President Donald Trump has passed an executive order stating new US government buildings must be "beautiful" just one month before Joe Biden takes office.
The order, titled Executive Order on Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture, was passed on Monday 21 December 2020. President-elect Biden will be sworn in on 21 January 2021.
Classical architecture to be encouraged
Trump's order stipulates that new buildings commissioned for the federal government must be "beautiful" and names classical and traditional architecture as the preferred style, but stops short of banning other styles, such as brutalism.
"Encouraging classical and traditional architecture does not exclude using most other styles of architecture, where appropriate," reads the order. "Care must be taken, however, to ensure that all federal building designs command respect [sic] of the general public for their beauty and visual embodiment of America's ideals."
The order defines traditional architecture as "Gothic, Romanesque, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial, and other Mediterranean styles of architecture historically rooted in various regions of America".
Architects must design for "the American people"
The executive order seeks to stamp out designs made for "architects to appreciate" and instead "ensure that architects designing federal buildings serve their clients, the American people".
A Council for Improving Federal Civic ...