I teach architecture. Trump’s plan for federal buildings is a bad idea.

For the past three decades, the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, where I teach, has been on a mission to reintroduce the fundamentals of architecture education, emphasizing classical architecture and traditional urbanism, a way of designing walkable cities and towns to meet the needs of citizens. We envision classical architecture as an expression of the accumulated wisdom of the ages — tradition that gradually incorporates innovation.

Even though I have devoted my career to teaching generations of students the importance and relevance of classical architecture, I read with great dismay a Feb. 4 Architectural Record report about a potential presidential executive order declaring that “the classical architectural style shall be the preferred and default style” for all new or refurbished federal buildings. The draft of the order, entitled “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again,” cites the architectural models of “democratic Athens” and “republican Rome” that inspired the nation’s founders, the report said.