Announcing NCAS's 2026 Walking Tours in Washington, D.C.

The National Civic Art Society cordially invites you to take part in our 2026 walking tour series "The Influence of Classicism in the Architecture of Washington's Historic Neighborhoods."

Local historian Jeanne Fogle lead the series of tours each Saturday morning in May, bringing Washington’s past alive through stories of the area’s residents and insight into the area’s distinctive architectural development. 

Tickets cost $10, but NCAS members, students, interns, and Hill staffers may obtain free tickets by e-mailing info@civicart.org. The five tours are:

Tour 1: The President’s Neighborhood - Saturday May 2, 10:00am-Noon

The White House has served as a symbol of power since December 1800 when President Adams became its first occupant. In the shadow of nearby classical government office buildings powerful people lived in stately residences. After the Civil, War, America’s nouveau riche class chose to build and reside near Lafayette Square. However, the first half of the 20th Century brought tremendous change to the area as old residences were replaced by banks, hotels, gentlemen’s clubs, national associations, and new government offices. Many of the new buildings embraced the then popular Beaux Arts style. However, in the 1960s as Modernism began to permeate the area, the tide was turned toward preservation through the vision of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Tour 2: Capitol Hill Historic District - Saturday May 9, 10:00am-Noon

Capitol Hill owes its existence and growth to the presence of the federal government. The Capitol Hill Historic District covers 200 city blocks and boasts approximately 8,000 buildings, including the monumental federal complex and the extensive residential neighborhood. The architectural styles reflect the history of the city, beginning with the construction of the Capitol in 1793 and the accompanying cluster of boarding houses. L’Enfant’s street plan created a variety of irregular-shaped open spaces for parks, and the wide avenues with deep setbacks. The large classical governmental, commercial, and institutional buildings serve to contrast and compliment a cohesive collection of intact 19th century row houses with their detailed period styles and hidden alleys.

Tour 3: Dupont Circle Historic District - Saturday May 16, 10:00am-Noon

Stately architecture reflects a proud history in the Dupont Circle neighborhood and anecdotes about the building’s owners bring the area alive. This elegant section of the city experienced its golden age between 1880 and World War I. The area offers unusually rich and varied streetscapes. Here, among the city’s most elegant architecture are fine examples of early apartment buildings and 1920’s commercial buildings, along with the superior turn-of-the-century residences that celebrate the work of prominent local and national architects.

Tour 4: 16th Street Historic District - Saturday May 23, 10:00am-Noon

16th Street is graciously endowed with a myriad of impressive structures, both residential, institutional, and commercial. The avenue’s early history stems from its immediate proximity to the President’s Residence. The architectural styles that are showcased along 16th Street include clusters of Federal, Victorian, and Beaux Arts residences, national churches, and some of Washington’s most charming hotels and apartment buildings. Between Lafayette Square and Scott Circle, many of the grand mansions were replaced by in the mid-20th century with large impersonal office buildings, but the area north of the Circle retains much of its building stock from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Tour 5: Kalorama/Sheridan Historic Neighborhood - Saturday May 30, 10:00am-Noon

Home to six presidents and the Gilded-Age nouveau riche, the Kalorama/Sheridan neighborhood is located just north of the original city boundaries, as they were laid out by Pierre L’Enfant. Once known for its idyllic landscape, the area underwent rapid development in the early 20th century. The streets follow the topography rather than L’Enfant’s city plan and are lined with a variety of housing forms, each of which contributes to a sophisticated and distinguished residential image that is unique within Washington. The neighborhood is distinguished by its well-designed houses and apartment buildings, some of which now are used by embassies, chanceries, private clubs, and institutions.

You can see more details and register for the tours HERE.

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About the tour guide: Jeanne Fogle is a Washington, D.C., historian who was born in the Nation's Capital, where her family has lived for more than 150 years. She has authored three books on the social and architectural history of Washington, D.C., Two Hundred Years: Stories of the Nation’s Capital, Proximity to Power: Neighbors to the Presidents Near Lafayette Square, and Washington, D.C.: a Pictorial Celebration. Fogle serves as an adjunct professor of Washington History and Regional Tour Guiding and Tour Managing at NOVA. Her great-grandfather George F. W. Strieby was an accomplished fresco artist whose work adorns the U.S. Capitol.

Fast Company Video on NCAS's Success in Beautifying Federal Architecture

Fast Company Staff Writer Nate Berg Discussing the National Civic Art Society and its President, Justin Shubow

Fast Comany magazine published a video surveying the National Civic Art Society’s success in promoting classicism in federal architecture—including President Trump’s revolutionary Executive Orders on the subject.

Although its title is clickbait, the video itself is mostly fair. Amusingly, staff writer Nate Berg suggests that NCAS is wrong about Brutalism, a style he says architects like, while showing photos of hideous Brutalist government buildings that prove our point.

He also points out that the recent Executive Order overturns the 1962 Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, which dictated that “Design must flow from the architectural profession to the Government, and not vice versa.”

