Why the Democrats Need an Architectural Vision to Counter the Right’s Republicans are already advancing a distinct—if ugly and tasteless—aesthetic. Biden should follow in FDR’s footsteps and create a Public Works Administration for the twenty-first century. EVERETT COLLECTION/ALAMY In 1936, these New Deal architects and draftsmen designed homes for workers who were forced to relocate during the Great Depression. For years, Donald Trump groused about the ugly architecture in Washington. And then, in December, in the waning days of his presidency, he handed down the “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture” executive order, decreeing that all new federal construction adhere to a traditional, classicist aesthetic. If Trump had had his way, the FBI would have moved from its appropriately treacherous and looming brutalist building into a neo-Palladian nightmare with monumental columns and a gold interior spray-painted to look like Versailles.