New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-03-06

| less the Lowell factories may be regarded as
r~b Ouv churches are small and imperfect
;m;,.t;ops of a miscellaneous Gothic, and cur
| exchanges. colleges, lyceums, banks and Gus
tom. houses sfIect the Greek, with as much pro-
uriety as our merchants, professors ana ciefhs
vonld ;udue themselves with the Athenlan cos
tume There is no hope of the churches and
hanks. They are nothing if not Gothic and
G,eci.n We shall not discuss the probable
character of our architecture. To thcorize about
an art not yet existing is to speculate upon the
| beauty Of an unborn woman. What II 1t should
be a man and disappoint expectation, as unwei'
come David Copperfeld his aunt Betsy! II
il clear that New York will build brick houses,
| and in blocks. But beauty costs no more tnan
| ugliness, and although every man has the rish'
| TO build house of that appearance which oes'
| pleases himself, yet every citizen is bound 10
| have at heart the beauty of the City. lie cahho'
| escape it. His pride compels it /; and sherelofe
every man who builds house ought TO consult
to some extent, the general effect OF ms Duhuins
and as he would not paint it blue or oiack' Tic
should no less consider its form than It's coiof.
Cbeapness and convenience will, OF course, be
the first principles in our building, beauty and
pcturesQueness will be secondary. The point
il 10 combine these without much compromising
either At present our cities are the unhand-
soonest in the world. The street architecture 10
monotonous and heavy. The houses, compared
with those of other Capitals, are low, but they
are not light. Paris and the Italian cities have
always festal all. Vienna Is brilliant. Even
grim old Rome seems waiting to be gay. You
do not Immediately see the reason OF this. Inc
houses are high, the streets narrow, shutting OUT
the sky, and the swarms of passengers do not
explain the charm. But if you look narrowly
YOU will see that the difference Of effect pro-
duced, arises, not SO much from any essential
architectural superiority, because the mass
Of building in any city is Of about the same
general character-but that it is due to the
broken and various lines which everywhere
meet the eye, relieving the heavy gravity OF
the smooth fronts which with US are entirely
unrelieved Sometimes indeed, street Is
built with regard to its architectural beauty, as
the Rue de RivoH, in Paris, of which the har-
mony is uniformity and not monotony. One side
of this street is the garden of the iTueries, and
| the other is like prolonged palace front. The
| northern side OF the Boulerards des Italiens is
truly picturesque, but for directly the contrary
| reason, namely the infinite variety OF line pre-
| scented.
| 1t is to these lines of gallery and balcony
| which break and tighten the mass OF building,
| that we mus, look for hint of very feasible
| Improvement If any city reader wishes an Illus
| hation of this fact, let him observe how the
| iron verandah upon the Cellamore House re-
| deems the otherwise bald dead weight Of that
building Then let him cast his eye up Broad
way to the long front of Niblos hotel-uttery
unrelieved and bank-and consider the cheerful
| effect of a continuous gallery along each story,
! or separate balconies at every window, as upon
| the beautiful Chioje at Naples. On the other
| hand let him ask his Metropolitan pride how it
| would like street of such edi6ces as the City
Assembly Rooms upon the site OF Tattersalls
So, also, in dwelling houses, the balcony which
| is now confined to the paror floor might occa'
pivrIuiiy TO o-r.i.2 thrnnGh ~ o'i~- .to~i"~
l and this in narrow streets, with a peculiarly
happy effect as is seen in such streets of foreign
cities where the style, if elaborated in lattces
| and bay-windows. becomes romantic and poetic.
Sattler's Street IL Cairo concluslvely showed
| this.
Greater variety in the holdings OF doors and
windows, and in the designs of porticoes, might
easily be obtained, with an infinite gain OF grace
to the City The Broadway Theater illustrates
this for it is certainly of the most Impressive
buildings upon that street. The question: 1t
must be remembered is not one of Art, so much
as of picturesqueness and effect. The galleries
| and balconies, &c, are only subterfuge. If an
| edifce is intrnsically beautiful and welEpropor
| toned, il claims no such accessories, as Stew.
arts building, which, although simple square
mass, get from the admirable proportion, rather
than the material is as stately and imposing as
many a foreign palace. But where there is no
regard-as is the usual case-to the dignity or
| proprety OF FORM there we must take advantage
| of an alienation, and obtain iightness, gayety
| and variety as we best can.
| There is, however, one point peculiar to
| American or more properly TO New-York build
| ing, which calls for the determined and constant
| censure of every man who values human life.
| We mean the flimsy style Of building arising
| from the fIenlied haste with which we do every
| thing This has long been our reproach. Scarce
| ~ year passes that we do not record some dis
aster Of this kind, often involving melancholy
waste of life. as it strong ?" is question con
stantly asked of new building, and question
which, in any civilized community, it should be
as unnecessary 10 ask, as whether the public
wells are poisoned. We know many who will
not pass under buildings now going up or re-
Gently erected. friend walked down Broad.
way one morning, while building was In
course of erection on the site of the present
| Waverley House, and returning IN the afternoon
| found that it had ali tumbled down. Our read
| avs have NOT forcotten the frightf,l fall of .