President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring “classical and traditional” architecture the preferred government styles, resuming an effort from his first term to fight modernist architecture and design principles.
The order, titled “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again,” directs that all new federal buildings in Washington, D.C. be constructed in a “classical” style and that classical and traditional styles guide federal construction throughout the country.
The order follows a memorandum the president signed in January directing the acting administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide recommendations on “making federal civic architecture beautiful again.”
Trump signed an executive order in 2020 on “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” which President Joe Biden rescinded in 2021.
The new executive order rejects the 1962 Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, which have been the standard for the past six decades.
The Guiding Principles, authored by the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, urged the government to avoid an “official style” and to follow the lead of contemporary architects, resulting in construction of modernist buildings throughout the country.
The order states “design must flow from the needs of the Government and the aspirations and preferences of the American people to the architectural profession.”
Elements of the Guiding Principles remain, including attention to “regional architectural traditions” across the country where federal buildings are located, and incorporating fine art from “living American artists.”
The Trump administration defines classical broadly, ranging from architecture with roots in Greco-Roman antiquity to art deco. The order defines “traditional architecture” as Gothic, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean styles historically rooted in parts of the United States.
Elements of the order include:
- Constructing federal buildings in a style that “uplifts and beautifies public spaces, ennobles our Nation, and commands respect from the general public.”
- Requiring all federal buildings to “be visually identifiable as civic buildings and respect regional architectural heritage.”
- Directing that “classical architecture serve as the preferred architectural style for all Federal public buildings, especially in the District of Columbia.”
- The order emphasizes that designs diverging from classical architecture must convey the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of the American government and command public respect.
- Making the administrator of the GSA responsible for implementing the order, which establishes processes for ensuring architects and administrators with “appropriate training are involved in building design.”
- Requiring a notification to the president through his assistant for domestic policy when a building design deviates from the preferred style specified in the order.
Photo by Jermaine Lewis from Pexels
