Particle.news
Download on the App Store
5 ARTICLES
·
5h ago

Trump Orders Classical Architecture Preference for Federal Buildings

The order puts the GSA in charge, with White House notification required for any departures.

The J. Edgar Hoover building, which houses the Federal Bureau of Investigations's headquarters and is a well-known example of DC's brutalist architecture, on July 20.
A view of a newly paved Rose Garden at the White House on August 19.
Image

Overview

  • President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing that federal public buildings embrace classical architecture as the preferred and default style, especially in Washington, D.C.
  • The policy states that public buildings should be visually identifiable as civic structures and should respect regional architectural heritage.
  • The General Services Administration is tasked with implementing the order and establishing processes to ensure appropriately trained architects and administrators guide design decisions.
  • Any design that departs from the preferred style must be reported to the President through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, including proposals described as Brutalist, Deconstructivist, or other modernist architecture.
  • The White House frames the move as a continuation of Trump’s 2020 directive rescinded in 2021 and as fulfilling a campaign pledge, asserting that most taxpayers favor classical, regionally inspired designs that convey dignity and command public respect.