Journal of The American Institute of ARCHITECTS

RALPH ADAMS CRAM October, 1949

A Message from President Walker Guest Editorial by Paul Goodman An Architect's Training The Cathedral-II The Case of the Small Office New York State Registration Difficulties Job Specifications for the Archangel Gabriel

35c PUBLISHED MONTHLY AT THE OCTAGON, WASHINGTON, D. C. JouRNAL OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS

WITH THE AIM OF AMPLIFYING AS THROUGH A MICROPHONE THE VOICE OF THE PROFESSION OCTOBE R, 1949 VoL. XII, No. 4

CONTENTS Guest Editorial: Some Dim Re­ Small or Large Architectural Or­ marks on Neighborhood Plan- ganizations ?-The Case of the ning 147 Small Office 176 By Paul Goodman By William Edward Kapp, F.A.I.A. An Architect's Training 149 Competition for a Suburban By Jolzn F. Harbeson, F.A.I.A. Apartment House 182 Job Specifications for the Arch- Arose by Any Name 182 angel Gabriel 155 Architects Read and Write: 183 By Carl Feiss What to Do with Old Architects Honors 161 By Clzarles Butler, F.A.I.A. New York State Registration Dif- News from the Educational Field 184 ficulties 162 The Case for Design at Law 185 By George Bain Cummings, By Donald W. Soutlzgate F.A.I.A. Calendar 187 The Cathedral, Part II . . . 168 A Message from President Walker 188 By Harry F. Cunni11glzam The Editor's Asides • . . . . 189

ILLUSTRATIONS Cover portrait : Ralph Adams Cram, F.A.l.A., 1863-1942 Washington's Mall and ithe "Temporary'' Buildings 163 Coffee Room, Hotel Sherman, Chicago . . . • • . 164 Fugard, Burt, and Wilkinson, arcliitects Robert E. Lederer, designer Detail of Bryan Memorial Town Hall, Washington, Conn. 173 Cameron Clark, F.A.l.A., architect Details of Marshall Hale House, San Francisco, Calif. • 174 Clarence W . W . Maylzew, arclz itect

The Journal of Tlte American Institute of Architects, official organ of The Institute, is published monthly at The Octagon, 1741 New York Avenue, N. W ., Washington 6, D. C. Editor: Henry H. Saylor. Subscription in the United States its possessions and Canada, $3 a year in advance ; elsewhere, $4 a year. Single copies 35c. Copyright, 1949, by The American Institute of Architects. Entered as second-class matter February 9, 1929, at the Post Office at Washington, D. C. ~[fl Efil [JjJ Dls@ 112" VENEER

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ITH the renewed under­ sadly when we could be free and W standing by modern archi­ happy). But the danger in the tects and planners that their art is technical "solutions" is that they functional, meant to solve prob­ are means by which our society has lems of domestic convenience and learned to flatter itself that some­ communal efficiency and amenity, thing is being accomplished; they they have been venturing dif­ are mechanisms of escape; they fidently into the broad fields of provide symbolic satisfaction rather politics and sociology, pedagogy than real satisfaction; and they and psychology. And so far most freeze our feelings in a picture that of them have blundered, or al­ looks rosy and is dead. lowed themselves to be maneu­ The way people picture their vered, into the following trap: they troubles to themselves springs from provide a merely formal and tech­ their real troubles but does not ex­ nical solution for deep-going per­ press them, rather avoids them be­ sonal and social problems that re­ cause they are too painful. Archi­ quire material changes, changes in tects and planners must not be the political institutions, the sexual satisfied with allaying these pic­ mores, the jobs we work at. Ob­ tured troubles, but must-if they viously architects and planners, as are going to pursue the functional such, cannot effect such changes, methods at all-dig toward the real and need feel no professional guilt troubles. The formal solution for (only the guilt that becomes us as the pictured troubles is always ac­ men, that we live timidly and ceptable; this should make us du-

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 147 bious of it. For if we begin to the capital. This is the setting for approach a real solution for mate­ our best available modern way of rial troubles, suddenly we en­ life, more tolerable than the pre­ counter furious resistance, and the vious chaos and trauma, and even artist has tough sledding. more meaningless. A classic example of social avoid­ ance of the real irk and acceptance In our century the trauma has of the formal solution, is the his­ come closer to home, to family and tory of G arden City planning. personal relations : loss of passional From antiquity, we observe in feeling, personal insecurity, falling people a polarity of desire for the birth rate, regimented citizens, etc. country and wild nature and desire And we have dreamed up Neigh­ for the herded polis. In the nine­ borhoods in the urban mass, to teenth century in England, with meet the problems. These have the the hideous slums and factories of following properties: limited size, industrialism (which were not face-to-face relations, child-center­ cities, of course), this beautiful ing, closer relation to the job. Ob­ tension of opposites suddenly be­ viously these demands spring from came traumatic. Then, in the real troubles: the isolation of the crisis, Engels, Geddes, Howard and individual in the too-great society, others dreamed of a solution: to the loneliness that follows the combine both opposites in one breakdown of traditional group­ thing-a symbiosis of city and ings, the yearning for the creative country functions, a regional patri­ spontaneity of children by adults otism, a redisintegration of split who realize we have lost our spon­ society, transcending the division of taneity and pleasure, the loss of labor, etc. Well, by the time this craft, inventiveness, and use-value dream has become the accepted of­ in modern production. Yet al­ ficial formula for new planning, ready we see that the dream of its revolutionary meaning has been community is being accepted as a lost: it is a formal technical solu­ formal technical solution. In the tion. In our Garden Cities the Neighborhood plans, child-center­ "country" is destroyed, is with­ ing means building around a tradi­ out agriculture or wilderness; the tional public school; face-to-face "city" has degenerated into suburbs; relations comprise a shopping-center and the "region" is directed from and gossip-groups with no deep

OCTOBER, 1949 148 common concern ; relation to the well-known reaction, we see them job means walking to the same menaced by motor-cars and we meaningless job. These things are close off the through-streets and indeed something, but they are form Neighborhoods); we do not not much, not much. think of functioning limited units The reasons for the avoidance with common concerns because we and the escape to the symbolic hanker for centralized control and solution are not far to seek. We are afraid of political initiative ; do not work out the real educa­ we avoid the job because we are tional community because we fear afraid to be creative producers and and hate the children and want to prefer to flee to the standard of get them off ou r hands (then, by a living.

Is there a chance for monumentality in the buildings that the next generation will design?

An Architect's Training

By john F. Harbeson, F.A.I.A.

A paper read at the professional symposia of the Pennsylvania Socie.ty of Architects, February 26, 1949, at the University of Pennsylvania under the auspices of the Philadelphia and North­ eastern Chapters, A.I.A. N RADIO PROGRAMM ING it is mixed with the points made by our I considered quite sinful to allow distinguished symposium speakers, a moment to go unoccupied. Thus quietly enough not to upset diges­ on the matter I hear in the morn­ tion, not to draw the blood from ing while shaving, along with use­ the center of things, where it is ful bulletins on the time, the now needed. weather, and the T aft-Hartley W hile the Symposium has to do L aw, the announcer is very apt to with "The Design Approach to say, "We have just time for our Modern Buildings," I should like forty-winks music. " to confine my remarks to a com­ I imagine it is in some such spirit parison of the teaching of design I have been asked to speak at this in the schools-as it was taught luncheon-short enough not to be some twenty-five years ago, and to-

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 149 day-as these will be thought of and then, some one from the ninety some twenty years hence, that is per cent seems to wake up, and to say, by our present students, moves into the upper five per cent; when they have had enough experi­ and that's why we tolerate the ence to be doing most of the ninety per cent, as we can never serious architectural work. tell beforehand who this late de­ And I would like to preface this veloper will be." by recalling something that hap­ pened at a faculty meeting at the I couldn't help saymg at the Academy of Fine Arts, where I time that in architecture we had teach the minor subject, Perspec­ our five per cent at the top, and tive, to students interested in im­ at the bottom, and we had our pressionism, expressionism, distor­ ninety per cent-but we made use tion, and surrealism-this took of them, for architecture is such a place shortly after the Armory broad field they all found useful Show in New York. niches to work into. The creative The late Henry McCarter, a geniuses were few, but they could good painter and a good teacher, not function well if they did not in discussing the appointment of a have the collaboration, the team­ mentor in life class, said: work, of the many who had to do "In any art school about five a lot of less interesting, but no less per cent of the students have talent, useful work. and will do work in life that will In those days the study of archi­ have distinction, and be a credit to tecture was considered to consist themselves and to the school. An­ of function, structure, and form . other five per cent are wasting And a survey of the school pros­ time- girls between coming out pectuses of those years will show and getting married; unambitious that, of these three, the greatest boys not yet told by exasperated was form. The study of design parents to get to w ork. consisted of some research into "That leaves ninety per cent. function, an effort to house this in The ninety per cent w ork hard, structure, the whole then to be listen to criticism, try to follow it conceived as form-and success of -but have no real talent, and will composition in form was thought never do anything of value in paint­ to be what made the difference be­ ing or sculpture. But, every now tween architecture and building.

