New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-08-26
UNDERMINING ROME.
THE CHANGES ARE DISCREET.
srNrrMrNrALrsrs NEED NOT woRRY-wALLiNo
IN THE TIBER-rHE MODERN BUlho'N"o
IN SIMPLE REFINED STYLE.

.ao,,,,,1 ~ Rome The writer, Ouida, char-
oo,or,,od os vanda,s all those 'improvers.' who,
Tor tho cake Of sord6 peIf. were improving
the Eternal City out Of existence anu 'ea."e
Sony the commonplace memorials OF oi"e' ".
protest was In part justifiabe. Old buiia'"s' "au
been torn down and new ones erected IN '"e,'
place when there was plenty OF good space a'dh
able elsewhere from the speculative purposes
The building mania In Rome. a movement WHICH
has burdened the city with many useless edihceS'
has been actuated. undoubtedly, by spirit IN
different TO the damage done to the great legacy
NJ antiouity But that legacy remains and VIII
remain substantially what 1t has been FOR CEN
turtles and though 1t Is gracele.s and thankless
task IN defend the so-caed vandal, 1t is perhaps
worth while TO point out, not in his name. but
In the name of common sense, the true value OF
such datrIbes as the one referred to above. There
have been many Of them. Madame de Id
Ramee.s has been the most conspicuous. but
every old sojourner In Rome has had his ming;
and there are travellers who say that In much
less than a decade landmarks familiar to them
have disappeared The city Is being modernZed
at lightning speed they say; and their implication
always Is that the modernizaion Is far the worse
This. II may be averred with energy. Is specif-
ically false and ridiculous
Rome Is becoming more ana more inouefH every
day. as It must with population OF haIt a MIL
lion moderns within It's walls. But II Is not De-
Ing disngured In order to confirm this Judgment
the writer has made a detailed survey OIL the
entire city, studying particularly those port'ohS
OF 1t in the neighborhood OF the Quirinai WIZ
NAL and Esquiline hills. In Trastever. ana ad-
jacent to the Corso and the Corso Nittono En-
manuele. where the building operations OF recent
N
buildings alone have been observed. but the huge
apartment houses and tenemcnts which nave
especially reused the ire OF the sentimenta.ists.
When one OF the latter was interrupted the other
dav in full discourse on the defacng character OF
these buildings and requested to analyze the
basis Of his critical wrath. he was soon driven 10
admit that he had logically no basis at all Inc
house at the moment in question was not beau'i-
fIl but neither was II ugly. On the contrary, IL
was designed in an inoffensive style, formed 70
q great extent upon the palaces OF the Renas-
sance Because its designer was evidently not a
man Of originality he had produced no new COM
bination OF old motives and because his talents
whatever they were, small. he had not ac-
compshed particularly interesting proportions
Yet he had revealed most precious qualities lie
had good taste retcence. sobriety and sound
conception OF the merits Of simplicity. HIS ouild-
Ing was a solid and severely plain work OF con-
sc,entous conventional architecture. with WIN
dows and doors distributed intelligently; with or
namentation applied most discretely. and with
the whole finished of by really attractive
cornicc There was nothing In II to onend the
eye Compared with a building OF Perozzfs' II was
matter Of fact and dry. but compared with inc
average buildings Of Its own class anywhere else
in Europe or IN America Il not only held its own
Il was superior. 1t was superior, because L.
avoided altogether the heavtness which dis,in-
gushes much English work: the superficial thin
style so oftea encountered under the ugly man.
sard roof In France. the cumbrous over-decora-
tive manner Of the Germans. and the vulgarity
which has continued to make so many OF our
own large apartment houses hideous.
This superiority IL claimed not alone for the
single example selected FOR illustration but for
the great mass Of modern work In Rome. Not
one building can be recalled that falls below a
certain excellent standard OF simple, rehned
style; and when the private houses are dismissed
and the public edIhces approached II IS found
that they are equally encouraging. The immense
new building o. the Banca Romano. on the Via
Nazlonale. and the large school building recently
erected on the Corso Vittor.o Emmanuel. have
both been projected on admirable lines OF sim
the kind OF work that Is done whenever problems
OF similar nature are presented 10 the Roman
architects The travertine. stucco and cement
var,ouslv employed In the construction OF both
public and private facades present agreeable
tones OF color 10 the eye. The stone is Of a
creamy tint which. as ancient buildings show
grows only more beautiful with age. The stucco
and cement are treated with coats OF brown
tawny yellow and stone gray paint as the case
NAV be- The result, so far as color goes Is
often pleasing and always inoffensve. Remem-
bering that the general outlines and details OF
the buildings are. as has been said. In the same
orderly neutral tone. the reader VIII perceive
tina, Rome. more than most modern cities. Is free
from restless discordant features OF architec-
;ure. The sky-scraper is as yet unknown. and
party-coorcd schemes Of brick. stone. terra-cotta
and painted iron also In the future.
Some people demur 10 The Italian custom OK
Disgusting the stucco and cement used In some OF
the buildings by imitation OF the texture. cuttings
md color OF stone The objection Is we'll
grounded. Good architecture Is architecture mat
explains it.ef-that does not lie But the main
point at issue between the Roman builders and
the foreign lover OF Rome is that the former are
spelling the ensemble OF the city. spelling the
background against which the ancient monu-
ments are set and there the criticism OF the I'm
itative custom falls to the ground. The massive
rusticated basement which Is found to be soft
and white II you scratch Its gray and apparently
Uncomfortable surfaces. may be sad deusion
tut IT does nothing. 1t is certain. to diminish the
beauty OF the genuine stone wall across the way
There lies the situation In a nutshell. Designing
and colorng their buildings In the manner that
has been indicated. the contemporary architects
OF Rome manage somehow to keep well within
the limits Of the tradition. which has made the
city what It Is to-day in Its best preserved parts
II Is true that their share In the maintenance OF
that tradition Is largely OF a negative character.
but that Is something. 1t Is something to leave
the observer free to make the transition from old