To coincide with the results of the American presidential election, AA wanted to gather the first reactions of American practitioners who have been affected in one way or another by this change of direction. Here, Dutch architect Florian Idenburg, co-founder with Jing Liu of the New York-based architecture and design practice SO-IL, shares his impressions and commitments – recently illustrated in the Las Americas project, a social housing complex completed in 2021 in Leon, Mexico.

What’s your impression of the American presidential election? What are your observations on the stakes, the intense months of campaigning and, of course, the outcome?
As a non-voting green card holder, I, like much of the world, have watched the U.S. elections from the sidelines as this vast vessel of a country attempts yet another course correction. A ship this size doesn’t turn easily, regardless of who’s steering, but with the Senate’s current alignment and sweeping judicial changes, the stakes are dangerously high. Troubling fascist forces of racism and anti-feminism are being stoked, and critical freedoms are on the line. The endless banter filling the media is vulgar and distracting, diverting attention from the real issue: a system crippled by inequality and now exhausted of solutions. This political climate is stoked by fear, disseminated through the media, producing real threats and uncertainty to some—all unnecessary politics on a bountiful and beautiful planet.

What are your fears following the recent re-election of Donald Trump?
Meanwhile, my most pressing fear is the wholesale abandonment of environmental policies, worsening climate unpredictability and displacing even more people—especially those who are already vulnerable. And we must protect architecture from becoming another pawn in the culture wars. Trump’s previous mandate for all federal buildings to adopt a “neo-classical” style as an example [see the article featured in AA, ed.] —a policy that pits “cosmopolitan” modernism against some nationalistic invented past. This is yet another false and distracting battle in a growing cultural clash.

What is your vision for the future?
What we need now is resolve. We must lean hard into hope, strength, imagination, beauty, and generosity—qualities that resist tribalism and polarization. These values are fundamental to our work and must be reflected in the spaces we create—spaces that foster connection and empathy instead of division. Housing must be a right, not a privilege, and it demands flexibility, affordability, and community.

Imagination and unity can lead us to create environments where everyone has a place and can feel a sense of belonging and purpose. Inclusive thinking will be threatened. Moving forward will require courage, creativity, and an uncompromising vision for inclusive design at every level.

In 2021, AA dedicated its June-July issue to the USA, available on our online shop.