Observations From Wisconsin

By Brian J Pape, AIA

YOU MIGHT THINK THAT THESE SIGNS ARE FOR CANDIDATES OF DIFFERENT PARTIES, judging by the colors. You’d be wrong; they are all Republicans, even though there is no indication of party affiliation on the signs or ads. Voters beware! Photo: Brian J. Pape, AIA.

Being back in Wisconsin with my siblings for the first time in a long time, I have been given the opportunity to learn about changes and traditions in the place where I grew up.

It’s been delightful in many ways: Lake Michigan is clearer and bluer than I ever remembered it. I’ve been told some invasive mollusks are filtering the water now. The trees seem greener than ever, except for the ash trees, where invasive ash bores have decimated entire forests and landscapes, leaving dead, bare branches reaching for the sky.

Wisconsin communities are revolting against resource-hungry AI data centers, but there seems to be little to be undone once they are started, such as one mammoth development in Ozaukee County. Some architects are demonstrating that computational infrastructure does not have to be inherently extractive. Projects in Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Switzerland show how data centers can be buried underground, integrated into buildings, powered by renewable energy, and used to provide waste heat for apartments and even greenhouses. An article September 13, 2026, in Architect Magazine by Blaine Brownell argues that the real challenge isn’t the data-center typology itself — it’s bad architecture and the failure to design computational infrastructure as something that gives back to its community.

But without a doubt in this election season, the roadside yard signs of all sizes, some as big as 4’ x 8’ each, and in multiples of different seats up for voting, really dominate the views.

And here is the surprise. Where once one would expect the candidates to declare their party and choose their party’s theme colors ─ red for Republican, blue for Democrat, something else for independents ─ that tradition has been upended here. In TV ads, social media, yard signs and billboards, there are the usual claims to cut taxes and make the economy strong, but there’s something missing. The signs are everywhere ─ red, white and blue ─ but you won’t know what party they represent, for nowhere is the party noted, and Republicans are using blue as a dominant color. Wouldn’t you be confused too?

It seems to this observer that many candidates are so savvy to the damage Trump has done that they want to hide their connection to the president and his administration. Of course, there will be no mistaking which party each candidate represents on the ballots in November.