Last year, the same journalist published an article in Fast Company on NCAS president Justin Shubow titled, “Meet the Mastermind Behind Trump’s War on Modern Architecture.”

You can watch the video HERE.

General Services Administration Hiring Senior Advisor for Architectural Design

Pursuant to the Executive Order "Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again," the General Services Administration is hiring a Senior Advisor for Architectural Design. GSA is the agency that oversees the design nand construction of all federal buildings and U.S. courthouses.

To quote the job description, the Senior Advisor:

provides specialized experience . . . in classical and traditional architecture to assist in technical procedures, advise on architectural standards, structural technologies, and provide guidance during design evaluations or juries . . . .

The position requires:

professional architecture experience in classically and traditionally designed architecture for construction or alteration projects involving large and complex buildings as well as coordinating the activities of multidisciplinary teams on such projects.

The deadline to apply is April 3. 

National Civic Art Society Applauds Launch of DOT's Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Challenge

The National Civic Art Society (NCAS) applauds the launch of the U.S. Department of Transportation's "Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Challenge," announced today by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. (DOT press release here.) 

The competition invites Americans of all ages and backgrounds to submit infrastructure design concepts—including bridges, transit hubs, and rural transportation features—that capture the spirit and greatness of the United States, with up to $650,000 in prizes available.

DOT stated it is "seeking grounded, realistic design concepts that align with Executive Order 14344 – Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again." That Executive Order, which NCAS helped draft, reoriented federal architecture from modernism to classical and traditional design.

Justin Shubow, President of NCAS and Chairman of the DOT's new Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council, appointed by Secretary Duffy, praised the Challenge as a landmark step forward. The initiative aligns with the work of the Council, which is helping shape national efforts to improve the design and aesthetic quality of American transportation infrastructure. 

In an article about the Council last month, Architectural Digest reported, "There’s a new design advisory committee in Washington—and it’s primed to shake up the look of transportation infrastructure across the country."

"This Challenge is exactly what America needs," said Shubow. "For too long, our bridges, transit stations, and highways have been treated as purely utilitarian objects, stripped of the beauty and civic meaning that once made landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge and original Pennsylvania Station enduring symbols of American ambition. Secretary Duffy's initiative opens the door for designers and citizens alike to reimagine what transportation infrastructure can be—functional, yes, but also beautiful, dignified, and worthy of the great nation it serves. The National Civic Art Society enthusiastically encourages architects, designers, students, and everyday Americans to participate in the challenge and make their voices heard."

The Challenge opens today, March 13, 2026, with submissions accepted through May 13, 2026. Winners will be announced in July 2026. Interested participants can learn more and submit designs at transportation.gov/beautifytransportation/challenge. A public informational webinar will be held on March 25 at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The National Civic Art Society urges all Americans who believe in beautiful, meaningful public spaces to seize this opportunity.

Historic Step Forward: FY 2026 Minibus Appropriations Embraces Classical and Traditional Architecture for Federal Buildings

Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse in Louisville, Kentucky

The National Civic Art Society celebrates the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7148), signed into law by President Trump on February 3, 2026. This critical minibus funding package includes visionary report language in the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) division that encourages the General Services Administration (GSA) to prioritize classical and traditional architectural styles in the design and planning of future federal buildings.

This guidance marks a meaningful reaffirmation of America's architectural heritage and a rejection of decades of uninspiring, modernist designs that have too often dominated federal construction. 

The Joint Explanatory Statement (JES) accompanying the bill declares:

Classical Federal Buildings.—The agreement recognizes that Federal public buildings should be visibly identifiable as civic buildings and reflect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage. Public architecture should uplift and beautify public spaces, respect regional traditions, and ennoble our system of self government. Congress believes this is best achieved by designing Federal buildings in classical or traditional architectural styles. The agreement encourages the GSA to incorporate classical and traditional architecture in the planning and design of future Federal buildings.

This provision builds on prior efforts, including President Trump's Executive Order on Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again (issued in August 2025), which NCAS helped draft, and aligns with broader calls for cultural renewal that emphasize beauty, meaning, and human flourishing over fleeting trends or functionalism alone.

In September, Fox News published an op-ed by Senator Jim Banks (R-Indiana) and NCAS president Justin Shubow on legislation (S. 2726) that would beautify federal architecture by codifying President Trump's recent Order. There is a companion bill (H.R. 5194) pending in the House sponsored by Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA). NCAS helped draft the legislation in both chambers.  

In January, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy appointed Shubow chairman of the new Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council, which the U.S. DOT stated aligns with the recent Executive Order.

According to Shubow, "The National Civic Art Society commends the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, particularly those involved in the FSGG subcommittee, for including this important directive regarding federal architecture in the final package. Their leadership ensures that taxpayer-funded architecture serves not only practicality but also the higher purpose of ennobling the public realm. As the nation moves forward with new federal construction, this guidance provides a clear path toward buildings that inspire rather than alienate, that connect citizens to their heritage rather than distance them, and that reflect the timeless ideals upon which the Republic was founded."