OCTOBER, 1949 150 This point of view was rein­ different. By comparison, there is forced by the courses in history; much less preoccupation with form. the great works of the past had An examination of the problems been achieved in this manner. Cer­ being sent to Beaux-Arts judg­ tainly for the Parthenon, and for ments shows all of the solutions Chartres, the functions to be served practically alike as to expression had long been static; structural of form-or lack of an achieved matters, while continually evolving, form; seemingly what is shown is showed no great advance in any the first attempt of the student to one generation. It was the study put an envelope on his solution. of form that took the best efforts By form I mean order, arrange­ of the architects. Form followed ment, balance. I dare not say function and structure---very often symmetry, as that word is taboo, after a considerable lag, and when although I admit to being a sym­ these had become second nature. metrical human. Twenty-five years ago the archi­ There is a change also of choice tectural schools majored in the of programs. What was formerly study of architectural form-in given was considered to be a train­ compos1t10n. This majoring was ing of skills; few of the students primarily arranged for that five per were expected later to be commis­ cent of cream at the top-the in­ sioned to design a Niche in a Gar­ dividuals who would be doing the den Wall, or an American Em­ design of the country's big build­ bassy in Tangier, or even a Coun­ ings after graduation. try Club on the Shore of the Sea. The ninety per cent, generally But to the end that the few had to take the same training, and problems of monumental nature many found it hard work. Later that arise even in democracies there were complaints from men should not have to be entrusted to who had settled in small towns, incompetents, the whole effort was who said they would never have bent in that direction, it being a big building to do, and felt they thought that a man who had a had been given the wrong training. training in the fundamentals of With mmor exceptions all design would be able to handle the schools taught alike---and that is simpler matters of life-the private also the case today. house, the small church, the gaso­ But today what is taught is very line station (the things which now

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 151 form the subjects of early prob­ country, and every democratic lems) . country, has thousands of architec­ For it was considered that archi­ tural symbols of a monumental tecture should be a quality product character which are the focal points -as is any work of art- and not of our democratic aspirations. He the result of quantity production. mentions as examples Independence Times have changed. We arc Hall and the Washington Monu­ told this is the era of the Common ment. The need for such things Man, and architecture must not cannot be satisfied with structures be for dictators or plutocrats. The built in past time. But our schools architectural press even says there are not trying to train anyone to is no place for monumentality in satisfy these democratic needs. the buildings of a democracy. "Society and the individual both And the schools have been so demand first of all an ordered en­ swayed by these architectural press vironment which they can come to critics that there now is practically love because it is beautiful, and an no preparation for handling monu­ environment which will be emo­ mental problems-no one being tionally expressive of their deepest trained to express adequately the feelings." great aspirations of peoples which Twenty years from now, when could produce, and believe in, the today's good students are having great words of leadership of Win­ opportunities of doing the buildings ston Churchill or Franklin Roose­ of dignity that are innate in a velt. civilization that has dignity, we shall have criticism, this time from There is a human need today, as the gifted five per cent, that they always, of symbols of human were not given proper training. dignity, of monumentality. Be­ There may be no complaints from cause Augustus, and Louis XIV, the ninety per cent, who will be and Mussolini believed in these satisfied with the definition of things also does not make them architecture as expressed function, wrong. They also had two eyes, or expressed structure. But the a nose, a mouth, decently arranged, citizens may find their architecture as have democrats. unsatisfying and uninspiring. As Philip Johnson of the Mu­ A civilization which has in­ seum of Modern Art says : our vented and perfected mechanical in-

OCTOBER, 1949 152 struments of great complexity and function and construction, esthetics great use-refrigerators, dishwash­ will take care of themselves-that ers, elevators, automobiles, reapers beauty in architecture is a by­ and binders, radio receivers-and product, and inevitable if func­ in each case after intense research tional and structural problems are in function and structure by com­ properly solved. petent engineers, sees the need for, This is to use words about qual­ demands, and gets a further study ity as the movie publicity-man of form by trained artists, will uses them, where each new picture ultimately demand, and insist on is hailed as epochal, the ultimate building that is satisfyi ng in more in artistic production, superior to ways than utilitarian. everything previously done. The word beauty will no longer "Construction is the first step: be shunned by architects, nor by What we admire is not the embryo, architectural journals tolerated by but the subsequent developments architects. That is if by Democracy which transformed a utilitarian de­ we unde rstand a civilization in vice into a thing of beauty-there which intelligence, and culture, and are thousands of pediments; there dignity of life are increasing, and is only one Parthenon." And it not being brought to a low com­ was no accident. Of the many mon denominator. doorways we pass in a short walk, most are fulfilling their purpose, are well-enough built. How many Talbot Hamlin wrote a few are worth a second look? There years ago: "To claim that an used to be, twenty-five years ago, architect's first duty is to build courses in the study of such funda­ well, is like saying that a poet's mental forms-now gone with the fi rst duty is to spell well. The wind. architect's first duty is to create Yet there is something more than for the enrichment of the esthetic merely to function, something more life of generations." It is true he than good construction, something spoke of this as a current architec­ more difficult to achieve, if so few tural heresy. can achieve it. It is this price­ The architectural journal edi­ less ingredient which makes of tors would have us understand that architecture a thing apart from by making a thorough research in engmeenng.

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 153 There are always several avail­ able than truth, personality more able ways of building, of enclos­ important than current fashion. ing the interior volumes required Construction and design rely on by a program. Of these various different mental processes. Con­ ways the designer-if an artist, an struction is scientific in its methods, architect-will choose the one giv­ and relies on logic, reason, experi­ ing the best promise of beauty. ence. Design, after it has con­ Solutions of equal constructive sulted construction to find out merit may have widely variable what it can and cannot do, relies esthetic content; it is the wise on artistic faculties-imagination, choice in these matters that is the taste, harmony, sense of plastic designer's task. values; and logic is of little avail. An elderly man called on a Phil­ In my definition an architect adelphia portrait painter recently. who is an architect will consider He said-"You have been recom­ the study of form as his life's mended to me by Mr. Smith; I'd blood, and any school worthy of like to have a portrait of my grand­ being called an architectural school father painted, to give to my grand­ will try to develop an understand­ children." The painter answered ing of form. that he had time just now; they One of our bright young maga­ agreed on terms; the old fellow zine editors, reading in the Lon­ said "Go right ahead," and got don Review that "before long those up to go. The painter called out: buildings in which a community "But, sir, you haven't told me any­ calls for some kind of monumental thing of your grandfather, whether gesture will be required again," he had high color or was sallow; says, in his all-knowing way, that whether spare or fat; have you this "shows a lack of understanding photographs to guide me?" of the nature of our times, and The old man answered: "Now particularly of the development look! The children never saw him; of democracy." he wasn't very good-looking; I'd It is true, as he says, that we like them to think of him with have not begun to solve the social pleasure. Good day." problems of hospital care, or educa­ I am entirely in sympathy with tion, or housing, with adequate or his philosophy, and believe that appropriate buildings. U ndoubt­ beauty, by and large, is more valu- edly trained people should solve the

OCTOBER, 1949 154 social problems of hospital care, He says: "Art is not put into but to say that the architect should architecture self-consciously." By do this is to misunderstand the na­ my definition, it is, and it is the ture of specialization in a highly architect who does it, and he should complicated society, or to misunder­ be trained for this purpose by an stand what an architect is. architectural school.

Job Specifications for the Archangel Gabriel By Carl Feiss DIRECTOR, SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER Reprinted by permission from "Planning, 1948"-a book pub­ lished by the American Society of Planning Officials. The author supplements the original text with this note: The following recording was made had intended that there be planners, during the last year's National he would have created them." Planning Conference held in New Peter jingled his keys thought­ York on October 12, 1948. The fully. "Well, if you don't be­ readers of the A.I.A. JOURNAL will be interested to know that a lieve in spontaneous and unsancti­ similar recording was made of a fied creation, you may have to re­ conversation that was held between vise your ideas. For no matter Lucifer and St. Nicholas, the how they were created, they seem Patron Saint of children, during the A.I.A. Convention in Houston, to be multiplying rapidly. In addi­ Texas, this spring. The first and tion, they seem to think they have last part of the Houston recording gone beyond their infantile and are very similar in nature to the adolescent period, and they are al­ first and last parts of the statement ready indulging in a form of which immediately follows. The rest of the material on the Houston pseudo-adult education called 'con­ conference, I regret to say, is of a ferences'." character which makes it unprint­ The Archangel picked up a able for this JOURNAL. statistical table. "There is a tabulation here of the number of Hy·OU know, St. Peter," said planning conferences during the the Archangel, laying down las t year. I find that I too have his field glasses, "if the Almighty fallen into the error most planners

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 155 make in mistaking statistics for evaluations and decisions on the plans. Therefore, I know all about permanent ultimate destinations of these planning conferences, but to all men, it seemed necessary to date have made no plans for evolve some kind of office organiza­ eliminating them. In any case, if tion. Obviously, my job involves conferences and adult education a merit system which has been could be synonymous (which is rather thoroughly analyzed in a doubtful), planners undoubtedly well-known manual which has would be well educated." been in use for a good many years. Peter spat on a golden key and "Now the terrestrial planners polished it carefully on the downy have decided that they also be­ underside of his left wing. "Is long in some executive office to that important?" he asked . "Is it decide the temporary and perma­ important that a planner be edu­ nent destinations of all men. Since cated?" I have been working for 2,000 Gabriel laughed. " Since the $64 years or more and have not yet question is '\¥hat is a planner?', solved my own job definition prob­ how can I say that this unknown lem, I have been listening in on entity can be educated or would be these infinite number of planning useful were he to be?" conferences, hoping to find out Peter put the key back on his what the planners, in their self-im­ key ring and said, "Don't be face­ posed celestial tasks, intend to do tious. If they did not have brains, and be. And since these gentle­ how could they be sitting down men have not yet received the God­ there interminably taking in each head, I have been watching with other's intellectual washing?" some interest their efforts to edu­ The two leaned on the gold bar cate themselves in anticipation of of Heaven, thoughtfully watching receiving it. the planners in conference at the "Fundamentally, the planners Hotel New Yorker. The Arch­ believe that their physical and angel Gabriel sipped his drink and mental abilities are such as to en­ said sadly, "I once tried to write able them to be both prophet and the specifications for my job, which engineer. At the same time, they you know terminates when I blow must be a kind, yet avenging angel. the last trump. Being in the execu­ Also, they have to live. So they tive office and responsible for the combine in their educational con-

