The White House has issued a new executive order, “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again,” mandating that all new federal buildings adhere to classical and traditional architectural styles. This marks the third such executive order, following prior directives in December 2020 and January 2025.
The order defines classical architecture to include Neoclassical, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, and Art Deco styles. Traditional architecture encompasses Gothic, Romanesque, Second Empire, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial, and other historically rooted American regional styles. The directive explicitly excludes Deconstructivist and Brutalist approaches.
The EO applies to federal courthouses, agency headquarters, public buildings in the National Capital Region, and all federal buildings costing $50 million or more in 2025 dollars. It encourages design competitions to actively recruit firms with expertise in these styles, ensuring multiple classical and traditional proposals reach final evaluation rounds.
Notable architects cited as aspirational examples include Alberti, Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Palladio, Robert Adam, John Soane, Christopher Wren, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Daniel Burnham, Rafael Carmoega, Julia Morgan, and firms like Delano & Aldrich.
The General Services Administration (GSA) is tasked with overseeing compliance, emphasizing that design should reflect the needs of the government and the aspirations of the American people, rather than architectural trends.
This order updates the 1962 Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture originally enacted under Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, signaling a renewed federal preference for timeless, historically grounded design in prominent civic buildings.
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