In August, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that is to make classical architecture the United States’ new staple for all future federal buildings. A move that is presented as a response to American people’s demands, but in reality hides much more.

Exploring ‘Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again’ 

On the 28th of August 2025, an executive order was released by the White House titled ‘Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again’. This order is meant: ‘(…) to inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue’ through the reinstatement of classical architecture, like that of ancient Rome and Athens, as the principal style for all federal buildings. Federal buildings are defined, in the order, as all federal courthouses and agency headquarters, public buildings in the National Capital Region (A.K.A Washington D.C. and all of its surrounding areas) and all other federal public buildings that cost or are expected to cost more than $50 million in 2025 dollars to build, from start to finish. Essentially, this order would include all new buildings, renovations or additions to existing buildings.

A Matter of Taste

The order also identifies modern designs as unpopular with Americans, unappealing and unidentifiable as civic buildings. This seemingly ‘unappealing’ design emerged as a reaction against the revival movements in the 19th century and early 20th century, which included Gothic Revival and Neoclassicism. Architects retaliated by introducing styles like Modernism and later Brutalism, rejecting ornamentation to favor the most basic aspect of a building: its function. In response to this shift, the General Services Administration (GSA) established the Design Excellence Program which was criticized in the text by saying: “The resulting federal architecture sometimes impresses the architectural elite, but not the American people who the buildings were meant to serve.” 

The Purpose of the Executive Order

As stated by Kai Gutschow in his article ‘Why so many architects are angered by ‘Making federal Architecture Buildings Beautiful Again’, the new order is: ‘meant to overturn the existing “Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture” issued in 1962 by future Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.’ In essence, the latter highlights how diversity in design is an essential component of the modern american architectural thought. Classical architecture, as per the order, is meant to encompass Neoclassical, Georgian, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts and Art Deco styles as well as Mediterranean styles such as: ‘Gothic, Romanesque, Second Empire, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial.’ These styles are supposed to communicate a message, a reflection of the American Government’s: ‘(…)dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability(…).’

Classical Architecture Today

Classical architecture, with its connotations of power and success, is characterized by rich ornamentation on large scale buildings which would cost a fortune, not just in the financial sense, but in the employment of resources that are already scarce such as energy, compared to modern, technologically innovative buildings. Nonetheless, part of the order states that these buildings will have to be economical to build and maintain, an unlikely scenario. It seems like modern America is trying to change how it the world perceives its power. What was once a futuristic, technologically advanced land of the free is leaning to the past as its proof of power, with a focus on more tangible and easily perceivable riches. Even Trump’s additions of gold to the Oval Office and the introduction of a White House ballroom, large spaces for gatherings that existed far as back as the 15th century, supports this ideas.

Favoritism of Classical Architecture in History

Hitler, Stalin and Kim Jong-Il have been found to favor classical architecture as a means of communicating a false narrative power and prosperity. In fact, architecture has long been used by authoritarian governments as pawns in a game of control, both of its people and the outside world. Hitler was long fascinated by Roman architecture, leading to the ideation of the Volkshalle. An unbuilt hall with a dome that recalls that of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In the North Korean capital of Pyongyang has, over the years been decorated with sensational pieces of architecture such as the Ryugyong Hotel, that was abandoned after North Korea entered its devastating famine in the 1990s, and was only recently completed in 2011. This structure stands tall and imposing over a country that still struggles to power its homes and feed its people.

Classical Architecture and the United States

The United States has long been tied to classical architecture. In the past, plantation owners of the southernmost regions would build their mansions in the Neoclassical style. This was often associated with democracy, but in this case, mansions featured slave quarters separated from the rest of the building. The Federal Building and Courthouse in Tuscaloosa, Alabama also has striking resemblences to the Ancient Greek Temples.

An End to Freedom of Choice

Pluralism, like in all arts, is architecture’s freedom of speech. The ability for architects to express themselves is what brought architects like Le Corbusier to fame. This new order may stifle all future attempts at innovation, not just architectural, but technological and artistic as well. It eerily echoes past dictators’ attempts at reworking their countries’ narratives to garner more international respect, despite it being a façade. Despite classical architecture’s grandiose connotations, it seems like America’s reputation continues to suffer as public view shifts farther and farther from the American Dream. Trump’s attempt to make classical architecture America’s staple is a way to send a message of great power that takes little to understand, masked as the American people’s wishes, in the hopes of resurrecting the country’s glory that only seems to dwindle as time goes by.

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