Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 23, 2020)]

[Presidential Documents]

[Pages 83739-83744]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 2020-28605]

Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 85 , No. 247 / Wednesday, December 23, 2020 /

Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--

The President

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Executive Order 13967 of December 18, 2020

Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture

By the authority vested in me as President by the

Constitution and the laws of the United States of

America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Purpose. Societies have long recognized the

importance of beautiful public architecture. Ancient

Greek and Roman public buildings were designed to be

sturdy and useful, and also to beautify public spaces

and inspire civic pride. Throughout the Middle Ages and

the Renaissance, public architecture continued to serve

these purposes. The 1309 constitution of the City of

Siena required that ``[w]hoever rules the City must

have the beauty of the City as his foremost

preoccupation . . . because it must provide pride,

honor, wealth, and growth to the Sienese citizens, as

well as pleasure and happiness to visitors from

abroad.'' Three centuries later, the great British

Architect Sir Christopher Wren declared that ``public

buildings [are] the ornament of a country.

[Architecture] establishes a Nation, draws people and

commerce, makes the people love their native country .

. . Architecture aims at eternity[.]''

om

abroad.'' Three centuries later, the great British

Architect Sir Christopher Wren declared that ``public

buildings [are] the ornament of a country.

[Architecture] establishes a Nation, draws people and

commerce, makes the people love their native country .

. . Architecture aims at eternity[.]''

Notable Founding Fathers agreed with these assessments

and attached great importance to Federal civic

architecture. They wanted America's public buildings to

inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue.

President George Washington and Secretary of State

Thomas Jefferson consciously modeled the most important

buildings in Washington, DC, on the classical

architecture of ancient Athens and Rome. They sought to

use classical architecture to visually connect our

contemporary Republic with the antecedents of democracy

in classical antiquity, reminding citizens not only of

their rights but also their responsibilities in

maintaining and perpetuating its institutions.

Washington and Jefferson personally oversaw the

competitions to design the Capitol Building and the

White House. Under the direction and following the

vision of these two founders, Pierre Charles L'Enfant

designed the Nation's capital as a classical city. The

promise of his design for the city was fulfilled by the

1902 McMillan Plan, which created the National Mall and

the Monumental Core as we know them.

White House. Under the direction and following the

vision of these two founders, Pierre Charles L'Enfant

designed the Nation's capital as a classical city. The

promise of his design for the city was fulfilled by the

1902 McMillan Plan, which created the National Mall and

the Monumental Core as we know them.

For approximately a century and a half following

America's founding, America's Federal architecture

continued to be characterized by beautiful and beloved

buildings of largely, though not exclusively, classical

design. Examples include the Second Bank of the United

States in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Pioneer

Courthouse in Portland, Oregon, and the Thurgood

Marshall United States Courthouse in New York City, New

York. In Washington, DC, classical buildings such as

the White House, the Capitol Building, the Supreme

Court, the Department of the Treasury, and the Lincoln

Memorial have become iconic symbols of our system of

government. These cherished landmarks, built to endure

for centuries, have become an important part of our

civic life.

In the 1950s, the Federal Government largely replaced

traditional designs for new construction with modernist

ones. This practice became official policy after the Ad

Hoc Committee on Federal Office Space proposed what

became known as the Guiding Principles for Federal

Architecture (Guiding Principles) in 1962

In the 1950s, the Federal Government largely replaced

traditional designs for new construction with modernist

ones. This practice became official policy after the Ad

Hoc Committee on Federal Office Space proposed what

became known as the Guiding Principles for Federal

Architecture (Guiding Principles) in 1962. The Guiding

Principles implicitly discouraged classical and other

traditional designs known for their beauty, declaring

instead that the Government should use ``contemporary''

designs.

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The Federal architecture that ensued, overseen by the

General Services Administration (GSA), was often

unpopular with Americans. The new buildings ranged from

the undistinguished to designs even GSA now admits many

in the public found unappealing. In Washington, DC, new

Federal buildings visibly clashed with the existing

classical architecture. Some of these structures, such

as the Hubert H. Humphrey Department of Health and

Human Services Building and the Robert C. Weaver

Department of Housing and Urban Development Building,

were controversial, attracting widespread criticism for

their Brutalist designs.

