One of President Donald Trump’s final actions in his first administration was a last-ditch attempt to confront the impermanence of a four-year term by leaving his mark on something that could last much longer: federal architecture.
In a December 2020 executive order, Trump commanded new federal structures be built in the “classical architecture” style, defined in the order as derived from “Greek and Roman antiquity,” and including styles like Greek Revival and Beaux-Arts. The order at the time was controversial, and ex-President Joe Biden overturned it within his first weeks in office.
Trump apparently learned from his lateness and prioritized “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again” this time around, as his administration has sought to emphasize the “Again” within the MAGA slogan. He issued on Jan. 20 a memo ordering the General Services Administration to advance architectural policy for federal buildings that promote “classical architectural heritage.” In late August, his official federal architecture EO regurgitated much of what was in the first-term order.
“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,” the 2025 executive order reads.
Since re-taking office, Trump has filled the Oval Office with gold-colored tchotchkes, began work on a $200 million ballroom, and paved over the Rose Garden with concrete. Last week, news broke that Trump is considering building a grand triumphal arch in Arlington to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary. And in accordance with a March EO to “reinstate … pre-existing monuments,” two D.C.-area Confederate statues that were taken down in 2023 are being restored. On Monday, Trump took a literal bulldozer to the government when crews began demolishing part of the White House’s East Wing to make room for the president’s ballroom extension.
By seeking to assert control over civic architecture, Trump is creating a physical testament to his destruction of democracy, Reinhold Martin, an architecture historian and Columbia University Professor, told TPM. It’s an aesthetic offshoot of Project 2025’s goal to gut public welfare and government services, Martin said.
“It’s a project of demolition, and that’s why I’m saying the laughable but also obviously very tragic and historically disastrous outcome of this would be a series of empty basically stage sets,” Martin said, “empty political monuments, buildings with nothing in them because they fired everybody.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
“We make progress on one end,” Wilson said, “and then there’s immediate backlash because the system rewards people.”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
Periods of racial progress, like the civil rights movement and national movement for Black lives that came to a head in 2020, are usually met by fierce backlash. And Mabel Wilson, a professor of architectural history theory at Columbia University, told TPM it’s no surprise that this dynamic reaches into the arts and architecture.
“We make progress on one end,” Wilson said, “and then there’s immediate backlash because the system rewards people.”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
The president’s architectural EO is in keeping with this reclamation of a bygone culture shaped by American expansionism, strict gender and racial hierarchies, xenophobia, and less advanced scientific development.
Periods of racial progress, like the civil rights movement and national movement for Black lives that came to a head in 2020, are usually met by fierce backlash. And Mabel Wilson, a professor of architectural history theory at Columbia University, told TPM it’s no surprise that this dynamic reaches into the arts and architecture.
“We make progress on one end,” Wilson said, “and then there’s immediate backlash because the system rewards people.”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
Trump II has been all about returning, in as literal a way as possible, to the days of old. His administration has sought to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, again. His Health Department revived a long-defunct child vaccine task force. Trump wants to fund the government with tariffs, something that hasn’t been done at this scale since the 19th century. And Trump has been accused of seeking to whitewash the histories of slavery, discrimination, and racism by sanitizing historical accounts, much like some of his predecessors on the right.
The president’s architectural EO is in keeping with this reclamation of a bygone culture shaped by American expansionism, strict gender and racial hierarchies, xenophobia, and less advanced scientific development.
Periods of racial progress, like the civil rights movement and national movement for Black lives that came to a head in 2020, are usually met by fierce backlash. And Mabel Wilson, a professor of architectural history theory at Columbia University, told TPM it’s no surprise that this dynamic reaches into the arts and architecture.
“We make progress on one end,” Wilson said, “and then there’s immediate backlash because the system rewards people.”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
Architecture in America has been associated with “an American public, a democratic body, a democratic society,” Martin told TPM, “but also an imperial society, a slave-owning society, a commercial society. Classical architecture covers all of this.”
Trump II has been all about returning, in as literal a way as possible, to the days of old. His administration has sought to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, again. His Health Department revived a long-defunct child vaccine task force. Trump wants to fund the government with tariffs, something that hasn’t been done at this scale since the 19th century. And Trump has been accused of seeking to whitewash the histories of slavery, discrimination, and racism by sanitizing historical accounts, much like some of his predecessors on the right.
The president’s architectural EO is in keeping with this reclamation of a bygone culture shaped by American expansionism, strict gender and racial hierarchies, xenophobia, and less advanced scientific development.
Periods of racial progress, like the civil rights movement and national movement for Black lives that came to a head in 2020, are usually met by fierce backlash. And Mabel Wilson, a professor of architectural history theory at Columbia University, told TPM it’s no surprise that this dynamic reaches into the arts and architecture.
“We make progress on one end,” Wilson said, “and then there’s immediate backlash because the system rewards people.”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
“The classical architecture stuff is a dog whistle for white nationalists,” said Martin, who co-edited a book titled “Architecture against Democracy.”
Architecture in America has been associated with “an American public, a democratic body, a democratic society,” Martin told TPM, “but also an imperial society, a slave-owning society, a commercial society. Classical architecture covers all of this.”
Trump II has been all about returning, in as literal a way as possible, to the days of old. His administration has sought to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, again. His Health Department revived a long-defunct child vaccine task force. Trump wants to fund the government with tariffs, something that hasn’t been done at this scale since the 19th century. And Trump has been accused of seeking to whitewash the histories of slavery, discrimination, and racism by sanitizing historical accounts, much like some of his predecessors on the right.