NCAS President Justin Shubow Appointed Chairman of Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has appointed National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow chairman of the new, first-of-its-kind Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council. 

As the U.S. Department of Transportation announced in October:

The Council will advise the Secretary on policy and design opportunities to build beautiful structures and restore the beauty of key transportation infrastructure, including highways, bridges, and transit hubs. . . .  The Council will identify best practices, develop aesthetic performance metrics, and provide guidance on projects that enhance public spaces and reflect local character. . . .

The creation of this Council aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order (E.O.) 14344, Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again, which aims to update the policies guiding federal architecture design. 

Shubow helped draft that Executive Order, issued in August 2025, which reoriented federal architecture from modernism to classical and traditional design. He also prompted and helped draft a similar Executive Order, Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture, issued by President Trump during his first term.

The Council's first meeting, which Secretary Duffy will attend, will take place at USDOT on February 2nd from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST. The meeting will stream live online via Zoom, but members of the public must register in advance to watch. Register at https://usdot.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_7gP6ZdlGSYeDFFvufdQOAA .

Shubow commented on his recent appointment, "It is a true honor to be appointed chairman of the Beautifying Transportation Infrastructure Council. From the Golden Gate Bridge to the Merritt Parkway, from Dulles Airport to Cincinnati Union Terminal, America has constructed some of the most aesthetically pleasing infrastructure in the world. Our country did it before, and we can do it again. Beauty in design must not be an afterthought, dismissed as an alleged luxury or anachronism in the name of pure functionalism. Yet for decades far too much of our built environment has been soulless and ugly. Harmony with the natural and historic landscape matters, as does urban revitalization. People want to live, work, and travel in lovable, inspiring places. I look forward to working with the Council in providing guidance on the aesthetics of design."

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Founded in 2002, the National Civic Art Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that educates and empowers civic leaders in the promotion of public art and architecture worthy of our great Republic. We do this by advancing the classical tradition in architecture, urbanism, and their allied arts. Through our programs and initiatives we guide government agencies and officials; assist practitioners; and educate students and the general public in the preservation and creation of beautiful, dignified public buildings, monuments, and spaces.

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: Washington Deserves a Classical Stadium

Suggestive AI-generated classical RFK Stadium. Credit: Leigh Wolf.

On January 21, 2026, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow in which he calls for the architecture of the new RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to be classical. See below.

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Washington Needs a Stadium as Grand as Harvard’s

A classical Roman- or Greek-inspired arena would suit the capital’s spirit and history.

The largest private development in the District of Columbia’s history is under way: a new Robert F. Kennedy Stadium that will be home to the Commanders football team. At an estimated cost of $3.8 billion, it will replace the rusting, abandoned hulk that sits at the east end of East Capitol Street, fronting the Anacostia River. Given the stadium’s prime location, President Trump said the replacement is “going to be an architect’s dream.”

During a National Capital Planning Commission meeting last month, White House staff secretary Will Scharf said that he hopes the structure “incorporates architectural features in keeping with the capital more generally—classical, neoclassical elements that will align it with the capital that it will essentially overlook.”

I hope so too. The project offers a once-in-a-century opportunity for Washington to achieve its potential as a classical city inspired by Republican Rome—the intent of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

The Roman influence runs deep. The U.S. Capitol was spelled with an “O” rather than an “A” in reference to ancient Rome’s Capitoline Hill. The tributary of the Potomac River cutting across the land was called Tiber Creek after the river that flowed through the Eternal City. The Jefferson Memorial and the Capitol itself are modeled on the Pantheon.

The capital is awe-inspiring thanks to Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s 1791 master plan, perfected by the 1901-02 McMillan Plan creating the National Mall and monumental core as we know them. A grand east-west cross axis defines Washington, running west from the Anacostia to the Capitol, through the National Mall, past the Washington Monument, and to the Lincoln Memorial at the Potomac.

Yet the capital falls short of its founders’ vision. The Capitol building ought to be the symbolic center of the city—as it is in the street grid with its four quadrants—but the avenue running east is underdeveloped. A classical stadium at its end would counterbalance the Greek-temple-inspired Lincoln Memorial at the opposite terminus. The Capitol would be the fulcrum.

A classical stadium would be an iconic structure. It would invigorate fans and visitors. It would be lucrative for the team’s owners and a catalyst for neighborhood development. The design would stand out from other new stadiums around the world, many of which look like experimental modern art projects. The glitzy Sphere suits Las Vegas; a new football arena along classical lines would befit Washington, which Frederick Douglass praised for “its lofty domes and stately pillars.”

Building a classical stadium would comport with the spirit of Mr. Trump’s August executive order “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again,” which reorients the design of government buildings from modernist to classical and traditional styles. As that directive states, the Founders “wanted America’s public buildings to inspire the American people and encourage civic virtue. . . . 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.” The order recognizes that classical public buildings, monuments and memorials are popular with Americans, who associate them with our democracy’s highest ideals.