0CTO!lER, 1949 156 cept for their job the practical be if there were no raucous head­ maintenance of the mortal body, lines, no radio shouting, no piling while developing the immortal con­ up of nervous tensions through cepts of the planners' utopia. The the constant impact of the barkers most recent developments along this of the promotion of world chaos. line are proposals for the issuance The only ones to suffer during this of bonds by planners for self­ period would be the medical spe­ liquidating utopias. There is some cialists who deal with stomach question as to whether or not ulcers. heavenly subsidies could be made "My thought has been to recom­ available for the purposes. Obvi­ mend to the powers-that-be that ously, if a utopia is subsidized ade­ possibly some sort of heavenly quately, it can be considered self­ warning to this year's National liquidating. Planning Conference might stimu­ late action of the kind which would make it possible for the con­ "We were talking about educa­ ference to recommend as its final tion. It seems to me that planners motion to all agencies, organiza­ talk too much. Everybody talks tions, associations, societies, and in­ too much. Instead of having more stitutes of planning, that for one conferences, more publications, year there be no so-called adult more discussion groups, seminars, education meetings whatsoever; at critiques, clinics and gab fests, I the end of the year there be called am proposing as a solution to the a United States organization of planners' ills, and incidentally, to planners framed on the United the ills of the world at the same Nations' principles, and then we time, a six-months' moratorium on will see what happens from there. words-no newspapers, no radio, In the meantime, there will be no school, no advertising signs, no blessed silence-also think of the conversation, no sign language, all savmgs. libraries to be padlocked-prefer­ "Now, Peter, you feel that ably burned. During this period of planners have brains and since they oral silence and visual verbal have brains, it is obvious that you vacuum, it is my thought that pos­ believe that they can be educated. sibly people might have a chance Under the present planning educa­ to think. What a blessing it would tional systems in our various col-

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 157 leges and universities, there may be pocket. In order that he be tech­ some question as to whether or not nically proficient in all phases of there is any brain left at the termi­ the above-mentioned educational nation of the student's education, areas, and others which we don't at the time a degree is offered. have time to mention here, it is There is a great deal of evidence obvious that planning education to prove already that a planning must be broadened and extend be­ degree is being offered as a substi­ yond the present confines of the tute for brains. In the meantime, academic institution. confusion mounts on confusion in the educational institutions. A "One of the textbooks now be­ planner should or should not be a ing recommended for use by plan­ designer; he should or should not ning educators is the "Brave New be a lawyer; he should or should World" by Aldous Huxley, in an not be an authority in government, effort not only to determine objec­ public administration, political sci­ tives for the planner, but also to ence, administrative management, take the excellent conditioning or politics. Incidentally, does any­ program which Huxley expounds one know what the differences and put it to practical use. As you among these five are? The plan­ may remember, Huxley recom­ ner should be socially conscious; mends for Alphas and Betas vary­ he should be conversant with all ing types of innoculation and audio­ problems of economics, soil chem­ visual aids which are in continuous istry, esthetics, epidemiology, land­ use during both the waking and scape gardening, zoning, the de­ sleeping hours of the educatee. It sign of super-highways, politics, is possible to conceive of the idea philosophy, real estate law and pub­ applied to all age groups and not lic relations. Every student of confined just to college. Since ap­ planning must be a good public parently any background from that speaker and an expert draftsman. of t raveling evangelist to purveyor He must deal with people of all of liquid commodities is adequate walks of life and remain, at the for the career of planning when same time, aloof from politics. He combined with the Boy Scout oath, must have broad vision, but at all the planning educator of today times keep his feet on the ground should have no difficulty in finding and his hands out of the taxpayer's the manpower necessary to fill his

OCTOBER, 1949 158 schools and to be subjected to the a situation in which various plan­ proper conditioning. Since the job ning schools will train men for of planner is apparently intended various salaried positions, starting to condition the people as a whole, men in for two-, four- and five­ I can see no reason for not start­ year training programs directed ing by conditioning the planner. towards $2500, $5500, $9500 and "You can see, I think, from the other salary ratings. The result trend of my discussion, how close can be evaluated quite easily and the planner has come to the job the training program could be definitions for an Archangel. clearly designed-so many hours of There are some things, however, sociology, engineering and govern­ in these terrestrial specifications ment law for one position, and an­ which leave me very much puzzled. other weighting of hours for an­ Under the planner-scout oath, in­ other position. This practical solu­ stead of the statement: 'Scouts tion which seems to be developing shall be loyal' there has been a in so many of the technical schools substitute, 'Planners shall be should make it possible for plan­ flexible,' obviously drawn from the ning students to drop a nickel in fact that a planner must make flex­ the slot of an audio-visual machine ible plans. Whether the word and receive the indoctrination com­ flexible means supple or amenable mensurate with his investment; or mercurial or just what, I am not then when he has received his plas­ sure, but then again no one in the tic sheepskin, he will be in imme­ planning fraternity has been able diate position to be placed at the to decide how to draw a flexible proper civil-service or merit-system plan either, so it all amounts to rating in a Government office. the same difference. "It may be some time before this "Many educational institutions ideal is reached, and in the mean­ working on planning curricula time, there is bound to be a great have decided to base their decisions deal of squabbling as to the num­ on what a planner should be on ber of records to be played to his job opportunity. Obviously, if various students for varying con­ a planner has cash value, that is tract costs. These squabbles can­ something definite to sink your not be written until job definitions teeth into. I can visualize that are written; fob definitions can­ there will arise at an early date not be written until a job for a

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 159 - planner is written, and apparently of students the other evening with the definition of a planner can't be the idea that perhaps I might learn written, so there we are. something there. The first was a "A few of the philosophers of very sad and confused young man, planning are resentful of this prac­ and the prayer went something tical approach. They feel that in like this: 'Please lift my confusion order to develop 'flexible' plan­ and let me understand my elders. ners with untarnished halos like My brain is weary and my arm is mine, no job specification should limp. I am interested in improv­ be written. Every young man in ing my community as a leader, and planning must be so imbued with I think I can become a good ad­ his desire to serve humanity that he ministrator and some day maybe I would be willing not only to starve will learn to work for the best in­ in the process, but even be stoned terests of the people as a whole, in the market-place for his prin­ but dear Lord, I cannot design, ciples. Since most of us have been and I cannot draw.' I then turned through stoning at one time or the dial and listened in on another other, and those of us who survived prayer from another young man considered it a salutary experience, in planning. The voice came in I can see no harm in developing over the loud speaker very faintly, courses in starvation, stoning and 'I am a designer and I believe I self-abasement in the curriculum. have great possibilities for the They might also be of assistance development of my technical skills in stemming a messianic complex. and proficiencies, but, dear Lord, I don't mind so much the planner I am not a public speaker, and I working for the civil-service level do not want to be an administrator. of Archangel, but I really think Please help me find out what to he goes too far if he tries to get do.' I switched off the receiving the Boss's job. set and sat back mulling the prob­ lem over for some time. Then I decided to tune in on the prayers "I have been noticing one other of a college professor, and I heard rather significant problem con­ a desperate voice pleading, 'Please nected with the students in the help me to synthesize, to coordinate, various planning schools. I was and to implement. Please help me tuning in on the prayers of a couple in setting goals and to recommend

OCTOBER, 1949 160 short-range and long-range objec­ planning education. While I grant tives. Please help me to explain you that something might be done that we "learn by doing" and that through selective breeding com­ through planning and cooperative bined with an occasional St. Val­ action we develop greater freedoms. entine's Day massacre, still it is Please help me to remember at all likely that nothing less than a times that the underlying philoso­ miracle could create the kind of phies in our dynamic expanding man our planners either want to economy must be the synthesis of be or want to train. broad-minded visionary men with "Peter, do you think I should alert, intelligent and intellectually requisition a miracle?" honest doers. Let us remember at St. Peter, who had been li sten­ all times that planning is the white­ ing attentively, glanced down at hot fusion of intellect, sensibility, the National Planning Conference. and soul.' He combed the star-dust out of his "Now P eter, I would like to beard with his golden pocket comb, be helpful. I feel that some­ and said, "I don't think so, Gabriel; body, somewhere, somehow must they are so innocent and so very straighten out these poor benighted well-meaning and for the time be­ beings. Obviously, no human be­ ing they can do so little harm. Both ing and few Archangels can ever students and teachers are talking become the superman now being and they seem quite happy. Just developed by the visionaries 111 let them go on talking."

Honors EERO SAARINEN, of Bloomfield JACQUES GREBER, French Hills, Mich. has been awarded the architect and town planner, and a honorary degree of Master of Arts friend of many Institute members, by Yale University. Mr. Saarinen has recently been made an Honor­ ·was cited by his alma mater as ary Fellow by our good neighbor, the "brilliant son of a great father the Royal Architectural Institute leader in the field of design." of Canada.

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 161 Professional licensing laws are frequently under attack and call for resolute defense New York State Registration Difficulties By George Bain Cummings, F.A.I.A.

