Forum

Today President Trump issued a momentous new Executive Order “Making Federal Architecture Great Again." The directive states that there must be a preference for classical and traditional architecture when the government is choosing designs for federal buildings. The Order is… pic.twitter.com/o6ifqnraNw

— Justin Shubow (@JustinShubow) August 28, 2025

Today President Trump issued a momentous new Executive Order “Making Federal Architecture Great Again." The directive states that there must be a preference for classical and traditional architecture when the government is choosing designs for federal buildings. The Order is strongest regarding Washington, D.C., requiring that new federal buildings there be classical.

The EO also amends the 1962 Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, which de facto made Modernism official.

To quote The New York Times:

The new guidelines will affect several federal projects, according to Justin Shubow, president of
@civicartsociety
, a nonprofit that helped draft the executive order...

“For too long, federal architecture has been in a dismal state,” Shubow said in a statement that refers to Mr. Trump. “Recognizing the public’s disdain of our more recent government buildings, he is ensuring that new edifices will be beautiful, dignified, and admired by the common person. Federal buildings will be once again noble symbols of our democracy.”