There’s also the question of civic urbanism—an approach to city planning that puts citizenship and community at the center. The new stadium will be the heart of a 180-acre mixed-use development likely containing housing and park space. Would Washingtonians rather live next to a structure that looks like a gigantic Martian spaceship or a work of beauty that reflects the genius loci, the spirit of the place? If there’s any doubt, the developers ought to survey the public. They could create renderings of modernist vs. traditional designs and let the people decide.

A classical stadium would echo another new, planned gateway to the city: the monumental Roman-inspired arch the president promises to build in the traffic circle near Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Lincoln Memorial. The magnificent proposed structure is reminiscent of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and will celebrate America’s semiquincentennial. This arch will continue the aforementioned east-west axis to the far side of the Potomac.

The idea of a classical football stadium isn’t new to the U.S. Its many precedents include the Los Angeles Coliseum (a 1984 Summer Olympics site), Harvard Stadium and Chicago’s original Soldier Field. Other countries have also recently considered building classical stadiums. In 2023, an architecture firm proposed an elegant Colosseum-like rugby stadium in Bath, England, keeping with the city’s historic Georgian architecture.

There’s even precedent for such a project in Washington. In 1911, architect Ward Brown proposed building a marble-and-concrete Roman-style stadium that could seat 87,000 people at what is now the site of the Lincoln Memorial.

The location of the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium cries out for a horseshoe design open to the west, permitting spectators to look out toward a majestic vista and setting sun. The design could be modeled on the U-shaped Panathenaic Stadium in Athens—the quintessential example of pure classical architecture reconstructed in the second century and entirely clad in marble.

It doesn’t necessarily augur well that the Commanders have hired HKS, a modernist architecture firm that has designed a handful of new stadiums, as the lead designer. The team recently released initial renderings. Lamely alluding to classical columns, they’re uninspired, to say the least. But even a mega-firm that typically builds in a futuristic style can form a partnership with a design architect who’s an expert in classicism.

Working together, the Trump administration, the Commanders’ owners and other stakeholders have a rare opportunity to build a glorious stadium that will be a win for business and a gift to the city.

Statement from NCAS President Justin Shubow Regarding Grand Penn's Selection as a Finalist to Design and Build a New Penn Station

According to NCAS president Justin Shubow, "The National Civic Art Society is ecstatic that Amtrak has shortlisted Grand Penn Partners (Macquarie) to design and build a new Pennsylvania Station in New York City. Grand Penn is proposing a magnificent classical design for the depot that evokes the beloved original Beaux-Arts structure, and which will instill civic pride in all who visit and use it. Grand Penn promises a modern, world-class transit hub with a soaring new train hall, public park, and improved passenger experience.  At the same time, the scheme provides a solution for Madison Square Garden, the sports arena that squats over the station and that is a major safety hazard (egress, ventilation, etc.). Under the Grand Penn plan, a new state-of-the-art MSG will be constructed across Seventh Avenue to the east/northeast. It will be a major improvement over the current arena, which dates from the LBJ administration.

"That the Macquarie Group, the world's largest infrastructure asset manager, is backing the Grand Penn proposal shows just how superior the scheme is. The National Civic Art Society is proud that our original idea for a new classical station--which we began campaigning for over 10 years ago--is closer to fruition than ever. Amtrak, under the leadership of Andy Byford, is to be commended for its latest move."

A June 2025 Politico article detailing NCAS's efforts regarding Penn Station can be found here.

NCAS President Justin Shubow to Speak at Yale Law School

On Thursday January 22, 2026, National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow will be giving a talk at Yale Law School sponsored by its Federalist Society chapter. His subject is "The Architecture of Democracy: The Return of Classicism in the Design of U.S. Courthouses and Federal Office Buildings." The event starts at noon and is free and open to the public.

The talk builds on Shubow’s recent writing on civic architecture, including his essay for the Jack Miller Center, “Building Citizens,” which examines how America’s classical public buildings have historically reinforced democratic ideals, as well as a recent article reflecting on the legacy of modern architecture and its effect on public culture. Together, these and other writings sit within his wider work to reform federal design standards and reorient public architecture toward civic meaning and permanence.

Justin Shubow Publishes Essay on Frank Gehry's Legacy and the Eisenhower Memorial

Frank Gehry’s Original Design for the Eisenhower Memorial

On December 13, 2025, National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow just published an essay in National Review on Frank Gehry's legacy, including the Eisenhower Memorial.  

As background: In 2011, NCAS launched and led a six-year campaign to stop Gehry’s design for the Eisenhower Memorial, located in Washington, D.C. Until NCAS’s initiative, the memorial had been flying under the radar and was a fait accompli. The Society brought the design to national and congressional attention.

NCAS published a 150-page report by Shubow on the design that detailed the flaws in the competition, design, and federal approval process. The report was quoted in a front-page story in The New York Times as well as by members of Congress. NCAS twice testified in the U.S. House of Representatives about the memorial, and published numerous articles about it. 

