President Donald Trump signed a new executive order Friday, released on Monday, mandating new federal buildings be constructed using classical architecture absent “exceptional factors” necessitating a different style.
“New Federal building designs should, like America’s beloved landmark buildings, uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the human spirit, ennoble the United States, command respect from the general public, and, as appropriate, respect the architectural heritage of the region,” the directive from the White House states.
He did it! President Donald Trump signs executive order stating that classical architecture should be the default for federal buildings. pic.twitter.com/GYBiMiwPU9
The order highlights the cultural heritage of architectural structures modeled after ancient civilizations in Greece and Rome, whose influence can be seen throughout the rest of Western history and invokes their adoption by the nation’s founders in the most famous buildings
‘Ugly,’ ‘Discordant’: New Executive Order Takes Aim At Modern Architecture
By Elizabeth Blair
December 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.