N New York State the E duca­ Legislation, held a meeting on the I tion Department recently has subject in Albany, July 15, 1949. been the object of study by the To this meeting were invited the Temporary State Commission on members of the Board of Examin­ Coordination of State Activities. ers, the Deans of the architectural This Commission, created by the schools in the state, the chairman Legislature in 1946, is sometimes of the Association's Committee on referred to as the "Wicks Commis­ Education and the Regional Direc­ sion," from the name of its Chair­ tor, A.I.A. man. The Commission issued a Those present agreed that the report on March 11, 1948, in State Association should take its which were included certain find­ stand, along with similar State ings and recommendations affecting organizations of the other profes­ the Board of Examiners of Archi­ sions, in future hearings before the tects* and other factors related Legislative Commission, in sup­ to the practice of architecture in port of the following principles: New York State, such being under 1. The Commission recom- the control of the Education De­ mends: partment. The Board of Examiners "Written examinations for the studied this report, especially such various professions should be pre­ parts as related specifically to it­ pared and the results rated by a self, and approved some and dis­ staff within the Department with approved others of the Commis­ the aid, to the extent deemed neces­ sary by the Department, of recog­ sion's recommendations. The New nized private testing agencies and York State Association of Archi­ professional organizations. The tects, through its Committee on departmental staff should include at least one test construction spe­ cialist. The boards of examiners * Present members: H arold T. should be consulted with regard to Brinkerhoff (Sec'y), Ralph E. 'Winslow, the content of examinations. Lorimer Rich, George B. Cummings, F.A.I.A . (Pres.}, and J ames W. Kideney, "Practical examinations should F.A.I.A.-Ec!itor. be administered in behalf of the OCTOBER, 1949 162 LOOKING EAST OVER WASHINGTON'S MALL The late President Roosevelt promised that the temporary buildings would be removed after the War. Nothing has been done urnal as yet to keep .this promise for him. 5, t A Photograph by the Evening Star Staff ~e:/41.n 163 DETAIL OF THE NEW COFFEE ROOM IN THE HOTEL SHERMAN, CHICAGO FUGARD, BURT & WILKINSON, ARCHITECTS ROBERT E. LEDERER, DESIGNER Journal 7he-'ii!A 164 Department by qualified individ­ ceedings: ( 1) preferring and serv­ uals designated by the Department. ice of charges, ( 2) notice of hear­ "The Department should under­ ing, ( 3) rights of the accused, ( 4) take extensive research in the field manner of conducting the hearing, of professional licensing examina­ and (5) manner of arriving at tions. It should cooperate with determinations." licensing boards in other states and The group agrees to "complete professional organizations in the standardization" in steps ( 1), (2) clevelopment of such examinations." and ( 3) . We would desire to exer­ The State Association group cise our own discretion in steps agrees with the Board of Exam­ ( 4) and ( 5). The public inter­ iners that the purpose of the ex­ est is served only when the truth, amination is to establish, with re­ the whole truth and nothing but spect to the applicant for a license, the truth is educed, and the man­ "his competency to plan, struc­ ner of conducting a hearing and of turally design and supervise the arriving at a determination is best construction of buildings and entrusted to the members of the similar structures." None but Board of Examiners, a carefully competent architects, recognized selected and solemnly commissioned and respected as such by the pro­ group of the peers of the accused, fes~ion, should prepare or rate such the action of the Board being sub­ an examination. ject, as now, to final review by the The group agrees with the third Board of Regents, in whose hands recommendation if the second sen­ ultimate decision rests. tence be amended to read: "It should cooperate with licensing boards in this and other states and The Commission further recom­ professional organizations in the mends: development of such examinations." "The report contains a number of recommendations designed to make more effective the process of 2. The Commission recom- investigating and dismissing com­ plaints and preferring charges mends: against licensed practioners. The "With reference to all the pro­ Commission makes the following fessions governed by the various recommendations with respect to professional acts, there should be the holding of hearings on charges : c'9mplete standardization in the "U pan the request of the pro­ following steps in disciplinary pro- posed Bureau of Investigation the

JOURN'AL OF THE A. I.:\. 165 hearing upon the charges should compel the attendance of witnesses, be held by a hearing officer ap­ to administer oaths and to take pointed by the Regents. For this testimony and proofs." The need purpose the Regents should provide as many hearing officers as are nec­ of this power was illustrated in essary who are especially qualified the Rutkins case, to which the to conduct hearings and to pre­ "Wicks Report" makes direct pare findings and recommendations. reference: "In one case involv­ Two members of the professional ing an architect convicted of man­ board involved should sit as ob­ slaughter because a building de­ servers at all hearings for and in behalf of the professional board. signed by him had collapsed kill­ "The evidence against the ac­ ing several workmen, the Board of cused practitioner should be pre­ Examiners of Architects refused sented by the Assistant Attorney to recommend revocation of license, General. "As soon as possible after the holding that the respondent was conclusion of the hearing, the innocent of the crime." The para­ hearing officer should prepare and graph is preceded by one in which submit to the Bureau of Investiga­ it is stated, "In a number of dis­ tion a report containing his find­ ciplinary proceedings some hearing ings and recommendations w ith re­ gard to guilt or innocence of the bodies, particularly in pharmacy, accused and his recommendations architecture and podiatry, have for punishment. The two members been lenient to such extent as to of the board of examiners or griev­ warrant the belief that the mem­ ance committee should be per­ bers of these bodies are reluctant mitted to attach to the findings and recommendations statements to discipline fellow practitioners in indicating the extent to which they their own profession." I was a concur with or dissent from the member of the Board of Examiners views of the hearing officer. when this hearing was held and "Except as has been specifically have in my possession, available for recommended above, the boards of examiners and grievance commit­ examination, the complete record tees should have no responsibilities in the case, including photostatic in connection with disciplinary pro­ copies of the drawings and other ceedings." germane documents, which were The group disagrees, the essence introduced in the hearing only be­ of our disagreement being stated cause of the exercise of our power above anent par. 1. We should of subpoena. It was educed in that continue to exercise the "power to hearing ( 1) that Rutkins was re-

OCTOBER, 1949 166 tained by the Owner only to pre­ cited in such context as in the pare drawings and specifications "Wicks Report." No other fault for the building that collapsed dur­ of this kind has ever been charged ing construction ; ( 2) that his against our Board. drawings were competent and his structural design adequate;· ( 3) that an error was made in a shop 3. The Commission recom- drawing prepared by a person em­ mends: · ployed by the steel fabricator who "The boards of examiners in the supplied the steel and setting draw­ various professions should be re­ ings to the contractor who erected constituted as advisory boards and the building; ( 4) that Rutkins, relieved of administrative duties because of his limited retainer, which should be carried out by the regular staff of the Department." never had opportunity to check the shop drawings; ( 5) that the col­ The group disagrees. We be­ lapse of the building occurred be­ lieve the public interest is better cause the steel erector followed the served by retaining the integrity, shop drawing and failed to detect responsibility and initiative of a the palpable error made by the Board of Examiners of respected draftsman in the steel fabricator's members of the profession, serving office in interpreting the struc­ without pay, functioning sub­ turally competent and adequate stantially as at present, than by drawings of Rutkins, the architect; relegating an emasculated function and ( 6) that there was no basis for to an advisory board as adjunctory recommending revocation of the to an expanded bureau of the state. latter's license. We condemned It is expected that hearings will the vicious building practice, pro­ be held on the content and recom­ moted by speculative greed, that at­ mendations of the Commission's tempted to save money by eliminat­ Report this Fall. Other profes­ ing the architect's service of super­ sions subJect to licensure and regis­ vision. The Board of Regents ac­ tration in this State are likewise cepted our determination and Rut­ affected by the Report, and it is kins still holds his license. This expected will take a common stand example should never again be in the hearings.

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 167 EB The Cathedral A FABLE OF THE MIDDLE ANCIENT TIME, THE MORAL OF WHICH, IF ANY, YOU WILL HAVE TO DEDUCE FOR YOURSELF

IN TWO PARTS--PART II. By Harry F. Cunningham COLONEL, G.S.C., U.S.A., RETIRED o, very early the next morning, the Palace, known as the Wing of S the Royal Heralds announced the Dear Departed. Prominent in to all and sundry that His Most the procession were Bearded Ones Gracious and Christian Majesty followed by pages bearing great wished a design for the most beau­ packages of drawings. There were tiful cathedral in the world. It mounted Beards followed by carts was added-as a sort of postscript bearing models. There was one -that designs must be delivered particularly resplendent Beard who flat, not rolled, by such a date and dosed in a sedan chair while, in a in such a place. And a few wagon that followed, a very active etceteras were added in the effort young man was putting the finish­ to make the thing Beard-proof. ing touches on a great perspective The night before the appointed of the Vision to which the dozing day, many out-of-town architects Beard would attach his signature-­ came up from their provinces and if he awoke in time. Finally, put up at the various inns. The there was a seedy-looking young­ inns were crowded and a general ish chap with no beard at all, a air of excited suspense was current chap who carried a bundle of in the capital. Many of the Best drawings himself. It was an in­ Beards of the kingdom were in significant package, to be sure, but conspicuous evidence in the more the seedy-looking beardless one car­ important inns and in the notable ried it as one carries something quarters of the town. And, early very precious. Everybody along in the morning of the Great Day, a the way laughed at this poor chap general movement set in toward and his insignificant package-and the late Romanesque portion of then promptly forgot all about

OCTOBER, 1949 168 him. The whole of the grand his young wife's golden necklace cortege, excepting, of course, the on the landlady's desk to pay for horses and the carts and the his lodging. wagons, but including the seedy­ With characteristic promptness, looking youngish chap w ho had no a committee of the Best Beards beard, went up the righthand stair­ asked the favor of a Royal audience way in the Wing of the D ear D e­ in order to suggest to the King the parted and turned in at the second proper methods for selecting an door off the third landing. architect. His Majesty informed That night was a great night fo r the committee, through the Official eve rybody- especially for the inns. Spokesman, that he w as very busy The Best Beards foregathered in examining some d esigns and was the mos t expensive hostelry and not, for the time being, the least held a Grand Banquet. There bit interested in architects as such. were many speeches and much The committee did not understand parching of throats because of the what the King meant by the re­ speeches and much dampening of ported remark and they felt sure the same throats because of the that he must have been misquoted. parching. It was altogether w hat They hid such chagrin as they may is nowadays called a " Big Time." have felt, behind their ample But nobody saw the seedy-looking beards, and went into executive youngish chap w ho had no beard. sessio n at the N ational H eadquar­ Nobody gave him a thought any­ ters. w ay. H e had gone straight back to After some days had passed, the his inn after an unwilling secretary D irector of State Tourneys was had accepted, with bad grace, his seen to leave the P alace accom­ insignifica nt package, and he had panied by a page leading an extra gotten himself straight into his bed. horse. They were obse rved to go He slept quite through the next out at the City G ate opening to the day and the next night and very South and then they were quite early in the fo llowing morning­ fo rgotten. But, one afternoon, befo re his landlady had awakened some days afterward, they were -he took up a poor little bundle seen to come in at the South G ate and sli pped down the stair and out bringin g with them the seedy- look­ the doo r and nobody saw him for ing youngish chap who had no many a day thereafter. H e had left beard-the very same chap who

