The Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Photo Nicolas Raymond, via Flickr.
Ten months ago, a draft executive order leaked from the Trump administration, aiming to “make federal buildings beautiful again” by mandating they be in classical styles. Now, outgoing president Donald Trump has officially signed the order on “promoting beautiful federal civic architecture.”
All buildings costing over $50 million to design and build, the text says, should hew to classical designs and be “visibly identifiable as civic buildings.” Within the District of Columbia, “classical architecture shall be the preferred and default architecture for Federal public buildings absent exceptional factors necessitating another kind of architecture,” it says.
BBC News
Published
image captionWashington is a city of columns
US President Donald Trump has issued an order that future federal buildings across the country must be beautiful , and preferably built in a classical Greek, Roman, or similar style.
The executive order says too many federal buildings reflect brutalist designs of the last century.
It says new government buildings should look more like America s beloved landmarks such as the White House.
Although traditionalists will welcome the move, many others are unhappy.
The American Institute of Architects said it unequivocally opposes the initiative, while critics have called it undemocratic for the government to impose an official style on architects.
What’s Happening: President Donald Trump has signed an executive order making neoclassical architecture the preferred style for federal buildings in Washington. The action stops short of mandating that all new federal buildings are built in a classical style, saying merely that they must be “beautiful.” The order applies to all new federal buildings in Washington, DC, and those outside Washington that cost more than $50 million.
The Download: In February, the Trump administration published a draft executive order, called “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” in which the White House would dictate that all future government structures be designed in the neoclassical style. A jab at modern architecture, the move received condemnation by groups like the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and National Trust for Historic Preservation on the grounds that architecture should be designed for specific communities while protecting the freedom of thought and expression that
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The town manager of Palm Beach said the town will decide how to respond to President Trump
“Officials and representatives of the Town of Palm Beach have received inquiries, primarily from the media and from some members of the community, regarding the reported intent of President Trump to make Mar-a-Lago his residence after his term of office as president has expired,” Kirk Blouin, Palm Beach s town manager, told the Miami Herald.
“The town is not aware of the president’s intent in this regard and has no evidence to support said claim. If and when the town learns, as a matter of fact, that President Trump intends to reside at Mar-a-Lago, it will address the matter appropriately at that time.”