The organization also put on events (including with Susan Eisenhower, spokesperson for the family) and held a counter-competition for a classical alternative to Gehry’s design. For a RealClearPolitics article on NCAS's campaign, see here. For an academic article on the Eisenhower Memorial saga, including NCAS's role, see here. 

Shubow's essay begins:

Frank Gehry, the most famous and lauded architect in America, died last week at the age of 96. He exemplified the “starchitect,” a heady mix of celebrity, brand-name design, and signature aesthetics meant to wow. With perhaps false modesty, he complained about being “geniused to death.”

Shubow later writes:

Art and architecture was for Gehry a form of self-expression, which explains why he was such a poor choice for his only completed project in Washington, D.C.: the National Eisenhower Memorial. Gehry the self-portraitist agreed to take on the task of capturing the essence of someone else, someone far different. It was an odd pairing. The flamboyant Southern Californian was required to lionize a stolid Midwesterner who hated modern art. Just as bad, the purveyor of architectural chaos was working in a city hallmarked by classical order. . . .

Ultimately, Gehry was forced to remove the two smaller tapestries (leaving two free-standing cylinders like smokestacks) but threatened to strip his name from the memorial if the main tapestry was eliminated. He also added figurative statues to his design: wooden, hyper-literal tableaus of Eisenhower as president and Supreme Allied Commander. The barefoot boy was replaced by a statue of a teenage Eisenhower, with odd orangutan proportions, shunted off to a corner. . . .

When you visit the memorial during the day, the image on the tapestry — a scribble scrabble sketch by Gehry himself—is not even apparent. At night, when the screen is illuminated, it is impossible to tell what is depicted other than abstract expressionism with Gehry’s “signature” hand-drawing on it.

Reviews of the memorial have not been kind. New York magazine’s Justin Davidson, despite being highly sympathetic to Gehry’s oeuvre, called the design “a wan anticlimax . . . a work of civic architecture that fails to quicken the patriotic pulse or add much to the landscape of memory in downtown D.C.” Edward Rothstein likewise panned the design in the Wall Street Journal: “Some objects are inflated beyond all significance; others are so diminished they seem afterthoughts.”
 
But the most important review is the saddest one: Few people ever visit the memorial, despite its prime location across the street from the National Mall and Air and Space Museum, which gets 3 million visitors a year.
 
In his otherwise idolizing biography of Gehry, Paul Goldberger, addressing the memorial fight, wrote that the architect “felt few people in the architecture community seemed willing to defend him. . . . Frank, anxious as ever about his reputation, did not consider the possibility that many of his peers were simply not enamored of the memorial design, and that it was their architectural judgment, not any lack of loyalty, that was preventing them from speaking out. For all his lifelong worry about what people thought of him, it did not occur to him that the architects he respected, and who he knew respected him, might have simply viewed this one as a miss, as one of those moments when Babe Ruth strikes out.”

Read the full article HERE.

Justin Shubow, Kate Wagner, and Edwin Heathcote Discuss Classicism Now at the Venice Biennale

On November 22, 2025, as a part of the Venice Biennale, National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow joined Edwin Heathcote and Kate Wagner and for a revealing public discussion on American federal architecture. Heathcote is the architecture critic for the Financial Times, while Wagner is architecture critic for The Nation and the author of the McMansion Hell blog. The Biennale's curator Carlo Ratti moderated the conversation, which grappled with the classical roots of American civic design, the meaning of architectural symbolism in public life, and whether beauty matters.

You can find the video HERE and transcript HERE.

At one point, Shubow said, "Edwin, I think you recently wrote about how at certain architecture schools, it's considered bourgeois to even design a building. I don't know if the public understands just what is going on in architecture schools. People are not learning how to design beautiful buildings. Is beauty even considered something important at all? I don't know. I think there's a huge problem here, and there are only a few schools, at least in America, that are actually teaching the sorts of architecture that makes the world a more beautiful place."

Heathcote responded, "So beauty is not part of the discourse in architecture, in literature, in art. I think probably in any cultural sphere now, beauty is not really talked about, because it's problematic. Whose beauty, I think, is the problem. So it's not just architecture, it's contemporary culture. Now you may say that's, I actually think it's probably quite a good thing we don't dwell too much on beauty in the same way that if you talk too much about beautiful people, then ugly people begin to get offended. I think it's very problematic as an idea, but I'm open to be persuaded."

What made the exchange so revealing was that all participants acknowledged an admiration for classical forms. The real point of contention emerged over the political anxieties and cultural signaling that buildings have come to carry rather than their aesthetic merits.

Interestingly, all of the panelists endorsed Art Deco, which Shubow said was the last of the classical styles. Heathcote and Wagner insisted it was modernist. Shubow responded, "The modernists [of the period] absolutely hated Art Deco. They called it the jazz style. They thought it was bourgeois. . . . It was completely ignored from their histories of what they called modern architecture. So maybe Art Deco, like a neo-Art Deco, is something that we can all get behind."

Watch the video HERE.

