Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-04
The Gothic and the Renaissance Style
Compared.
MODERN NEEDS and CONSTRUCTION
Gothic Style Not Adapted to Nine
teenth Century Requirements.
VIEWS OF THE ARCHITECT

AT tne meeting yesterday afternoon or the
board of trustees of the Protestant Ep.sco-
pal Cathedral 1t was decided, as an
nounced in The Star, to adopt the Renais-
sance style of architecture for the cathe-
dral buildings This decision, which was
made after full discussion and on examina-
ton of the plans proposed. was due in part
to the fact that the Renaissance style,
in accordance with the agreement with Mrs.
Hearst, has been adopted in planning the
Hearst School for Girls, and it is desired
to make the whole group of buildings har-
monious architecturally and in part to the
preference of the trustees. After carefully
considering the subject Mr.. Ernest Flagg,
the architect, who has been commissioned
to make the plans for the cathedral build
ings, presented at the meeting yesterday a
paper urging the employment Of the Re-
naissance rather than the Gothic style in
the construction Of such editices as are pro-
posed.
Gothic Architecture.
Mr. Flagg said: Gothic architecture, or
what passes for such, was introduced into
the United States about fifty years ago.
Our liking for it followed what is known
in England as the Gothic revival, just
a few years earlier We developed a
taste for what was thought to be Grecian
architecture and built our cottages and all
other buildings in the form of temples, as
a result of the movement known in Eng
land as the Classic revival. Like this fash
ion, the Gothic, except for church purposes,
soon went out of favor for it was discover
ed that it was no better suited to our
wants than the other style However, the
taste for so-called Gothic churches still
continues to this day. kept alive doubtless
by the large number of Americans who
travel abroad and who and admire the
medieval churches of Europe. For the
A rtp aflfE
culiar charm. they appeal to him in a way
which no buildings on this side of the water
can, and they beget in him the desire to
have structures of the same kind at home.
Unfortunately, between the wish and the
realization there is a great gulf fixed,
which, try as we may, We never can cross.
Gothic architecture was the product of
peculiar conditions which do not now ex-
ist. 1t was the solution of a problem which
occupied the attention and taxed the in
genuity and resources of the builders of
western Europe for more than 500 years
before is was successfully solved by the
development of the complicated system of
construction known as pure Gothic. The
problem was to build churches entirely
of stone, or in other words, to make them
freproof. The difficulty lay in construct
ing and sus staining the vault in satisfac-
tory manner, which was only accomplished
toward the latter part of the twelfth GEN.
tury.'
Beauty of the Pure Gothic.
Mr.. Flagg traced in an interesting way
the progress in the art Of building after the
overthrow of the Roman empire, and the
development of the true Gothic architec-
ture in the twelfth century resulting from
efforts to obtain satisfactory system of
vaulting.
1.-The whole SYSTEM" said Mr.. Flagg,
twas logical and truthful. and 1t is these
qualities more than anything else which
impart to true Gothic work the charm
that captivates us, and 1t Is the absence
of these qualities in our modern limitations
which makes them so tasteless and unsatis-
factory. The whole system OF Gothic archi-
lecture grew out Of and was based upon
the logical development of what may be
called balanced cons truction in masonry,
or the sustaining in place Of stone vaults
by counteracting thrusts. When this sys-
tenn of construction Is abandoned the neceS-
sity no longer exists for the forms en-
ployed; in this case they have lost their
meaning, and the use of them is a sham
and an affectation. Moreover. to build in
our time by the Gothic system, making
use of the forms and methods which the
Gothic architects employed, seems equally
absurd; for We can now build fireproof
buildings for 1.-THE of the time, labor
and trouble which they cost the Gothic
builders. 1t seems as foolish to go back
100 years and to build in the manner of
that time. disregarding all that has been
learned since, as it would be to construct
ships for modern uses in the fashion of
former ages. No one would think of aban-
doning steam power and substituting the
galley system of propulsion in vessels in
tended for real work; the older system
may be more poetical, and the vessels may
present more interesting appearance, hut
Tor real use we employ modern methods.
II the church is for real use it should do
likewise, and at the same time find some
modern method to express the unchanging
devotional feeling.
THE Gothic style has certain Characters
TICS, which, as / have tried to show, grew
out of the eXigencies of construction. If
these characteristics are abandoned the
style loses its charm One chief character
istic is the multiplicity of supports ren-
dered necessary by the vault and another
is the narrowness of the nave. Not only
must the nave be narrow, but a. the cross
ing, where the most space is needed, there
is the least ROOM owing to the great piers
necessary to carry the increased span of
the vaultng; and this difficulty is greatly
aggravated where a central tower is used
The multiplicity of supports DESTROYS the
view from the aisles Moreover, the eff
fectiveness. of the church must depend
largely upon its length, and as this ex-
aggerated length cannot be used for con-
gregattonal purposes, and as out liturgy
supplies no other use for it, 1t becomes so
much waste space. The buildings could
scarcely be contrived in way which would
make them less adapted for the seeing and
hearing of large congregations. The con-
gregation which can he seated within hear
ing distance of the preacher, even in such
a building as Westminster Abbey, is COM
paratively small, and still fewer can both
see and hear him at the same time. The
Gothic churches were not intended to meet
such requirements; in the age to which they
belong, if the congregation was large, the
people We're not expected to either see all
that took place or to understand what was
said; it was sufficient that they were pres
emit
The Renaissance md the Reformation
Referring to the decadence of the Gothic
style after the thirteenth Gentry, Mr. Flagg
said In place of the virile construction of
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, we
find trickery in stone; the great principles
of art were lost sight OF in the desire for
the display Of technique and skill in the
art of stone cutting. The time was ripe
for a reformation in art, and it came with
that of religion At the reformation men
cast off Gothic art just as they cast off
Gothic superstition. The Renaissance style
Is emblematic of modern times and liberal
ideas. 1t typifies the reformation. using the
word in its broadcast sense. the reformation
which affected all christendom and ush-
cred in modern times and thought, and of
which Professionalism was but the extreme
outcome. The gloom of the middle ages
had passed and the light of learning and
reason took its place. The architecture of