The president’s architectural EO is in keeping with this reclamation of a bygone culture shaped by American expansionism, strict gender and racial hierarchies, xenophobia, and less advanced scientific development.
Periods of racial progress, like the civil rights movement and national movement for Black lives that came to a head in 2020, are usually met by fierce backlash. And Mabel Wilson, a professor of architectural history theory at Columbia University, told TPM it’s no surprise that this dynamic reaches into the arts and architecture.
“We make progress on one end,” Wilson said, “and then there’s immediate backlash because the system rewards people.”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
Trump is also leaning on the idea that architecture can be used — as groups like the Daughters of the Confederacy realized in the post-Reconstruction era — to hearken back to a whiter past.
“The classical architecture stuff is a dog whistle for white nationalists,” said Martin, who co-edited a book titled “Architecture against Democracy.”
Architecture in America has been associated with “an American public, a democratic body, a democratic society,” Martin told TPM, “but also an imperial society, a slave-owning society, a commercial society. Classical architecture covers all of this.”
Trump II has been all about returning, in as literal a way as possible, to the days of old. His administration has sought to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, again. His Health Department revived a long-defunct child vaccine task force. Trump wants to fund the government with tariffs, something that hasn’t been done at this scale since the 19th century. And Trump has been accused of seeking to whitewash the histories of slavery, discrimination, and racism by sanitizing historical accounts, much like some of his predecessors on the right.
The president’s architectural EO is in keeping with this reclamation of a bygone culture shaped by American expansionism, strict gender and racial hierarchies, xenophobia, and less advanced scientific development.
Periods of racial progress, like the civil rights movement and national movement for Black lives that came to a head in 2020, are usually met by fierce backlash. And Mabel Wilson, a professor of architectural history theory at Columbia University, told TPM it’s no surprise that this dynamic reaches into the arts and architecture.
“We make progress on one end,” Wilson said, “and then there’s immediate backlash because the system rewards people.”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
“Adolf Hitler had Albert Speer, right?”
Trump is also leaning on the idea that architecture can be used — as groups like the Daughters of the Confederacy realized in the post-Reconstruction era — to hearken back to a whiter past.
“The classical architecture stuff is a dog whistle for white nationalists,” said Martin, who co-edited a book titled “Architecture against Democracy.”
Architecture in America has been associated with “an American public, a democratic body, a democratic society,” Martin told TPM, “but also an imperial society, a slave-owning society, a commercial society. Classical architecture covers all of this.”
Trump II has been all about returning, in as literal a way as possible, to the days of old. His administration has sought to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, again. His Health Department revived a long-defunct child vaccine task force. Trump wants to fund the government with tariffs, something that hasn’t been done at this scale since the 19th century. And Trump has been accused of seeking to whitewash the histories of slavery, discrimination, and racism by sanitizing historical accounts, much like some of his predecessors on the right.
The president’s architectural EO is in keeping with this reclamation of a bygone culture shaped by American expansionism, strict gender and racial hierarchies, xenophobia, and less advanced scientific development.
Periods of racial progress, like the civil rights movement and national movement for Black lives that came to a head in 2020, are usually met by fierce backlash. And Mabel Wilson, a professor of architectural history theory at Columbia University, told TPM it’s no surprise that this dynamic reaches into the arts and architecture.
“We make progress on one end,” Wilson said, “and then there’s immediate backlash because the system rewards people.”
“Architecture speaks silently,” Martin told TPM. “The attempt to revive classical architecture under current political conditions is an attempt that speaks silently about dismantling not just the ideas that were expressed in 2020, but the institutions of civil rights. And so it speaks silently the language of white nationalism. And that is well known, but it’s very difficult to literally demonstrate or prove. That’s why it’s so effective, because it’s easily deniable.”
Greek Revival architecture was a favorite among southern plantation owners at the height of slavery, chosen explicitly for its links between civic power and human enslavement.
“For Southern aristocracy, Greek and Roman architecture was the symbol and assurance that sound society could perfectly well combine ideals of liberty and the institution of slavery,” architectural historian Alan Gowans wrote in his 1964 book “Images of American Living.”
After the Civil War decimated the U.S. South and brought an end to the institution of slavery, southerners rebuilt plantation lands and big houses in an attempt to reclaim their hierarchy in aristocratic society. These restoration efforts peaked from the Reconstruction era through the 1950s and ushered in plantation tourism. There was South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation, turned from a rice field to a 500-acre garden in 1870. Kenmore Plantation and Carter’s Grove, both in Virginia, were both restored and beautified in the 1920s and 1930s. One of Tennessee’s premier plantations, Belle Meade, was restored in the 1950s. Aristocratic women were at the forefront of this revival, especially organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Brigette Jones, who worked as a public interpreter at Belle Meade, said the Daughters of the Confederacy’s romanticization of the antebellum period was rooted in cultural anxiety.
“Their intention was, ‘Let’s make it back to what it was, because things are changing,’” Jones, who is now the assistant executive director for the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance, told TPM. “Black people were running for office. Black people were starting businesses. Black people had become competition to many white people at that point.”
There are also darker, authoritarian overtones to Trump’s EO. A report in The Science Survey said Mussolini’s Italian architecture echoed ancient Roman aesthetics “to portray the regime as the rightful heir to imperial glory.”
Martin called the proposed triumphal arch in Arlington “Napoleonic” and part of “an imperial tradition.”
Powerful leaders throughout history, from Napoleon to Louis XIV, have called upon architects to construct imposing, enduring physical manifestations of their political projects, Wilson of Columbia pointed out.
