Trump's bunker 'shed' ballroom gets planning commission approval, while court order blocks construction

Quick update on the White House ballroom project: In a decision that was widely expected, the National Capital Planning Commission has approved the controversial $400 million expansion.

The commission, chaired by Trump's White House staff secretary Will Scharf, voted to advance the scheme during a scheduled meeting yesterday, following a brief setback in the timeline due to thousands of public comments opposing the design. A final decision was already assumed to take place in early March after the proposal's conceptual and final stages had passed unobjected through the Trump-appointed U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on February 19 but was eventually postponed to this week's April 2 meeting.

Previously on Archinect: Architects raise alarm over White House ballroom in NYT deep dive

Following further design criticism published in the NYT last week, the National Capital Planning Commission released slightly revised plans ahead of yesterday's meeting, addressing a Shalom Baranes-designed re...