This week, as CC 101 students turn their focus towards the Parthenon, classical architecture has also been getting some attention from President Trump. The Guardian reports that earlier this year, the Trump administration drafted an executive order calling for a return to a classical style in new federal buildings. The draft order, entitled “Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” criticizes brutalist and deconstructivist architecture for “its failure to re-integrate ‘our national values into federal buildings.’” The draft order argues:
When designing and building the federal capital in Washington in the late 18th century, America’s founders embraced the classical models of ‘democratic Athens’ and ‘republican Rome’ because the style symbolized the new nation’s ‘self-governing ideals.’
Critics say that new buildings should be a product of their time, and that an official architectural style is not compatible with a 21st century liberal democracy. Check out the full Guardian article here.
