This is an updated version of the original letter published on February 6, with signatories added.
February 10, 2020
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20500
Re: Opposition to proposed Executive Order “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again”
Dear Mr. President,
The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) expresses strong opposition to the proposed Executive Order “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again.”
SAH is the principal scholarly organization for architectural historians worldwide. Its members represent a broad spectrum of academic and professional specialties, with membership spanning the globe. Our membership strongly opposes the language in the proposed Executive Order “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again.” We share the concern expressed by the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the academic associations listed below that have made common cause with us by signing this letter.
As an organization whose members have observed, recorded, and analyzed both historic and contemporary architecture since our inception in 1940, we have come to understand that most significant public architecture in the United States has resulted from the intersection of monumentality, permanence, and aesthetic significance and the specific local demands of site and community. While we appreciate and encourage the attention paid to new federal courthouses, federal public buildings in the national Capitol region, and all federal buildings in the U.S. with budgets in excess of $50 million, we nonetheless remain convinced that the dictation of style—any style—is not the path to excellence in civic architecture.
Democratic by Design: Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture (1962), concluded, “Major emphasis should be placed on the choice of designs that embody the finest contemporary American architectural thought…Design must flow from the architectural professional to the Government, not vice versa.” An important but often overlooked precept of Democratic by Design was the emphasis on “contemporary American architectural thought,” not necessarily contemporary design. It encouraged both architectural practitioners and government officials to look for ways to express the ideals of American democracy in architectural form by looking to voices of the American public, rather than the amplification of a federal dictate from on high.
The influence of Democratic by Design has been enduring and wide reaching. This initiative has led to the design of several landmarks of American architecture, including the U.S. Tax Court Building in Washington, DC. That courthouse was described by architecture critic Ada Louis Huxtable as “a progressive, sensitive contemporary solution fully responsive to Washington’s classical tradition and yet fully part of the mid-20th century—a period of exceptional vigor and beauty in the history of structure and design.” A more recent example of this influence is the Oklahoma City Federal Building that replaced the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building, destroyed by a domestic terrorist bombing in 1995. In her Oklahoma City Journal Record piece describing the design of the Oklahoma City Federal Building, architect Carol Ross Barney’s statement echoed the enduring significance of Democratic by Design: “Obviously, the best thing to make it bomb-resistant was to make it hard, make it concrete. But that’s the wrong message. The message is that government has to be open.”
A robust return to the principles of Democratic by Design would result in federal architecture that is monumental, permanent, and beautiful. This would be achieved by listening to the voices of the American public, placing emphasis on the communities in which these new buildings are to be located, and stressing the General Services Administration’s role in insuring that this diversity of voices is heard. Instead of prescribing a particular stylistic outcome, such a path would instead promote architectural excellence, and a thoughtful fit between new federal architecture and the communities in which these buildings are to be constructed.
While SAH opposes the language of proposed Executive Order “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” we strongly support a renewed effort to encourage the design and construction of federal buildings that embrace architectural excellence based on the best architectural thinking and technology available. America’s best can be embodied in an architectural expression that is monumental, permanent, community-centered, and beautiful.
Respectfully submitted,
Society of Architectural Historians
Middle East Studies Association
National Council on Public History
Organization of American Historians
Society for Classical Studies
cc: James Sherk, White House Policy Aide