In 1994, GSA responded to this widespread criticism

that the buildings it had been commissioning lacked

distinction by establishing the Design Excellence

Program. The GSA intended that program to advance the

Guiding Principles' mandate that Federal architecture

``provide visual testimony to the dignity, enterprise,

vigor, and stability of the American Government.''

Unfortunately, the program has not met this goal.

distinction by establishing the Design Excellence

Program. The GSA intended that program to advance the

Guiding Principles' mandate that Federal architecture

``provide visual testimony to the dignity, enterprise,

vigor, and stability of the American Government.''

Unfortunately, the program has not met this goal.

Under the Design Excellence Program, GSA has often

selected designs by prominent architects with little

regard for local input or regional aesthetic

preferences. The resulting Federal architecture

sometimes impresses the architectural elite, but not

the American people who the buildings are meant to

serve. Many of these new Federal buildings are not even

visibly identifiable as civic buildings.

For example, GSA selected an architect to design the

San Francisco Federal Building who describes his

designs as ``art-for-art's-sake'' architecture,

intended primarily for architects to appreciate. While

elite architects praised the resulting building, many

San Franciscans consider it one of the ugliest

structures in their city. Similarly, GSA selected a

modernist architect to design Salt Lake City's new

Federal courthouse. The architectural establishment and

its professional organizations praised his unique

creation, but many local residents considered it ugly

and inconsistent with its surroundings. In Orlando,

Florida, a coalition of judges, court employees, and

civic leaders opposed GSA's preferred modernist design

for the George C. Young Federal Courthouse

its professional organizations praised his unique

creation, but many local residents considered it ugly

and inconsistent with its surroundings. In Orlando,

Florida, a coalition of judges, court employees, and

civic leaders opposed GSA's preferred modernist design

for the George C. Young Federal Courthouse. They

believed it lacked the dignity a Federal courthouse

should embody. The GSA nonetheless imposed this design

over their objections.

With a limited number of exceptions, such as the

Tuscaloosa Federal Building and Courthouse and the

Corpus Christi Federal Courthouse, the Federal

Government has largely stopped building beautiful

buildings. In Washington, DC, Federal architecture has

become a discordant mixture of classical and modernist

designs.

It is time to update the policies guiding Federal

architecture to address these problems and ensure that

architects designing Federal buildings serve their

clients, the American people. New Federal building

designs should, like America's beloved landmark

buildings, uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire

the human spirit, ennoble the United States, command

respect from the general public, and, as appropriate,

respect the architectural heritage of a region. They

should also be visibly identifiable as civic buildings

and should be selected with input from the local

community.

public spaces, inspire

the human spirit, ennoble the United States, command

respect from the general public, and, as appropriate,

respect the architectural heritage of a region. They

should also be visibly identifiable as civic buildings

and should be selected with input from the local

community.

Classical and other traditional architecture, as

practiced both historically and by today's architects,

have proven their ability to meet these design criteria

and to more than satisfy today's functional, technical,

and sustainable needs. Their use should be encouraged

instead of discouraged.

Encouraging classical and traditional architecture does

not exclude using most other styles of architecture,

where appropriate. Care must be taken, however, to

ensure that all Federal building designs command

respect of the general public for their beauty and

visual embodiment of America's ideals.

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Sec. 2. Policy. (a) Applicable Federal public buildings

should uplift and beautify public spaces, inspire the

human spirit, ennoble the United States, and command

respect from the general public. They should also be

visually identifiable as civic buildings and, as

appropriate, respect regional architectural heritage.

Architecture--with particular regard for traditional

and classical architecture--that meets the criteria set

forth in this subsection is the preferred architecture

for applicable Federal public buildings

visually identifiable as civic buildings and, as

appropriate, respect regional architectural heritage.

Architecture--with particular regard for traditional

and classical architecture--that meets the criteria set

forth in this subsection is the preferred architecture

for applicable Federal public buildings. In the

District of Columbia, classical architecture shall be

the preferred and default architecture for Federal

public buildings absent exceptional factors

necessitating another kind of architecture.

(b) Where the architecture of applicable Federal

public buildings diverges from the preferred

architecture set forth in subsection (a) of this

section, great care and consideration must be taken to

choose a design that commands respect from the general

public and clearly conveys to the general public the

dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of America's

system of self-government.

