For decades, American cities have been plagued by drab, uninspiring buildings. Craftsmanship and beauty have been replaced by cold, concrete boxes nationwide, but it wasn't always this way. Much of Washington, DC, still stands as a testament to the beauty America once valued.
Buildings like the Jefferson Memorial and the US Capitol are reminders of a time when architecture was about more than just providing office spaces. And thanks to President Donald Trump, we might finally have a shot at bringing beauty back into our buildings.
In August, Trump announced plans for a triumphal arch in DC to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence. This arch, dubbed the “Arc de Trump,” would go up directly across from the Lincoln Memorial in the Memorial Circle roundabout.
If we’re lucky, Trump’s proposed arch will spark a renaissance in American architecture, bringing back the beauty we’ve sadly lost.
The Decline of American Architecture
For much of the 20th century, American architecture appeared to turn its back on beauty. Gone were classical columns and intricate carvings, replaced by cold, gray monstrosities. The push toward modernism was branded as "progress," but the result was a landscape stripped of warmth and identity.
Walk through any major city today and you’ll see concrete, steel, and repetition. The great architectural traditions that connected America to its political roots in Athens and Rome were abandoned in favor of cheap materials and “efficient” design. The nation that once built the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial now settles for the architectural equivalent of a spreadsheet.
According to a 2020 National Civic Art Society survey, 72% of Americans “prefer traditional architecture for U.S. courthouses and federal office buildings.” The trend crossed political and demographic lines, with 70% of Democrats, 73% of Republicans, and 73% of independents, as well as the majority of white, black, and Hispanic Americans all preferring traditional architecture.
Return to the Beautiful
In August, Trump signed an executive order titled “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again,” emphasizing that the Founding Fathers understood how beautiful architecture can “inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue.” Trump’s order continued:
“President George Washington and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson consciously modeled the most important buildings in Washington, D.C., 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.
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“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. In the 1960s, the Federal Government largely replaced traditional designs for new construction with modernist and brutalist ones.”
Our Capitol dome, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial all draw from the classical ideals that link us to the great civilizations of the past. Yet for half a century, bureaucrats and “experts” have tried to erase that legacy and push ugly architecture on Americans.
Trump’s triumphal arch is an act of resistance against this deliberate cultural decay, and if built, it could stand as a testament not only to patriotism but to the simple, radical truth that beauty matters.
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