Congresswoman Dina Titus today reintroduced the Democracy in Design Act to preserve diversity in the design of federal buildings by ensuring state and local governments are allowed to design buildings reflecting the diverse cultures of their regions.

“Architecture varies widely across the United States, and that’s a good thing. We don’t need federal mandates dictating how local governments should design federal buildings in their communities. That’s why this legislation emphasizes regional architecture traditions, letting them guide the design process instead of one-size-fits-all national rules,” said Congresswoman Titus, who is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

“Federal design guidelines should not confine all architecture to one point in history,” the congresswoman said. “They should reflect all the progress our country has made and uplift our diverse history and culture.”

Congresswoman Titus’s efforts to democratize federal building design began when the first Trump Administration issued an executive order mandating Neoclassical architecture for all federal buildings. The order elicited a broad backlash as a clear overreach of the federal government and a backwards attempt to instill “national values” into the country’s architecture. President Biden ultimately overturned the order which President Trump is now seeking to reinstate.

“On his first day in office this year, President Trump issued a memorandum directing the General Services Administration to review the current guidelines for designing federal buildings and report back with recommendations within sixty days,” Congresswoman Titus said. “While we have yet to see GSA’s recommendations, history tells us what we can expect from this Administration.”

Background

The Democracy in Design Act would safeguard the guidelines that have been the bedrock of federal architectural design since the Kennedy Administration. Known as the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, these guidelines reflect the nation’s diverse tastes, traditions, and geographic regions. The American Institute of Architects strongly supports maintaining those guidelines and has endorsed Congresswoman Titus’s legislation.