Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-09

4 Talk With the Supervising Architect Oh
the Subject.

| a TaAk with the Supervising Architect ON
the Subject
HE HAS ALREADY OWEN THE NATTER MUCH
THOUGHT, BUT HAS NOT YET DETERMINED AS TO
THE STYLE OF BUILDING OR THE MATERIAL TO
BE USED.
The supervising architect is waiting an Off
cial notification to the effect that the complete
title to square a2S vests in the United States
government before giving orders to begin any
sort OF work on the new city post Office. He
said to SrAR reporter this morning that he
had given the matter of this structure a good
deal of thought lately, having been informed
from time to time Of the progress made in the
| work OF paying for the land taken.
OF course the limitation Of the law prohibit
ing the architect from expanding money on 9
building until the acquisition of title is COM
pleted has prevented the preparation Of any
sort Of plans or specifications, but it has not
hindered the architect from going over the
matter in his own mind, even though he has
| AZ yet made no sketches.
POSSIBLE STYLE OF BUILDING.
IT have examined the site" he said to the
reporter, land can see nothing in the sur
roundings to suggest anything. There is abso-
lutely no element in the neighborhood to pre-
vent the adoption OF any style"
Have you determined upon the general
character Of the building?' asked the reporter.
mo. l have really settled upon nothing 1t
has occurred to me, however, that there are
really no established lines to follow.
The fact that the capital needs a post
the majority of the public buildings
here classical, might lead one to imagine
that the post Office should also be classical in
It's features. do not think so. do not be-
lieve that there is any logical necessity for such
| an inference. In fact it is an open question
with me whether or not the presence OF one or
two buildings here of decidedly unclassical
styles does not warrant q divergence. Mind
do not say that am going to diverge, but do
think that departure from the classical i'll this
building would be quite warranted as well as
| artistic.
VARIED STYLES OF ARCHITECTURE.
Mr.. EdbrOoke then went on to note the odd
proximity of three distinct styles of archi-
lecture in the line of buildings containing the
executive office and the State War; Navy and
Treasury Departments. The treasury is
purely classical. The White House is colonial.
The State, War and Navy Department build
ing is Of the French renaissance style, some
what modernized and simplitied. There is, he
| says, as great a contrast presented in the COM
paratively small space occupied by these build
lngs as will be found anywhere in the country.
Therefore, In view of the isolation of the city
post Office, Mr.. Edbrooke sees no artistic him
derance to the adoption of any style, however
far it may differ from that Of the majority of
the public structures in the city. And yet, he
went on to explain, this opinion must not be
| taken as an indication of the future 1t is but
one Of the conclusions to which he has come
in his consideration of the matter. 1t has
been, it were. the first step. Having
satisfied himself that there is no boundary to
the style that might be selected, the result may
be colonial, or classical or renaissance, or any
composite order Of architecture that might be
devised for the occasion. 1t is thought, how
ever, by those who have considered the matter
| that the building will probably be Romanesque
In Its outlines and treatment The site, Ir. Ed
brooke says, will lend itself this style as well
as to any other.
WASHINGTON TO HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY.
The architects Office is very busy at present,
there being an enormous amount of work on
hand all over the country, but Mr.. Edbrooke
thinks that Washington should have the right
of way in view of her long wait, the absolute
necessities OF the situation and the character of
the city itself He will, therefore, take every
possible step to make time on the construction
and will probably begin sketching out his ideas
at once
II shall first have to evolvee my central plan,
my theory OF construction" he said, land then,
when have produced a sketch that suits,
can begin the first drawing of large plans. The
force ia fully occupied, but l am inclined to
think that we can find man to take hold of
this work and as fast as they are needed
more men will be detailed, and, if nece:a
sary, an extra force will be employed.
The appropriation for the building is so
made that money is always available for
draughting expenses, and there need be no de-
lay on that score. The addition to our estab-
lishmen; OF q new draughting room in the
south court Of this building gives us plenty
OF space, and l am sure that l can get
as much work done in the preparation of de-
tailed plans and specifications as may be neces-
sary."
The work will, of course be done by con-
tract and there will be heavy penalties for delays
and other non-conformances. SO that there
need be no more time wasted than is usually
lost on government constructions.
THE HEIGHT OF THE BUILDING.
The question Of the height Of the building
has not been definitely settled, though it is I'M
derstood that this is one of the matters that
the architect has been carefully con-
sidering. The law mentions something abou
eight stories and fears have been
expressed locally lest the architect might pro-
duce a building of that height to the detri-
ment OF the general sOlidity and appearance
of the structure. Five stories seem to have
been agreed upon generally as the most appro-
pirate size, and it is thought that the architect
story building will be much more
effective than tho taller one and quite
as serviceable. With the generous
amount of ground space that is available, five
stories would afford ample room for city post
office purposes for many years to come and in
asmuch as the total cost of the building is
limited it can be seen that a more. solid con-
struction can be produced in five stories than
| in eight
The question of materials is also open and
this likewise depends for settlement upon the
selection of plan. The taller the structure
the cheaper the materials will have to be, and
hence the argument is brought forth again for
lower building go that such materials as
granite marble can be used. With the
present allotment Of money brick would be
about all that could be used in building of
eight stories.