Washington DC, Bartholdi Fountain and Gardens: The order states that recent designs by prominent architects have had little regard for local input or regional aesthetic preferences. Image: Architect of the Capitol
By: FEDweek StaffPresident Trump has issued an executive order that revives one from his first administration—canceled by the Biden administration—emphasizing the use of classical design elements in construction of new buildings and renovation of existing ones.
Federal architecture was “characterized by beautiful and beloved buildings of largely, though not exclusively, classical design” until the 1960s, it says, when “the federal government largely replaced traditional designs for new construction with modernist and brutalist ones. The federal architecture that ensued, overseen by the General Services Administration, was often unpopular with Americans. The new buildings ranged from the undistinguished to designs even GSA now admits many in the public found unappealing.”
GSA’s Design Excellence Program, started in 1994 in response to that criticism, meanwhile resulted in choices of “designs by prominent architects with little regard for local input or regional aesthetic preferences. The resulting federal architecture sometimes impresses the architectural elite, but not the American people who the buildings are meant to serve. Many of these new federal buildings are not even visibly identifiable as civic buildings,” it says.
It adds that while “classical and traditional architecture are preferred modes of architectural design,” that preference “does not exclude the possibility of alternative styles in appropriate circumstances. Major emphasis should be placed on the choice of designs that embody architectural excellence.”
“Specific attention should be paid to the possibilities of incorporating into such designs qualities that reflect the regional architectural traditions of that part of the nation in which buildings are located. Where appropriate, fine art should be incorporated in the designs, with emphasis on the work of living American artists,” it says.
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