VOL. XVII. No. 2. FEBRUARY, 1905. WHOLE No. 77.

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VILLAS ALL ILLUSTRATED 85 CHAS. DE KAY

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THE ARCHITECT IN RECENT FIC- TION. ,..,.. 137 HERBERT CROLY

NOTES AND QUERIES . 141

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VOL XVII, FEBRUARY, 1905. NO. 2.

Villas All Concrete.

He that has a house to put's head in, Now true it is that untouched surf- has a good headpiece, remarks King aces of shingle on roof and walls, of a Lear. That cottage you are going to bright day, have in shadow certain build by the seashore or in the hills, that lovely tones for eyes that note such home for the summer months which things with loving care, tones of mauve, must not cost more than seven thousand of violet, of amethyst. And in direct and surely comes to thirteen, what will light, seen nearby, thev are finely sil- you have it made of wood or ? vern. But in the long run they have the half "timber and brick or stone? or defect of in color the per- gloominess ; gen- adventure concrete and a tiled roof? eral impression is more than dull. A Whichever you choose, there will be settlement largely composed of these mistakes and regrets. Certain mourn- cottages and small villas and old houses ful will be in order con- is somewhat mournful all the recapitulations ; creepers cerning some things forgot, and other and flowers on and near them can do things duly considered but dropped but little to cheer that gentle gloom. through motives of economy. Let us Localities where they abound stand reason a bit on these alternatives as to much in need of other styles of wall and material. roof, other materials to give variety The house of wood is the popular and color to the scene. It is true that as house in a country so favored with Bacon says, houses are to live in, not to forest growth as ours. Especially the look at. But Bacon was so fortunate as simple Colonial structure of the sea- to have a wealth of charming old houses board, with its clapboard or shingle to consider and familiarity bred in him its severe line of he sides, shingled roof, contempt ; besides, adds "therefore sharply cut off at the eaves, harsh in the let use be preferred before uniformity triangle of the gable, often heavy except where both may be had." The enough in its proportions, even when fragile materials used by our village the point of the gable is hipped and forefathers, their lack of wealth and snipped, and the slope of the roof is numbers, have prevented in most parts broken a curb or of the States the formation of by gambrel ; especially United has this derivative from the less preten- old burgs and manors, which time has tious homes of the colonists been rising ripened into things of beauty. The pres- like the mushroom along the Atlantic ent generation, having won to ideas of coast. Its merits have been hitherto ob- art beyond those of former days, is ask- vious unpretentiousness, cheapness to ing for houses that shall be good to look build, cheapness to maintain. The at as well as comfortable to live in. shingles are left unpainted and unstained That people are beginning to feel the to take their natural weather tone, dulness and gloom of the unpainted which occurs in two or three seasons. shingle cottage may be seen on Long Copyright, 1905, by "The Architectural Record Company." All rights reserved. Entered May 22, 1902, as second-class matter, Post Office at Xew York, N. Y., Act of Congress of March 3d, 1879. 3 86 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

Island in such summer camps as East tinct advantage. It presents a contrast Hampton, Wainscott, Watermill and less violent than wood to the surround- South Hampton. At East and South ings. The house is less new-looking, Hills are less to with com- Hampton and on Shinnecock raw-looking, begin ; cottages and villages of larger size, em- pared with wood, it is less a box dropped bodying the or stucco wall and somewhere which might be jacked up the painted-shingle, the baked-clay or and rolled elsewhither as one often sees the cast-metal .tile for the roof. Plas- the old timber houses stalking along the tered and wire-lathed, and metal-tiled as roads. It seems rooted like a true to roof, is the Italian villa on Lake growth to the earth. Owing to the old- Georgica belonging to the painter Al- world originals from which they have

HOUSE OF ALBERT HBRTER.

Georgica Lake, East Hampton, L. I. Grosvenor Atterbury, Architect. bert Herter. The villa on the hill to the been studied, the architect has left rea- east of East Hampton, belonging to Dr. sonable wall spaces on which the eyes Clarence C. Rice, like the former, from rest with an undefined but no less real designs by Grosvenor Atterbury, has its sense of pleasure. As the ampelopsis, fine big shingle roof painted red. The honeysuckle and climbing roses invest smaller dwellings, of Benjamin Rich- the lower parts, the house takes stronger ards in the village of East Hampton, root and seems to grow from the lawn and "Pink House," the home of Mr. or the sandv dune. Wiechmann at Wainscott, are plastered On the other hand, even when at- frame houses, which offer a happy vari- tempts are made in wooden houses to ant from the mass of unpainted or dully provide some resting places for the eyes, painted dwellings. Yet the result is ob- the material itself cannot fail to sug- tained simply enough by a or gest that it is a surface of parts as- stucco skin applied to plaster-board or sembled, a combination of beams and metallic . boards and separate shingles. Unless So far as looks are concerned, the there is some special beauty in such stucco gray or pink or pale green in combination, as in furniture made art- tone and grainy as to surface is a dis- fully of different sorts of wood, and FILLAS ALL CONCRETE.

HOUSE OF DR. RICE.

East Hampton, L. I. Grosvenor Atterbury, Architect. 38 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. therefore interesting, the effect is chil- cliff and rocky outcrop from the soil. ling. Stucco or concrete differs from Do they not stand closer to Mother or brick or stone in that it Earth than structures wood brings wooden ; taking unity into the wall, suggests restfulness us back unconsciously through the laby- and strength, massiveness and immov- rinth of long-vanished ancestral days, by ableness, as if the building of which it the obscure paths of instinct, perhaps, to is the support were part of the landscape the ages when the race passed untold itself. Even in their abject ruins, de- centuries as cliff-dwellers, mound-bur- prived of their coverings of marbles and rowers, inhabitants of wattled - mosaics, the great walls of concrete of walled cabins, whitewashed earthen farm the imperial baths at Rome have a ma- and high-walled fortalice? The flat

THE HOUSE OF BENJAMIN RICHARDS.

East Hampton, L. I. jesty that neither brick nor stone pos- roofs and long, unrelieved walls of sesses. But if we add to these quali- Oriental towns appeal to us through ties the colors which the paintless cot- atavism, it may be. Who knows but tages we speak of so conspicuously lack, this may explain our liking for such it is clear that such buildings are very walls as much as do the more logical valuable, if it were only to leaven the and immediate reasons of economy and in should be lump ; and, fact, encouraged practical worth? as a to the sombreness of the That there are reasoned grounds for townscape. this liking is apparent. Beside a certain Why do we hail with satisfaction in quality in the colors on stucco or con- Spain or Mexico, Italy or France, those crete, a quality which cannot be ob- gray or ivory white, yellowish, pink or tained by unpainted or by stained or so and beside the claim pale green walls, simple uncostly, painted wood ; special as they appear to us with their concomi- of the shadows from deep eaves when tants of vineyard and olive orchard ? Is they fall on broad, united, grainy surf- it not because of a faint suggestion of aces, there are impressions of dura- VILLAS ALL CONCRETE. 89

VILLA OF MISS ANINE ARCHBOL.D. Bar Harbor, Me. THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. VILLAS ALL CONCRETE. 9 1

m CQ THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. VILLAS ALL CONCRETE. 93

bility, of security from fire, of impene- less costly in the long run, because they trability by damp and like suggestions need no or repairs. They are of a practical kind which may not be formed from inexhaustible earth by kiln altogether true in the wall that has a heat or by mixture with some propor- plaster skin, but at any rate seems true. tion of cement, or steam or some chem- I venture to say that brick seems less ical change, or by simple compression, durable, less serviceable in keeping out and in any quantity. Wood, on the the cold of winter and the heat of sum- other hand, takes long to grow, and de- mer. As a matter of fact, a well-built, mands constant watching against fire solid concrete wall, and even a tho- and thieves before it is ripe and available roughly finished stucco, should be less as timber. permeable to wind and moisture than Back of these structures, which are so one of uncovered brick. So that there picturesque and satisfactory to the eyes is good practical reason for covering when we see them in Mexico or Italy, brick with stucco as a reinforcement lies the old farm or town-house on the and against the drive of the rain classic or Oriental plan, built round storm, however that fashion may be de- three, if not four, sides of a yard, with cried as lacking full sincerity in the aes- its rooms lighted from the inner court. thetic sense. The -town and country Hence the rare windows outside, hence of Europe and Mexico the broad, untroubled surfaces which still uses the brick housewall clad in comfort the eye, but also hence the un- stucco, and molded to simulate great friendly, offish look of village streets in courses of stone a sham, of course. France and Italy, where each house But then, what is this villa architecture seems to be turning its back and bid- of frame house, metal ding the stranger begone. When, skin but a sham also ? It simulates your therefore, we seek to obtain these broad, stone house, or your brick laced with simple spaces in a free-standing villa stucco, or your solid wall of concrete. of moderate size we are met by the ne- Is it not better to go frankly over to the cessity of piercing the walls with many last-named and build so that houses will windows, for the light must come from remain practically unchangeable, only outside, and each room must have one gathering grace with age, gaining a fine or more windows. The problem grows patina, but subject to ruin neither by fire complicated. We want the fine points nor decay ? of the old liberal villa, with its inner There is another reason beside the court or patio, but we cannot bear the aesthetic advantages for believing that cost of low, wide, liberal houses, nor henceforward our cottage and villa spare our many rooms, our fenestration, architecture will turn this way. Wood is regular and hygienic, our drawing- getting dear to put it mildly. Invin- room and dining-room, the hall, the cible optimism has "done for" our for- baths, the convenient and airy kitchen ests as it has for the buffalo optimism in fine, a dozen things which to our or incurable devil-may-care, as you pre- climate and habits are indispensable fer! the the substitutes all into At same time, crowded together, moreover , for wood are increasing in number and comparatively narrow limits. For we getting cheaper. More factories to fur- are not considering the country house of nish hollow tiles, decorative and the wealthy, who can build broad or placques, cheaper cement and artificial high, and reproduce, if necessary, the stone of a durable kind are springing up. villas of Italy and Spain or the palaces Unburnable materials like of are of the sum- "lignum," Europe ; we thinking similar to brick in hardness and wearing mer houses of people of very moderate capacity, but like to wood in lightness means. Even if we could have the in- and the power to hold nails without ward-looking house, with central court- cracking; but superior in its practical yard, at a low price, we would not want indestructibility, are rapidly becoming it, because we like to have views in all less costly than wood, nay, are already directions, if possible from all rooms, 94 TIIL ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

HOUSE OP D. R. CRAIG. Wellesley, Mass. W. D. Brown, Architect.

and our effort is not, as of old, to con- that we find at Pompeii, their lower centrate the family life in the central stories preserved for all time by the hot, court, but to give the different mem- grainy outpourings from Vesuvius, a bers of the family as much opportunity black, unmelting hail that tenderly cov- as possible to have rooms to them- ered up many a choice bit of painted selves for rest, or quiet or study. The wall, many a work of household art modern cottage seeks to decentralize without destroying it. Houses with one the family so far as it can be done within or more courts cannot well be raised narrow dimensions and at moderate higher than two stories or three with- cost. out making the courtyards dark and un- The Spanish or Italian villa, on a fitted for their purpose, which was a somewhat costlier scale than mentioned well-sheltered, open-air life. Thus the above, may be seen in the design of Miss typical Greek house must have been Anne Archbold for her house at Bar only two stories high, with a cloistered Harbor, a country house planned in part or colonnaded courtyard for men, a by Miss Janet Scudder, but one in which dining-room beyond, and back of that a the owner's personal taste has found an cloistered courtyard for women. To- outlet. Here the broad wall-spaces cut ward the street, or outward, only the sparingly for window and door, the low upper story had windows, bays or bal- roof and widespreading ground plan, conies. Naturally the monastery and have the charm of the old dwellings that nunnery of Christian times repeated this go back to Roman days, those villas arrangement, for it pretty effectually FILLAS ALL CONCRETE. 95

shuts out the world beyond the four that follows the ups and downs of the walls. In the turbulent Middle Ages the thermometer, as it were automatically, private dwelling in town and country now raising defences against a torrid might well follow the same general plan heat, now closing itself against sudden for the of the but in cold or the from torrential rains. safety family ; mod- damp ern times the necessity for this seclusion Our fierce winters make us sensitive to no longer exists. When it is found in cold because they force us to keep our it that builder houses even the America means the pre- very warm ; summer fers the sense of living secluded, as some bungalow must be prepared for a slight enjoy surrounding their property with fall of the thermometer. We are not so high stone walls to prevent the intrusion heroic as the English and Italians, who even of a prying eye. The general ten- support their few weeks of severe dency, however, is outward rather than weather with resignation rather than inward, a multiplication of windows, put their houses in condition for short porches and balconies, and a dispensing seasons of cold; our agony would last with even so much as a fence as bound- too long. The cloistered courtyard has ary, so that the line between lawn and to be an exotic, save in and high road is merely marked by a stone Southern . Our roofs must be coping or a slope of grass. much tighter than are the handsome Moreover, the great variability of tiled coverings of Italian villas, and our climate on the Atlantic seaboard mili- kitchens have to be nearer to hand. We tates against the old-world villa archi- carry comfort to a degree which earns tecture. We have to provide a house for us the scorn of Europeans, many of

RESIDENCE OF MISS CATHERINE ARMS. Youngstown, . H. F. Kling and C. W. Buchanan, Architects. 96 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. whom regard blue noses and chilblains brick to heat and cold, dampness and as of the of life wind. In countries where it is part necessary rigors ; common but a short residence in the United this is not only a cheaper but rapider States cures them of this disdain, and method of construction than wood or they discover that the climate of the new brick or stone, and admits of decoration world exacts compromises which they in many ways, either by incrustations of had not foreseen. tiles or shells, by modeling in plaster re- But if the ordinary owners of a coun- liefs, by washing with colors, by geomet- try house cannot afford a low Spanish ric designs with colored bricks. villa, with inner compound green and Ruskin says somewhere that orna- flowery where a fountain murmurs mentation is the principal part of archi-

THE HOUSE OF CHAS. E. WHITNEY. Vineyard Haven, Mass. J. Williams Beal, Architect.

above a pool full of water-lilies, he can tecture, considered as a subject of fine have a picturesque exterior. art, but in this country we seem to fear The next step away from wood con- ornamentation of buildings, perhaps be- struction is to make the stucco walls of cause the attempts have been made by villas really solid masses of concrete, architects who have no talent in that and here and there we see this step tak- field, more likely because, according to en. Long wooden boxes without bot- our means, we aim at size rather than toms are employed to mold the solid, beauty, quantity rather than quality. thick walls, which are built up of con- Some buildings discovered during exca- crete formed on the spot of cement and vations for the new quays on the Tiber , or broken brick or stone, in the at Rome afford an example of the bold- ancient way, the concrete hardening to ness and cleverness of Roman decora- the consistency of soft stone, and offer- tors of house walls. Thev laid the plas- ing even better resistance than stone or ter, and while it was wet fashioned it by VILLAS ALL CONCRETE. 97 hand in figures and of low thetic to the practical, there is wisdom in relief, and then applied colors and even this madness, in so far that a villa built gilding with true artistic feeling as well throughout of concrete is almost inde- as technical skill. Similar if inferior structible and insurance against fire is treatment of the fronts of half-timber scarcely needed. houses was common in Northern Eu- What is the Spanish cement or con- rope during the Middle Ages. crete house, what the ancient Pompeiian, In France and to a less degree in other than a style founded on one of Germany there has been of late a sharp the oldest forms of house-making, that return to this early method of building, of wattled cabins, round or square, especially for small town houses and which the early dwellers in Europe

STABLE OF DR. NATHAN B. VAN ETTTEN. Borough of the Bronx, New York City. Robert W. Gardner, Architect. villas. L'art nouveau has seized on the daubed with clay, whitened with burnt idea very naturally, because in concrete shells or limestone, and decorated with and with the plaster exterior we can earthy pigments dissolved in water? It shape those fantastic designs and curves is a practical method of building, so re- which seem so attractive to the very motely antique that history cannot guess modernest and most progressive of its origin. In France there is M. Hen- architects, though the results often sug- nebique, who has revived it with modern gest the carved work on Papuan pad- innovations that permit of making dles. There is in this revived style an floors and walls and stairways much analogy to certain trees like the birch thinner than the ancients used to build, and the palm, which have generous, and yet with great stability and strength. smooth, united trunks and liberal roofs Deeply embedded in the mass of con- of green. And, to spring from the aes- crete, as the wooden formts that mold the THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

STABLE OF DR. NATHAN B. VAN ETTEN.

