for inhumane functions.

     

    Christopher Pickell, AIA

    Pickell Architecture

    115 Main Street

    Flemington, New Jersey 08822

    908-788-0048

    www.pickellarchitecture.com

     






  • 4.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 04-06-2017 11:40 AM
    Exactly. Well said.

    --
    Matt Wills, AIA
    Lincoln, Nebraska





  • 5.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-27-2017 03:05 PM
    Thank you Mac Gordon.  While I have not read your article, I wholeheartedly agree with your message.  When it comes to building this odious wall, which will separate not just people but also ecosystems, the AIA should take a stand.  Building the wall is shortsighted, expensive and will cause more problems than it solves, especially environmental problems.  Additionally, it is not likely to keep many people out of the U.S.

    ------------------------------
    Helen Kessler FAIA
    President
    HJ Kessler Associates, Inc.
    Chicago IL
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-27-2017 03:06 PM
    Thank you, Mr. Gordon, for your comments about the unfortunate decision by President Trump to construct the poorly conceived wall separating the US from Mexico.  There are so many reasons why this should be abandoned in favor of more beneficial projects!  Here are just a few such reasons:
    -   Topography makes the construction of such a wall extremely difficult, if not impossible, in a quite number of locations.  Many such locations are already not conducive to crossing by illegals attempting to enter the US.
    -   The cost of this wall is projected in many billions of dollars.  With our failing infrastructure, would it not be wiser for architects to support projects related to our inadequate and sometimes dangerous bridges, transportation centers, highways, public buildings and utilities rather than this wall? 
    -   For those of us who are interested in wildlife preservation, such a wall would severely impact the passage of wild animals whose territories cross this international border, thus further endangering species whose numbers are severely declining and whose existence is already precarious.  Do we really want to contribute further to the "Age of Extinction" that is already upon us? 
    -   The passage of illegal immigrants from Mexico to the US has already slowed tremendously.  Thus, it would be far less expensive and quite productive to simply implement existing laws, technologies and procedures already in place.  If funding has not previously permitted full implementation of such, then increasing such funding would be far more cost-effective than the construction of such a wall.
    For these reasons, and without getting involved in the political divide we are witnessing, I would very much like to see the AIA take a formal stand against the construction of this wall.  It seems to me that the reasons for abandoning the idea of this wall are well-justified from the perspective of both conservative and liberal philosophies.

    ------------------------------
    Lydia Straus-Edwards AIA
    San Diego CA
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-27-2017 03:07 PM
    Hi Mac,
    I don't see the article, can you post a link to it?
    Thanks,
    Melissa

    ------------------------------
    Melissa Kops AIA
    Project Architect
    Pirie Associates Architects
    New Haven CT
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-27-2017 03:08 PM

    We got Russia to tear down the Berlin Wall.  Now we are trying to build one. Have we no shame?

     

    Jim

    James Cyril Campbell, AIA, LEED-AP, Partner
    Campbell Thomas & Co.
    Architecture
    v Preservation v Community & Transportation Planning
    1504 South Street / Philadelphia, PA 19146-1636
    phone: 215.545.1076  fax:  267.336.0209
    direct line: 215.990.7013
    email: <mailto:jcampbell@campbellthomas.com>
    web: <http://www.campbellthomas.com/>

     






  • 9.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-27-2017 03:11 PM
    I agree wholeheartedly and would be happy to support any movement to help keep the architectural community from supporting this exclusive maneuver by the current administration.

    (Normally I am not a politically involved businessperson, but I hope we do not become a profession of ambulance chasers.  Let's leave that epithet for the legal community.)

    ------------------------------
    Margaret McLaurin AIA
    Meg McLaurin, AIA, Architect
    Raleigh NC
    ------------------------------



  • 10.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-27-2017 03:12 PM
    No article attached and no link to an article.

    And why exactly are Architects supposed to oppose a wall that prevents illegal aliens and drugs from coming into the United States?

    Robert


  • 11.  RE: Trump's Wall

    Posted 03-29-2017 11:51 AM
    I was in Europe when the Berlin Wall came down after a world shaming.  What was the most shocking to me was going to East Berlin and seeing the people.  They were like shells of human beings.  East and West were like black/white and color. 

    The wall is an act of racism and goes against the fabric of American Values.  What will be next?  Pulling down the Statue of Liberty.  

    A wall will be a blight on Nature too.  It will disrupt wildlife migrational paths and other things we do not know about. It is unnatural and ugly.  

    Also, our tax money is apparently being used to build it.  If this is the case then shouldn't we be able to vote whether we want it or not? 

    I agree with Mac.  

    ------------------------------
    Susan Rainier AIA
    Davis CA
    ------------------------------