Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-11-28
A NOTED ARCHITECTS
OPINION OF AMERICAN ARCHITECT
uee PAST AND PRESENT.
Paw of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. In Puh'olns
PIans-CrsIes In Res'dspce Bui'diug'
Our Government Struetures-WiE sac
Monument LaEt-A New "hite Socse'

tie Arckitec. OF the new rGtobal library
building. Il ere Ct the most advanced men IN
bis profession he :, :sii. gray Whiskered. as
straight as West Foin: cadet az Austrian
bv s:-.a SD as ccurtly az Prerch diplomat
He was seat aeroac ~ congress ts study 'he
great national librarie: ;tsrs Sixteen years
ACC ts wal emplcye! ~ The government a.
ere a. 4. srper!n.erAeE.s and has since teep
consulted IL nearly every oE+ o. is g:ss:
architectural enterprises Mr. SmitEIeysi
ha: been c:ac:icing ii: profession IN America
70, .he past several decades. and he il one
Of ,he pioneer architects OF the country. l
chatted with aim to-day about his profession.
Said he:
Architecture is fast growing In the United
States Twenty OF thirty years ago you
could scarcely ind an architect outside Of the
large cities Now there is an extensive archi-
:ecturaI institute in the east and another IN
the west, and there are many hundreds Of
architects scattered all over the country.
The day will come when every city Of 5000
or 5000 inhabitants will support a good
architect"
@How does the profession Of architecture
payr
at depends upon the man and the oppor-
tunities he has / know architects who earn
more every year than the president Of the
United States, and there are others who make
scarcely anything. The best architects can
do nothing if they can get no opportunities
4 painter can show what he is il be has but
little paint and canvas, but an architect must
have a client, and, If possible, wealthy one,
before he can manifest his talent and embody
his idea in material shape. There are archi-
tects in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago
and Boston who make from $4,000 to Si5O0
year! The architect of the Mills building
in New York, for instance, realized, | am
told, 10000 in legitimate fees. The schedule
of charges for professional services for mem
hers Of the American Institute OF Architects
and for those of the Western Association Of
Architects is per cent on the cost Of
the building. This includes the plan
ming and experimenting its construction.
We get 500 for n house that costs SlO,OOO;
s.. 500 for ono that costs $4,000; $4,000 for
one that costs 500, 700, etc"
"What do you think Of American archi-
tecturc?"
"There is no distinctive American archi-
lecture. There is a kind Of vernacular style
exhibited in our continental and frame struCt-
ures. Just now we are passing through n
series of stages which will unqueStionnbly
develop our taste, and in time we will he
able to boast of much better results. As yet
architecture is n matter Of fashion with us,
and our architectural fashions change al
most as rapidly as do those Of the modiSte,
the tailor, halter, etc. But there arc good
reasons for expecting great progress in this
| line. Our people are an eminently practical
| people and we live in an age OF reason. Rea-
son dictates how the architect must be gov
erned in his composition and designs. Guided
| nv this he will be able to discriminate and
discard the errors which whims, fancies and
vagaries of the fashion have introduced in
modern building; those notably which seek
! TO subvcrt utility and comfort in the at
tempt to copy traditional forms He must
| be convinced that inasmuCh as there is no
known style of architecture so pliable as TO
meet the manifold requirements of modern
| times that it has first 10 be subjected to a
undermining process, so TO speak, and that
| this process consists in selecting and applying
only those characteristics of any chosen style
! or STYLES which can be reasonably brought in
! harmony with the necessities OF the pro
gramme imposed, and thus TO "let art adorn
but not govern our household" Reason will
| dictate in the preparation of his designs for
! dwellings that the human abode, be it over
80 humble, should be healthy and CORE
! spondingly comfortable, and he will not per,
| init any transgreSsiunS Of sanitary laws 10y
which the graudest and most luxurious pal
| aces might hc transformed into hospitals for
their inmates.
In due time our architects will understand
that architecture is the result of habit re-
| ligion and other characteristics of the people
in their respective localities of climate and
the contiguity Of building materials. The
mere initiating of a form Of architectural
| structure Fitted to a prevailing whim or
fashion, is an act unworthy of n true archi,
| WHO Sll'luWl llOI bub lttllt
Of public taste, because then only can hC
fulfill his mission and become a public benc-
factor by his creations. The conviction that
| architecture is based upon sound reason and
directed 10y good taste and sense, must and
will govern and mold the forms of his pro
| auctions, and they will naturally conform 10
our needs and customs, and adapt them
selves 10 the practical requirements of public
and private life, result which will be SC
eloquent, truthful and unaffected in its ex.
preston as to be easily understood and ap-
preciated by the people among whom it is
used, owing to the sympathy it will arouse
and the absolute harmony established be
tween their requirements and all legitimate
| fanCieS
1t should be the aim Of the modern archi
tect to enlighten the public mind, To No
longer make a mystery of architecture by
Disgusting, sphinx like, its chief aims and
uses, like coverings of past ages, but so com
pose his Book of Stone, as an old poet called
his profession, that the language of form
may lie interpreted by the eye of the public
and that they may read its meaning in plain
language, and not he put TO the cmharraSS
ment of trying to solve the riddle NJ ancient
hieroglyphicS or making TRANSACTIONS from
foreign uses and habits for the purpose Of ar
irving at its comprehension.
Is it reasonable for instance that we should
laugh at the men who would walk our streets
and engage in the business and professions OF
to-day, inconveniently cOstumed in the
powdered cue, knee breechcs, laceS, plumes
velvets and embroideries Of the Eighteenth
century, and yet seriously engage in trying
to adapt the dwelling of his age and require
ments to the habits of this day! 1t scarcely
needs mention that this refers to the late
"Queen Anne craze, which, THANKS TO oul
| -r--lsA r-------, - i-sI exc ohclvcS uIIL
| hope forever.
The laws Of hygiene were comparatively
little known in the days of Queen Anne A:
a reason for the prevailing Tow ceilings in the
dwellings Of that period, aside from the tram
mels which tradition may have imposed on
their constructions, the economy of warming
their apartments was undoubtedly n weighty
consideration. The huge open fireplace
with ia blazing logs, around which the
bcuscholt gathered, was their means Of ob,
tanning warmth and acted also as VEN
rla;or. The introduction OF many windows