(c) When renovating, reducing, or expanding

applicable Federal public buildings that do not meet

the criteria set forth in subsection (a) of this

section, the feasibility and potential expense of

building redesign to meet those criteria should be

examined. Where feasible and economical, such redesign

should be given substantial consideration, especially

with regard to the building's exterior.

the criteria set forth in subsection (a) of this

section, the feasibility and potential expense of

building redesign to meet those criteria should be

examined. Where feasible and economical, such redesign

should be given substantial consideration, especially

with regard to the building's exterior.

(d) GSA should seek input from the future users of

applicable public buildings and the general public in

the community where such buildings will be located

before selecting an architectural firm or design style.

Sec. 3. Definitions. For the purposes of this order:

(a) ``Applicable Federal public building'' means:

(i) all Federal courthouses and agency headquarters;

(ii) all Federal public buildings in the District of Columbia; and

(iii) all other Federal public buildings that cost or are expected to cost

more than $50 million in 2020 dollars to design, build, and finish, but

does not include infrastructure projects or land ports of entry.

(b) ``Brutalist'' means the style of architecture

that grew out of the early 20th-century modernist

movement that is characterized by a massive and block-

like appearance with a rigid geometric style and large-

scale use of exposed poured concrete.

does not include infrastructure projects or land ports of entry.

(b) ``Brutalist'' means the style of architecture

that grew out of the early 20th-century modernist

movement that is characterized by a massive and block-

like appearance with a rigid geometric style and large-

scale use of exposed poured concrete.

(c) ``Classical architecture'' means the

architectural tradition derived from the forms,

principles, and vocabulary of the architecture of Greek

and Roman antiquity, and as later developed and

expanded upon by such Renaissance architects as

Alberti, Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, and Palladio; such

Enlightenment masters as Robert Adam, John Soane, and

Christopher Wren; such 19th-century architects as

Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Robert Mills, and Thomas U.

Walter; and such 20th-century practitioners as Julian

Abele, Daniel Burnham, Charles F. McKim, John Russell

Pope, Julia Morgan, and the firm of Delano and Aldrich.

Classical architecture encompasses such styles as

Neoclassical, Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-

Arts, and Art Deco.

(d) ``Deconstructivist'' means the style of

architecture generally known as ``deconstructivism''

that emerged during the late 1980s that subverts the

traditional values of architecture through such

features as fragmentation, disorder, discontinuity,

distortion, skewed geometry, and the appearance of

instability.

(e) ``General public'' means members of the public

who are not:

that emerged during the late 1980s that subverts the

traditional values of architecture through such

features as fragmentation, disorder, discontinuity,

distortion, skewed geometry, and the appearance of

instability.

(e) ``General public'' means members of the public

who are not:

(i) artists, architects, engineers, art or architecture critics,

instructors or professors of art or architecture, or members of the

building industry; or

(ii) affiliated with any interest group, trade association, or any other

organization whose membership is financially affected by decisions

involving the design, construction, or remodeling of public buildings.

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(f) ``Officer'' has the meaning given that term in

section 2104 of title 5, United States Code.

(g) ``Public building'' has the meaning given that

term in section 3301(a)(5) of title 40, United States

Code.

(h) ``Traditional architecture'' includes classical

architecture, as defined herein, and also includes the

historic humanistic architecture such as Gothic,

Romanesque, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial, and other

Mediterranean styles of architecture historically

rooted in various regions of America.

(i) ``2020 dollars'' means dollars adjusted for

inflation using the Bureau of Economic Analysis's Gross

Domestic Product price deflator and using 2020 as the

base year.

Sec. 4. President's Council on Improving Federal Civic

Architecture. (a) There is hereby established the

President's Council on Improving Federal Civic

Architecture (Council).

(b) The Council shall be composed of:

Domestic Product price deflator and using 2020 as the

base year.

Sec. 4. President's Council on Improving Federal Civic

Architecture. (a) There is hereby established the

President's Council on Improving Federal Civic

Architecture (Council).

(b) The Council shall be composed of:

(i) all of the members of the Commission of Fine Arts;

(ii) the Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts;

(iii) the Architect of the Capitol;

(iv) the Commissioner of the GSA Public Building Service;

(v) the Chief Architect of GSA;

(vi) other officers or employees of the Federal Government as the President

may, from time to time, designate; and

(vii) up to 20 additional members appointed by the President from among

citizens from outside the Federal Government to provide diverse

perspectives on the matters falling under the Council's jurisdiction.