Borough of the Bronx, New York City. Robert W. Gardner, Architect. walls, beams under floors, etc., are filled, walls, quays, sea-walls, culverts, bridges are rods of iron and wires placed appa- and esplanades. rently at random, but well calculated to In the borough of the Bronx a young strengthen the material. He has likened architect has recently built for Dr. van them to the nerves that steady and con- Etten a stable all of concrete cellars, trol the animal fabric. Perhaps it would stairway pf the horses, floors and sup- be better to find an analogy in the straw porting beams, chimneys, rooms for that early nations mixed with sun-dried coachman, even the roof, as the illustra- bricks. The concrete in drying crystal- tions show. The only wood used is for lizes round the rods and wires so firmly the frames to windows and doors. The that the latter become part of the mate- concrete beams, twenty-five feet in the rial, and prevent its cracking or parting span, that support the carriage floor, under strain. In the United States, too, have within them iron rods of no great we hear of warehouses and grain eleva- size or thickness, not running from wall tors constructed throughout of con- to wall, not even touching, but laid sep- crete, floors and roofs as well as walls. arately, flat or tilted, as seems best, for Railway stations and armories also have the purpose of making the concrete been constructed of this material wholly tougher. They are about eight inches or in part, not to speak of retaining thick, and the floor above them four VILLAS ALL CONCRETE. 99

STABLE OF DR. NATHAN B. VAN BTTEN. Borough of the Bronx, New York City. Robert W. Gardner, Architect. thick. They have been loaded with six- a bad conductor of heat and cold, it teen tons, and showed only a deflection preserves an evener temperature than under that weight of one-sixteenth of stone, brick or wooden stables. More- an inch. Chimneys and stairs are of the over, the floors are so modeled that same material, and so is the roof. The there are no curves or cracks in which walls are four inches thick, and if it were dirt can collect. The bins for feed can thought necessary to have an~air-space be part of the wall, and are inaccessible in such walls, there would be no diffi- to rats. A hose can be used to wash culty in embedding flat, hollow tiles floors and walls and ceiling, and the throughout. As it is, Mr. Gardner has damp does not linger. used square hollow tiles for the flues of Though so simple, and one may truly the chimney. say so primitive, this style of building The concrete he uses consists of one has still to make its way. A magnificent part , two parts sand example of a somewhat similar kind of and four of broken stone, or in some construction is the Ponce de Leon hotel places four of screened and washed coal of Carrere & Hastings, at San Augus- ashes. The stable is impervious to wa- tine, Florida. Concrete floors are also it cannot take the fashion witness ter below and above, fire, getting ; the Metro- and, owing to the fact that concrete is politan Club and the new palace of Sen- 1OO THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

ator W. A. Clark on Fifth Avenue. ing rain will penetrate brick or wood or There is every reason, however, to be- thin plaster, the cement wall cannot be lieve that it will be applied more and pierced by water or wind. Its thickness more, at first to small villas, stables, etc., admits of deep embrasures and window in like the Pacific seats its surface itself especially places Slope ; lends to modeled where, indeed, it might b'e termed na- and colored decoration without limit, if tive under also the that to Spanish precedents ; owner prefers simple lines. Long Island, the Jersey coast, Cape Nor is there any reason why the floors Cod and other Atlantic resorts where and stairways should not be made as wood is costly, the air is full of vapor solid and indestructible as the walls, us- and salt tang, and the chief ingredients ing a good quality of concrete, of course, of concrete can be found close at hand. and eliminating thus as far as possible One drawback, on the score of economy, the woodwork that ensures, the destruc- will yield to the demand its newness tion of a country house as soon as fire on the Atlantic coast and the inexperi- gains headway enough to attack it. For ence of ordinary builders and contrac- libraries, museums and art galleries, that tors. Workmen are not familiar with contain valuable books and , it contractors hesitate to the all-concrete is the that ; very naturally building one give an estimate of its cost. will be in demand. There can be little doubt that a wall Our people seem to have a fear of of concrete of well color are in the proper ingredients, ; they very Quakers so- rammed down, will be cooler in sum- berness of their homes. They should mer and warmer in winter than any gr^isp the opportunity to employ a sim- other kind of construction of the same ple, practical form of building conse- thickness, and that the time is close crated by the ages "as old as the hills" when it will be as cheao as, if not cheap- which permits the use of soft, bright er than, wood, and of course more eco- colors, and is as well fitted to peep from nomical than plaster on metallic lath or the bosom of deep woodlands as to plaster board. The metallic lath is al- smile across the bare, wind-swept moors ways in danger from rust unless the by the sea, where greatest care is taken that it is kept . . . . the pointed cedar shadows from contact with the air, so insidious Drowse on the crisp gray moss. are the approaches of oxidation. It is safe the comfortable red roof is not only when the workmen are watched, Even used folk their al- and every inch of lathing that goes into much by city on villas, such a wall is scrutinized to see that though the country people, following taste the fear there are no parts which fail to be com- their without or, indeed, of are to pletely covered by the plaster. With the knowledge critics, prone paint all-concrete wall a workman can hardly their barns and often their sheds, their houses and covered red. Yel- go astray. The openings for doors, win- bridges, for walls is a favorite with folk dows, flues, and ventilating shafts are low city it is to fixed, and the walls about them rise because supposed be Colonial, and has in its favor it has swiftly as the wooden forms are shifted precedent ; upward. The marks of these forms can fortunately taken the place of a reddish be smoothed away while the concrete is brown that invaded country villas at one not yet hard. The composition forms time, and demoralized the landscape its tones but as with an almost indestructible mass, which with disgusting ; so with the trouble is that supports perfectly the low-eaved roof, red, yellow; and is a non-conductor for heat house-painters, through defective color- and cold. Where a long-continued driv- sense, are capable of any color-crime. Charles de Kay. The Perfect Theatre.

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF E. S. P. & E. P. M.

"That men may rise on stepping stones Of their dead selves to higher things."

An architectural critic of the i8th and in their order of importance may be

century describing a foreigner's arrival placed like this : at a city remarks his curiosity which ist. Good Planning, led him in the first place to visit the 2d. Watching and Inspection, theatre. Here he received his first im- 3d. Fire resisting construction. pressions "of the state of the arts, of Subordinate considerations also af- the genius and the manners of the fecting health and comfort are sanita- people." Centuries earlier, in classic tion, heating, lighting, ventilation, and times, Vitruvius tells us that in laying the like. out a new city, the theatre, or place of It is not my present purpose to go amusement, was located next after the into a repetition of details for these ne- Forum, or place of business. He says, cessities which have been so ably cov- "A spot as healthy as possible is to be ered in Mr. Sach's "Modern Theatres chosen for the theatre." and Opera Houses," and in Mr. Ger- Two considerations are apparent here. hard's "Theatres." I propose to take The ideal of the classic architect was up the subject in a more general but material. It concerned t"he material perhaps quite as pertinent a way. And welfare of the people. After the Re- this by reason of certain new phases, naissance of Art came a wave of Aesthe- which recent conditions in theatre oper- ticism. The "state of the arts" divided ation seem to have forced upon us. attention with the "manners of the If one should attempt to describe the people." The theatre of to-day is a re- Perfect Theatre it is just as apparent as flex of society, just as it was 200 or 2,000 ever that such must be the result of an years ago. Ours is an age of both ma- ideal society. And in one particular the terial and aesthetic standards, and the ancients certainly had an advantage perfect theatre must be judged by both. over us. Whereas their buildings were The exquisitely decorated Auditorium situated and designed for the benefit of captivates our sense of beauty, but the people, to-day it is the box office cramped quarters and a headache will which must be accommodated. For distort the most exquisite creation. On while in Classic and Mediaeval times the other hand, thorough ventilation, the funds were provided by the State, it comfortable seating and the sense of se- is impossible under private enterprise curity arising from a well-planned and to equal the liberal provisions which an ably managed building have won half undertaking for profit forbids. A well- the battle for an aesthetic complement. known financier, approached quite re- Granting the necessity for both, I think cently to endow a model theatre, replied, we may at once admit that the sine qua "There is only one successful endow- non of the Perfect Theatre is its pro- ment for a theatre, and that is through vision for the safety, health and comfort the box office!" This sentiment is of its patrons. wrong, because the public often errs in On this subject, several well-known its support, and always benefits by edu- writers have established what may be cation. There is perhaps no more called a standard. I refer especially to worthy field for the philanthropist than Messrs. Foelsch & Sach's in Europe the endowment of splendid theatres. and Mr. W. P. Gerhard in America. We know that the Greeks set apart These gentlemen consistently tell us their finest site for the theatre, and this that the necessities for Safety in theatres practice prevailed for many centuries. 102 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. THE PERFECT THEATRE. 103

In our day, private enterprise counts type, and there are a hundred similar a frontage too expensive, so the "single instances, all disparaging to our modern entrance" plan has been adopted. practice, in so far that health and The theatre proper occupies the in- safety have been sacrificed for financial terior of a plot of ground, the street reasons. If the box office cannot frontage being devoted to other pur- remedy this, the philanthropist poses, with one or perhaps two might. passages reserved for entrances. New Then again heating, lighting and ven- York boasts several theatres typical of tilation which the Greeks obtained from this scheme, as do almost all our larger nature, are with us important matters cities, but the significance of this state- of engineering. Sight lines and acous-

ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE AT VERONA.

ment is that they constitute the newest tics, construction, decoration, planning and most costly of our buildings. A re- and last but not least the care and man- cent contributor to these pages has agement of the house after its comple- ably described the decorative schemes of tion, were comparatively simple matters the New Amsterdam, the Empire and in the isolated structure of a single pur- other Metropolitan playhouses. But pose. But with the crowding together what of the material, the practical side of many interests in the same block of these theatres? Compare the single yes and under the same roof the de- entrance the niggardly street frontage signing of one of these intricate theatre with the majestic setting the splen- structures has become to-day perhaps did isolation of a European Opera the most difficult problem an architect House. We will take for example may undertake. Gotham's New Amsterdam and Copen- Could we be carried back 2,000 years hagen's Royal Theatre. Each one is a to the simple lives of the Roman and [O4 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. the Greek, retaining all we have learned mountain side, the chiselled steppings that is good, obliterating all we have following the natural contour of the acquired that is bad, then indeed might land. Here for a back ground majestic the Ideal Theatre, in its main necessi- Aetna towers 14,000 feet above the sea. ties, be realized. Even now in the most Such a setting was the Ancient Greeks' vital principles of design the 2oth cen- delight. It only remains to p.dd that tury architect can find no happier in- their roof was the canopy of Heaven, spiration than the works of those Clas- their border lights the sun : and we can sic Master Builders, which still mutely never equal the perspective of their testify on the shores of Italy and her sis- stage setting the distant view of moun- ter States, to an art whose simple tain, vale and sea. beauty stands unequalled and alone. To-day we are hampered by the de- One must needs approach the subject mands of a civilization thoroughly arti- of the Ideal Theatre from the standpoint ficial, which with every decade becomes where these ancients were supreme. more complicated. The impression one gets above all at The Greek found no necessity to Pompeii or at Fiesole, at Toarmina or guard against fire and panic where was at is the same here the sim- combustible and seat an Rome, ; was nothing every ple, the natural, the perfect plan. Vitru- aisle. No fear that light or ventilation vius tells us that proportion in architec- might fail with nature as the source. ture was inspired by the divine symme- No restriction necessary for the jerry- try of the human body and that its mem- builder where the quarry side formed bers hand, foot, etc. were the origin the wall. But more than all, as condu- of the measures used in building. The cive to the safety of the audience, was architect of the Classic Theatre drew his scientifically radiating plan which first a circle symbolic always like the not only stood for ease of movement, i. in Buddhist's wheel of Destiny. The e., straight lines, but better still, a Greek inscribed within it squares, the continually increasing ease. Roman drew triangles, but both with This is a vital necessity of theatre a well-studied system by which the planning, which present practice quite points of either figure indicated width ignores : that as the audience is dis- and depth of stage and pointed direc- missed, each succeeding stage shall be tion of aisles and exits. Vitruvius has easier than the last. left an account of this system of plan- To illustrate : The building ordinances ning, and I can imagine nothing more of most cities require a width of i ft. superbly fitting in the Greek architects for every 100 persons, as the capacity of work than this, his flawless nature aisles, stairs and exits. This is a very plan, inspired by the 12-pointed star scanty measure and should be increased, with which the astrologers had traced but on a graduated scale as follows : their sphere. The signs of the Zodiac Aisles between seatings, capacity of i^ stood to portray every human charac- ft. for every 100 persons. teristic; they were a record of all the Corridors in rear seatings, capacity of seasons of time and life. So upon this 2 ft. for every 100 persons. eternal frame, encircled by the endless Stairways behind corridors, capacity of line which stood for immortality, the 2^ ft. for every 100 persons. Greek architect built his theatre, where Final exit doors, capacity of 3 ft. for was to be depicted the whole gamut of every 100 persons. life's changing play. The congestion which usually occurs On the heights above Florence the lit- in the rear of seatings and out as far as tle ''mother city" of Fiesole boasts one of the exits while an audience is being dis- the -best preserved classic theatres, and missed would in this way be avoided and at Toarmina, in Sicily, is an example many deadly panics averted. similar to Fiesole, but still more pict- The subject of plan naturally suggests uresque. In both instances the site has a word on the much advertised "emer- been chosen in a gentle hollow in the gency exit." In the sum of all things THE PERFECT THEATRE. 105

puerile, I know of no more cruel inven- right hand or north of Chicago's Iro- tion. This country alone of all civilized quois Theatre, seating 1,900 people, nations, allows and even sanctions it. were three emergency fire escapes. The I state this after a critical inspection of a manager had told his employees never large percentage of European theatres. to open them except on his personal or- Anything which savors of the unusual ders. Consequently when needed to to the same extent makes possible dan- save life they were not ready for the ger in a theatre plan. The most suc- emergency, and when forced open, were cessful theatre manager is he who takes found, but too late, to be utterly inade- his audience completely into his confi- quate. Just one day's trial would have dence as regards all arrangements for condemned these ill-planned, flimsy es- STREET.

