‘It’s Just Ugly’

Commission delays White House ballroom vote after public comments spark scathing criticisms.

A rendering shows the proposed East Wing Modernization Project that includes a 22,000-square-foot White House ballroom that garnered a wave of criticism during a public comment portion of the National Capital Planning Commission meeting held online on Thursday. (Rendering: Shalom Baranes)

Architects, preservationists, professors, historians and even a former White House staffer on Thursday all urged members of a commission tasked with considering President Donald Trump’s proposed East Wing Modernization and ballroom addition to reject it. But, it was an ordinary citizen’s comments that summed up the mostly negative impressions of the project.

“I’m not an architect,” said Kye Rowan, who spoke candidly and on screen during the National Capital Planning Commission meeting that was held live via video conference, “but the new designs that have been put out there on the internet … it’s just ugly.”

And like many experts and professionals in the architecture and design industry, she echoed sim…