Rendering of the new US Embassy in London (© KieranTimberlake)

Some politicians are concerned that the new initiative to build better-designed United States embassies isn’t just expensive, it’s putting employees in danger.

At a Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing last month (which you can watch here), Lydia Muniz and Casey Jones, director and deputy director, respectively, of the State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations, were aggressively grilled on the new design tactics. As Michael Z. Wise reported for Architect magazine, the two officials “had scant chance to defend their approach” and when “they tried, congressmen repeatedly interrupted or cut them off.” The criticism focused on a 2009 overhaul of the country’s approach to embassy design; Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz criticized a perceived sentiment that “aesthetics alone can further U.S. diplomatic relations.”...Continue Reading

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