NCAS President Justin Shubow in the Jack Miller Center's Civics Magazine

House Raising by William P. Chappel (1870s)

What can our public buildings teach us about citizenship?

In the article "Building Citizens," NCAS President Justin Shubow explores for the Jack Miller Center how architecture shapes civic life and reflects the ideals of a self-governing people. From Thomas Jefferson's vision of the U.S. Capitol as "the first temple dedicated to the sovereignty of the people" to the enduring beauty of America's classical monuments, Shubow traces how design has long served as a form of civic education.

He also asks what happens when beauty and meaning disappear from our built environment and, more importantly, why Americans still overwhelmingly prefer traditional, dignified architecture for their public spaces. As Shubow writes, quoting Jefferson, "Design activity and political thought are indivisible."

Read the full essay in the Fall 2025 issue of Civics Magazine exploring the theme "Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor: Unexpected Contentions for Civic Education."

NCAS President Justin Shubow Speaks at ISI Homecoming Weekend

Daniel McCarthy and Justin Shubow at ISI’s Homecoming Weekend Roundtable.

In September, NCAS President Justin Shubow participated in the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s Homecoming Weekend as part of a roundtable discussion titled Golden Age Mindset: Restoring Western Civilization. He spoke alongside Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, British author Mary Harrington, ISI President Johnny Burtka, philosopher Phillip Blond, and Modern Age Editor-in-Chief Daniel McCarthy, among others.

Shubow reflected on the importance of the present moment, pointing to President Trump’s recent actions on federal architecture as a pivotal development. Through his Executive Order, Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again, the President reaffirmed that the United States remains the same regime established at the Founding, more than two centuries ago. Such a continuity stands in contrast to nations like France, now in its fifth republic.

He noted a parallel renewal in the nation’s civic monuments. In recent decades, memorial design has too often emphasized victimhood rather than valor. The Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania, he observed, offers no tribute to the passengers who heroically prevented the destruction of a key government building. By contrast, Sabin Howard’s magnificent World War I Memorial in Washington restores the heroic and narrative tradition, depicting courage, sacrifice, and the triumph of the human spirit.

The roundtable discussion of Golden Age Mindset: Restoring Western Civilization.

As Shubow concluded, “The greatest work of civic art in the modern era is the National Mall and the surrounding monumental core. This is not something we should take for granted. There are plenty of other world capitals that don’t have this kind of beauty or magnificence. The Mall is a sacred space, surrounded by luminous classical temples that serve as sites for commemoration and public life. … There’s nothing more thrilling than flying into Reagan Airport and seeing the layout of the entire Mall. It hasn’t been there forever, but it feels as though it has—and it makes you feel that America will last forever.”

You can watch the entire discussion here on YouTube.

NCAS President Justin Shubow Speaks on “The Architect as nation-Builder”

On September 3, 2025, NCAS president Justin Shubow addressed the fifth National Conservatism Conference on the need to recover a once-central understanding of architecture’s role in public life. His talk, “The Architect as Nation-Builder,” explored how America’s civic ideals were given enduring physical form through the nation’s public architecture.

Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and their successors deliberately turned to the classical tradition to give visible form to the nation’s democratic aspirations. From the Virginia Capitol to the McMillan Plan to the U.S. Supreme Court, they treated architecture as a civic language capable of shaping citizens’ affections and loyalties; a responsibility largely forgotten in today’s official architecture.

Shubow quoted Cass Gilbert, architect of the Supreme Court, on the underlying philosophy of his work:

"It is an inspiration toward patriotism and good citizenship, it encourages just pride in the state, and is an education to on-coming generations to see these things, imponderable elements of life and character, set before the people for their enjoyment and betterment.... It is a symbol of the civilization, culture and ideals of our country."

Shubow commented, "It was Gilbert himself who was responsible for the phrase above the entrance to the Supreme Court: 'Equal justice under law.' Those words have become a famous tag line for the court, but it was the idea of the architect—a true nation-builder."

You can watch the full speech on YouTube.

NCAS's Letter in the Financial Times: Jefferson Is the President’s American Architecture Idol

On September 12, 2025, the Financial Times published a letter to the editor by National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow:

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In “Don’t make federal architecture beautiful again” (Opinion, Life & Arts, September 6), Carlo Ratti argues that President Donald Trump is wrong to reorient federal architecture in a classical and traditional direction since what America needs are experimental, “sustainable” new buildings.

He alludes to the reasons the founding fathers embraced the classical tradition. However, Ratti fails to understand that the founders looked forwards while simultaneously looking backwards (as they did in political philosophy). For instance, Thomas Jefferson designed the Virginia Capitol, one of the most important American buildings of his time, as a close imitation of an ancient Roman temple, the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, in southern France.

Focusing on technological innovation and the use of new materials, Ratti downplays the significance of aesthetics. One of Jefferson’s foremost reasons for choosing classical exemplars for the new nation was their beauty, which he said had the “approbation of thousands of years”.