JOURNAL OF T HE :\ . I. A. 169 - caused a momentary laugh in the selecting a mere design ? An archi­ throngs that witnessed the grand tect was obviously what the occa­ cortege on the day of the Great De­ sion demanded, and surely this livery. But there was something Manoel was no architect. He had very different about this chap now, no beard ! And his very name was as he passed along the street with against him too. \Vho ever heard the Director, for his eyes were of a real architect with a name aglitter with a great inner joy, and such as "Travailleur"? Just as anyone who looked into those eyes well expect a "Marechal," a did not notice any more that he "Charpentier," or an "Ouvrier" to was seedy-looking and youngish, or qualify as an architect. \Vhat utter even that he had no beard. In the and unpro fessional rot! The King morning, the Heralds announced had surely been made the victim of that the design of one Manoel a terrible mistake or the butt of an Travailleur had been chosen by extremely dangerous joke. the King, for the most beautiful The special committee brushed Cathedral in the whole wide world up its beards, climbed the right and that the said Manoel Travail­ stairway to the third landing, leur had been duly commissioned stopped a moment to gather a sec­ Architect to the King and directed ond wind and to determine upon to proceed with the work of build­ the manner of app roach, and went in g the fulfillment of the Royal to the second door. The distin­ Vow. guished Chairman knocked on the Now, when the news of this rosewood panel and received no re­ heretical act of somebody or other sponse. A second and stronger came to the ears around the corners knock was greeted by a curt, "\Vho from the Best Beards, there was a is it?" The Chairman stated his great hullabaloo and much pull­ name and qualities and then, as a ing of fine w hiskers. The Bes t sort of afterthought, gave those of Beards called a special meeting and his associates on the committee. appointed a special committee to Something suspiciously like a wait upon the King and se t him chorus of laughter greeted this right as to their inalienable rights, priceless information. A voice from privileges and prerogatives and the behind the door offered an invita­ present gross infringement thereof. tion to go to a place which proper \Vho in the world ever heard of persons never visit from choice.

170

OCTOBER, 1949 Then there was silence, much of it. there, this beardless upstart!" And The Best Beards looked at each he repaired at once to the National other. Then they looked at the Headquarters, where the special floor. Then one of them looked committee was soon gloating in toward the stairway and indicated executive session. The Best Beards' that it was still there. In a Paid Publicity Agent immediately moment the committee had dis­ prepared a broadside on "The Part appeared down the stairway's wind­ of the Architect m Cathedral ing way. And so much, for the Building" and posted copies in all moment, for the Best Beards. the places where the public was ac­ And now, on a fine day in the customed to gather. A specially morning, the Royal Heralds went illuminated copy on genuine parch­ about inviting all the people, in the ment was prepared for the King name of the King, to repair in and dispatched to the Royal Secre­ three days' time and at three hours tary. Another copy on imitation after sunup, to the Royal fields be­ parchment, with less illumination, low the west wall of the Palace. was presented to the Royal Library. At that time His Majesty would The Best Beards had done their go up to the topmost terrace and best for the Public Good. draw the Royal bow and let fly But while all these organiza­ one of the gold-tipped arrows which tional spells and cantrips were had figured in so many of the Royal working, Manoel was getting busy games of chance. And the spot on his job of building the most on which the gold-tipped arrow beautiful Cathedral in the whole would fall would be the very wide world. And build it he did, center of the most beautiful though he had (as the story runs) Cathedral in the whole wide world. many and varied difficulties in so And so, on the appointed day, the doing. The tale tells of the sink­ arrow was loosed and sped on its ing overnight of certain piers, and magic way. It fell, as fate would it hints at magic, witchcraft, and have it, in a bit of very marshy whatnot. It is a recorded fact that ground not far from the river the fair young wife of Manoel did bank. "Aha !", said one of the disappear from the ken of other Best Beards, who was there dis­ men's wives just after the north­ guised as a milliner's apprentice, west pier sank for the third time "He will never build anything and never sank thereafter. And it

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 171 is likewise a fact-as the news­ even sent an Embassy, bearing a papers of fifty-odd years ago will relic of Prester J aim to be placed certify-that the skeleton of a fair in the chancel of the Cathedral. young girl was found in the north­ Curiously enough, the building was west pier during some minor re­ strong and sturdy and admirably pairs to that structure. But all adapted to its purpose. Its acous­ of thi:. is quite irrelevant and be­ tics were good. It even looked side the point. like what it was. Presently, magic The point is that the most beau­ powers began to be credited to it tiful Cathedral in the whole wide and cures of all sorts of ailments world was finished and properly were attributed directly to the dedicated. The Best Beards were Holy Building.. And presently there, of course, and their Paid also, the Best Beards began to ad­ Publicity Agent sent out quite fine mit among themselves that it was stories about the ceremonies into "really not so bad for so young a all the corners of the Kingdom. chap." And finally, the Powers­ Pictures were painted, showing the That-Were gave their reluctant Best Beards sitting in the choir consent to Manoel's being regularly stalls and these pictures were ex­ invited to become one of the Best hibited in all important population Beards. And this, to be sure, was centers. The seventy-five percent a very fine thing for Manoel. But of the people who-according to Manoel held aloof from all and the Gallup Poll of those days­ sundry and persistently refused to never read anything but the comics, sign on the dotted line. So, the saw those pictures and believed that Best Beards began presently to in­ the Best Beards were responsible sinuate-through their Paid Pub­ for the most beautiful Cathedral in licity Agent-that the method the world. For no mention was adopted by the King for the selec­ ever made, nor was any picture tion of a design for the most beau­ ever painted, of young Manoel tiful Cathedral in the whole wide Travailleur, who had really created world was not really, after all, the this fine brave building. very best way to do such things The Cathedral was very gen­ and the building was not, after all, erally admired. People of great quite so fine as it had been cracked importance came from very far up to be. And, after many in­ away to see it. The Great Khan quiries and questionnaires circu-

0CTOllEll, l 9H

~ · J l , ~ DETAIL OF BRYAN MEMORIAL TOWN HALL, WASHINGTON, CO:>!N. CAMERON CLARK, F.A.I.A., ARCHITECT In the senes of archi­ Journal tects' favorite details "'nit>-'lt!A 173 MARSHA LL H ALE H OUSE, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. CLARENCE W. W. MAYHEW, ARCHITECT Details of posts and joists in front entrance and outside the dining-room

Journal In the series of archi­ ?n"~IA tects' favo rite d etails 174 lated among the Best Beards, the there must be some Great Moral now famous Organization Docu­ Lesson hidden somewhere in the ment No. 2313, "On the Selection thing, for tales are for no other of an Architect for a Cathedral," purpose whatever than to serve as was concocted. This was sent hiding places for Great Moral gratis to all ranks of the priestly Lessons. But we could not quite hierarchy, down to and including put our finger on the GML in this choir boys. tale. So, we finally wrote the As for Manoel, he went peri­ whole thing out and sent it post­ odically, as it was his duty to do, haste to our friend Cristoforo to the Palace and paid his respects Campanile, who knows all GML's to the King. But he went nowhere forward and backward, and we else, if we except the moderate­ asked him to give us, from the rich priced inns, and he never made store of his wisdom, the exact size, speeches to Luncheon Clubs. Con­ shape and color of the Great Moral sequently he received no more large Lesson hidden in the present. commissions. And one fine day­ Gristoforo replied, Express Col­ so the tale has it-the King asked lect, as follows: Manoel if he could design a build­ 1. The Best Beards, of course, ing more beautiful than the one he represent Organized Art. Harmful had built. And Master Manoel, though Organized Art is to mod­ with quite natural and pardonable ern culture, it was not so in the pride, remarked that of course he Middle Ancient Time and the could. After that, nobody ever saw Guilds of that ample time did not Manoel anywhere or ever, and it perform quite so idiotically as the was whispered that the King h ad Best Beards in the story- and or­ caused the beardless head of poor ganized artists today-do perform. Manoel to be severed from the 2. The King, with his arrow, shoulders of him, lest he really is meant to represent Fashion might make a better building some­ which, in an aimless sort of way, where, sometime, and thus prove directs the Artist toward the par­ His Most Christian Majesty to be ticular thing that Fashion has de­ a piker. creed to be (for the moment) the Now all of this interested us fashionable thing to do. tremendously when first we heard 3. The marshy ground near the the tale. We knew full well that river bank is the "Appreciation of

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 175 the Public" into which the Artist's the Artist's head just to make sure efforts sink silently and are ab­ that he will not stage a come­ sorbed overnight, without leaving back and thus prove the fickleness any trace. of Fashion. 4. And, to keep his work above And we felt so sure that Cristo­ the surface of the muck the artist faro was right, that we have passed must put into it everything he has his comments on to you exactly as that is most precious : Enthusiasm he gave them. But Cristofaro quite Youth, Beauty and the Joy of Liv­ fo rgot to add that F ashion is prob­ ing. ably the only thing that matters 5. And when these prec10us any more and anywhere-and qualities are all used up, Fashion what's a head more or less, any­ turns elsewhere, first chopping off way!

Depending on how much work you get, your office is large or small? Is it a sound policy? Small or Large Architectural Organization? THE CASE OF THE SMALL OFFICE By William Edward Kapp, F.A.I.A.

In the June a nd July issues of the JOURNAL, Arthur K. Hyde, F .A.I.A., discussed the characteristics and advantages of the large office. Mr. Kapp presents herewith the case for the small office.

