In response to the new design bills, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) strongly opposes any federal mandate on architectural design styles and other forms of artistic freedom. AIA claims that these impositions limit architectural skills, peer review, and the role of the community.
The recently introduced bills directly trace back to the 2020 Executive Order (EO) issued by the outgoing Trump Administration, titled “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” which the AIA also strongly opposed previously The AIA has mobilized its 96,000 members around the issues and is working with state constituents to educate lawmakers where there is current support for these renewed mandates.
In February of this year (during the 2023 AIA Leadership Summit), architects from across the country visited Capitol Hill to advocate for the importance of design freedom in more than 280 Lobby Day meetings with federal policymakers .
The AIA is undeterred in its support of HR 964/S. 366, the Democracy in design law, bipartisan legislation authored in the House by Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA); and in the Senate by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), and Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN).
This legislation would require the General Services Administration (GSA) to adhere to the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture (Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture | GSA) in the design selection process and to undertake the development of rules to establish this formula for success in the statute. This would prohibit any federally mandated design style from being dictated to communities and protect GSA’s design excellence program by law.
Currently, the process for selecting the design style for federal buildings and courthouses is established by the respected GSA Design Excellence Program (Design Excellence Program | GSA). The program is based on the guiding principles of federal architecture promulgated by President John F. Kennedy in 1962. It has been the tradition of the Program of Design Excellence to consider culture, geography, climate and the contributions of the people living in the communities. where the project is built. AIA invites all members to take action by urging congressional leaders to advance bipartisanship Democracy in design law to protect the freedom of architects and all design professionals for the future.
“Forcing a preferred or default architectural style into federal law would eliminate community-centered decision-making, peer review, and architectural skill,” says Kevin Holland, FAIA, NOMAC, and AIA Board Member . “Replacing it with a bureaucratic body that prohibits community comment and promotes one design over all others is not something the architectural profession should support.”
