Trump arts commissioner wants 3 arches in DC, not 1

A President Trump appointee to the federal Commission of Fine Arts proposed adding three arches to the nation’s capital instead of one, alleging that it aligns with the original Pierre L’Enfant plan for the city. 

Rodney Mims Cook Jr. has been helping Trump prepare for America 250 celebrations by sharing architectural input on the new developments across Washington, D.C.

One of his proposals includes creating a gateway to the city, with arches that welcome visitors approaching the city from the southwest and southeast quadrants. 

In addition to the 250-foot arch that has been proposed near Arlington National Cemetery and across from the Lincoln Memorial, Cook has suggested that two additional structures be placed near the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge and the John Philip Sousa Bridge, according to The Washington Post.

“I think the president should do three,” Cook said in an interview with the outlet. 

“He wants to complete the L’Enfant plan. No one has,” the Commission of Fine Arts appointee said of Trump.

Neither Cook nor the White House confirmed that a conversation about three arches has occurred with the president. 

However, Cook has said the plan falls in line with French artist and engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s design for the nation’s capital. 

L’Enfant’s plan encompassed the Capitol, the geometric structure of the National Mall and the cross axis of the White House and the Capitol, as documented by the Library of Congress.

Although L’Enfant’s plan never explicitly referenced an arch, Cook has argued that L’Enfant’s objectives drew inspiration from London, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, and the Italian cities of Naples, Venice, Genoa and Florence: all cities with an arch. 

Others disagree and have raised issues with the proposed placement of the arches. 

“Memorial Circle was explicitly designed as a solemn processional transition toward Arlington and the nation’s cemetery for nearly 430,000 veterans,” John Haigh, the chair of Benedictine College’s architecture program, told the Post in an email. 

“A triumphal arch located there is the wrong typology: triumph and reconciliation (and its related commemoration of sacrifice) are not the same thing,” Haigh added.

Judy Feldman, an art historian who leads the National Mall Coalition nonprofit, said Cook’s plan “sounds like an urban designer is trying to reinterpret L’Enfant,” in a statement to the Post. 

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s plans at a press briefing Wednesday. 

“Great nations build beautiful structures that cultivate national pride and love of country, and this triumphal arch should be a project that all Americans, all political persuasions, can support,” Leavitt told reporters.

Administration officials have touted plans to create the world’s largest arch and noted that it could attract the same kind of admiration tied to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. 

Members of Congress have urged Trump to gain congressional approval for the project, which is under review by the Commission of Fine Arts. The commission is stacked with Trump appointees. 

If the project moves forward, it would add to a reshaping of the District, as Trump has sought to remake the White House, put up new statues and remodel the Kennedy Center, which was also renamed for Trump.  

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