IZE OF OFFICE is no basis for pany's housing project; a medical S comparison or indication of comparison of the family doctor quality for any professional service. with the hospital clinic; a gas­ The end results in the solution tronomical comparison of the small of the problem are the only cri­ tearoom with the great hDtel teria and even comparisons of restaurants. these results must be limited to E ducation, skill, experience, per­ works of a similar nature. sonal attention and the desire to This applies to all types of per­ excel are pre-requisites to quality sonal service, be it an architectural in professional service. comparison on housing of a C ape When these can be combined Cod cottage to an msurance com- with numbers of associates and as-

OCTOBER, 1949 176 sistants to form the larger office, termmmg size and a point of the quantity of available technical diminishing returns is that well­ service rises but the quality must known factor-income tax. be the average of the group. Small Some small offices do not become offices and especially the architect large-they may stay small or be­ who practises alone have the same come only medium size. This may problem, and delegation of respon­ be due to personal preference, or sibility spreads with increases in lack of opportunity to grow if office size. While this usually given the chance. Few can resist means a lowering of the average, the temptation of a large commis­ it is not always true for it is not sion, regardless of the type. When unusual in both large and small this occurs, they must enlarge their offices to find little-known asso­ staff, temporarily associate with ciates and assistants who excel the other professional offices or pass up principals in abilities of various the job rather than submerge their kinds. Naturally these help in existing practice for the sake of raising the average and they have the bi g job. Seldom does the latter in some instances actually made happen, but there are known in­ the office reputation. stances of its occurrence. Large offices grow from small The large architectural organi­ ones-the growth depending on zations are the exception in our professional reputation, various ef­ profession and their locations­ forts in contacting prospects, trans­ usually in our metropolitan areas­ forming them into clients, and are an index to the nature of their sometimes on the wife's relatives. work, most of which is built in Having secured a large or larger the area or originates there in the commiss ion, the staff must be in­ home offices of national corpora­ creased and the small office starts tions for building elsewhere. to grow. With a larger staff, more The major part of their work, work must be secured to keep the being large in size and usually staff busy-and so on ad infinitum. commercial or industrial in char­ This expansion was limited in the acter, requires specialized engineer­ old days only by prospective clients ing services, and most large organi­ and the availability of additional zations have become "Architects technical assistance. More recently, and Engineers" or sometimes a considerable influence in de- "Engineers and Architects"-de-

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 177 pending on whether the growth in where opm10ns on design and the original architectural organi­ methods often vary, but the larger zation has caused the tail to wag the office, the greater the oppor­ the dog. tunity for differences and influ­ The engineering requirements ence. To care for these problems in today's large commercial and and establish order, the organiza­ industrial buildings, plus the de­ tion is developed into a smooth­ mand for speed in design and con­ running machine- and it is here struction, require the facilities of that the "large and loyal family" the large office staffs with their operates with "intelligence in addi­ structural, heating, ventilating, tion to numbers, " "geared to the electrical, plumbing and other spe­ age," where changing the "pace cialized services. would have stripped gears" of the For many industrial and com­ "cDllaborating satellites." Exer­ mercial operations, this is an ex­ cismg "extreme vigilance lest a cellent arrangement, especially so minor project be lost in the ma­ when the associates are a balanced chine" and requiring "a trouble group in their various professions, detector, to place in the meshes" experienced in the type of work be­ but always with indications of "the ing developed by their joint efforts. science of Human Engineering" Their combined success depends controlling "dynamic power," upon the principal or principals in "energizing personality," "com­ charge and their professional mander-in-chief," "co-ordinators ability to recognize and regulate and super-coordinators," etc., etc. the relative importance of the many These quotes are not intended as building and mechanical elements. disparagements of large Dffice or­ These principals may be architects ganizations nor of "The Case of or they may be engineers-and the Large Office" by my good their viewpoints will and must be friend Hyde (JOURNAL, June and modified to suit the problem before J uly 1949). They indicate "the them. They are but human, and processing of the work," and I the general policies of the office, acknowledge that all are necessary determined by a group, are usually -based on my many years experi­ the deciding factor. ence as a member of a firm where Here the personal element enters, the staff averaged about two just as it does in a small office, hundred and during the war years

OCTOBER, 1949 178 passed a thousand. Organization the large office to fulfill our Edi­ is a must, and the practice of archi­ tor's requests. tecture-to change a famous quote Having indicated our reactions -becomes "99% business and 1 % to some of the internal influences art." of the large office as described by There are exceptions of course Hyde, we must now seek a basis to these comments, wherein the for comparison. dominant office principals are archi­ Size is no basis for comparison tects whose skill has attracted a or indication of quality for any large clientele and developed archi­ professional service. tectural and engineering work of How then can we compare the merit. These offices may be large few large offices in the metropoli­ or medium in size and they may in­ tan areas with the many small and clude in their staff complete engi­ medium-size offices in the metro­ neering services, or they have out­ politan areas and throughout the side associates for collaboration on land? Each has a field to cover engineering design, thus having and a service to render, and each available, when required, special­ may have advantages, depending ists of all types. These specialists, upon the nature and location of the like many architects, prefer in­ work and the knowledge for solv­ dependent practice to being a staff ing the problem. member in a large office. The comparison can be only on the quality of the finished work­ \Ve are concerned with Archi­ and this may come from the large tecture-a Fine Art. or the small office. Engineering, as a science of Let us consider some building mathematics, we appreciate and de­ designs and the size of the archi­ pend upon, acknowledging the tectural offices concerned. For maj'or importance of the engineer want of a better list, refer to the in industrial and some types of Morris list of preferred architec­ commercial work. tural examples in the December In the case of the small archi­ 1948 issue of the JOURNAL. Nearly tectural office-the small office that all of the American selections are someday may become a large office, products of the so-called small or or better still a medium-size office medium-size offices, the exceptions -we must make comparisons with being designed by a temporary as-

JOURNAi. OF THE A. I. A. 179 sociation of several offices-and The rendering of personal serv­ most of these offices relied on out­ ice has a threefold obligation : to side or associated engineers for as­ the client and his job; to the office sistance. staff; and to the architect himself Perhaps if a similar list of out­ - and obviously in all three to the standing industrial and commercial profession. work was made, the work of the To the client: Personal atten­ larger offices, with their combined tion is his desire and his due within engineering and architectural reasonable limitations of time. He staffs, would appear. Because assumes, and perhaps rightly so, these listed buildings came from that his job is as important to the small or medium-size offices, we architect as it is to him. Sometimes cannot imply that all similar size it may be more so. Delegation to offices can produce better design­ even the best of associates may not in fact we can't prove anything­ be entirely satisfactory, although but we believe that these outstand­ there are instances of record where ing examples must have had not the delegate was so satisfactory only technical service on the con­ that the architect later lost the tract documents, but also personal client's subsequent work along attention with a desire to excel in with his delegate-and another all elements of the building design. small office was born. We all like Professional services should include personal attention, especially when more than technical services. The we are paying for it, and architects quality jobs are stamped with that seeking services in other profes­ personal mark in their attention to sions usually insist on dealing with details-both architectural and en­ the top man. gmeenng. To the client's job: The archi­ The small or medium-size office tect's personal attention means a can render the impelling personal full understanding of all phases of attention expected with professional the work from the development of service. For the large and .espe­ the program of requirements to the cially the super-colossal office, the fin al certificate. With time to at­ personal and professional service tend to the work, he knows every must often be delegated to asso­ part of it-not only the architec­ ciates after the initial sess ion with tural features, but all of the related the client. structural and mechanical services,

OCTOBER, 1949 180 and can or should be able to dis­ service architectural products; to cuss the methods and the systems review bids and award contracts ; not only with the client but with to watch the lines on paper be­ the contractor's men in the field. come his building-his architec­ To know the job and do it well ture. requires personal attention, and A ll this is the practice of his that's professional service. profession. To the staff in the small office: It's a most enjoyable profession. Personal attention of the architect Why delegate it and let somebody to the work of the student, the else have all the fun? junior and the senior means a bet­ Vvith time for personal service, ter understanding and appreciation the sketch may be the architect's; of their abilities and their ambi­ without time, he can only indicate tions; an opportunity to explain his preference for scheme "B" the job problems and to share the when his delegate presents three knowledge of experience in similar studies. cases-and the friendly confidences All other things being equal­ on their family affairs and outsid e the small or medium-size office can act1v1t1es. The advantages and better render the personal atten­ mutual benefits are obvious-all tion so necessary in professional that is required is time for personal service. service. The staff in turn has a How small is a small office and varied interest, gains experi ence how big must it grow to be a large and develops skill in all types of office? Maybe the A.I.A. or Dodge work. Contrast this with some Reports have the figures-or shall large offices where men become we attempt to determine sizes by specialists on stairs, toilets, flash­ the draftsman's classification?- ings, sash, etc. Small office: The boss and the To the architect with the small draftsman know and see or medium-size office there is op­ each other. portunity to know the client and Medium office : The boss sees the his problem; to do study and re­ draftsman but doesn't know sea rch on new problems ; to make him. schemes and sketches ; to determine Large office: The draftsman better details and select materials; wouldn't know the boss to listen to salesmen who know and even if he did see him.

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 181 Competition for a Suburban. Apartment House

N THE BELIEF that the relatively Washington, D. C.; Edward R. I small; multi-family dwelling, of Carr, builder, Washington, D. C. the type frequently called the "gar­ Closing date: January 15, 1950. den" suburban apartment, offers Professional Adviser : Lawrence one of the most economical forms M. Stevens, architect, Washington, of housing for those families who D. C. prefer to live in the suburbs and To enroll as a competitor, secure also prefer to rent, here is a com­ and sign an application form, which petition seeking basic designs for however does not imply or compel such buildings. It is sponsored by the submission of a design. A de­ Timber Engi neering Company, an tailed program and working kit affiliate of the National Lumber will be sent to enrolled competi­ Manufacturers' Association, and is tors. Address: Contest Secretary, approved by The Institute's Com­ Wood Garden Apartment Design mittee on Competitions. Contest, c/ o Timber Engineering Eligible to submit one or more Co., 1319 18th St., N. W., Wash­ designs (but any competitor can ington 6, D. C. win but one prize): architects, de­ signers or draftsmen, and in a separately judged class, students of Arose by Any Name recognized schools of architecture who will be graduated in 1950. FROM John J. Klaber comes an One must be a resident of the amusing clipping from the New York Times of April 20, describ­ U. S. A. or Canada. ing the erection of the first steel Drawings required : two sheets, upright for the United Nations 23" x 35", and a statement of not Secretariat Building. to exceed 500 words. The caption reads "First Steel Major awards: $1500, $750, Girder." The account takes it from there as follows: "A crane $500 and 10 of $100 each. Stu­ wrenched upright the fi rst beam .. dent awards: $500, $250, $150 The operator swung the steel col­ and 7 of $50 each. umn . .. Guests shared enthusiasm The Jury: George W. Petti­ at setting the first beam .. -. When cord, Jr., A.I.A., Washington, the massive column was secured .. Two workmen scrambled up to D. C.; John N. Walton, A.I.A., the beam's summit."-via Oculus.