(c) The Council shall be chaired by a member of the

Commission of Fine Arts designated by the President.

The Chair may designate a vice-chair and may establish

subcommittees.

(d) The members of the Council shall serve without

compensation for their work on the Council. However,

members of the Council, while engaged in the work of

the Council, may receive travel expenses, including per

diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for

persons serving intermittently in the government

service, pursuant to sections 5701 through 5707 of

title 5, United States Code.

wever,

members of the Council, while engaged in the work of

the Council, may receive travel expenses, including per

diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for

persons serving intermittently in the government

service, pursuant to sections 5701 through 5707 of

title 5, United States Code.

(e) To the extent permitted by law and within

existing appropriations, the Administrator of General

Services (Administrator) shall provide such funding and

administrative and technical support as the Council may

require. The Administrator shall, to the extent

permitted by law, direct GSA staff to provide any

relevant information the Council requests and may

detail such staff to aid the work of the Council, at

the request of the Council.

(f) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act,

as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), may apply to the Council,

any functions of the President under that Act, except

that of reporting to the Congress under section 6 of

that Act, shall be performed by the Administrator in

accordance with the guidelines and procedures

established by the Administrator.

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(g) The Council shall terminate on September 30,

2021, unless extended by the President. Members

appointed under subsections (b)(vi) and (b)(vii) of

this section shall serve until the Council terminates

and shall not be removed except for inefficiency,

neglect of duty, or malfeasance.

Sec. 5. Responsibilities of the Council. The Council

shall:

2021, unless extended by the President. Members

appointed under subsections (b)(vi) and (b)(vii) of

this section shall serve until the Council terminates

and shall not be removed except for inefficiency,

neglect of duty, or malfeasance.

Sec. 5. Responsibilities of the Council. The Council

shall:

(a) submit a report to the Administrator,

recommending updates to GSA's policies and procedures

to incorporate the policies of section 2 of this order

and advance the purposes of this order. The report

shall explain how the recommended changes accomplish

these purposes. The report shall be submitted prior to

September 30, 2021.

(b) recommend to the Administrator changes to GSA

policies for situations in which the agency

participates in a design selection pursuant to the

Commemorative Works Act (chapter 89 of title 40, United

States Code), in furtherance of the purposes of this

order and consistent with applicable law.

Sec. 6. Agency Actions. (a) The Administrator shall

adhere to the policies set forth in section 2 of this

order.

(b) In the event the Administrator proposes to

approve a design for a new applicable Federal public

building that diverges from the preferred architecture

set forth in subsection 2(a) of this order, including

Brutalist or Deconstructivist architecture or any

design derived from or related to these types of

architecture, the Administrator shall notify the

President through the Assistant to the President for

Domestic Policy not less than 30 days before GSA could

t forth in subsection 2(a) of this order, including

Brutalist or Deconstructivist architecture or any

design derived from or related to these types of

architecture, the Administrator shall notify the

President through the Assistant to the President for

Domestic Policy not less than 30 days before GSA could

reject such design without incurring substantial

expenditures. Such notification shall set forth the

reasons the Administrator proposes to approve such

design, including:

(i) a detailed explanation of why the Administrator believes selecting such

design is justified, with particular focus on whether such design is as

beautiful and reflective of the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability

of the American system of self-government as alternative designs of

comparable cost using preferred architecture;

(ii) the total expected cost of adopting the proposed design, including

estimated maintenance and replacement costs throughout its expected

lifecycle; and

(iii) a description of the designs using preferred architecture seriously

considered for such project and the total expected cost of adopting such

designs, including estimated maintenance and replacement costs throughout

their expected lifecycles.

Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order

shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or

the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with

applicable law and subject to the availability of

appropriations.

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by law to an executive department or agency, or

the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with

applicable law and subject to the availability of

appropriations.

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(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,

create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,

enforceable at law or in equity by any party against

the United States, its departments, agencies, or

entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any

other person.

(Presidential Sig.)

THE WHITE HOUSE,

December 18, 2020.

[FR Doc. 2020-28605

Filed 12-22-20; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3295-F1-P