‘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.