1 ROQUO1S CM1CMGO.

seating and exits, and inculcates these capes as unfit for use under the most by force of habit. The audience must be ordinary circumstances. But they were dismissed with ease, and be conscious for emergencies only, and their first test of that ease. cost the lives of 600 persons. On all programmes of London play- Such is the emergency exit. houses will be found the following no- The "single entrance" plan was the tice : "The public at the end of the per- scheme of the Iroquois Theatre. The formance may leave the theatre by all editor of a leading architectural journal exit and entrance doors." A law to writes that the possibility of the late compel the daily use of every exit will disaster "may be found in the plans of avoid the rusting of locks, accumulation the building." After centuries of noble of debris, and blocking of passages, example in safe planning, the Ameri- which the manager trusts to luck may can dollar has decreed that nearly two never be required. thousand people shall congregate in a To illustrate : The only exits on the playhouse with but one regular entrance io6 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. THE PERFECT THEATRE. 107 io8 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

and exit, and that not even located on greatest palaces on the Grand Canal, al- the main axis of auditorium and stage. though little known in this connection For the rear imposed a cruel barrier, deserved equal fame for his theatre of 100 feet wide and almost as high, with Vicenza. (See page no.) For in that not a solitary opening to break the noteworthy plan he first used the ellipse dread prison wall. And yet money had instead of the circle, a premonition of been lavished on this fated building; the the modern instinct which would draw construction was thorough, and we may the audience closer to, and more nearly even say fireproof in the sense that a in front of the actors. stove is fireproof. But a stove is de- The twentieth century has empha- sized signed to facilitate combustion within it, this desire for width and shallow- and the shape of the conventional audi- ness, combined with the Greek radial torium with its up-draft ventilation is plan. Its logical conclusion may be seen built upon exactly the same principle. in a new Chicago theatre where the el- It is not fireproof theatres we need liptic plan has been completed. (See as the born These three viz.: so much Panic-proof ; proof page no.) types, the of the simple and the natural plan. The circle, the ellipse and the oval, show a free and unrestricted area with open reasonable sequence of endeavor, from spaces on all sides is the first imperative which the Ideal Theatre must eventually requirement. We legislate this, but we be evolved. The Gallic and Italian horse- evade it. If under present circumstances shoe plan and the oblong square of theatres cannot be made profitable upon England and America, which have pre- such expensive sites, does not the ad- dominated for several centuries, lack vent of quick and cheap transportation many advantages, and in the best prac- offer a less expensive substitute? Or if tice they are now virtually discarded. we must have some centrally located Again concave surfaces are recog- then admission must nized as an aid to concen- playhouses prices sound ; they be advanced, or better still, the profit- trate the sound waves and increase the taking spirit may be eliminated by the volume. In the Chicago Theatre just advent of the philanthropist into the mentioned, a thin resilient partition field of endowed theatres. forms the entire enclosure of the oval The Perfect Theatre necessitates and also extends up into ceiling and first the Perfect Site, so that the archi- dome. It was accidentally demonstrated tect may give it a fitting and proportion- that the sound waves cause vibration ate plan. The ancients understood this. of this shell, which becomes, in fact, a Their semicircular plan radiated exits, huge sounding board. and more each continued on its indi- One of our difficult problems, which vidual axis to the street. Perhaps the the old Greeks escaped, consists in the most noteworthy example is that mighty projecting balconies of the modern fabric, the Roman Theatre of Marcellns theatre. Cantilever construction has which seated 14,000 persons, and is the made an enormous overhang possible largest theatre recorded in the world's without the use of obstructing columns, history. (See page no.) and here ensues a subtle danger, that of If its noble builders could have seen bringing the occupants too close to the it as I did some time since, its ancient dread inflammability of stage equip- glory given place to the needs of hous- ment. This extreme projection should ing the very poor of modern Rome, they be prohibited unless, as I believe, we had still seen it harboring tragedy, and are upon the eve of a new use for, and perhaps more realistic than of old. The benefit from mechanical ventilation. As ruin mentioned is typical of hundreds of practised in some of Vienna's later others in Italy and Greece. And later, buildings, the system becomes a safe- in the days of the Renaissance the great guard by its constant current from au- Palladio still adhered to the radial prin- ditorium through stage opening and up ciple. The noted architect whose fame through stage roof. I do not hesitate to is written in the facades of many of the say that, in the light of present knowl- THE PERFECT THEATRE. 109

AN CIEINT -GRECIAN -THEIATRE:- no THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

BUSM TEIAM=LE TMnMTRE , CMICMCO. THE PERFECT THEATRE. Ill

or M.OF2SET or ITAUV 112 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

edge the up-draft method principally which the fresh air is forced in through used in this country, the intake of fresh perforations in the ceiling and at the air under seats and the exhaust through rear of the auditorium. The current ventilators in ceiling over the audi- would be drawn through the stage torium (page 113), is a criminal practice opening and out through ventilators fraught with the gravest danger. always open in the stage roof. It would The downward system invented by. be sure because constant, its operation the French engineer, Morin, and used being denoted by tiny streamers placed with much success in several continental in the proscenium arch. And this ap- and American houses, escapes that re- parent protection would make for con- sponsibility, because in forcing the air in fidence in the audience and therefore at the ceiling and drawing it out beneath dollars to the management. Once more seats the downward pressure extends imagine, if you will, the advantage of a also laterally, i. e., in a limited degree system of protection which on account through stage opening. It is well to of its publicity cannot be allowed to note that a Commission of Theatre Ex- lapse ! In contrast all our present meas- perts employed by the Chicago Tribune, ures are left absolutely in the hands of reported: "Any system of ventilation an undisciplined and ever changing which could draw smoke or flame there- stage crew, and we expect safety ! It in from the stage should be suitably has been stated that air currents safeguarded." But how? I repeat that through the stage opening would inter- the ventilating system must itself form fere with the operation of scenery. But the safeguard. this is obviated by perforations over and Prof. Brouardel has shown that the at sides of the proscenium, connected majority of theatre fires start upon the by a special duct to the roof, thus con- stage and that the loss of life usually tinuing air currents when the stage occurs from the flames and smoke opening is closed. The interference which immediately penetrate into the with acoustics is insignificant in com- auditorium. Late efforts to guard parison with the security gained. against this source of danger have only This security lies in the fact of a the real need. constant initial current an temporized with What ; ever open reliance can be placed in hand grenades stage vent; a combination ensuring the or standpipes when contingent upon right direction of any conflagration human watchfulness or resource. How which might occur. can we depend upon sprinklers whose In addition fusible links should be advocates claim that the plugs are "al- provided, which at the first flame would most sure" to fuse. What certainty in throw open other enormous auxiliary a steel curtain which in the critical mo- roof vents,making the aggregate size of ment often fails to work. these not less than one-eighth the area Where is the safety in fireproof scen- of stage. ery whose virtue at most can last only I have dealt with ventilation in what three months? Who is to guarantee the I believe is its most urgent phase as a opening of stage vent in time of peril? safeguard. Its importance as a measure These things are all good as far as they for health is well understood. But in go, but they are all uncertain. Sprink- many theatres it is ignored, so that ex- lers certainly should be required over periments have proved the air more foul every stage with scenery. I am not de- than that in a street sewer. crying the use of any other reasonable Elaborate systems have been aban- safeguards. doned or mutilated because of the trif- But I believe the greatest measure of ling cost of operation. Some of the safety lies in a ventilation system spe- most important theatres come in this cially designed to that end, and I look class. I know of one whose splendid to see the experts take up and solve equipment became entirely forgotten this problem which I can here only out- through disuse. In another the man- line. The ideal system would be one in ager inserted by-passes in the ducts to THE PERFECT THEATRE.

save the operation of a fan, and ruined that one will shortlv be discontinued, its efficiency. I can name a celebrated and who is to discover this until too American theatre whose manager ac- late. The writer used electricity and knowledged he did not know which his gas in a theater which he lately designed, house had, the up or the down draft sys- the gas serving for the auxiliary system. tem. As an instance of careless management, There are so many ways in which the it took fully a month of almost daily in- ignorance or cupidity of a manager may spection by the architect before he could destroy the merit of an intelligent archi- enforce its use. There was always some tect's for evasion but the of plan. excuse ; absence Lighting, which with ventilation was gaslight, as against the main system of so easily disposed of by the Classics, be- electricity, made detection immediate and sure. Although placed by competent au- thorities last (and rightly so) in the list of primary necessities, fireproof con- struction is still of distinct advantage in the modern theatre. Practice in the best lately constructed buildings has been uniformly excellent, with perhaps one exception. I refer to the use of wooden and flooring built upon the iron beams for the steppings of bal- conies and galleries. Building regula- tions within the four-mile limit of Lon- don prohibit this, and so in perhaps a half-score of the newest metropolitan theatres the iron structure has been rein- forced with a system of concrete step- pings and risers which for thorough fire- proofing and solidity are superb. 1 have in other pages described this system as used in Wyndham's two theatres, the Apollo and His Majesty's. The advan- comes a special problem in these days of tage of such construction is apparent restricted and enclosed areas. Because when contrasted with its counterpart in of its safety, cleanliness, and smaller some of our most celebrated American heating property, electricity is becom- theatres. Dust, refuse and shavings- ing the standard method. I suppose all filled receptacles their gallery voids usu- laws the world over an for the debris in- building require ally become ; building auxiliary system to avoid the possibility variably finds its way into them. In our of sudden darkness. I believe a further day no wood should be tolerated in con- regulation is necessary. The auxiliary struction, nor yet in finish nor furnish- system must be of a different character ings. For we know that other build- (gas or sperm oil), so as to proclaim ings are now being constructed without itself as such to the audience or to any- an ounce of inflammable material one interested. then why not the theatre? It is two This is a system, again, which, by its centuries since Count Algarotti, an Ital- very publicity could not be allowed to lian theatre critic, in an essay on the lapse. Taking the audience into his opera, wrote that "the best lining for the confidence may not be agreeable to the interior of a theatre is wood." manager who would shirk regulations, In some matters we have progressed. but it is a pretty certain check on That was the view of the artist and their evasion. Two systems of elec- musician, in brief, of the Italian. But tric lighting means, on the other hand, a few vears later, Saunders, the London THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. architect, mind you, the experienced sort of thing in our theatres. Would practitioner, wrote : "Wood being of all you not rather trust your life in the materials the most favorable to sound, hands of the commander of the mean- should be adopted in a theatre, in pref- est tramp that crosses the Atlantic than erence to every other, not only in the to the tender mercies of the most ex- but in the walls and even the alted theatre in this divisions, ; manager country? ceiling should be lined with it." These For the commander understands his critics all cited the theatre at Parma, first care to be the safety of his patrons. lined entirely with wood, as the most After that comes his duty to the com- perfect example of acoustic excellence. pany. Not only that, but he undergoes And Mr. Saunders, in his admirable years of special training fitting him for treatise, which dwelt on acoustics, light- the post. The theatre manager is ing by candles, decorations and other chosen solely for his capacity to "make appointments, not forgetting the coffee it pay." No other standard of fitness is room, has not seen fit to advise any required in the man upon whose watch- regulations for safety, with one excep- fulness and resource each day depend tion, the outward opening of doors. the lives of thousands. Such a fact The Aesthetic outweighed all material seems incredible in this age of civic re- considerations in those days. Possibly orm. The direst need of the modern because, strange to relate, theatre fatali- theatre is a State-regulated manage- ties were of proportionately rare occur- ment, employees trained and tested for rence. We have no records compiled their efficiency, from manager down. prior to 1841. Since that date about Then perhaps when danger looms, in- 1,200 theatre fires have cost the lives of stead of a stampede of boy ushers and 12,000 persons, and the proportion is a stage manager "wanted," we may find steadily increasing. Proof enough that resource and fidelity equal to the late the modern theatre, as built and man- heroism of a Norwegian ship captain aged, needs urgent and radical reform. and his engineer. I believe it was the Let me emphasize as built and man- "Norge," whose commander was still aged, for while the architect's responsi- on the bridge as the ship foundered, bility ceases with the properly con- and whose chief engineer had just gone structed building, the manager at once down to the engines, and to certain assumes that responsibility and must death. So much for the employees. never relax his vigilance. The owners of our theatres come in for Yet who ever heard of a theatre man- criticism by a leading dramatic critic, ager losing sleep for any other than a who says that not commercialism but question of receipts? illiteracy is the curse of the American I am not going out of my province stage. With that statement I cannot al- when I say that very few managers in together agree. this country know what they stand for. Theatre managers he characterizes And here I want to make a comparison with few exceptions (and there are nota- which will make clear some duties. A ble exceptions) as grossly illiterate. Of metropolitan theatre in its relation to its such a type was the magnate controlling patrons closely resembles a modern many theatres, who, after seeing a com- ocean liner. The same frail humanity edy, founded on the "Pickwick ," trusts itself within the confines of one as inquired eagerly : "Ain't that piece made the other, each unit in a sense relin- from some book?" They told him yes, quishing its identity and becoming a and that the author was a young man part of an unwieldy whole, of which named Charles Dickens, living in Yon- nothing is certain except that it is in- kers. "Send him a telegram to come capable of any concerted action, and and see me," said he, "I may make a that its safety is utterly in the hands of deal with him for another libretto." its keepers. Now compare the disci- These are the men who control in a pline, the regime obtaining on a liner majority of cases all matters theatrical. with the article which passes for that They build theatres, but the absorbing THE PERFECT THEATRE.

question of dollars and cents renders sides of stage, within the stage, is ex- them deaf to all considerations of pub- tremely dangerous. The rooms should lic safety. Inspection of a recently con- be entirely separated by fire walls from structed theatre, disclosed such glaring the stage proper and have independent faults of planning that I questioned the stairs and exits. One or two openings architect, who replied, "My friend, I with fire doors at stage level would know the faults and I fought hard to make the necessary connection. avoid them. But you know my client Let us now define in more concise and that the architect must plan to suit form the present necessities of the him." In these days of the Trust and Ideal Theatre. the dictator we need architects of the Chief of all are the isolated site and

PROSCENIUM ARCH, BUSH TEMPLE THEATRE.

Chicago, 111.

Brunelleschi type, the gifted Florentine the simple and generous plan always who, rather than be brow-beaten by the recognized as the most vital necessities all-powerful Medici tore up the plans in these have never been as utterly for- his client's presence and refused to re- gotten as they are to-day. Other points place them at any price. not heretofore covered in the text One I want to the but still and which thing emphasize ; books, imperative, Ideal conditions we would have must modern conditions have imposed, are : exist on both sides of the footlights. ist. The compulsory use of all exits The actors and stage employees whose after every performance. duty keeps them in the danger zone 2d. An increase in the ratio of exit must be considered equally with the pa- areas to seating capacity, the ratio con- trons. This means well-ventilated and tinually increasing to the final exit. sanitary dressing rooms, and with suffi- 3d. A safety ventilation system, cient exits. which of itself shall constitute the pa- The modern method of constructing trons' chief protection from stage con- tier upon tier of rooms on one or both flagrations. u6 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

4th. A regulation compelling the aux- palisade of death. After all that has iliary lighting by a different method than passed our ordinances are not improved, the main system, so as to insure detec- conditions in our theatres are hardly tion of its omission. better than they were. The ear-marks 5th. Education of the management remain. I can cite one case where the and the public in the truth that "fire- insistence of the dread emergency exit proof construction" is only one short (and the Building Commissioner must step in the direction of safety, and alone obey the letter of the law he has no is worthless and even other has in- ; yes, dangerous alternative) materially in the sense of security which the term creased the element of danger. seems to, but does not, imply. In Chicago it is a fact that the build- 6th. The necessity of a check on re- ing ordinance as revised since the late miss management by the adoption of disaster is in important points distinctly safety measures that may be apparent inferior to its predecessor. to all and which, therefore, could not Take, for instance, two items: easily lapse. The old ordinance prescribed a thea- Last and most important as govern- tre building should front on three pub- ing all of the above : Legislation to lic places. bring theatre enterprises under the con- The revised ordinance prescribes only trol of special State Boards, who should two. pass on all plans of buildings and should The old ordinance called for sprink- also institute an examination for all lers above and below stage. employees, the same being subject to The revised ordinance does away with license after proving qualified for their them. special duties as in other professions In this way the revision legalizes an where equal responsibility exists. increased element of danger, for the Such are the material and urgent three public frontages and the sprink- needs. In many of our popular thea- ler system on stage, have a well-estab- tres nothing but the mercy of Provi- lished value. No matter what specious dence is saving new disaster. This is argument may be used against them, not the cry of the alarmist rather the there are authentic cases where sprink- sober judgment of men who have given lers have extinguished fire on the stage. time and pains to reach the facts and That being so," who will deny it were who see in the utterly inadequate exits, better to install 100 sprinkler systems the lack of proper fire protection and and to damage scenery in 99 useless the negligent and inefficient manage- sprayings, if by so doing, lives might be ment, a standing invitation to a great saved in just one theatre fire. However, catastrophe. After each accident comes statistics show that premature fusing rhe wave of indignation and reform. is so rare, it need only be expected in Such reform as the Alderman can ad- a theatre once every 25 years. minister. No disrespect to the Alder- It is worthy our attention that in the man, mind you, all honor to him in his same manner that man's greed has vio- proper sphere, which, however, is not lated the first law of humanity it has the scientific regulation of the theatre. also played havoc with the 'artistic en- The technical requirements are usually semble of our theatres. beyond him. It may be with the best From the purely aesthetic standpoint intentions, but in less than six months their decoration and furnishing may be he is bartering again with the theatre said to suffer equally by reason of the managers, and a mammoth new inscrip- ultra commercial plan. The box office tion "Vaudeville Theatre" marks the again has decreed a jammed frontispiece same danger spot where but yesterday and bulging balcony an elevation so man's reckless cupidity cost 600 lives. deformed as to render quite impossible With plan revamped, of course, but still any sound decorative design. More ra- with the single entrance and with the tional planning will evolve structural same rear wall towering unbroken a members amenable to artistic treatment, THE PERFECT THEATRE. 117 and the Ideal interior of course is the Was ever such pathos? Even the one whose detail is subordinate to con- great builder of St. Peter's, the master structive lines. craftsman of the Sistine Frescoes, and In Continental Europe where state of the Pieta must relinquish his idolized aid has eliminated somewhat of the art. But do not those matchless works commercial aspect, the circular auditor- breathe to us of the man's immortal ium, clear of obstructing- projections, soul. Michael Angelo in the end real- can be treated from floor to ceiling as a ized this higher Ideal. whole. And success has been easier to And we who are artisans in that no- obtain. With us, the theatre ceiling is blest of all the crafts and with us the 2. lost art. The funnel-shaped proscen- magnates who control and the public ium and the necessity of the gallery god which supports the theatre enterprises, have worked chaos and without a fit cannot our aims be raised above the ceiling the interior must of necessity petty level of profit taking and the mean fail. Thus abnormal planning has necessity of a day ? Shall we not rather become responsible for meaningless believe with Carlyle : "In the meanest decoration and a weird strife for mortal there lies something nobler. The effect. poor, swearing soldier, hired to be shot, has his 'honor of a soldier' different It has been truly said that the real from drill and the a courage of the artist lies in his capacity regulations shilling for restraint. May we not add that the day. It is not to taste sweet things but to do noble and true and to vin- greatest use and test of beauty is the things measure of its benefit to mankind. The dicate himself under God's Heaven as a man that the son fallacy of art for art's sake is realized god-made poorest of again to-day as it was during the lives Adam dimly longs." of the masters of the Renaissance. The The architect must look beyond the "man of four souls" greatest artist of gorgeous portal and the shimmering the owner have above that or any other time, on his death- fagade ; thought the dividend. bed, wrote : When we plan with nobler purpose "Here ends love's tender fantasy that made and in method more these lof- (I know the error of the thought) great art humane, My idol and my monarch; now my heart tier Ideals will herald the Renaissance Perceives how low is each man's longing laid." of Theatre Art.

