On Wednesday, President Joe Biden reversed former President Donald Trump‘s executive order to favor classical architecture as a number of steps have been taken to eliminate policies created during the Trump administration.
The executive order entitled, “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” labeled the modernist architectural styles of some federal buildings “ugly.” In it, the Trump administration demanded that federal planners should prioritize Roman-styles for future buildings.
Trump’s order, signed in the final days of his presidency, placed a preference for classical styles in planned buildings but did not ban brutalism altogether.
“Though we are appalled with the administration’s decision to move forward with the design mandate, we are happy the order isn’t as far-reaching as previously thought,” CEO of the American Institute of Architects, Robert Ivy, said in a statement at the time.
This architectural order was one of the numerous Trump-era executive orders Biden’s administration voided on Wednesday. Biden also repealed an order threatening the financing of cities that Trump’s administration felt did not support local police amid the anti-racism protests last summer. An executive action that halted new visas amid the Covid-19 economic crisis was also tossed.
