Architecture speaks volumes about how every culture sees the world and the values that lead it. When Americans think of the buildings that best reflect our values, we think of orientation points such as the Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court and the Memorials of Lincoln and Jefferson.
All these structures have something in common: they are beautiful and made of stone that shines with light. There is something about them that looks up, beware and proud. What is even more important, they reflect the kind of classical architecture that has endured the test of time and goes back to the traditions of ancient Greece and Rome.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson placed the emphasis on classical architecture when they helped design the capital of America. Jefferson greeted the American Capitol building as “The first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people, embellishes with the Athenian tests the course of a nation that looks far beyond the reach of the Athenian destinations.” Washington praised the “grandeur, simplicity and beauty” of the neoclassical design of the Capitol.
The American Capitol dome rolls as a storm on July 1, 2025 to Capitol Hill. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The founders started a classic tradition that lasted almost 150 years. It inspired the construction of beautiful buildings throughout America, such as Birch Bayh Us Courthouse in Indianapolis – a Beaux Arts Design completed in 1905. Built with Indiana Limestone, it has ionic columns and large court halls.
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The courthouse of Tippecanoe County in Lafayette, Indiana, is another great example. Completed in 1884, the three -part bell tower, sculptures and dome -shaped roof of this courthouse make one of the most beautiful public buildings in Indiana.
But from the sixties our national government stopped prioritizing beautiful buildings. Nowadays there are less than 10% of the new government buildings in the classic or traditional fungus. Ugly structures have emerged, including brutalist concrete Hulks here in Washington such as the FBI head office and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Three different Hud -Secretaresses – a Republican and two Democrats – compared their building with 10 floors of the basement.
More recently, we have received new court buildings that resemble bizarre art projects, and in some cases the values of our country are shamelessly. The architect of the Nancy Pelosi San Francisco Federal Building openly said that his work has an “aggressive attitude” towards the public.
The Jefferson Memorial is framed by the tidal basin, the soil, and the Potomac River, Top, in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2014. (Reuters/Gary Cameron)
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To destroy this trend, I (Senator Banks) will soon introduce the beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act. It codifies the executive command of President Donald Trump ‘making federal architecture beautiful again’. My bill demands, just like that order, that new federal buildings “elevate and beautify public spaces, inspire the human mind, the United States and command the general public.”
My legislation does not require a specific style for buildings throughout the country – it only requires a preference for classic and traditional architecture designs, including everything, from neoclassical to art deco to Romanesque to Pueblo -revival.
My account also requires federal agencies to collect substantial Input from local communities when designs are selected for federal buildings. At the moment there is absolutely no requirement for federal agencies to consider what kind of buildings the people they serve want. My legislation turns that to ensure that the public has a say in the design of their government buildings.
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Our country is still able to build beautiful, worthy public architecture that encourages social virtue. The Tuscaloosa Federal Building and Courthouse, which was opened in 2012, is proof of this. The classical design not only conveys strength and beauty; Even more impressive, it was completed on time and under budget. It proves that beautiful designs do not have to be at the expense of tax responsibility.
The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and US Capitol Building are seen from the IWO Jima US Marine Corps Memorial while the sun rises on Memorial Day on 26 May 2025, in Arlington, Virginia. (Samuel Corum/Getty images)
The truth is that most Americans prefer classical architecture for their government buildings. A 2020 National Civic Art Society/Harris Poll survey among 2,000 American adults showed that 72% of Americans preferred traditional designs. The majorities in every demographic group prefer this approach, including 70% of the Democrats and 73% of Republicans.
Admittedly, some cultural elites will even defend the ugliest designs. The same social activists complain that classicism reflects Western civilization and American values and history at the time of the founding. Guilty as accused.
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Those critics are right, but not in the way they believe. The design of our public buildings is not just about aesthetics and beauty. It is also a debate about Western values: who we are, who we want to be like a nation. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who had a passion for architecture, loved to quote Thomas Jefferson for that reason: “Design activity and political thinking are indivisible.”
Political architecture is naturally a political choice. The founders are always planning for Washington, DC, to be a classic city. That is why we have to approve my bill – to ensure that our federal buildings continue to reflect the values that make America the greatest nation on earth.
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Justin Shubow is president of the National Civic Art Society and former chairman of the US Commission of Fine Arts.