/. E. 0. Pridmore. u8 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

LIBRARY.

Munich. Bruno Paul, Architect. German Arts and Crafts at St. Louis.

The German exhibits in all depart- find himself in the great "Hall of Hon- ments at St. Louis are notable in mag- or" realizes immediately that here is an nitude and in the manner of their in- exposition of more than commercial- stallation. In his introduction to the ism, and the vistas into the outer court descriptive catalogue published by the and into various connected rooms Imperial German Commission, Leo deepen the impression until one is Nachtlicht, architect, Berlin, says that convinced that Germany has started a

RECEPTION ROOM. Berlin. Leo Nachtlicht, Architect.

"the German exhibit of Arts and Crafts campaign of education and has installed in the Varied Industries Building is the powerful batteries of art. The clever largest and best that Germany has ever manner of the installation is to be noted made," and the reason he says lies "in first and then commended. the better organization and the keener A visitor coming directly into the Ger- desire to show America what is newest man section of the Varied Industries and best in this latest line of German Building from the outer air finds him- effort, and in the new life that has self depending on the entrance, in either sprung up in this especial line of art in a Great Hall or a wide corridor upon the last ten years in Germany." which opened complete rooms, walled One who has passed the portal to and ceiled and furnished in accordance 120 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. with their respective uses and charac- above in the roof; green and white be- ter. Nowhere does the structure of the low in the walls, with statues of copper bronze and of greater enclosing building appear ; the panels deep-toned lus- multitudinous columns or posts are trous mosaic. Around and about are deftly incorporated in the walls and par- the smaller halls and chambers, paneled titions of the chambers, and the and ceiled in soft, rich and deep-colored mask in the crude, cheap, agglomera- woods, with furniture to match or to tion of small sticks which, as braced or contrast. The range of color is from trussed the roof of this silver to rich brown the purlins, support gray ; from pale

OFFICE ROOM. Munich. Richard Riemerschmid, Architect. as of the other main buildings of the ex- whiteness of maple to a deep blue. One position. To enter the German section passes from a State Hall in which the from out of doors brings charm, to en- color scheme is as follows : Mahog- ter it relief. From inlaid with and from within brings any ebony maple ivory ; the hot sun without or the forest of lit- bronze capitals and columns, coats of tle enters the arms in colored a white sticks within, one woods ; through room Great Hall under a high pitched roof done in poplar, gray-green stained in with dark beams and purlins. The up- walls and blue stained in ceiling to a per panels and the open spaces of the room of gray stained oak inlaid with trusses are filled in with effective trac- colored maple, mahogany and ebony. ery. Blue and bronze and white appear Each of these rooms is complete in GERMAN ARTS AND CRAFTS AT ST. LOUIS. 121 itself and many are completely fur- lights at proper points in the form of in- nished. Everywhere the scheme of the serts in colored inlay of faience or met- design is broad and simple, and every- als or woods. This idea is very fully and where, except now and then in an iso- beautifully developed. The softness and lated instance, the rich soft colors and richness of the color which has been simple forms lure the eye and mind to noted, comes from that innate desire for not to a dull indolent but which is in the artists ar- repose ; repose perfection and to an inspiring rest. As illustrations in tizans. In many instances the wood is black and white give merely a presenta- not superficially treated, but is impreg- tion of the forms and nothing of the nated with the dye so that each piece is charm and spirit of the work, a verbal made uniform in color throughout before

RECEPTION ROOM. Munich. Brothers Rank, Architects. description of the general tendency of it is worked, and the soft, dull finish is design and colors may be attempted. the product of simple rubbing. Perfec- First of all, perfection is the ideal tion of line has been mentioned as an sought, perfection of craftsmanship in element of the ideal. The treatment of make and finish of line and line in this a sense of ; perfection display gives deep proportion in design. The ideal is very satisfaction to one who has watched with nearly approached in not a few in- feelings of mingled sorrow and dismay stances. Simplicity of form, not crud- the inroads on good taste which the ity, but classic simplicity, is made the "new art" has been making on the Con- basis of the design, and on simplicity of tinent and especially in Germany. But form follows breadth of color treatment. this at St. Louis is not in any sense the Interest is maintained and the effect "new art." It is, as the catalogue says, heightened by the introduction of high- the "German Exhibit of Arts and 122 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

Crafts," and represents that period of It is impossible here to speak specifi- calmness and self-containment which al- cally of all the exhibits. That certain ways follows the seemingly, though un- rooms are singled out for illustration fortunately, necessary seasons of stren- does not mean that certain others are uosity or of anarchy which themselves not as interesting and as effective. The follow upon periods of decadence in art color scheme of the Main Exhibition and letters.. In this, art and letters, but Hall or Hall of Honor has already been reflect the national ideal. So while some noted the illustration will serve to vestiges of the "new art" appear here suggest its form, but in nowise its at-

A COURT Darmstadt. J. M. Olbrich, Architect. and there, they but enhance 'the beauty mosphere. The overlapping feathers of of the newer art in craftsmanship. The the great hammered bronze eagle on the work is suggestive of the best of the central pedestal are conventionalized in mediaeval art in domestic design. One the great window and echoed in the wonders if the modern work, especially panels of the roof. The stately pylons in its color effects, will hold its own with each surmounted by a bronze figure of the ages. The mediaeval wood has mel- Fame are in the best spirit of modern lowed and deepened with time. A super- German monumental design. These py- ficial stain will lose its luster, but it may lons in connection with the broad arch be that the wood chemically dyed and of the great window forms an impres- uniformly colored in all its fibres will sive introduction to the richness of the stand the deteriorating effects of atmos- exhibition rooms beyond, leading first phere and the hours. into the Hall of State, the color scheme GERMAN ARTS AND CRAFTS AT ST. LOUIS. 123

DETAIL, OF RECEPTION HALL..

Darmstadt. J. M. Olbrich, Architect 124 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. of which has also been noted. Beyond the Court and its ambulatory, designed the Hall of State and in the axis of the six, four of them possessing especial

Hall of lie a sunlit the charm viz. : a in Honor court, ; Reception Hall gray main feature of which is the succession stained oak, inlaid with colored maple, of dreamy pools which rise in slightly mahogany and ebony a beautiful piece levels to the fountain head of a varying design ; Living Room with wood whence the water flows from higher to work and furniture of silver gray stained lower levels with musical ripple. The oak inlaid, and hand-sewed gray silk ta- introduction of water a dis- a the running was pestries ; Dining Room, windows tinct and charming feature of the ex- of which rise above the pools in the

RECEPTION HALF..

Darmstadi J. M. Olbrich, Architect. hibit and numerous chambers contain Court and the walls of which were pan- wall fountains of quaint, pleasing de- eled in white maple boldly and exquisite- sign. The marble wall fountain by ly carved no color being introduced in- Dietsche, sculptor, the basin for running to the carving, but gained from tapes- in with tries and curtains and a Music Room water, a beautiful design tiling ; glass mosaic by Laeuger, architect, the with wood work and furniture done in wall fountain of wrought copper gilded brown stained pear wood polished, and by Hoffacker, architect, give evidence a piano, masterly in design, of blue of the range of thought and material de- stained maple inlaid with mahogany, voted to this one feature. ebony and ivory. The furniture in all About the open court are ranged these rooms is interesting in the ex- many attractive rooms, of which Prof. treme, simple and dignified, yet suffi- in line form. J. M. Olbrich, architect, who designed ciently varied and The GERMAN ARTS AND CRAFTS AT ST. LOUIS. 125 frieze of Prof. Olbrich's Music Room reveal a broadly painted frieze, but closer is simple and very effective. inspection shows this frieze to be an A Living Room with a white lacquered inlay marvelous in its display of techni- Beitsch cal skill. bay window, by Niemeyer and ; an Office Room gray-green on wall and It is not fair to the other exhibitors to blue on ceiling by Richard Riemer- shorten the list, but a full description a in stained needs a so schmid ; Library gray oak, volume, beautifully, painstak- with ceiling of ash inlaid with mahog- ingly and interestingly has the work any, walnut, ebony, maple and paduk been done. So to repeat, one sees in many woods but simple and beautiful in this exhibit more than a display of com- effect the Paul all at- mercialism. the confines there room by Bruno ; On are tract and hold the observer. A Re- booths containing articles of commerce, ception Room by the Brothers Rank, but at heart the exhibition is educational arrests the eye and satisfies with its in its intention and effect. Surrounding color and furnishings the mind of all even the art wares of Japan, the other stained inlaid notable exhibitors at the beholders ; gray maple foreign Fair, with maple of different colors forms the is an atmosphere of commercialism, a decorative scheme while the furniture mere display of objects "to sell," and and the electroliers unite in the general the atmosphere follows the observer harmony. The electroliers and lamps in even to the gateways of the German sec- these various rooms have received a tion. There one comes into the pres- great amount of thought and study, and ence of beauty which ought "to sell," some of the forms the illustration will which ought to become general not nec- serve to present. essarily in its details but in the bene- A quaint and attractive Nursery by ficence of its effect on the standard of Arno Koernig and a Gentlemen's Room taste. This Germany at the Fair has by Karl Spindler should not be omitted given us, and neither her artists and from the list; this latter room with its craftsmen nor others need ask or be furniture is in oak all inlaid in natural asked to give more. woods. A first glance would seem to Irving K. Pond.

f

vtr M ; 4 k^lLr Mp.; j -jJ| 126 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

GARDEN AND PERGOLA OF THE HOUSE OF MR. CHAS. L. HUTC'HINS'ON.

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, Architects. THE RUSTIC BRIDGE TO THE WOODED ISLAND.

A Jaunt to Wychwood, Geneva Lake, Wis.

THE SUMMER HOME OF MR. CHARLES L. HUTCHINSON.

I arose with the sun, hastily made my ago, with their semi-Dutch-Colonial- toilet, breakfasted, and darted out of Renaissance elevations. Across the the door to catch the early train for the lake, standing out like a sore thumb, is Lake. The air was chill, and well it visible at this point a summer home, a was, for I needed something to awaken large three-story stone building, Re- me to a ramble in the woods. naissance in design, entirely out of keep-

THE HOUSE OF MR. CHAS. L. HUTCHINSON. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, Architects.

We arrived at the depot at twelve ing with the landscape. Soon we come o'clock. upon the entrance gate to Wychwood, us to the better the Hutchinson estate and at once the A short drive brought ; buildings along the North Shore of the keynote of the place is struck. The lake among them the house of L. Z. gate is so simple that one almost feels Leiter, that of N. K. Fairbank, and the as though the stones of the road have Selfridge place most of them common- come together of themselves, rather olace designs of fifteen to twenty years than by the hand of an architect. The 128 mil ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

THE HOUSE OF MR. CHAS. L. HUTCHIXSON. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, Architects. A JAUNT TO WYCHWOOD, GENEVA LAKE, WIS. 129 drive from the gate to the house is through a thickly wooded land, gradu- ally falling off to the lake two hundred feet below. As one approaches the house one gets no impression of aggressive architec- it seems to tural prominence ; grow with the trees. Nature and Art have come together, nature always dictating, however. There is no copying of a de- another the individual S. H. sign from place ; character of the plot has always been kept sight of; the real, homely beauty characteristic of the locality is pre- served. The steps from the carriage court to the upper level illustrate

D.R.

B.R.

J.R

FIRST FLOOR PLAN. House of Mr. Chas. L Hutchinson.

what I mean by the preservation of the homely beaut)' of the sur- roundings. There is no filling in and grading steps are necessary to a higher level, and they are placed where they are required to join the carriage court with the vestibule. From there one enters a hall feet large 20 by 25 ; down two steps is the living room, 23 by feet at one end a 33 ; large fireplace, simple as can be, of brick with wooden trimmings. Connecting the living room with the dining room is a covered veranda, a beautiful place for an out-of- doors dining room in the pleasant sum- mer months. SECOND FLOOR PLAN. The dining room has a beamed ceiling of timbers at one is a House of Mr. Chas. L Hutchinson. heavy ; end large i jo THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

THE STABLE. DRIVE FROM THE HIGH ROAD TO THE HOUSE*.

fireplace. The grouping of the several On the second floor are several large departments for convenience in working retiring apartments, each with its is admirable, and for the perfect use and separate bath, commodious closets enjoyment of the various parts, as the and dressing rooms. All along the entertaining rooms, kitchen, offices, north side of the house extends a corri- laundrv, outbuildings, and stable, all of dor connecting the different rooms. which have the proper relations to one Every room in the building has its another and to the garden and pleasure proper aspect. To the south the sleep- grounds. The laundry and kitchen ing rooms, and the north the stair hall blocks are practically isolated blocks, and corridors. for they are connected to the dining The views from the house across the room only through the butler's room on garden, over the lake and on to the the first floor, being detached above. wooded higher ground in the distance,

THE BIRD BATH. THE KITCHEN COURT, FROM THE PERGOLA. A JAUNT TO WYCHWOOD, GENEVA LAKE, W1S.

form settings which are quite enchant- are simple, and in harmony with the to from the first ing. Every opportunity was taken settings. When you go make may I say? picture windows. floor to the second you know you are Why not? They are windows, and in an entirely different department, for decorations tell so. All of the they are, above all, pictures, pictures the you such as no artist may paint, for he is retiring apartments are daintily fur- here nished. The wood-work of these rooms limited to the effects of an instant ; you have an ever-changing landscape. is white, with wall decorations in har- All the sills to the windows on the mony. first floor are kept low for window gar- The hall directly in the back of the re- dens, because on the outside, in front of tiring rooms is more in accord with the each window, is a bed of flowers which entertaining apartments on the first

THE WATER PAVILION FROM THE WOODED CEDAR ISLAND AND ITS REFLECTIONS AS ISLAND. SEEN FROM WATER PAVILION.

rise above the a beautiful as it is the sills, forming floor, planned ; connecting foreground to the distant landscapes. link between them, and forms a rather Windows were placed where windows pleasing transition. Everywhere you are needed. Bays jot out where they see a perfect adjustment of the several are wanted. In Mrs. Hutchinson's parts, an expression of homely fitness room the; Western wall is pierced, as and relation to the life we live every- catch a last of the where an endeavor to serve the needs of though t<^ glimpse setting su.n. the occupants. The utjinost simplicity throughout in We have seen a goodly interior; let plan and decoration is the secret of its us go out of doors. The house is well pleasing effect. Chestnut brown wood- located at a level quite a bit above the with in in the of work, greens some places ; lake, thereby increasing beauty others the natural color of the plaster the prospect. with the brown wood give a low-tone, It is somewhat difficult to assign the quiet effect. Here and there on the design to any special school. However, walls hand beaten metal feels the influence Dutch work ; one strongly of Eng- some of the pieces are in service in the lish half-timbered work, and in the vestibule as coat-hooks. In the living stairway turret and dormers, with their room grate is a set of beautiful Gothic trefoiled verge boards, of the French. statuette andirons. The furnishings One regrets somewhat that every piece 132 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. A JAUNT TO WYCHWOOD, GENEVA LAKE, WIS. 133

y 134 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. A JAUNT TO WYCHWOOD, GENEVA LAKE, WIS. 135

is not constructional of is of timber truly ; roof, goodly proportions, of the however, those which are give the key same color as the timber work of the to the scale, and you do not feel that walls. some are merely decorative. In fact, I The windows are an example of what think this legitimate, since the methods might be done to give ample light to the of construction of the I4th and I5th interior, yet not destroy the exterior century half-timbered work are imprac- effect by punching so many holes in the tical in our extreme temperature where walls, for in no case, except the lower the swell and contraction of the timber lights of the windows of the hall, living make it impossible to keep out the and dining rooms, was plain plate-glass weather. If the timbers are not all con- used. In all other cases they are broken

