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The order, which affects buildings like federal courthouses and agency headquarters, encourages classical styles rather than modernist aesthetics.
Aug. 28, 2025Updated 4:53 p.m. ET
President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that requires federal buildings in Washington to maintain a classical style of Greco-Roman architecture associated with the marble columns and austere hallways of the Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol.
The new guidelines, which the White House has framed as “making federal architecture beautiful again,” also discourage federal construction projects nationwide from choosing modernist styles like Brutalism.
“Because of their proven ability to meet these requirements, classical and traditional architecture are preferred modes of architectural design,” the executive order said. It added, “Major emphasis should be placed on the choice of designs that embody architectural excellence.”
Architects had expected the new rules for some months, ever since the White House released a memorandum in January calling for federal buildings to respect “classical architectural heritage.” It was a throwback to an executive order that Mr. Trump passed in the final weeks of his first administration and was later rescinded by President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
“Architecture should be of its moment,” said Liz Waytkus, the executive director of Docomomo US, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving 20th-century architecture. “It seems the current administration wants to look back and not forward.”
The executive order said that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson modeled buildings in Washington, including the White House, on the architecture of ancient Athens and Rome.
