In our fractious times it seems hard to believe that once people agreed that public architecture should be of the highest quality, incorporate significant art, and represent our our shared culture. Obviously, the GSA Design Excellence program still strives to achieve all of these goals (against significant headwinds), but I fear the big box has become the abiding symbol of our current "cut everything, invest in nothing" culture. This is worth a read:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/aug/02/us-post-office-new-deal