THE HOUSE) OF MIR. CHAS. L. HUTCHIN'SON, FROM THE LAKE. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, Architects. structional, they are at least solid; you up into small divisions, thereby tying see no building up of -inch boards the timbers from one end to the other tacked together to get the solid effect. together, and making a decorative fea- All wood-work is rough-sawed, giving a ture of what might otherwise be an ugly good surface for the stain, which is a gap. It is just such materials as plate- rich chestnut brown, with a silvery grey glass which take away the domestic for the plaster. Here, as in the interior, effect which our houses should have. A everything takes on a common charac- plate-glass show window in ter. The materials used are simply wood, a residence ! Never do it for it takes plaster and stone. The stone is used away from the true character of the and for the and house it the scale. sparingly, porch garden ; destroys walls is not visible, reducing the palette The gardens are treated in the simp- to two materials a chestnut brown lest and most direct manner, no at- wood and a silvery grey plaster. The tempt being made to imitate the willful- THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. ness or wildness of the surrounding I have said all I can of this beau- nature. It looks like a thing never seen tiful spot. For the rest, I must let the except near a house, making a beau- illustrations speak for themselves. The tiful foreground to the landscape as small views are from photographs taken seen from the house, and a base and by Mrs. Hutchinson. Her subjects, setting for the house when viewed from "The Fallen Linden," "Bird Bath," and the lake. All along the water's edge, many others I think highly interesting. directly in front of the house and The "handv wagon" shows the way in garden, is a bed of wild roses, which which they cart the timbers to build fades away into the natural surround- their pergolas and rustic effects of all ings. kinds. Everything seems so close to and to visit such makes The shore line is very interesting. nature, places feel as felt he At the East is a wooded island, reached one Richard Hovey when

wrote the lines entitled : by' a rustic bridge of timbers, felled "Spring" "I said to I am sick of four walls upon the ground. On the island my heart, And a ceiling. a rustic water catches the pavilion eye, I have need of the sky; from which Cedar Point and its charm- I have business with the grass. I will and where the hawk is reflection in the water can be seen. up get away ing wheeling. All of the outbuildings are to the Lone and high; in And the slow clouds go by. northwest, located the very woods ; I will get me away to the waters that glass further north, in a veritable wilderness, The clouds as they pass; are the greenhouse, wood shed and I will get me away to the woods." catch-all. John Baptiste Fischer. The Architect in Recent Fiction

In times past the architect has never derstand the architect occupies a re- apparently been a professional man of spectable, although by no means a dom- sufficiently marked social importance or inant, position. At least three novels, all distinction to figure prominently in the published within the past few years, con- novel. English fiction would be emas- tain architects among their leading char- culated in case the the barrister is to the doctor, acters ; and, what more point, or the clergyman, each clad in the full the fact that these characters are sup- panoply of his professional position, posed to be architects has a decisive were omitted. It would even be very bearing either upon the kind of men much impoverished in case the novelist they are or upon the course of the tale had been deprived of the wayward and or upon both. This fact is surely a Bohemian artist, as a source of contrast tribute to the position which the Ameri- to the respectable business and profes- can architect has won. He has become sional man. But the architect, who is a social fact, not quite as conspicuous as or should be, at once the artist, the pro- the sky-scrapers he sometimes rears, fessional and the business man, might but of such prominence and interest to be cut out of English fiction without the demand an accounting on the part of loss of anything of much value. At the our social auditors. moment we cannot recall any character The three recent American novels in of importance who was described as an which the architect has been recognized architect, except Mr. Pecksniff, and the as some sort of a social fact, are Edith peculiar qualities for which that gentle- Wharton's "Sanctuary," Robert Grant's man is famous can hardly be attributed "Unleavened Bread," and Robert Her- to his professional practice or training. rick's "The Common Lot." These three The architect appears as the real estate writers differ as much as possible in agent might appear merely as a piece technical methods and in their vision of of social or business which human nature but are all of them machinery, ; they must be lugged in when in the course of seriously interested in modern Ameri- imaginary events there is a house to be can city life. Their use of similar ma- built. The very combination of artis- terial has tempted all of them to seize tic, business and professional standards upon the architect for subject matter, which he represented appeared to rob while at the same time their difference in his personality and his social relations of point of view makes the seizures result anything distinctive. in very different pictures. The contemporary English novel is, The intrusion of the architect in Mrs. so far as I know, as little interested in Wharton's pages is, indeed, more or the architect as the classic English less accidental. Mrs. Wharton's point novel but the of is ; contemporary American view psychological rather than so- novel has in this found cial and the of the archi- respect new ; appearance light. There are a number of American tect as a conspicuous social fact would novelists to-day who are seeking with not of itself arouse much of her intel- varying degrees of success to construct lectual interest. She does not introduce out of their stories a significant com- an architect into her story because he is ment on American social life. They find looming large on the social horizon, but more interesting material for fiction in merely as a matter of mechanical con- the Boss, the Big Business Man, the Re- venience. At the same time, the fact former, and the other new Americans that it was mechanicallv convenient for than they do in the cleric, the lawyer or her to send her heroine's son to the the physician ; and among the new men Beaux Arts, and to make him read the which these writers are trying to un- Architectural Record (the illustrator THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

has placed a copy of the magazine on Mr. Herrick calls the "Common Lot." his table), testifies to the occurrence of The story is conceived and told with the architect in American if to noth- but I do not find it life, sincerity ; very in- ing else. It should be added that the teresting or important. It may be con- situation upon which the culmination of sidered either as a special instance of the story turns is suggested by an archi- moral turpitude, which has little or no tectural incident. The professional ca- bearing upon the conditions under reer and the personal happiness of the which architects work in this country, young architect both seem to turn upon or it may be considered as the sort of the winning of a certain competition, thing into which a good many architects and he is sorely tempted to ensure his are tempted and which is in this instance success by using as his own the superior exaggerated for the sake of legitimate plans of a dead friend, who had passed effect. In so far as it is merely a special these plans on to him to use as he instance, the moral is just the old and pleased. This situation has little profes- respectable one that a man may not sional interest, and is not intended to with impunity pursue the primrose , have. Mrs. Wharton merely needed to and while I do not dispute that moral, it put the architect to a test so as to see is a matter for dissertation rather in whether the vicious temper of his clerical homilies than in architectural father or the moral influence of his magazines. On the other hand, in so and the fact far as his instance is to mother would predominate ; special supposed that the moral influence of his mother represent prevailing conditions, I do finally conquered, suggests that Mrs. not believe that Mr. Herrick has hit off Wharton's imitation of Henry James, of any very significant truth. A popular which so much is made, is only super- architect is doubtless obliged to make a ficial. Her longer stories are much good many compromises with the world; more likely to fulfill a moral purpose but a high standard of technical integ- than are Mr. James'. She shows her rity has not proved to be incompatible fundamental independence by being with success in American architecture. morally more explicit. The American architect has a right to The explicitness of Mrs. Wharton's his place in the world of American life, moral purpose is, however, nothing to and will lose much more than he gains that of Mr. Herrick's. I recommend all by remaining content with the common architects to read his story who feel that lot of obscurity. Recognition is the the world is too much with them. They breath of an artist's life. A moral mar- will find in it an awful example of the tyr may look for his reward in the ap- effect a of the Powers but the demoralizing upon western proval Higher ; architect of worldly ambition. The hero artist who has produced no effect upon of the "Common Lot," who is also a his fellow men is a barren artist. And graduate of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, the architect is in this respect a thor- craves immediate social and pecuniary ough artist. Good American architec- success, and in order to obtain it, de- ture must bring reputation and reward signs anything which will sell. As one to its makers, or else the American of his clients is a dishonest contractor, buildings as well as American architects he finally sells him dishonest drawings, will belong to the "Common Lot." among which are the plans of a hotel The architect in Mr. Robert Grant's which is built in flagrant violation of the "Unleavened Bread" is a much more law. It is nothing but a fire-trap, and modern and interesting instance. He when it burns down in the presence of had, indeed, his troubles with the world, its designer, the guilty architect is over- as represented by rich, importunate and come. He sees finallv the error of his ignorant clients, but his worst troubles way, abandons his worldly ambitions, issue from a troublesome wife. He did takes a position in a large office, in not marry a moral paragon, as did Mr. which his personal work is merged in Herrick's hero, but a lady who em- that of the firm, and so accepts what bodies in a spicy form the old Ameri- THE ARCHITECT IN RECENT FICTION. 139

can spirit. Selma believes with all her have earned the right authoritatively to insistent soul that in a democracy the represent such standards. It is this tra- only qualifications which a specialist dition which makes so many Americans needs for his special tasks are untutored consider an architect as merely an agent enthusiasm, common sense, and a keen whose business it is to carry out their eye for the main chance. She stands ignorant ideas, and it is this tradition for the obvious, the practical, the regu- which gives virtue to the words of a lar and the remunerative thing. The easy man like Joe Cannon, when he vituper- critical and personal banter in which ates against the insolent self-assertion her husband's associates pass their of trained architects. It is very much hours of social leisure, strikes her earn- alive to-day, and it was a touch of rare est as frivolous on the of Mr. Grant to in- intelligence ; and when insight part her husband throws up a lucrative job dividualize it in a form which betrays its because the wife of a client imposes im- real contemporary significance. At the possible conditions, she stamps him as a same time, I have some sympathy with weak and ineffective man. It is the old Selma White in her attitude towards mid-century American point of view of her architect of a husband. She felt the immediate practical achievement at any lack in him of the impulse derived from cost reappearing at a time, when the a well-domesticated tradition which conditions which gave it vitality and would free his hands and make him propriety no longer exist. At the same build better than he knew, and the lack, time the reincarnation of this point of which she felt and for which she view in the jealous and narrow soul of a condemned him, amounted to a genu- mercenary and ambitious woman gives ine and a serious deficiency. Of the social lesson an individual rendering course, it was not his fault, poor which makes it vivid without any loss man. A man can acquire training and of is but a like a general significance. Selma White experience ; tradition, gift, a very disagreeable but a very convinc- must be given. At the end of another ing character, and she represents the thirty years, perhaps, the American tradition which u the worst enemy of architects will have a sound and popular American architecture in American life local tradition given to them by the gen- the tradition which resents exclusive eration of practitioners who are now technical standards and refuses to trust struggling along without it. the men who by their thorough training Herbert Croly. 140 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

FIG 1. THE LOGGIA DEGLI 031 1. Milan, Italy. N01B-MRIE5-

The two-story open Log- in the middle. No authorities readily acces- THE gia in Milan, known to us sible seem to help us in the question all as a modernized whether all of the restoration wr ere ful- LOGGIA badly parts building and as the Loggia ly justified; but the general result as of an DEGLI degli Osii, has been re- extremely vigorous, consistent design ol stored just now and to all about 1240 may be accepted without re- OSII. appearances appropriated serve. It appears that this building is all to the business of a mer- that was left at the beginning of the nine- cantile firm. This appropriation of the old teenth century, of a great group of build- building we may regret sincerely, but a let- ings erected by the City of Milan for its state ter from an observer and life-long student officers and the business of the state. This of such matters, Mr. John Safford Fiske, of double arcade was, of course, the glorifica- Costa Lupara, states that the restoration has tion of the ringhiera, the magnificent archi- been conducted with great care and reserve, tectural setting devised for that balcony from and that, in short, no better work could be which decisions of the council were read to done in the way of putting an old building the people, or the popular opinion on certain into complete repair. The photograph which matters publicly demanded. All this was of we publish seems to confirm this opinion. the time before the absolute tyranny of the George Edmund Street, in his book on Ital- Visconti under Gian Galeazzo, although ian brick and marble, gives a cut of it as he there had long been a mighty influence of saw it in 1857, and when I saw it in 1860 it the Visconti family in all the affairs of the was in that same much altered form. In citizens of Milan. The ringhiera bears two 1882 it was in even more forlorn condition, escutcheons with the crowned viper of that for it had been more or less cleaned up and family, flanking what may be an imperial made to look new and fresh, in accordance eagle. Gselfels, who is a most careful stu- with the comparative elegance of modern dent, although writing in simple guide-book Milan. Street's cut is not very accurate as form, speaks of the eagle as the arms of a a drawing of what he saw so long ago member of this Galeazzo family as late as that will be evident if any one considers the 146G, and he would seem to assume that curve of the arches, and the bold assertion those shields were put up in the fifteenth made in the drawing that they increase in century; but the acceptance of them by the width of archivolt much more than they restorer militates against that view of the really do increase very notably toward the case; at all events that interesting question point as, indeed, is rather customary in is left to us to solve whether those escutch- thirteenth century Lombard architecture. eons were assumed by the artists now in But he shows rightly how the delicate col- charge of the building to be of the thirteenth umns had been replaced by square piers, the century. The question as to their sculp- upper Loggia built up with brick walls and turesque treatment could only be answered two rows of windows; and nothing left in by very minute examination, for heraldic place and unaltered except the front of the has always had a formal indiffer- parapet with the projecting ringhiera. All ence of its own, peculiarly hostile to artis- this is now in a condition so very fair and so tical inquiry. R. S. completely of the artistic epoch, that he would be a severe and a minutely informed critic who would detect discrepancies in its It does not imply any re- authenticity. As for the smaller details, one THE proach to the designer of does not readily commit himself, on the au- RE.VE.RSE the front, seen in our Fig- thority of the photograph alone. OF THE ure 2, if we insist upon Street seems to have thought that the hood BROAD this point, that the rear of over the ringhiera was put on gable-wise, EXCHANGE that same building is fully and he also seems to have fancied that there BUILDING. as attractive, and that was ancient authority for a little scrap of would be even gable at the top of the building and exactly more interesting if it were built up in that THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

FIG. 2. NOS. 26-42 BROADWAY THE FRONT.

New York City. NOTES AND QUERIES. 143 simple, inexpensive, unpretending, tranquil raw, bare piles without "treatment" of any fashion. This building up with plain brick- kind. It was not thought practicable to di- work and with no ornamentation allowed minish by one degree the amount of day- but patches of color, a row of dentils or cor- light for the windows on the central court- bels under a sill-course, a pierced parapet, yard; for who can say when that courtyard and such like simple devices to get light and will be enclosed on this, its southern side. shade as well as color such a reconstruc- This practical consideration has prevented tion of our great streets could have none but the making of a design consistent through- a beneficial result. See, now, how the young out. artist in architectural forms is hampered by Here in this building the pierced parapets the supposed necessity of doing the big and are in their glory. There never were bet- ponderous thing with very costly reveals and ter examples of that interesting feature. The soffits of cut granite, all of which, however, letting of the light sky into the dark of the form no part at all of a structural building walls, the invading of the light sky by the all of which are mere reminiscences of a dark of the parapet, are motives of never- time when buildings were really built of failing charm. And that which has been stone. Now they are built of steel, and the done so well at the top is echoed below by a laws require you to hide that steel that is, decent treatment of brick in two colors, yel- to protect it from heat and therefore from low and red in which treatment, indeed, sight. In this the laws act as a direct dis- there are solecisms, as one might say, for couragement to novelty, to freshness, to there are three very different programmes originality of design. But if we were to say put up side by side and with less than a per- to one another that, indeed, it was not fect harmony between them. The reference worth while to jacket our steel frame-work is, of course, to the broad masses of yellow with such a pretentious and unmeaning brick above separated only by pilasters, as it mass of heavy material, and that what we were, of red; a story of narrow bands in al- had to do was to make that jacket as light ternating color below; and below this again and as slight as might be, we might come a system of panels between windows taken back to the thought suggested in the January vertically in which each panel has its sepa- number, pp. (55, 67, and leave our buildings rate frame of light brick echoing the sill as plain as might be as plain as above and the lintel below. The three those in our Figure 4 until such time as schemes are not wholly pleasing when seen a definite and reasonable, a logical system this way in sharp contrast; and one turns of design might suggest itself. with some relief to the narrow front seen Now it happens that we have in the south- on the left where the return is from the ern aspect of the "Broad Exchange Build- facade. ing," that immense skyscraper from the But, indeed, it is hypercritical to find any fourteenth story of which the photographs fault with this interesting mass. Its dispo- mentioned in the next note were made, an sition follows from its plan, and its plan aspect which is wonderfully attractive. It is comes from the accidents of ownership and shown in Figure 3, as it appears from just the need to occupy every inch of this pre- above the level of the sidewalk at the corner cious plot of ground. But is it not an enter- of Broad street and Beaver street. Here are taining piece of work? And would it not be sides and ends of a building which could a good thing if a number of the young archi- never be "facades" in the architectural tects would turn their attention to such sense, as they front on no street or public methods of design as these and try them on as tower above the place; bi^f, they high Broadway? R. s. five-story.i buildings of forty years ago, and as it is well down town for the building in that particular location where skyscrapers THE It is an old story that are less certain to rise within a year or two the plainest designs are REAR VIE.W than would be a little further west, so the best, among our pre- they OF it has been thought worth while to adorn sumptuous and over-wean- these surfaces which we are loath to call B ROADWAY ing street fronts. One fronts, in a more decided way. Or, indeed, SKY- claims no credit for re- if no such pecuniary consideration would SCRAPERS. asserting that almost self- have weighed with the owners, all the more evident truth. But some- credit to them, for indeed the treatment of times a new demonstration of it may be these towering masses rising high above the useful; and certainly it is sometimes irre- older buildings about, offers an opportunity sistible. I was in the "Broad Exchange for good architectural effect; and they would Building" and looking out of its westerly be terribly disfiguring to the city if left in windows, and I saw the extraordinary group 144 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

FIG. 4. NOS. 2G-42 BROADWAY THE REAR.