OCTOBER, 1949 182 Architects Read and Write Letters from readers-discussion, argu­ mentative, corrective, even vituperative.

WHAT To Do WrTH OLD ARCHITECTS BY CHARLES BuTLER, F.A.I.A ., New York

E ARE familiar with the fact sions we develop a nostalgic affec­ W that owing to better living tion for some of them and attempt conditions and better medical care, to sneak in a column or two in an we are becoming a race of older otherwise modernistic design. people, and much has been spoken We all feel a very deep debt of and written about the care of the gratitude to good Mr. Lally, yet aged in general, but no one seems we sometimes wonder whether he to have given special thought to is really more inspiring than old the ever-increasing number of old Mr. Vitruvius, or his Renaissance architects. opposite number, Vignola. A few years ago the writer was We don't always feel the urge told by a young architect, son of to live behind walls entirely of one of his contemporaries, that he glass or to be forced to depend on ought to retire. It is interesting heavy curtains to keep the outdoors to note that as he too has grown from coming in to join us on older, he no longer insists that his winter evenings. suggestion be carried out. Of course cantilevers are a prob­ Since most of the older archi­ lem, but the fact that we had tects have been in practice for known them at least from early themselves for years, they are not Hennebique days, has made some eligible for old-age pensions, and of us feel that they wern not ab­ so far no philanthropist has been solutely essential to salvation. moved to erect a Home for Aged But after all is said and done, Architects, so we must perforce we should be able to find a way rely on our own initiative. by which the old architects could What a good subject for a com­ consort pleasantly with their petition program that would be­ younger confreres. a Home for Aged Architects, with Perhaps there exists a common a level 9-hole golf course adjacent. ground on which young and old The situation is complicated by could meet. the fact that the older generation The older men in general had a has had quite different training pretty good training in planning, from that of their younger col­ especially those who studied in leagues. We even have consorted Paris in the old unregenerate days, with the five orders, and on occa- and by "planning" I don't mean

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 183 the point de poclze nor a plan re­ understanding that the young garded as a piece of decoration. I partners would bear most of the mean honest planning of spaces and responsibility, do most of the work, circulations to fit the needs of the and get most of the profits, if any, problem. while the old men did some work Before the Teutonic influence and gave advice and criticism, took over, architects were taught which the young men might per­ that planning and architecture haps follow; the old men knowing were one and the same thing and full well that if they became too that planning was fundamental. crotchety a.nd too column-minded, Now it is fashionable to speak of the lethal chamber was nearby. planning as if it were something Such an arrangement might apart from architecture. work out pleasantly for all con­ cerned and would avoid the neces­ In order that the older archi­ sity for the immediate liquidation tects should not feel themselves too of the old men in the profession, important, they might be associated and it is hereby offered for con­ with much younger men, with the sideration.

News from the Educational Field COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY an­ ships will be awarded on the basis nounces the award of the 1949-50 of financial need. Applications for Perkins and Boring Traveling Fel­ the year 1949 may be addressed to lowship to William Fontaine J ones, 0. W. Shelgren, Chairman, Ed­ who will travel in South America. ward H. Moeller Scholarship Fund, Dunn Bldg.,. Buffalo, N. Y. THE BUFFALO-WESTERN CHAPTER, A.I.A. has been allotted THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYL­ $2500 annually by the Edward H. VANIA announces the award of the Moeller Scholarship Fund for 1949 John Stewardson Memorial architectural scholarships. Candi­ Scholarship in Architecture to dates must have been born in one Tohn H erman VonGunten of Can­ of the following counties of New ton, Ohio. The problem given the York State: Erie, Niagara, Or­ five finalists was the design of three leans, Genesee, Wyoming, Alle­ churches of different denominations ghany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua. on one plot. They must have resided in the City Also announced by U . of P. is of Buffalo for at least two years, the establishment of the Albert F. either consecutive or intermittent, Schenck Memorial Scholarship in not necessarily immediately preced­ Architecture, providing for the an­ ing the date of application. Scholar- nual award, on a competitive basis, 0CTOUER, 1949 184 of a European t raveling scholar­ rnittee is made up of D ean Leopold ship. Arnaud of Columbia, D ean George THE ARCHITECTURAL ALUMNI S. Koy!, U. of P ., Charles Butler, SOCIETY of U. P. has established A.D.G.F., and Julian Clarence the Paul Philippe Cret Memorial Levi, A.D.G.F. Holmes won his Scholarship in Architecture, to be Bachelor of Architecture degree awarded annually toward Senior­ this year at the University of Penn­ year tuition to the student w ho has sylvania . attained the highest average in all GEORGE HowE, F.A.I.A., who courses in the first four years. has been serving recently as archi­ To the EcoLE DES BEA UX-ARTS tectural adviser to the A merican is being sent Kenneth R. Holmes, Academy in Rome, and as architect the first of a list of graduates of of the United States Consulate in recognized schools of architecture Naples, will join the faculty of to be recommended for a year of Yale University on January 1 as study in the E cole's hi gh e~ t class Chai rman of the Department of in Design. The Managi ng Com- Architecture.

What we mean by "design" is not widely understood by the layman The Case for Design at Law By Donald FV. Southgate SECY-TREAS., TENNESSEE STATE DOARD OF ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING EXAMINERS In answer to a ques tion as to how examination in design can be clearly justified under the basic purpose of all registration laws, to protect life, limb, health and property of the taxpayer. Pre- sented a t the meeting of the National Council of Registration Boards, March, 1949 at Houston, Texas.

T WOULD SEEM to me that we The word "design" does not re­ I can make a strong legal case for fer merely to the good or bad ap­ our insistence that design is an im­ pearance of that which we see on portant part of an architect's the exterior or interior surfaces of training and ability, in terms of his a building, and should therefore not fitness to protect the public health be limited in its scope and interpre­ and safety and to protect property, tation to those things which are because of the very meaning of the ornamental or superficial or to word "design" to a well-trained those things which if omitted or and experienced practitioner. removed would in absentia prevent

J OURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 185 -~ the building from still standing design a building, he cannot but and serving its proper function. have all these factors of public On the other hand, the word "de­ health and safety and of property sign," as cherished and reflected values in his mind while laying out upon by able designers, refers first floor plans and while cutting cross­ of all to a well-arranged plan, in sections through his design, because the knowledge that a plan can he knows that these demands must never be regarded as bei ng success­ be met before he turns to the ex­ fully designed or arranged unless ternal appearance of the envelope it serves to best advantage the which is to inclose the intended human beings who occupy and space, or to the internal appearance operate the building. of its major rooms and parts. In satisfying this demand, the designer must watch out for safe While it may be true that archi­ ingress and egress and for con­ tects and the public ordinarily think venient and orderly circulation of "design" as applying to those therein ; he must consider the facets of the structure which first placement and dimensions of load­ meet the eye, and while we are all bearing factors; he must watch out affected by a consciousness of mass, for comfort in terms of space and line, solids, voids, reveals, shadow, use and in terms of heating and materials and color, still the cooling; and he must watch out for trained eye knows that these fac­ sanitation in terms of plumbing tors, even if prominent, are result­ facilities. He must also relate his ants rather than primary objectives. design to the funds and materials Any architect who hopes to suc­ available. ceed in his career will try to give If his design is a bad one, the each design pleasing appearance, exits and approaches may be un­ but he will not regard beauty as safe, the floors may become over­ an attribute which is only skin loaded, eye-strain may have been deep when applied to buildings. On brought about, human comfort may the contrary, he will have every have been disregarded and im­ desire to assure himself that his proper ventilation and sanitation project meets all of the require­ may prevail. ments of good planning and good When a properly trained and ex­ engineering, as well as all per­ perienced architect undertakes to tinent building laws and codes, be-

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 186 fore he attempts to manifest good is or should be that the candidate taste in the treatment of its more for registration be required to obvi ous mien or countenance. demonstrate ability to assemble and Since we in the profession know arrange on paper the component that good design is synonymous parts of his proposed structure in with orderliness, with good engi­ a manner to express functional neering, and with law compliance, adequacy and an appearance be­ we should feel secure in the belief speaking satisfaction, if not actu­ that any court of law would recog­ all y exciting the public se nse of ni ze our stand on "design, " which beauty.

Calendar October 7-8: A nnual meeting of acting as host. Sheraton Hotel, St. the Louisiana Architects Associa­ Louis, Mo. tion, A.I.A., Heidelberg Hotel, D ecember 4-10: VII Pan-Amer­ Baton Rouge, L a. ican Congress of Architects, Ha­ October 20-21 : Annual Conven­ vana, Cuba. t ion of the New York Association D ecember 14-15: 30th Annual of Architects, Rochester, New Convention of the National Warm York. A ir Heating and Air Conditioning November 1, 2: Semiannual Association, Hotel Cleveland, Meeting of the Board of Directors, Cleveland, Ohio. A.I.A., White Sulphur Springs, J anuary 9, 1950: Executive W . Va. Committee of the Union Inter­ November 4-5: The West Vir­ nationale des Architectes meets in ginia Chapter, A.I.A., meeting at Cairo, E gypt. T he Greenbrier, White Sulphur J anuary 16-19: The First Plant Springs, W . Va. All A.I.A. Maintenance Show, in the Audi­ members are invited. torium, Cleveland, Ohio, in con­ November 13-16: 16th Annual nection with a four-day Conference Conference of the National Asso­ on Plant M ai ntenance Methods. ciation of H ousi ng Officials, Copley January 21, 22: Nor th Ameri­ P laza Hotel, Boston, Mass. can Conference on Church Archi­ November 14-16: Southern tecture and the Church Architec­ Building Code Congress holds its tural Guild, Neil House, Colum­ annual meeting. H ermitage H otel, bus . Ohio. Exhibit of Church Nashville, Tenn. Architecture, Arts and Crafts by November 18-19: R egional Con­ Interdenominational Bureau of vention for the Central States Dis­ Architecture and manufacturers, trict-St. Louis Chapter, A.I.A., N eil H ouse, January 2 to 25.