In claiming that classical architecture is wrong for the modern era, Ratti also completely skips over the Beaux-Arts era in government buildings, which produced some of the most iconic, beloved structures in the country. The US Supreme Court, National Archives, and Jefferson Memorial — all completed in the 1930s and 1940s — are classical temples, not experimental designs.

Would it have been better that these had been constructed in the International Style, the avant-garde fashion of the time?

Aesthetics and symbolism particularly matter in government buildings since they physically embody the continuity of the nation’s values. I played a key role in promoting the ideas underlying Trump’s recent executive order, and have often said the common person is not ennobled or inspired by a “sustainable” building that looks like an alien spacecraft, such as the San Francisco federal building or Salt Lake City’s United States Courthouse.

And ironically, traditional architecture is in fact highly sustainable. Traditional buildings have longer life-cycles than modernist ones and require less energy to produce.

Moreover, architectural experimentation makes least sense in government designs, aesthetically or functionally. The US courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona, for example, which was completed in 2000, is precisely that — an “innovative” glass box in the desert that gets scorchingly hot inside.

Justin Shubow
President, National Civic Art Society 
Former chairman of the US Commission of Fine Arts
Washington, DC. US

National Civic Art Society Hails President Donald Trump for Issuing Executive Order Beautifying Federal Buildings

The National Civic Art Society hails President Donald Trump for issuing his new Executive Order “Making Federal Architecture Great Again” today. The EO states that there must be a preference for classical and traditional architecture (both broadly defined) when the government is choosing designs for federal buildings and U.S. courthouses. The EO is strongest regarding Washington, D.C., requiring that new federal buildings there be classical. 

The Order also amends the 1962 Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture, which de facto made Modernism official. As of 2020, under the current design program at GSA, which began in 1994, and which treats the Guiding Principles as holy writ, no more than 10% of the buildings constructed have been classical or traditional. 

NCAS president Justin Shubow said:

“President Trump is to be commended for requiring that new federal buildings be noble, beautiful, and admired by the general public. As the Executive Order recognizes, and as our organization has long been advocating, classical public architecture architecture is time-honored, timeless, and the mode most associated with our national values and form of government. It is quite simply the architecture of American democracy.”

Shubow continued, “Revising the 1962 Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture is a monumental development. Those principles, issued in a mere White House report on government office space, replaced official classicism (which began with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson) with de facto official modernism, and abdicated authority from the government to the (modernist) architectural establishment. According to those Principles, ‘Design must flow from the architectural profession to the Government, and not vice versa.’ The new Executive Order reverses this, placing the government—and ultimately the American people—in charge.”

President Trump Hires National Civic Art Society Board Member to Design New White House Ballroom

James McCrery, a classical architect who is a co-founder of the National Civic Art Society and a member of our Board of Directors, has been chosen by President Donald Trump to design a new ballroom at the White House.

According to the administration, “The White House State Ballroom will be a much-needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet of ornately designed and carefully crafted space, with a seated capacity of 650 people — a significant increase from the 200-person seated capacity in the East Room of the White House.”

McCrery, who is principal and founder of McCrery Architects in Washington, D.C., is associate professor at the Catholic University of America's School of Architecture. He was a commissioner on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, appointed by President Trump during his first term. McCrery served alongside NCAS President Justin Shubow, who was chairman of the Commission.

According to Shubow, “The National Civic Art Society is ecstatic that President Trump selected James McCrery to design the new White House ballroom. McCrery is one of the best architects in America, and he will honor and respect one of the most beloved classical buildings in the United States. Our organization has no doubt he’ll design a beautiful, fitting addition. It was President Theodore Roosevelt who personally chose Beaux-Arts architect Charles McKim to renovate the White House in his time. President Trump has made an equally wise decision in hiring McCrery.”

NCAS Fellow Explores the Soulless City

Aerial photo of Milton Keynes, UK

In City Journal, National Civic Art Society Research Fellow Theodore Dalrymple returns to Milton Keynes, the British city born of 1960s modernist planning ideals. Conceived as a rational response to urban crowding, it was built on the belief that the right grid, traffic pattern, and housing formula could engineer a better society. What Dalrymple finds instead is a city defined by absence: no real streets, little civic life, and a landscape that feels more measured than lived in.

Dalrymple traces the logic that shaped Milton Keynes—wide roads, subdued buildings, and a deliberate avoidance of tradition—and considers the psychological effects of life in a place built without memory. The city's form, he argues, reflects a worldview that replaces culture with calculation and treats citizens as units to be managed.

Yet amid the monotony, he encounters something unexpected. A local gallery hosts an exhibition of South Asian miniatures, offering a rare moment of depth and delight. Dalrymple's piece is both an exploration of a place and a reminder: even the most sterile environments cannot fully suppress the human need for beauty and meaning.

Read the full piece at City Journal.