New York City. NOTES AND QUERIES.

FIG. 3. THE REAR OP THE BROAD-EXCHANGE BUILDING.

Broad Street and Exchange Place, New York City. Clinton & Russell, Architects. 146 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. which is shown in Figure 4. The building and that the numbers from 26 to 42, inclu- on the right, which is the nearest, with its sive, were really utilized in that epoch of two great pavilions separated by an open the middle ages, each number for its own court as wide as each of them, is a little house. It is not the fault of our slow-mov- faulty in that very fact that the horizontal ing City Fathers that business has caught up dimensions are too nearly equal. But it is with the numbers and absorbed many in one. more interesting as a pair of fronts than it But as to the New Street front I do mean would be as a single flat facade, and the in all seriousness that if that one which be- grouping gives to the monotonous street of longs to No. 42 Broadway had a pierced par- lower New York a really delightful bit of apet at top something to make it a little picturesque effect with interesting shadows less ponderous at the level of the roof it and shaded sides illumined by reflected light. would be a really typical front for a sky- Moreover, it is most pleasantly striped and scraper. In that way, and not otherwise, banded with yellow bricks with a general should we proceed. R. S. background of red, the yellow bricks, indeed making the quoins as well as the horizontal bands and coming very near in color to the From the January num- sills and lintels. The building next door is MOULDE.D ber, p. 70, we shall have to more commonplace in its very decorative- return to the 8-inch re- ness, for the designer has tried to put in JAMBS veal! No one who loves some street architecture in the way of a sill- to build in bricks can re- course of terra-cotta rather elaborately AGAIN. fuse himself that satisfac- adorned with relief patterns, and, as this tion. Fig. 10 shows how, sill-course forms the top of the basement or we provide for an 8- ground story, he has repeated it in a way by inch reveal even in a 12-inch wall; we simply a very simple entablature above what we let the window-box stick out a little from the may call the entre-sol. This is very good inner face of the wall, trusting to the 4-inch and simple decoration, and there is certainly rebate to hold it strongly, and to the furring no fault to be found with the repetition of to cover its 2-inch projection. And this, I that entablature at the sixth and the tenth suppose, is a common device. In practice it floors, and the culmination of the conserva- has proved sufficient, even with the old hol- tive treatment by the heavier entablature low box-frame, as shown in Fig. 10, and above, which includes a whole story of win- of course with a solid frame and swinging or dows in its frieze. Undoubtedly we shall rotating casement windows the difficulty dis- like the double building on the right better. appears. This 8-inch reveal, then, can be It is in that way that we must hope to see treated by the methods shown in Fig. 1, designing done in our city streets; but the in Fig. 2 (January number), or another of little bits of convention seen in the narrow those simple little plans. building are interesting, too. The broad sky- But the builder of a contemporary busi- scraper farthest on the left of the three high ness building will say that he needs the ex- buildings is so very plain in its treatment tra space within that every inch counts, that one becomes a little impatient at the and that because of this he must be satisfied appearance of that broad, blank course six with his 4-inch reveal on this account. Non stories below the top. It may have some seqiiitur. There are two ways out of every reason for being, connected with its Broad- difficulty two ways at least two ways to be way front, and as this brings up the ques- tried even if neither one of them proves sat- tion of the Broadway front, let us look at it. isfactory. In the present case there is a way Here it is in Figure 2. The building on the which will be satisfactory in nine cases out left is No. 42 Broadway, and the two inter- of ten. Fig. 11 shows how a projecting win- esting pavilions that we saw in Figure 4 dow-casing may be built with a 4-inch off- form the rear of that building that is to set from the face of the wall, and how in this say, they form its front on New street which way an 8-inch reveal may be had with any is, indeed, the rear of that building of which width of upright. If now, we build this 8- the Broadway fac.ade forms the front. Then inch reveal with the mouldings shown in the narrow front is No. 36 Broadway, called Fig. 2 and shewn at work in Fig. 5 (January the Hudson Building; and the great mass on number), the resulting window-casing will be the right is so much of the Standard Oil good; but then there is, of course, the Building, No. . To the reader added expense of facing a 4-inch projection who is not familiar with New York number- of the stone lintel along the top and at the ing of houses, it may be well to state that two ends. Fig. 12 shows a perhaps unrea- these numbers were fixed when lower Broad- sonably elaborate form; the lintel might way was built up with small dwelling houses equally well be cut as long as the width NOTES A\'D QUERIES. 147

1 1

^=a I _

^3-

FIG. 10. ~=3 across the window from out to out of the brick casing and no more. It may or may not be worth while to make that 4-inch pro- jection, to incur that added expense, for the sake of the slight additional space gained within. As to that, each separate case will

1 T

l I I I I I . ' . .

I I I II I I I FIG. 13.

more expensive treatment shown in Figs. 11 and 12.

There is, however, one course open which will often prove irresistibly attractive. I mean the treating of the window-cases with long-and-short quoins of brick-work made to contrast with the wall-surface. If you will use the thinner bricks, those which run about eight courses to five of the common size, you may make the quoins of either FIG. 11. sort, and the wall-facing of either sort, so contrast or use color be decided by itself, but assuredly the flush they aright; you may lintel and the smooth wall shown in Fig. 5 only and contrast yellow quoins and flat- see 13. is an arrangement fully as effective as the arch with dark-red facing, Fig. Or, again, you may employ a device which is more familiar nowadays than it has ever

FIG. 12 FIG. 14. 148 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. been before, that of building the deep arch tisements at all in this or other subway with flat intradjos and long voussoirs of stations is a species of aesthetic and civic bricks, not necessarily gauged; see Fig. 15, defilement. It is nothing of the sort. The where the moulded jamb and lintel corres- use of display advertisements in public are of the pond, same section at the corner, places properly regulated, as it is in Paris, and not as in 13 Figs. and 14, where the adds enormously to the lively, the pic- jamb only is moulded and this moulding is turesque and the racy quality which is ap- stopped at the uppermost quoin. This style propriate to the squares and thoroughfares of work has been used by Henry Rutgers upon which people congregate. People are Marshall, in the interesting Bryn Mawr interested in such advertisements just as they are interested in the shop windows. They are part of the natural and desirable scenery of a public place; and the notion of banishing them entirely either from the streets or from the city subway stations is- sues from a false ideal of aesthetic purism. The trouble with the existing subway sta- tions is that the architect was not asked to design them with a view to the display of a certain number of advertising signs. The consequence is that the architecture contains no definite place for them, just as the archi- tecture of a "swell" room might contain a FIG. 15. panel especially prepared to receive tapestry. School building, and in that admirable hos- But even though there are no panels de- for pital in Livingston place, New York, not signed advertising in the subway sta- long ago destroyed. It occurs in the work tions, those stations may be made distinctly of McKim, Mead & White, as in the club- more interesting when the waste of white house on Park avenue the Deutscher Ver- tiles is watered with a certain number of ein and in great perfection in the house- signs regulated to a certain size. front, No. 25 West 36th Street. I have said that a false ideal of aesthetic purism lies behind the notion that display ad- vertising defiles places of popular assembly. The people of New Many civic art reformers have an extra- Tork, or, at any rate, a ordinary and baleful idea that in order THE small but influential frac- to make something beautiful you must ART tion thereof, have of late divorce from every trace of vulgar popular been very much excited association, and as long as this artistic as- ASCETIC on tne sukject of the ad- ceticism prevails the so-called civic art vertisements displayed in movement will absolutely fail to awaken the stations of the new lively popular interest or to correct the Subway. A vehement protest was raised at popular taste. Of course I do not the way in which the small still voice of mean that advertising signs should be plas- the station architecture was drowned in tered on the sides of public buildings, or that the din of the noisy signs. Just what the any compromises should be made in the de- outcome of the protest will be does not ap- sign and decoration of public buildings with pear at this writing; but it looks as if in the highest prevailing technical standards. the end the Interborough Company would It is all a matter of propriety. In streets and be compelled to moderate somewhat the subway stations where people crowd and loud advertising display originally pro- jostle, and where the surroundings are posed; and some such moderation is desir- familiar and utilitarian, it is as appropriate able in the 'nterest of architectural propri- to place advertisements as it is to use slang ety. At the same time, New York can- in newspapers. The man in the street is not not altogether be congratulated on the dis- interested in white tiles, even with colored position shown by her aesthetic enthusiasts. frames; but he is interested in "Sunny Jim" That advertising signs placed in a subway and the "Smile that won't come off." Of the station should be subordinated to a care- most effective, the most insidious way to im- fully prepared architectural design is not prove public taste is to improve the charac- to be questioned; but I am ready to ques- ter and setting of these heroes of display tion with complete effrontery the as- advertising, and in view of the fact that sertion that the instalment of any adver- certain improvements have been taking NOTES AND QUERIES. place in recent years, and that "posters" architectural proficiency and superior per- and the like are frequently designed by good formance of the work of the school may, by illustrators, the level of public advertising special action of the faculty, be accepted as might be very much raised by an insistent a substitute for certain deficiencies in the attempt to make display signs conform to requirements exacted of other students. certain trchitectural conditions. At any rate This opens the door of opportunity to a class it should be kept in mind that popular of students whose early training has been tastes and instincts cannot be wholly deficient but who, nevertheless, are capable ignored in a democracy even by municipal of reaching high distinction in the profes- art reformers. The popular taste runs in sion. the direction of lively illustrations of hu- 3. The establishment by the school of of- morous types in the direction of "Buster ficial draughting rooms or ateliers in the Browns" and "Sunny Jims." That is the neighborhood of the offices of a few distin- real popular art of to-day, and any forma- guished architects, in which ateliers stu- tive art criticism must recognize this fact dents of advanced design may pursue their and give it its due weight. Municipal art re- work under the supervision and guidance of formers should aim to make art interesting these distinguished men. The privilege of and useful, and they can accomplish electing the atelier and instructor is also this result only by bringing their aesthetic extended to include several private ateliers standards into some constructive relation not maintained by the university itself, so with the sort of art display which the ordi- that students in advanced design will have nary American really enjoys. Americans the opportunity of studying in any one of at make a show of enjoying many things which least six different ateliers, including the one they believe they ought to enjoy; but it is at the school itself. This introduces a new not hard to distinguish the difference be- element of flexibility in the instruction and tween the sort of thing which they are told of emulation in the students' work, which to like and the sort of thing which they like should benefit very greatly the work in de- without being told. H. D. C. sign. Furthermore, the policy which has for two or three years been gradually shap- ing itself in the administration of the school NEW Various notices in the with regard to the duration of the course, daily press have attracted has now been definitely formulated in the ME.THODS attention to the action of announcement that "the length of the the Columbia University school course for the degree is indetermin- AT Trustees with relation to ate," so that while some students may cover the School of Architec- it in three or three and a half years and COLUMBIA. ture. This action which others in four years, there is nothing to pre- was of a somewhat radi- vent a student from devoting five or six to the work. This will the cal character, embodied the "esults of the years remove consideration of a long and minute report stigma which has hitherto attached to the failure to in four and will made to the trustees last spring by the staff graduate years, the student works more of the school in response to a budget of let- permit who slowly the rest or whose time is not his ters which the trustees had invited from than fully to do his work and well leading architects of the city, and had re- own thoroughly ferred to the staff of the school for consid- rather than hastily. In addition to these measures the trustees eration and report. The substance of this the of the action is as follows: recognized importance graphical side of architectural training promoting 1. The requirements for admission to the by to a courses of the school for a degree are Adjunct Professor Sherman professor- of while Adjunct Professor greatly raised, by the insistence upon two ship graphics, Hamlin was to the professorship years of collegiate or scientific school study promoted of architectural and formally ap- as a requisite for admission, besides a cer- history, head of the school. These measures tain proficiency in the orders of architec- pointed the school a new and sure foun- ture, elementary projections, shades and place upon the old-fashioned tra- shadows, drawing from cast and the like. dation. They destroy dition of a course of so years instead 2. A new provision whereby "special many a definite amount of work. students" of exceptional architectural abil- of a course of ad- open the door of opportunity for uni- ity, not candidates for a degree, may be They to hitherto have mitted to such candidacy without being versity honors men who found it closed lack of early opportuni- obliged to make up the entrance require- by broaden the of the ments. In other words, special artistic and ties; they greatly scope 150 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

instruction in advanced design; they enlist to make the district more beautiful, conve- the services of a number of distinguished nient and economical as a place of work and architects in the active work of the school, residence. And it will assume as an imme- thus bringing the school into closer relations diate, specific undertaking the support of the with the profession; and this last purpose governor's recommendation to the legislature has been furthered by officially endorsing on the subject of metropolitan thoroughfares. the principle already recognized experi- Various circumstances lend a special interest mentally during the past year, of engaging to the formation of this society. With not- professional juries to make the awards and ably little extension of the Boston city pass judgment upon the work in design. boundaries, there has been a remarkable de- These are steps distinctly in advance, de- velopment of the metropolitan spirit. To signed to place the school upon a new and more than twenty surrounding communities, higher plane, exacting higher standards both that are entirely distinct from it save in the of admission and performance and relating public works, Boston is truly and in an in- its instruction more closely to the actual teresting economic sense the "Hub." Water, professional life in many ways. They ought sewage, and park systems are planned and to result not only in a large '.icrease in the developed by metropolitan commissions, and number of students attending the school the present suggestion is that a metropolitan and a material advance in the quality of highway commission be added .to these. The the work they produce, but also in a keener advantages of such planning, not only in the Interest in the school on the part of the pro- case of Boston but in that of every city, fession and of the general public. The trus- needs no explanation. Of the work of the tees have shown that they are warmly in- various commissions, that of the Metropoli- terested in the school, that they do not pro- tan Park Commission is, because of its pop- pose to rest satisfied with past achievements, ular character, most widely appreciated, and and that they welcome the co-operation, in- to make its establishment possible while the terest and even criticism of the profession. idea was still novel no living person did more than Sylvester Baxter who became its first secretary and who is one of the prime Of the making of new im- movers in the new society. The latter is THE provement societies there formed, it is also interesting to note, imme- METROPOL- is no end a fact that is diately on the conclusion of a series of ar- ITAN notable in itself so that as ticles concerning the possibilities of the SOCIETY a general rule it is hardly Greater Boston that Mr. Baxter had been OF worth while to chronicle contributing to the "Herald." His cordial en- BOSTON. the forming of a new one. listment in the present enterprise, in view of or to speak of purposes un- his previous success; the support of the gov- til they have been changed into achieve- ernor and the local popular endorsement of ments. But occasionally the circumstances metropolitan commissions, make notable the that accompany a small beginning seem so formation of this society. certainly to insure an important issue that the temptation to note the .beginning and speak prophetically is not to be resisted. There is at least one kind the Met- beneficence in Such an instance is that offered by AN of public ropolitan 'Society, recently organized in Bos- which the United States is ton. As a result of several conferences last AMERICAN behind the countries across spring, and the appointment of a committee the seas. The fact seems to work out details, a meeting was called at DEFICIENCY incredible that with all the the St. Botolph Club early in November. At American lavishness of this the organization was perfected, and the giving, there should be still following list of officers was elected: Presi- any department into which we venture only it has be- dent, Robert A. Boit; Secretary, George How- gingerly, while in Great Britain land Cox; Executive Committee, Sylvester come an accepted means of generously ex- Baxter, Meyer Bloomfield, Charles E. Fay, pressing civic spirit. This is the private grift John Mason Little, and Frederick Law Olm- of municipal buildings. Americans give out- sted. The work that the society has mapped right nearly every other kind of public out for itself is the physical betterment of structure, but the town hall of the smaller the Boston metropolitan district by securing community marks the limit of private benefi- effective co-operation and stimulating- in- cence in this direction. We, who are con- creased activity among those in Boston and stantly startling the world with our great in its surrounding towns and cities who wish gifts, can scarcely comprehend such benefl- NOTES AND QUERIES. 15*

