A new executive order by Donald Trump has the potential to make new federal architecture in the United States follow the classical style. Called "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again", the order would require rewriting the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, issued in 1962, to ensure that “the classical architectural style shall be the preferred and default style” for new and upgraded federal buildings.
First covered in an exclusive report by Architectural Record, the executive order aims to make classical architecture the default style for the country. Moving from the original Guiding Principles established by former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, which were created in the hopes that, "Design must flow from the architectural profession to the Government and not vice versa", the new order would supposedly address how projects carried out by the General Services Administration have been unable to reintegrate "our national values into Federal buildings" as they are "too often influenced by Brutalism and Deconstructivism.”
The news comes as just last week, the GSA’s Chief Architect and Director of the Design Excellence Program, David Insinga, resigned his post. So far, The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the executive order.
News via Architectural Record