Serpentine Court in Milton Keynes, UK

Politico on NCAS's Project to Build a New Classical Penn Station in New York

Proposed Train Hall

On June 17, 2025, Politico published an extensive news article, “The MAGA-Backed Plan to Make Penn Station Beautiful Again.” The piece begins:

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In 2021, Justin Shubow, the president of the non-profit National Civic Art Society, approached a team of supporters with a starry-eyed vision: Renovate New York City’s Penn Station according to a grand neoclassical design. Shubow knew that the idea was a long shot. Generations of architects and urban planners had tried and failed to renovate the transit hub, whose maze of narrow corridors and dimly lit concourses regularly invites comparisons to a subterranean rats’ net.

But Shubow, a Columbia University-educated architectural critic with round-rimmed glasses and a carefully manicured goatee, thought it was important to try. During the first Trump administration, he had championed the revival of classical architecture as the chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, and he wanted to bring the same aesthetic principles to bear on a new Penn Station — not just for the sake of the city’s harried commuters, but as a statement about the resurgent greatness of America in the Trump era.

“Classical architecture is the architecture of American democracy,” said Shubow, noting that the original Penn Station, with its imposing doric columns and soaring marble archways, was an exemplary model of classical design before it was demolished in 1963. “It is the architecture of civic virtue.

Shubow’s pitch found a receptive audience among his allies on the MAGA right. Tom Klingenstein, the Republican mega-donor and chair of the conservative think tank the Claremont Institute, quickly signed on as a chief financial backer. Over the next three years, a team led by the classical architect Alexandros Washburn spent hundreds of hours and over $3 million designing a plan — dubbed “Grand Penn” — to replace the existing station with a palatial new complex, complete with a glass-enclosed train hall, a 600,000-square-foot concourse, a public park and a new classical façade modeled on the pre-1963 station. On paper, the planers claim, the renovation would cost somewhere in the ballpark of $7.5 billion and could be completed by 2036.

But by the time the plan for Grand Penn plan was completed in late 2024, it was only lacking one thing: political muscle. Amid intractable fighting between the various city, state and federal authorities that claimed justification over station, Grand Penn remained little more than a blueprint on a shelf.

Then Donald Trump reentered the White House.

In April, Trump announced that his Department of Transportation would taking over a possible Penn Station renovation, wresting oversight of the project from embattled city and state authorities. The administration’s abrupt intervention was an extraordinary stroke of good luck for the team behind Grand Penn. Practically overnight, their plan for a classically inspired station went from a far-fetched conservative pipe dream to a real possibility. Although Trump’s Department of Transportation has not formally endorsed the plan, the plan’s architects have met with senior officials from DOT and the Federal Railroad Administration in recent months, and discussions between the two groups are ongoing, according to multiple people with knowledge of the discussions. (A spokesperson for DOT confirmed that FRA officials have met with the Grand Penn team, among other design firms.) In recent weeks, Trump has personally contacted Grand Penn’s backers to express interest in their design, said a person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to discuss private communications with the president.

“It seems that the stars might be aligning,” said Shubow, sounding a note of cautious optimism. . . .

Yet for the team behind the Grand Penn plan, the stakes of the battle go far beyond the station itself. In their eyes, a classical renovation of Penn Station could mark the first step in a broader aesthetic revolution — or, better yet, a counter-revolution — that would usher in a new wave of classical architecture befitting of Trump’s promised “golden age” in America. . . .

“Classical architecture is the philosophical manifestation of the theoretical founding of our regime,” said Klingenstein, a hedge-fund manager who donated over $10 million to Republican campaigns and causes in the latest election cycle. “The theory goes back to Rome and Greece. This is their — and, by adoption, our — architecture.”

Or, as Shubow has more succinctly put it, it’s time to “Make American Beautiful Again.” . . .

[D]uring his tenure in Washington, Trump has demonstrated at least some support for the architectural principles of ancient Athens and Rome. Toward the end of his first term in 2020, the president issued an executive order — supported by Shubow’s Commission of Fine Arts — directing the General Services Administration to defer to classical architectural aesthetics when designing new federal buildings. After the order was rescinded by the Biden administration, Trump issued a new presidential memo this past January reiterating the directive. . . .

“Building a fantastic new Penn Station with classical architecture would make a statement about American civilization in the same way that the rebuilding of Notre Dame in Paris said something about French civilization,” said Shubow, recalling Trump’s visit to the newly rebuilt gothic cathedral last December. “This project is so important that this could be one of the president’s biggest legacies.” . . .

In a statement, the [Trump] administration echoed Grand Penn’s grandiose ambitions: “Once-iconic gems of America’s infrastructure like New York’s Penn Station cannot continue to languish under incompetent leadership,” said White House spokesperson Kush Desai. “Restoring and revitalizing America’s infrastructure is a key priority for the Trump administration as part of our mandate to restore American Greatness.”

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Read the full article at Politico.

NCAS President Justin Shubow Selected GSA Design Peer

Tuscaloosa Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Completed 2012

National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow has been been selected by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to serve on the National Registry of Peer Professionals. GSA is the government agency that builds and owns federal buildings and U.S. courthouses. Participating in the Design Excellence Program, Shubow joins a select group of experts in architecture, engineering, and construction who advise on the design and execution of federal building projects.