President Donald Trump is known for being a real estate mogul, and now it appears that he has some plans regarding the look of federal buildings. A draft of an executive order reveals that the Trump administration wants all federal buildings to be in one style.
The New York Times reports that a draft of an executive order titled “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” led by the National Civic Art Society reveals that all federal buildings will take on a more classical style, inspired by Greek and Roman architecture. According to the nonprofit organization, modern architecture has “created a built environment that is degraded and dehumanizing” and this order will, therefore, overwrite the current ordinances and laws regarding the design of federal buildings that are contracted by the General Services Administration that are worth over $50 million.
Along with wanting government office buildings to have a similar design as the White House, this order would also give Trump control over the architecture he prefers for all the federal buildings. According to chairman Marion Smith, the order would give the 99 percent of the American population a say in what the government buildings should look like. Smith then added that the public do not want a “rigid, neo-Classical program.”
“For too long, architectural elites and bureaucrats have derided the idea of beauty, blatantly ignored public opinions on style, and have quietly spent taxpayer money constructing ugly, expensive, inefficient buildings,” said Smith.
However, many architects have voiced their disagreement towards the order, saying that it only gives Trump more power that should not be in his hands. Roger Lewis, a former architecture professor, and practicing architect said that “At the most fundamental level it’s a complete constraint on freedom of expression. The notion that the White House has expertise or knowledge or understanding of architecture and design sufficient to allow them to mandate that all federal buildings be classically styled is absurd.”
Aside from architects criticizing what the order implements regarding style, they also point out Trump’s personal preference for more opulent or decadent styles like that of Louis XIV. Ironically, the Trump towers in New York and Chicago have a more modernist style.