President Donald Trump has taken another step to promote classical and traditional architecture.
In an executive order he signed in the past week, Trump said traditional and classical “is the preferred architecture for applicable Federal public buildings.” In addition, for federal buildings in Washington, D.C., “classical architecture shall be the preferred and default architecture … absent exceptional factors necessitating another kind of architecture.”
The order marks the second attempt by Trump, a commercial real estate developer before entering politics, to dictate style requirements for federal designs, after a directive issued during his first term was revoked by his successor, President Joe Biden. On the first day of Trump’s second term, when he took back the reins from Biden in January, Trump ordered the head of the General Services Administration, or GSA, to come up with a list of recommendations for how to promote classical architecture.
The new executive order for classical architecture includes specific steps intended to give preference to architects who specialize in traditional designs.
“The advice of distinguished architects practiced in classical or traditional architecture should, as a rule, be sought prior to the award of important design contracts,” the order says.
Nontraditional designs possible
Still, the order appears to leave the door open to consideration of other styles for federal properties.
“This preference does not exclude the possibility of alternative styles in appropriate circumstances,” according to the order.
The GSA did not immediately respond to an email request to comment. Trump this month nominated former Cushman & Wakefield CEO Edward Forst to head the agency.
The latest Trump order also could add a step for architects and firms that are members of the American Institute of Architects from participating in federal design competitions, though it does not specifically mention the AIA, a professional trade association for architects and designers.
Federal public buildings should “command respect from the general public,” according to the order. The directive says the general public excludes anyone “affiliated with any interest group, trade association or any other organization whose membership is financially affected by decisions involving the design, construction or remodeling of public buildings. “
The Washington-based AIA, a group that has been critical of Trump’s earlier attempts to dictate federal building styles, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some explanation needed
The executive order also states that if the GSA proposes the approval of a brutalist or deconstructivist design, the agency must inform Trump’s office with an explanation of its decision, according to the executive order. Brutalism derives its name from the French phrase béton brut, or “raw concrete,” and that provides a general description of the style, while deconstructivism is a design trend popularized by architects like Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid that make buildings appear fragmented and asymmetrical.
Washington has a large collection of brutalist federal buildings, including the headquarters of the FBI and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Though any architecture firm can design traditional buildings, a small group of firms specialize in the style. Some are members of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, a New York-based nonprofit group “committed to promoting and preserving the practice, understanding, and appreciation of classical design,” according to its website.
Members of the ICAA include Robert A.M. Stern, whose namesake firm has designed government buildings in traditional styles, including a federal courthouse in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the commonwealth of Virginia’s General Assembly Building.
Other ICAA members include construction and engineering firms Clark Construction and Stantec, as well as architecture professors at the University of Notre Dame, a school that “emphasizes classical and vernacular architecture,” according to its website.