On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to “Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” calling for a return to neoclassical architecture in federal construction. To some, this may seem like mere aesthetic preference.
But a look back at the history of American architecture reveals that there is a lot more to modern art than meets the eye.
Trump’s order is a rebuke of the architectural mediocrity that has overtaken our nation’s capital. It draws a line in the sand: Neoclassical architecture, meant to reflect the ancient ideals of symmetry and proportion, should be the default for our civic spaces—as opposed to the soulless glass and concrete blocks of “brutalism” that permeate Washington today.
Neoclassical architecture is not outdated; it is timeless, rooted in the principles of harmony, proportion, and human scale. It endures because it reflects the things we inherently long for: order, dignity, meaning. In our increasingly fragmented age, it reconnects us with something permanent. Beauty is not a luxury, but a civic necessity.
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Author: Marty Kaufmann
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