JOURNAL OF THE A . I. A. 187 January 23-27 : Southwestern JV!arch 8-10: 36th Annual Con­ Air-Conditioning Exposition, State vention of Michigan Society of Fair Park, Dallas, Texas, in con­ Architects, Hotel Statler, Detroit, nection with the Annual Meeting Mich. of the American Society of Heating JV!ar,ch 28-31: National Plastics and Ventilating Engineers. Exposition, Navy Pier, Chicago.

, w. A Message from President Walker AM PURPOSELY MAKING the for my talk. The itinerary for the I attempt to visit as many Chap­ remainder of 1949 follows below. ter and Regional Meetings as pos­ RALPH WALKER sible before the first of the year. Frankly, coming into the work of the national body as a relative ITINERARY AND SUBJECTS stranger without recent experience, OF TALKS I hope in this way to get a variety October 7 and 8 (Friday and of viewpoints and opinion. I could Saturday) -Baton Rouge : lunch and dinner. "Urban Planning and have developed one talk about na­ the Architect." tional affairs and delivered it with October 14 (Friday)- Cleve­ some variation at each meeting, but land : Architects Society of Ohio. the proposed schedule of talks will "Seminars and Their Possibilities." give me the opportunity of organiz­ October 19 (Wednesday)­ N ew York : American Institute of ing my own thinking and at the Electrical Engineers. "The Pur­ same time get a difference of pose of Light." opinion. 0 ctober 27 (Thursday )-Provi­ I would like, very much, each dence, R. I. : Rhode Island Chap­ time to meet with the Executive ter. "The Architect Asks 'Why'." N ovembe.r 1 to 5 (Tuesday to Committees of Chapters and State Saturday)-White Sulphur Organizations, architectural stu­ Springs, W. Va.: Board of Di­ dents if nearby, and especially with rectors of A.I.A. and West Vir­ some of the recent graduates who ginia Chapter. "The Architect as are preparing for registration. a Modern." N ovember 8 and 9 (Tuesday May I ask each organization to and Wednesday)-Desert Inn, prepare a decent lectern and light Palm Springs, Calif. : "The Olli-

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 188 cers of The A.I.A., The Octagon, December 2 (Friday)-Miami, and Its Staff." Fla.: Florida South Chapter. "The November 17 and 18 (Thurs­ Architect and His Society." day and Friday )-St. Louis, Mo. : December 4 to 10 (Sunday to Regional Convention, Central Saturday)-Havana: VII Pan­ States District and Washington American Congress of Architects. University, School of Architecture "International Relations." Conference. "The Next Conven­ January 9, 1950 (Monday)­ tion." Cairo, Egypt: UIA Meeting.

The Editor's Asides

MONTH BY MONTH, if not day very directness the building has by day, we are coming to believe lost a quality that was worth pre­ that one weak point in our archi­ serving, for outwardly it is hard tectural transition is that many of to identify as a library. It might our new buildings for old needs do be a school, it might be a health not register on our consciousness center, or a laboratory .. . Func­ for what they are intended to be. tionally, this library is a great im­ "Who says so ?" Well, Lewis provement on the earlier types, and Mumford, for one. In his de­ a worthy example of contem­ partment "The Sky Line" in The porary form. But it has not mas­ New Y orker he is discussing public tered the question of outward ex­ libraries: " .. . Yet there is one press ion . . . None of the cliches aspect of the old Carnegie Li­ of the past are serviceable, but braries that still dese rves respectful neither are any of the cliches of consideration. Even without the present-day constructionism " legend, they are easily identifiable as public buildings, and their bland, dignified faces remind the ONE HEARS frequent argument passerby of the spacious and lei­ about our national productivity. surely traditions of another age." Is the product turned out per man­ Then follows an analytical ap­ hour increasing in step with our in­ preciation of a recently built li­ vention and utilization of better brary, near the end of which com­ labor-saving machines? There ment Mum ford goes on to say : seems little doubt that it is, but "Unfortunately, because of this we are cutting down heavily on the

JOURNAL OF THE A. I. A. 189 individual's work hours. We are one's own hands does one learn apt to lose sight of the rather how to design it. Turning out staggering fact that, since the gen­ theoretical full-size drawings for eral adoption of the five-day week, the machine is something else. we take a day off for each two days of work. H. C. Turner, Jr. ARCHITECTS are not in the habit chalks it up on the blackboard of building P,alatial mansions for thus: themselves. The late Ben Mar­ shall of Chicago, however, de­ Days in a year ------365 signed and built for himself a Saturdays and Sundays __ 104 fabulous home and studio at the Holidays (assumed) ______8 harbor in Wilmette. It pre-dated Vacation (weekdays) __ __ 10 similar Hollywood creations, in­ Total, not working------122 cluding swimming-pool, theater Total, working ------243 and tropical gardens. The present owner, unable to find a buyer, of­ Add to these figures the fact that fered it to the village of Wilmette when we are not working we use as a Community Center, but the up 24 hours a day, and when we cost of alterations and the lack of are working it is for only 8 hours parking space ruled out acceptance. of the 24, and it begins to look as if life were getting pretty soft. THE American Society for Engi­ neering Education has come to the THE MACHINE serves us rather conclusion that engineers must be competently in supplying our taught how to write. "If the engi­ everyday silverware, but it is some­ neer is to see his work projects what of a jolt to find that the translated into reality he must be United States now has, for the able to describe them clearly and making of its handwrought silver, exactly. He can't tell the whole hardly a dozen professionals. But story with a blueprint and a slide perhaps you don't mind having your rule." All of which is passed on golf trophy cups or your church's to the attention of the Association communion silver come off the as­ of Collegiate Schools of Architec­ sembly line with a thousand dupli­ ture. Perhaps, that body may feel cates. The sad part of it is that moved to do something about the only by making silverware with non-writing architect.

OCTOBER, 1949 190 A New ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION Covering One of America's Most Popular and Rapidly­ Developing Types of Housing .. Tlie Suburban Apartment $5,000 IN CASH AW ARDS for the Most Interesting and Practical new design~r. . . __ ~ - ~~iiiiL\ -«T d Garden-Type ·1 ~oo Ei~ht-Fann y T BlJlLDlNG . AP ARTMEN e Construction of Wood Fratn

Open to: The Prizes: Architects, Designers, Draftsmen and Senior Sh1- Major Awards Student Awards denls. Opens Ocloher l. 1949 - closcs January First Prize . . . Sl ,500 First Prize ..... S500 15, 1950. Prizes awarded March 15, 1950. Second Prize ... S750 Second Prize . . . S250 Third Prize .... $500 Third Prize ... . $150 The Problem: Honorable l\lcntion Hononilil e J\lcntion The cxpandin[: popularity of the suburban or !O Awar

Appro\"t' d by the Committe e o n Co mpe tition o f th e AiH E IU CAN I NSTITUTE OF ARCH ITECTS Read y to insta ll • 1 1 sizes - 11 11 11 from 83/8 x 83/8 to 24 3/8 11 x 36 3/s • For plastered or non -plastered wal ls • With or without expanded metal wings.

IN CINCIN NATI ' S TERRA CE PLAZA HO TEL low•cost I 1'1 Bm Steel Access Doors provide instant access to all key points ... ye t blend invisibly into the wall when dosed ·· "°' Milcor Steel Access Doors are flush to th e wall. P a­ p e ring or p ain tin g right over them is easy. Quickly and easily installed, they tie right to t he metal lath , save on building time. Specify Milcor Steel Ac­ cess Doors on all your jobs. Consult the Milcor Catalog in your S weets F ile for complete information. PRODUCTS COMPANY For merl y Milcor Steel Company BURNHAM STREET e MILWAU KEE 1, WISCONSIN Balt im o re 24, Md. • Bu ffa lo 11 , N. Y. • Ch i cago 9, Ill. • Cin ci nnati 2 5, Oh i o • Cl eve l a nd 14 , Oh io • Detroit 2, Mich.

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Lester C. Tichy, A.I.A., New York City, ho s mode dromotic use of Zourite, the Kowneer Stock Aluminum Facing Material, to cover the entire facade of this hondsome building in Hempstead, Long Island. Kawneer Stock Metals possess the unique individuality of cu stom-styled shapes, yet they enable you to meet client demands for lower building costs. They cost far less than specially fabricated metals, and they help reduce your operating expenses by eliminating the detailing end draft­ ing of custom-styled assemblies. Write for deiails. 281 N. Front St., Nile s, Mich.; 2581 8th St., Berkeley, Cal.

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The significance of the word " United" carries through to the very material within which the organization is housed. Preeminence in mon­ umental character a nd excellence in structure and composition are united in Vermont Pearl marble, which has been selected a nd is now being fabricated for the entire North and South walls of the Secretariat Build­ ing. The beauty of mark­ ing and purity of the white background of the marble will add interest to the modern architec­ tural design and stand United Nations Secretariat Building, New York, N. Y., as a beacon a mong the United Nations Hdqrs. Planning Office, Wallace K. Harrison, n ations. Director of Planning. Vermont Pearl Exterior Marble.

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