3333333333] 53333355333

THE WELLS BUILDING.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. H. C. Koch & Co., Architects. THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. 152 cence as that announced in an inconspicuous portance of having street signs. But there note in the London "Times" which says that was, as every New Yorker knows, such ur- Lord Ashton has offered "a minimum of 50,- gent need of the action that it is well to have 000 for new municipal buildings at Lancas- had it taken. The resolutions of the confer- ter." The town council, officially notified of ence asked: (1) for signs on electric light "reflector on Welsbach the gift, voted, on November 9th, gratefully poles; (2) for signs" elevated railroad to accept it; and various other gifts, includ- lights; (3) for signs' on pil- ing a promise to maintain the present town lars at street intersections; (4) for metal hall and municipal buildings "for the benefit signs showing white letters on (blue enamel of the town," were made by Lord Ashton at at street corners where it is necessary to use the same time. Lancaster is a place of about the walls of buildings'; (5) for blue flash glass 50,000 inhabitants so that a municipal sign, with white letters, on the gas lamps. building costing not less than a quarter of a The granting of these requests would cer- million dollars should serve it pretty well. tainly make it very easy to find one's way There is many an American city where such about the city; but the sign would not add a gift would be acceptable; and with all the to the city's beauty. However, in the present giving of squares, parks, libraries and town lack of this street equipment, one can under- halls, it is a bit strange that city halls have stand the eagerness to get anything and a been overlooked. willingness to forego for a time those artistic results which were sought, with much of de- lay, by the last administration. But this is Detroit papers report work that will never be completely accom- A PLAN that the Board of Com- plished until the signs are artistic and are merce of that through OF city, uniform. its committee, IMPROVE,- municipal has engaged Charles Mul- MENT FOR ford Robinson to make a Civic improvement chron- DE.TR.OIT. report on practicable meas- iclings include notes of at ures for the improvement least three interesting ad- and beautifying of the city. Mr. Robinson ditions in November to the Detroit in sev- artistic of Mas- went to November, spending IN possessions eral days as a guest of the committee and sachusetts. One of these visiting every part of the city. He has since BAY STATE,. was the fountain of Car- prepared a long written report, in which spe- rara marble presented to cial stress is laid on the improvement of a the town of Holyoke by Mrs. William F, portion of the waterfront and the develop- Draper. The fountain is from the of ment of the Campus Martius as a civic center Waldo Story, and is reported to be an ad- although the whole urban district is more mirable work, well placed on the library or less covered by his recommendations. De- grounds. A second is the statue of Robert troit is thoroughly aroused to its possibilities Treat Paine, in front of the City Hall at and there is likely to be a very interesting Taunton; and the third is the hanging of development, on the waterfront at least. In French's bronze doors in the Public Library thus securing expert outside advice, the city at Boston. The Paine memorial is a portrait has put itself in line with Harrisburg, Cleve- statue by Richard E. Brooks. The figure is land, Ottawa, San Francisco and Buffalo, in in the picturesque dress of the Revolutionary a widespread movement that is very signifi- period, and the plastic acceptability of this cant. There is great economy in having a is further enhanced by a cloak which hangs definite plan to work toward so that each from the left shoulder. The material of the step, as it is taken, may be in the right direc- pedestal is warm colored granite and the tion and count in the final result. principal inscription is on a bronze panel of "warm, mossy green." The memorial is placed at the junction of several streets con- It is remarkable that it verging in an open space before the City STREET should have been necessary Hall, where there is given to it a back- to organize a Street Sign ground of foliage. The sculptor knew his SIGNS Conference of Municij al site before he made his model and propor- IN Organizations in the great tioned his work accordingly. Of Mr. French's City of New York, and that doors it is unnecessary to speak here with NEW YORK, there should have been equal fullness. As is well known, there are need of appointing a com- six, each containing an allegorical full length mittee to appear before the city officials to figure in low relief, so departing from the plead, as they did a few weeks ago, the im- much more familiar Ghiberti plan of many NOTES AND QUERIES. 153 small panels in high relief. The doors are have succeeded in combining a careful com- also unusual in the circumstance that they position of the masses of their buildings with are not outside, but serve to connect the an irregularity of outline which makes the vestibule with the entrance hall. Their added house harmonize with the unkempt western enrichment of the artistic possessions of the landscape. A short time ago Mr. Grey's famous library makes one only the more im- health succumbed to the arduous work patient to see completed the long-awaited which he had been doing, and he went to Saint Gaudens groups for the exterior. Southern California to recuperate. He has since resumed the practice of his profession in Los Angeles, where he already considers It is always refreshing himself pretty well at home. Associated in AN and interesting to find an the same office with him is Mr. Myron Hunt, artist who has certain def- ARCHITECT inite ideas about his work WHO and has the power of ex- pressing them; and inas- WRITE.S. much as the art of this country is, in some meas- ure, a gospel as well as a practice, the Amer- ican artist with communicable convictions has an important part to play, which is in- dependent of the value of his personal work. Of course the best way to preach the gospel of any art is to practice it in a consummate manner; but in a country like ours which takes hold of ideas better than it does of beautiful things, the man who can translate his purposes into words has a peculiar and special value. Mr. Elmer Grey, of Los An- geles, who contributed an article to the Jan- uary issue of the "Architectural .Record" on "Architecture in Southern California," is one of the few American architects who has the disposition and the power to write as well as to design. Mr. Grey is not a college man. He entered an architect's office in Milwaukee in 1887, and attracted attention in 1890 by winning the first prize in a competition for a water tower and pumping station, instituted by the "Engineering and Building Record" of New York. At that time he was working MR. ELMER GREY. in the office of Ferry & Clas, in Milwaukee, with whom he remained for twelve years, Los Angeles, Cal. during which time he assisted in the design of two of the largest library buildings in the who has migrated to California for much the country, that of Milwaukee and that of the same reason as Mr. Grey, and who left be- Wisconsin State Historical Library of Wis- hind him in Chicago such an enviable repu- consin. Throughout these years he took ad- tation for idiomatic and original design. vantage of his vacations by devoting much Both Mr. Hunt and Mr. Grey stand for the time to sketching abroad. Many of his attempt to naturalize in this country the water-color sketches have been repro- best traditions' of European architecture. duced in architectural periodicals, and two Mr. Grey, for instance, believes that a very of them hang in the permanent collection genuine American style is in the process of of the Chicago Art Institute. After Mr. making; but that as yet it is only in its in- Grey began to practice in his own name, hi? fancy. Significant American variations from work consisted, more than anything else, in the European forms can already be clearly the design of residences, among which are distinguished, but these variations remain a group of houses erected at Fox Point, near undeveloped largely because we so rarely Milwaukee, have attracted particular atten- build in a thorough-going way we so rarely tion. In the character of his architectural treat our local problems and materials hon- designs, Mr. Grey must be classed among estly. Wood, for instance, has been the pop- the group of middle western architects who ular American building material, but it has 154 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. been used chiefly to imitate effects which We have mentioned can be better obtained by the use of other THREE, above the excellence and materials. Mr. in his own has of some of Mr. Grey, work, HOUSE.S OF quality treated his material respectfully by using Myron Hunt's work. The solid wooden beams for ceiling and solid MR. MYRON "Architectural Record" of wooden porch posts. Solid beams will show October, 1904, contained a knots and will check, but both of these qual- HUNT. number of interiors of two ities he considers virtues rather than defects houses in and near Chi- because they are qualities natural to the cago the Healy house of Sheridan Road material and testify to its integrity. The built- and that of Mr. Pirie, Jr., in Evanston. Par-

HOUSE OF I. T. PIRIE, JR. Evanston, 111. Myron Hunt, Architect. up beam or post will warp in time and show- ticular attention to these houses was called its hollow core. It may be graceful and in the text of the magazine; and they at- pretty, but it can repair the ravages of time tracted such favorable attention that we only by recourse to the rouge-pot and pow- reproduce herewith some illustrations of der-puff, while the solid beam must improve their exteriors. The designs for both of with age. The immediate future of Ameri- these houses show an interesting combina- can architecture depends on using its proper tion of the picturesque and the organic. In materials idiomatically, and, inasmuch as the the case of the dwelling of Mr. Pirie, Jr., the use of wood is in time bound to be super- building is almost on the street, and how seded, it depends particularly upon the idi- firmly and emphatically has Mr. Hunt omatic use of tiles, armored concrete and planted it there! The straight lines of the perhaps of certain kinds of manufactured fence and the extension roof bring out the stone. This is the point of view which Mr. long dimension and the particular location Grey represents both in his work and in his of the building, while the gable of the porch, writing; and there can be no doubt that it repeating as it does the motive of the ma- is the wholesome and formative point of jor gable of the house, breaks the line of the view both for American architecture and lower roof at just the right point and in American architectural criticism. just the right way. The design is tight NOTES AND QUERIES. 155

THE HEALY HOUSE.

Sheridan Road, Chicago, 111. Myron Hunt, Architect. THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

without being in the least stiff and rigid; nevertheless, how plainly it betrays the hand and it is simple and unpretentious without of the self-respecting and skilled architect! being in the least insignificant. The Healy What a contrast it offers the usual machine- house is similarly appropriate and interest- made thing! ing. In this case the architect had the ad- vantages of a larger site, a more substantial material and ampler dimensions. The plac- For many years it was ing of the porch on the front of the house PARTY the practice of architects has interfered with the complete success of to pretend that the party the street fagade; but assuming that this WALLS IN walls of "skyscrapers" arrangement was necessary, it is at any rate which in certain situations well-managed. The solid brick balustrade CHICAGO. are actually more con- with a stone coping, the plain brick piers, spicuous than the street emphasized by a buttress on the wall and the fronts, were really not to projecting roof with its strong shadows, all be seen. The front was more or less com- of this harmonizes admirably with the plain pletely designed according to the ability of

RESIDENCE IN OAK PARK. Illinois. Myron Hunt, Architect.

surface and the salient lines of the house. the architect, but it was assumed that the side Its attractiveness is derived solely from its and rear walls would eventually be screened strong masses and lines and its lively sur- by other tall buildings and that in the mean- faces and shadows; and its bulk is nicely time no one need look. This practice is still scaled to the size of the surrounding trees. followed in many instances; but in New There is nothing arbitrary about it, as if the York it has become more and more the cus- architect were forcing an idea; yet there is tom to pay some attention to the lesser nothing merely conventional. It stands on fagades of large office buildings. There has its own site and speaks its own language. rarely been any effort to construct these As much cannot be said for the little brick walls of materials as expensive as those house, also by Mr. Myron Hunt, illustrated used on the street fronts; and in many cases on this page. In this little box the scale of no openings are possible; but bricks of sev- the bay window and the shadow it throws eral colors arranged in appropriate patterns makes every other aspect of the fagade, ex- can be used and have been used in a number cept the surfaces, insignificant. The design of New York buildings. Such instances are is not the issue of a very happy idea; yet, scarcer in Chicago; but we reproduce here- NOTES AND QUERIES. 157

throughout the marks of careful study by an experienced architect and of an owner vho desired comfortable as well as interesting- surroundings. The scale of the house and grounds is not that of a large country estate. It is rather that of a spacious and handsome suburban house, which is surrounded by enough land to enable the architect to obtain his full ef- fect, but which is nevertheless influenced by the fact that it is approached from a street. This condition explains certain of the land- scape arrangements.

MR. MYRON HUNT. Los Angeles, Cal.

with a photograph of the party wall of the Rector Building at the southeast corner of Clark and Monroe streets. In this build- ing, which is interesting in several respects, and which will receive more extended notice after its completion, the architect, Mr. Jarvis Hunt, has made the party wall very much more interesting than usual at an expense which cannot have amounted to more than a few hundred dollars. The result has been obtained by using face and common brick of varying colors, arranged in appropriate patterns. As the building actually elbows the adjoining building, no projections were possible; but this fact merely brings out the screen-like function and character of the wall. It is to be hoped that this example will find an increasing number of imitators.

We reproduce on the fol- THE lowing pages of this issue some illustrations of the HOUSE OF house of Louis A. Thebaud, situated at N. LOUIS A. Morristown, J. The architects of this THEBAUD. house, .Messrs. Roos and Booraem, have managed to combine both in the interior and the exterior of the building good architectural design with THE RECTOR BUILDING. a pleasant, home-likeness of effect. It shows Chicago, 111. Jarvis Hunt, Architect. THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. NOTES AND QUKKIES. 159 I6o THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

THE HOUSE OF MR. LOUIS A. THEJBAUD. Moiristown, N. J. Roos & Booraem, Architects NOTES AND QUERIES. 161

DINING-ROOM AND BILLIARD-ROOM. House of Mr. Louis A. Thebaud.

Morristown, N. J. Roos & Booraem, Architects. 1 62 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

HALL, AND LIVING-ROOM. House of Mr. Louis A. Thebaud.

Morristown, N. J. Roos & Bcoraem, Architects. NOTES AND QUERIES.

THE HOWE HOUSE. Evanston, 111. Pond & Pond, Architects. THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

THE CRITERION CLUB. New York City. S. B. Eisendrath, Architect. TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT.

INTERIOR FIREPROOFING.

\_The following is the fourth of a series of Technical-Industrial Reports upon a certain System of Fireproofing, made to the Manufacturers by the well-known expert on Building Construction, Mr. William J. Fryer.]

In the preceding chap- or a ceiling, the finer surface is omitted and ters the defects and the plastering done direct on the coarser disadvantages of vari- body which affords a good key for the ous materials as ordi- plaster coat. The material can be sawed 01 narily used in fireproof cut almost as readily as wood, although a work have been pointed little hard on tools. It can be polished or out, and the statement stained, oiled, varnished or otherwise treated made that there is room for and a necessity in a decorative manner. for something better. An ideal fireproof ma- terial has been and on the produced placed There is nothing start- market the Hecla Iron the by Works, largest ling about the Hecla and best known manufacturers of orna- Cost of the material. In a modi- mental iron and bronze work for buildings in Installed fied way, the merits of the United States. The high standing of this for Material magnesia coverings is a in advance that company guarantee steam pipes are quite material bears a reliable their fireproof generally known. The of merit. stamp principal ingredient entering into the Hecla The manufacturers material is rather expensive, as it is and the first cost in make no secret of the imported, Greece, the sea the duty, Hecla Fireproof mate- transportation, import and the middlemen's profits all added to- rial. It is composed of the ton rather for a mixture of magnesite, gether bring price per high what be considered a raw material into a mineral, and chloride may which no American labor has entered or of magnesia, a fluid, even is in competition. 1 But in some other and in this mixture is used a fibrous material respects an advantage in cost is had over such as excelsior, hemp, straw, sawdust, wood that of burnt clay and concrete, so that the pulp or the like, so that the product itself Hecla material can meet other systems of can expand or contract without warping or fireproofing on fairly equal grounds as re- cracking. The chloride of magnesia is the gards price when installed in buildings. setting material when added to the mag- nesite, and converts the mass into a light, are the evi- strong, stone-like substance that cannot be What rendered flammable by heat at any known dences of the Hecla temperature. Special-designed machinery is material being fire- used for the mixing, and when the chloride proof? Prof. Ira H. E. made of magnesia is added to the mag- Woolson, M., nesite and fibrous material, the composition tests of several speci- mens of the material is ready to be used in place or put in any desired form by simply being pressed or in the testing laboratory of Columbia Uni- tamped., For the exposed surfaces, on the versity, to ascertain the effect of the con- outsides of the coarser body a thin coat of tinual application of fire to the specimens for the material, about one-quarter of an inch periods of time under temperatures varying thick is applied at the same time, but using from G00 to 2,700F. with an average of

r last in for the latter w ood pulp as the fibre, in order 2,500 during the fifty minutes one to make a dense, smooth finish. In case the of the tests. The melting point of cast iron surface is to be plastered, as for a partition and steel is about 2,500, and a one-inch

