The Federal Building and Courthouse in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Timothy Hursley
President Trump, a former builder, signed an executive order Monday intended to promote neo-classical architecture as the official style for federal buildings in Washington, DC., and at new federal courthouses elsewhere.
The order defines classical as including Neoclassical, Georgian, Greek Revival, Gothic and other traditional styles
. It also establishes a new President s Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture, which is intended to ensure proposed federal buildings are beautiful and reflective of the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of the American system of self-government.
The order cites ancient Greece, ancient Rome and language from the constitution of the Italian city of Siena in 1309 as preferred models.
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Updated at 12:30pm ET
Back in February, President Trump set the architectural world reeling with a call for traditional designs for new federal buildings. He proposed an executive order, called “Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” which took an out-with-the-new, in-with-the-old approach to architecture, calling modern federal buildings constructed over the last five decades “undistinguished,” “uninspiring” and “just plain ugly.”
That proposed order is now a reality. Retitled “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” it begins with a paean to “beautiful public architecture,” before moving on to a litany of disapproval aimed at modernist federal buildings.
It’s true that modernism abounds in D.C. Standing on a street corner near the National Mall, there’s actually a mishmash of architectural styles. Let’s talk about three of them: In the distance, the gleaming white pillars of the U.S. Capitol dome, the kind of classical architect
Trump Signs Order Requiring Classical Architecture for Federal Buildings
21 Dec 2020
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday requiring federal buildings be constructed in the style of American classical architectural codes.
Following decades of modernist, brutalist, and deconstructivist designs for federal buildings, Trump has issued an order that will return federal architecture to its original ethos of classical, Neoclassical, Art Deco, Georgian, Greek Revival, and Beaux-Arts that was preferred by many of the Founding Fathers.
“[Notable Founding Fathers] wanted America’s public buildings to inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue,” the order states. “President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson consciously modeled the most important buildings in Washington, D.C., on the classical architecture of ancient Athens and Rome. They sought to use classical architecture to visually connect our contemporary Republic with the
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The Hunger Games. Ugly, Discordant : New Executive Order Takes Aim At Modern Architecture Dec 21, 2020
Updated at 12:30pm ET
Back in February, President Trump set the architectural world reeling with a call for traditional designs for new federal buildings. He proposed an executive order, called Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, which took an out-with-the-new, in-with-the-old approach to architecture, calling modern federal buildings constructed over the last five decades undistinguished, uninspiring and just plain ugly.
That proposed order is now a reality. Retitled Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture, it begins with a paean to beautiful public architecture, before moving on to a litany of disapproval aimed at modernist federal buildings.