In these polarizing times, it seems little wonder that even federal buildings have turned into political battlefields. In his final weeks in office in late 2020, President Trump signed an executive order establishing classical architecture as the official basis for federal building design— only to have Joe Biden promptly revoke the order upon taking office two months later.

A new exhibit at the National Building Museum wades into the dispute by examining the style of architecture that many observers love to hate. In studying eight modern structures in Washington’s urban core, “Capital Brutalism” attempts to bring context to a style that seems ever-present around the District of Columbia.