Before I discuss J. Brett Blanton, let me tell a short story.
My architecture firm started designing a series of projects for a rural Mississippi school district. During a client meeting, the topic of why the school district replaced their previous architect, a man who had worked for the district for decades.
Apparently, this architect also thought he was an electrical engineer, so he sized his own wiring. When his last project for the school district was nearing completion, the overhead service to the building was energized—at which point the overhead feed caught fire and fell to the ground, as it was so undersized for the load.
An architect should not attempt to do the work of an engineer.
Conversely, an engineer should not attempt to do the work on an architect.
J Brett Blanton, who was appointed Architect of the Capitol in 2019, was trained as an engineer, earning a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and a Master of Science in Ocean Engineering. In his previous position, Blanton was “deputy vice president for engineering at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.”
When the facility is primarily infrastructure, such as an airport, having an engineer in charge makes sense. But when the facility is primarily occupied buildings—i.e. architecture—an architect is typically the right person for the job.
Some might argue that an engineer can do the job of the architect, minus the artsy-fartsy distractions. Such folks believe the “Engineering Dyad” of firmness and commodity is superior to the Vitruvian Triad of firmness, commodity, and delight.
However, the issue goes beyond the aesthetic. At the risk of both overly simplifying the issue and stereotyping the two disciplines, architects imagine would could be while engineers make it real.
The breach of the Capitol on January 6 was largely a failure of imagination: a failure to foresee how bad the situation could be. Two of the four members of the Capitol Police board—the leadership team in charge of Capitol security—have resigned. J Brett Branton should likely do the same.