THE ECCLESIOLOGIST. "Surge igitur et fac: et erit Bominus tecum." No. LXXXVI.-OCTOBER, 1851. (NEW SERIES, No. L.) UPON SOME OF THE CAUSES AND POINTS OF FAILURE IN MODERN DESIGN. A Paper read before the Twelfth Anniversary Meeting of the Ecclesiological late Cambridge Camden Society, on Thursday, May 22, 1851, by W. WHITE, Esq., Architect. NOTWITHSTANDING all the attention that architecture has received of late years, and all the progress it has made, it must be confessed that there is still much we have not yet attained to. And though the careful study and imitation or rather adaptation of ancient models has enabled us to make some progress in the way of producing satisfactory buildings, and though we have also, as I trust, imbibed some little of the spirit which pervaded the works of our fathers and enabled them to bring all they undertook to such perfection, yet very much is still wanting; for when we inspect a modern building, how often do we say, This is not altogether what it ought to be.' And then we go on to ask" What is it that is unsatisfactory?" What is it that gives it its spiritless character ?" What is it that makes it so much less pleasing than the works of former ages?" 86 Now I often think that these questions may, on some points at least, be more readily answered, and some of our deficiencies better supplied, when certain yet unsettled points have been taken by one person or another as they may happen to strike him, and have been thoroughly sifted and worked out. Not that the mere working it out will of necessity bring the matter to a definite and satisfactory conclusion, but that there must be many things which would be generally acknowledged and accepted as axioms or fundamental rules to work upon in such a matter as architectural design, if they could but be arranged and proved by argument and illustration; as for instance (if indeed here proof be wanted the strength and durability as well as beauty of high-pitched roofs; or the comfort both in appearance and reality afforded by thick walls of any material; or again, the turning to advantage in design some of our modern inventions of science, so far as they are in themselves really good. And I trust we may by degrees obtain some basis of definite principles and fixed rules to work upon, instead of every man having to work out for himself every point of fundamental principle; and every step in this way that can be gained is one step more towards the perfection of our art, and will help to spread amongst people a correct architectural taste, and it may be a due appreciation of other forms of beauty also. It is on these grounds I would claim attention to the present subject of "Some of the causes and points of failure in modern design." Now there are some points of failure which it might be thought almost superfluous to refer to; but it is necessary to introduce them, or the subject would be incomplete; besides, there may be some persons, especially if they are but beginners in the study of our art who would be glad to be introduced to a few of the first rules of criticism. The points I allude to are briefly these,-that a modern building, though it may contain some good points is at best but very faulty— 1. If any deception, or base imitation, in materials or construction, is discernible. 2. If any of the gables are set out from the face of the wall merely for the sake of making a break. 3. If any point of convenience is sacrificed for the sake of uniformity or apparent effect. 4. If the front wall be of superior workmanship to the sides or even the back of the building. 5. If the chimneys form the prominent feature. 6. If there are any blank windows. 7. If there are very large square windows in a gable; or it is adorned with meagre perforated barge-boards. After these preliminaries we will proceed at once to such buildings as have some pretensions to correctness of design. As architecture is the expression of an idea, so is this expression twofold, the one part consisting in the proportion and general outline of a building, the other in the minor parts and details. The one in a properly designed building almost shows at first sight the purposes and use for which it was intended (a,f). The other is entirely subordinate and is chiefly instrumental in adding grace, fulness, and harmony to the design. As the character of a building is so much more dependent on outline than on detail, it is outline which ought to claim our best energies and chiefest care; however, I fear it is detail that is snatched at by the multitude as that which characterizes it, and most specimens of "modern gothic" will abundantly prove this; but in reality it is the want of definite expression, or sufficiently distinctive character in outline, that is one great cause of failure in modern design. In mediæval architecture (and I believe in architecture of all ages) it was not the detail but the outline that gave every building its character. Churches, monasteries, castles, houses, halls, and schools, (a,f,) different as they were from each other, and even distinguishable as such for miles, all presented nearly the same detail, (g, 1.) excepting that very 1 The letters refer to the sketches. |