8 i66 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

square bar of cast iron used as a support for For inside trim the a specimen tested was half melted away, Hecla material has which was confirmatory evidence of the been used in a number high heat attained. The transfer of heat of buildings where cost through the specimens by conductivity was was a secondary con- noted. Upon the top side of a sample block sideration: In the St. one foot square and 3*4 inches thick, laid Regis Hotel, the latest with the smooth surface down over a G- and most expensively fitted up of hotels, and inch furnace with strong air blast, a ther- in the Hanover Bank Building in New York, mometer was placed directly above the fur- and in the new addition to the Prudential nace fire with the bare mercury bulb resting Life Building in Newark, and in other build- upon the sample, and suitably protected from the surrounding heat. With the high- Architects are con- est temperature a maximum of 60 was re- servative in adopting corded, the material being scarcely warm new and to the hand on the side opposite the surface materials, so. Sup- subjected to the extreme heat. At the end very properly an architect has a of the heat test the sample was removed pose building to erect whose from the fire and plunged under a strong comes under the stream of cold water. No cracks resulted. height of a law which forbids the use of The effect of the force of the water was to provision wood for certain purposes, and then wash off the soft and spongy charred sur- except on condition that the wood so used face of the material. The elaborate report only be treated some so-called of Prof. Woolson ends with the following shall by fireproof The architect has doubts of the ef- opinion: "Taking all the evidence into con- process. of "fireproof" wood, but he knows that sideration, I should unhesitatingly say that ficacy the treated floor boards will result in a the Hecla material is a most excellent non- trebled increase of cost over a non-treated conductor of heat and its fireproofing qual- floor. The usual alternative is to use a ce- ities of the best. I believe it safe to say ment or a tile surface floor. He to a that if a fire were to occur in a building objects floor on account of its hardness to where this material was used it would re- cement the feet and because it into main intact long after all the ordinary con- grinds up dust, and is sure to crack. A tile floor is too ex- struction material surrounding it had per- is offered to ished." pensive. The Hecla fireproofing him, but his own judgment or the liking of A Hecla fireproof his client is for hollow burnt clay blocks or door, two inches in stone concrete as the filling between the steel thickness, was tested floor beams, with cinder concrete on top of in December last in the the arches. Very good. The Hecla fire- Underwriters' Labora- proofing still offers to him a relief and an tories in Chicago, un- advantage in getting not only a satisfactory, der the direction of the but the best walking surface for his floor National Board of Fire Underwriters, and that he can possibly get in the present state subjected to fire and water as in a real con- of the building arts. On top of the cinder flagration. The door was in position at the concrete which reaches up level with the end of the fire test and proved to be an ef- top of the floor beams is put two inches in fective fire stop, free from warping or bulg- thickness of the coarser or cushioned Hecla ing under a high temperature; it proved that material with a quarter of an inch in thick- the material is a very good non-conductor of ness of the same but finer material for the heat; that the material does not support nor finished surface. Such a floor will have all carry flame, but is slowly calcined on the the elasticity of wood, be without joints, will surface at high temperatures, the calcined not crack or warp, and as it can be treated surface serving to protect the material back the same as though it were of wood, will be of it; and that the material is not materially handsomer than wood and be more durable, affected by the application of a stream of besides being fireproof, and will wear better water and consequent rapid cooling. than cement or white marble. HECLA FIREPROOFING" PATENTED. The System of Real Fireproofing.

The Hecla Iron Works, Brooklyn, N. Y. THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

The Aeolian Pipe-Organ Designed for Salons, Music-rooms, Foyer and Reception-halls in Private Residences

AEOLIANPipe-Or- gans are provided with the usual key- boards for the

use of organists and with an "Aeolienne" for person splay- ing with the aid of perforated m us ic-rolls.

With a single roll all solo and accompani- mental effects known in or- gan-playing can be produced by any one, even if unfamiliar with musical nota- tion, through the agency of the Patented Aeolian Solo- System. The Music-rolls for these instruments include original com- positions for the Aeolian Pipe-Organ and master-arrangements of Orchestral and operatic scores specially made for The Aeolian Company by many of the most eminent composers and conductors, including : Felix Mottl Arturo Vigna Victor Herbert Alfred Hertz Gustav F. Kogel Walter Damrosch THE AEOLIAN COMPANY John W. Heins, Manager Pipe-Organ Department Frank Taft, Art Director Aeolian Hall, 362 Fifth Avenue, New York Correspondence should be addressed to the Pipe-Organ Department

33 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. s\

AMERICAN BRIDGE COMPANY OF NEW YORK STRUCTURAL STEEL FOR EVERY PURPOSE BRIDGES LIGHT BUILDINGS ENGINEERS & STRUCTURAL ROOF-TRUSSES CONTRACTORS WORK EASTERN DIVISION PITTSBURG DIVISION WESTERN DIVISION 1OO Broadway Frick Building Monadnock Block New York, N. Y. Pittsburg, Penna. Chicago, 111.

34 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

Sleep with the window open"

cCRAY REFRIGERATORS BECAUSE THEY ARE Perfectly Dry, Clean, and Hygienic, Superior in Construction, Thoroughly Insulated, This latest hygienic advice and the "purity of for of Unequalled Economy Ice, night air" are now much talked of. Whether Devoid of Poisonous Zinc Lining, correct or not, the advice can be comfort- Give Entire Satisfaction, and Every Re- safely, followed where the is frigerator is FULLY GUARANTEED. ably house warmed with McCRAY REFRIGERATORS are Tile. Opal Glass or Odorless-Wood Lined. A full line of stock sizes. Built to order also for any purpose. T Catalogues: No. 39 for Residence, No, 45 for AlHERICANxlDEAL Hotels, Public Institutions and Cold Storage Houses, No. 56 for Meat Markets, No. 63 for /i RADIATORS *-Ml Grocerips, No. 70 for Florists. II Valuable Book, "How to Use a Refrigerator," sent upon request. are not so McCRAY REFRIGERATOR COMPANY Buildings commonly tightly built as to keep out all Mill Street :: :: IND. 375 KENDALLVILLE. the air needed for the BRANCH OFFICES AND SALESROOMS occupants. Our way of heating, however, New York, 341 Broadway ; Philadelphia, 1217 the air ventila- Chestnut St.; Chicago, 55 Wabash Ave.; St. surely changes by 122 Louis, 404 N. Third St. ; San Francisco, tion as many times per hour as is Market 308 Fourth De- St.; Pittsburg, Ave.; to meet the health troit, 305 Woodward Ave.; Columbia, S. C., Je- necessary of the of rome Bldg. : Boston, 52 Commercial St. ; Colum- requirements occupants bus, O., 356 N. High St.; Cleveland, O., 390 a The Arcade. home, office, school, church, etc. The air is kept uniformly Address Main Office, unless you reside In one of above named cities. warm and draughts are prevented. No drudgery, no ashes, dirt or coal gases throughout the house.

Our booklet "Heating Invest- Broken view of Direct- ments Successful" is worth read- T Indirect or ventilating ing, whether house is old or your rad i ator showing fresh air new, small or large, farm or city, supply coming from out- side.

j\MERIGANpIATOR|;QMPANY Dept. 15 CHICAGO

E. M. A. MACHADO, Architect, Boston and Salem, Mass. 35 The Architect's Side of It AN EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENT

"The complaint is sometimes made," said one of our leading Ar- chitects, "that we 'artistic fellows' are impracticable. We are sup- posed to have some very 'queer ideas' that have got nothing at all to do with the Veal thing.' Perhaps we have, I don't know, but if we have, I don't believe that we can be doing anything worse than is done daily by the men who boast of their practicalness and their hard-headed business sense. For instance there are millions, yes hundreds of millions of dollars spent annually on catalogues. A great many of these millions are poured into the offices of us Archi- tects. In this office, for instance, we receive about 4,000 catalogues a year. What are they sent to us for ? I often wonder what the idea was in the head of their originators. Do the makers of these cata- logues think that we have leisure to read 'literature,' and are in- terested in going through pages telling us about the history of 'Calcium Carbide,' the 'Evolution of Hardware,' or the develop- ment year by year of the firm of 'John Smith & Co.' Don't laugh ! Look at this, and this, and this. "Here is one of the biggest plumbing firms in the United States that projects into a busy Architect's office a i68-page book, setting forth the history of the firm. I have hardly time to read my news- , certainly little time even for professional reading in which I am interested, and my case is the case of nearly all Architects who are at all likely to buy the goods made by that particular high- class firm. "I wonder what induces a highly practical concern to waste its money in this way. I imagine that they think they are doing some- thing. Why don't they make a few inquiries and find out really where 'they are at?' "Again, look at this. Here is a ponderous volume or catalogue sent out by a big hardware concern. It is intended, I suppose, for the use of Architects, yet it contains illustrations and information in regard to 'sausage meat choppers.' Let us turn to the book. Look at all these pages devoted to the cheapest kind of door-knobs, Japanned locks, simple window catches, etc., etc. Do Architects specify any of these? They are bought at the hardware store, and they are so common that to get them you hardly have to call for them. That volume cost the firm that got it out a great many thousands of dollars, and yet, I venture to say, that so far as we Architects are concerned it could be boiled down to advantage to about 25% of its present size. The man who produced that book had not learned to 'distinguish.' His book performs several functions. It contains information for the Architect, information for the big contractor, information for the local contractor, in- formation for the hardware man of many degrees, from the big

36 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. store in New York City to the small corner store at 'Jones' Corn- ers,' but the man who got the book up bunched the entire output, and, therefore, wastes his money, distributing useless information to people who can't use it. The volume is certainly 50% inefficient. Of the cost, also, I should say 50% is thrown away. Why not send to the Architect the information that the Architect really wants and really uses, and not waste money dumping upon him the in- formation about 'meat choppers' and 'Japanned door-knobs?' But don't think that the hardware man is alone in this business. He has good company. "Here is a monstrous volume produced, as you see, by another of our leading plumbing supply firms. Feel the weight of it. Tha't weight is put there, no doubt, in order to make the book easily han- dled. I suppose it is made big because nearly all of the publishers in the world are finding out that the people want small, light and flexi- ble books. Single volumes of 'Shakespeare' have long ago given place to a dozen or more little portable books in a case. Moreover, as you will see, this book is so large and expensive that the pub- lisher can get it out only once every four years. That is another advantage of 'size.' The book is only up to date for a short period; then to correct this, the firm keeps on sending us leaflets which, by the very nature of things, 'get lost.' Oh ! it's a great practical game, this. Moreover, this big plumbing volume con- tains a great mass of illustrations and other matter that is not of the slightest consequence to the Architect. It is all right for the local plumber, but what does the Architect want with hundreds of com- monplace plumbing articles which he never specifies? All of this is a very stupid waste of money, but it becomes sublimely ridiculous when you join it to the whole 'catalogue game' and see how this is played in its entirety. "Hardly two catalogues that come to this office are of the same area. Hardly two of them are of the same thickness. I was going to say that hardly two of them opened in the same manner, but there is no need to make this game any funnier than it is. Some catalogues have stiff covers, some are flimsy and thin, some are dainty and delicate in color, as though they were intended for a ladies' boudoir. These butterfly things usually announce inside the merits of some ponderous piece of machinery. Some of these catalogues are made to hang up, but there is no indication of what we are to do with the majority of them. Shall we stack them up on their edges, or lay them down on their backs ? If we do this, how can we find anything we are looking for? I want, for instance, at a given moment, the catalogue of 'Jones & Co.' It measures 4x8. There are sixteen pages in it. It is squeezed in somewhere among hundreds of other catalogues, some of them four or eight times the size of it. I might just as well hunt for a postage stamp in the debris of a rag-paper shop. Oh ! I know it is supposed that some ' Architects 'a so do. I do. in keep system ; they We spend money having our office boy file the catalogues away as they come in. He is also instructed to make a card index. That's the theory of it. It seems simple enough until you begin to work it out. The office boy's brains are not equal to it. Ask any librarian whether he finds it an easy thing to make a catalogue of books. He will tell you it isn't. Should this volume of 'Smith's,' for instance, be indexed

37 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. under 'Sociology,' or 'Economics/ or 'History'? Those are the puzzles. "I hunted the other day for the 'Westinghouse' catalogue, and I found it down under 'Contractors' the office boy had put it there. Well, there are electrical contractors, but when I am look- ing for the 'Westinghouse Co.V products I do not naturally asso- ciate them with the operations of a firm like 'D. C. Weeks,' the ' Fuller Company,' or the 'Thompson-Starrett Co.' Elevators sometimes go among elevator catalogues, sometimes under 'Ma- chinery.' Boilers are placed under 'Steam Fittings,' sometimes under 'Heating.' The result is a mitigated chaos. You see, some office boys do better than others, but all office boys get somehow mixed. Of course, if I could afford to let my Specification Man- ager look after this work of the filing away of catalogues, it would be all right. That is too costly. Besides, we haven't time. Again, even if the catalogues were filed right in the beginning, they must taken out of their files must be handed around are be ; they ; they sure to be left on desks, dropped on the floor, and when they are to be refiled again, the 'filing difficulty' again once more comes to the front. "Of course, most catalogues are thrown away. I suppose our office throws away intentionally 70%, and 20% gets lost 'some- how/' but the worst feature of all is this : catalogues are intended for reference. They are not, they never can be 'reading.' Any firm that tries its hand at 'literature' in a catalogue pays for nothing. The value of catalogues is for reference. By reference I mean that they shall be turned to, so to speak, at a moment's notice, for the purpose of obtaining a specific piece of information. "A dictionary is a book of reference, and anything that is put in the dictionary that contradicts the reference idea may be good matter, but it certainly is in the wrong place. If the catalogue isn't an article of reference, it isn't anything. It is not even good waste paper. "What the Architect would like to do with the catalogues is to have them in a dictionary shape, so that he can get at 'Laundry Machinery/ or 'Wire Glass/ or 'Radiators/ or 'Bathroom Fix- tures/ or 'Hot Air Furnaces/ or 'Vacuum System of Heating/ and find with his thumb just what he wants. If his thumb can't do the work, there is something wrong with the dictionary. Long ago, the railroad men of this country were forced by com- mon sense to adopt a common gauge for their track. Why don't the catalogue men do the same thing, standardize their printed matter, and then, if you please, nothing will seem more natural than that they should get all together and have it down in one book, or two books, or ten books with an index. The Architect will then have what he wants, a Dictionary of Building Materials. Don't tell me, however, that the Architect is the only impracticable peb- ble on the beach so long as building material firms stick to their present methods of dealing with their catalogues. I suppose they stick to it because they won't think about the situation. The heads of houses will not go out and make inquiries for themselves. They accept a lot of 'interested advice' from existing catalogue printers, etc., as being 'straight goods.' Moreover, it pleases, I suppose, the head of a firm to see and handle his own literature. He talks

38 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD. with the paper man, the cut man, the printer. He worries his head about the color of the cover, paper, the color of the ink, the phraseology of the letter-press, the exact wordings of titles, etc. He talks and compares and advises, and finally the booklet is pro- duced. But into how rude a world is this offspring of his thrust ! So long as his catalogue is in his own hands, it is undoubtedly a thing of beauty, but that is not the commercial position from which he ought to look at it. He should regard it rather after it has been dumped in the mail and delivered amid a mass of paper (one of a thousand similar catalogues) in an Architect's office, subjected to the dangers of the waste paper basket and the carelessness of the office boy. "Most of our manufacturers today are simply distributing printed matter from the press to the waste paper basket. Remember, I am talking so far as we Architects are concerned. I suppose people do 'write in' making inquiries for information, and 'literature' is then in but mix drinks confuse ideas ? Archi- order, why ; why The tect needs the reference the needs ; applicant information, and per- haps the story about the firm doesn't do any harm then if thrown in."

The foregoing is one of about One Thousand interviews held, by person and by correspondence, with the leading Architects of the country in regard to Catalogues. These interviews were undertaken by the Architectural Record in order to appraise with certainty the value of catalogues. The informa- ation gathered will gladly be placed at the disposal of any Building Material firm who will drop us a postal card. There is not a single dissenting opinion from the one expressed above among the entire One Thousand. As a result the Architectural Record Co. has undertaken to organize a Modern Catalogue System a Dictionary of Building Materials on an elaborate scale and Scientific Method. A large number of the biggest firms in the Construction field are adopting it and arrangements have already been made to place the system in the offices of Five Thousand Architects, Engineers, Contractors and others. The names of these five thousand offices will be furnished. Correspondence with firms now issuing catalogues (90% waste) is solicited. ARCHITECTURAL RECORD CO.,

14 and 16 Vesey St., New York City. 120 Randolph St., Chicago, Illinois. THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

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