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Architecture speaks volumes about how any culture sees the world and the values that guide it. When Americans think of the buildings that best reflect our values, we think of landmarks like the Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court, and the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.
All these structures have something in common: they’re beautiful and made of stone that radiates with light. There’s something about them that makes you look up, take notice and feel pride. More importantly, they reflect the kind of classic architecture that’s stood the test of time, going back to the traditions of ancient Greece and Rome.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson put an emphasis on classical architecture when they helped design America’s capital. Jefferson hailed the U.S. Capitol building as “the first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people, embellishing with Athenian taste the course of a nation looking far beyond the range of Athenian destinies.” Washington praised the “grandeur, simplicity, and beauty” of the Capitol’s neoclassical design.
The US Capitol Dome as a storm rolls towards Capitol Hill on July 1, 2025. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Founders started a classical tradition that lasted nearly 150 years. It inspired the construction of beautiful buildings across America, such as Indianapolis’ Birch Bayh U.S. Courthouse – a beaux arts design completed in 1905. Built with Indiana limestone, it features Ionic columns and grand courtrooms.
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The Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette, Indiana, is another great example. Completed in 1884, its three-tiered clock tower, sculptures and domed roof make this courthouse one of Indiana’s most beautiful public buildings.
But starting in the 1960s, our national government stopped prioritizing beautiful buildings. Today, fewer than 10% of new government buildings are in the classical or traditional mold. Ugly structures have emerged, including brutalist concrete hulks here in Washington like the FBI headquarters and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Three different HUD secretaries – one Republican and two Democrats – have compared their building to 10 floors of basement.
More recently, we’ve gotten new courthouses that resemble bizarre art projects, and in some cases blatantly undermine our country’s values. The architect of the Nancy Pelosi San Francisco Federal Building has openly said his work takes an “aggressive attitude” toward the public.
The Jefferson Memorial is framed by the Tidal Basin, bottom, and the Potomac River, top, in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, 2014. (Reuters/Gary Cameron)
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To overturn this trend, I (Sen. Banks) will soon introduce the Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act. It codifies President Donald Trump’s executive order “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again.” My bill, like that order, demands that new federal buildings “uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the human spirit, ennoble the United States, and command respect from the general public.”
My legislation doesn’t mandate any specific style for buildings across the country – it only requires a preference for classical and traditional architecture designs, which include everything from neoclassical to art deco to Romanesque to Pueblo revival.
My bill also requires federal agencies to gather substantial input from local communities when designs are being selected for federal buildings. At present, there is absolutely zero requirement for federal agencies to consider what kind of buildings the people they serve want. My legislation reverses that, ensuring the public has a say in the design of their government buildings.
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Our country is still capable of building beautiful, dignified public architecture that encourages civic virtue. The Tuscaloosa Federal Building and Courthouse, which opened in 2012, stands as proof of that. Its classical design not only conveys strength and beauty; even more impressively, it was completed on time and under budget. It proves that beautiful designs do not have to come at the expense of fiscal responsibility.
The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and U.S. Capitol building are seen from the Iwo Jima U.S. Marine Corps Memorial as the sun rises on Memorial Day on May 26, 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 of 2,000 U.S. adults found that 72% of Americans preferred traditional designs. Majorities across every demographic group favor this approach, including 70% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans.
Admittedly, some cultural elites will defend even the ugliest designs. Those same social activists complain that classicism reflects Western civilization and American values and history at the time of the founding. Guilty as charged.
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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 over Western values: who we are, who we wish to be as a nation. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who had a passion for architecture, was fond of quoting Thomas Jefferson for that very reason: “Design activity and political thought are indivisible.”
Political architecture is, by nature, a political choice. The Founders always intended for Washington, D.C., to be a classical city. That’s why we must pass my bill – to ensure our federal buildings continue to boldly 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 U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
