> Being "stately" is more about the former than the latter.
I can’t help but strongly disagree with that. To me, "stately" would mean something more pragmatic and efficient.
Not going to argue about personal interpretations, and everyone's entitled to have one — including people who have interpretations that we personally disagree with.
Having said that:
*stately*
adjective
a stately procession. dignified, majestic, ceremonious, courtly, imposing, impressive, solemn, awe-inspiring, regal, imperial, elegant, grand, glorious, splendid, magnificent, resplendent, important, august, formal; slow-moving, measured, deliberate.Yep, all qualities I wouldn’t associate with "traditional".
But would associate with "pragmatic" and "efficient"?
Interestingly, the building that houses the State Dept[1] has its style defined as "Modern Movement" and "Stripped classical", which is interesting, because it's somewhere in the middle between modern and classical, while not being quite any of them. To me, it looks mostly bland; I'd much rather have an office in Congress building, or Supreme Court building, or the White House, all of which are strictly classical.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S_Truman_Building