The times., 1898-07-17
As TO HIGH BUILDINGS
What Mr.. Smithmeyer Thinks Of
the Present Restriction.
NO CAST-IRON ENFORCEMENT
He believes the Regulations should
BE Elastic and Their Application
Governed by Good Judgment-A
Suggestion of Damage ASSESS
ments in Cases Where a High
Building Is Authorized.

ne question OF InS CDNIfOl Dy the
municipal authorities or the height of
buildings in our cities deserves the at
tention II is receiving. In the discussion
of this subject the consideration of the
health and comfort of the general public
should be paramount to all others. Next
in Importance are the financial and COM
mercial interests affected, and finally the
matter of aestheticism; but in examining
these subjects under the foregoing heads,
II IS wise to keep in mind the effects and
results TO be obtained
The health of community being para
mount 10 everything else can be secured
without sacrifice of financial interest or
aesthetic principles. and therefore it
should be the aim of the authorities to
establish such regulations as will result
in equitaby and nationally collating the
several questions involved. so that no one
Of the desired results is lost sight of or
| neglected
The financial interests are highly i'm
portant factors in the prosperity and we'll
being of a community because the COM
munity is prosperous in the exact pro-
portion TO It's accumulated wealth; there
fore care should be taken in seeing to it
that the business districts of city are
controlled by such regulations as will in
| duce the erection of buildings which will
! secure a substantial return for liberal In
| vestments, while at the same time the
! residential portion OF ii city should be
! governed by another set of regulations,
promoting the health and comfort of the
residents, and the aesthetic features of
such neighborhoods. These conditions re-
quire above all else the exercise of good
judgment. II there is 90 be any prefer
ence given as between sound Judgment
ana aestheticism such preference should
/ be given 10 the former. for as has been
! well stated in The Architectural Review.
| published in Boston. in treating of aes-
| theticism, there is no more vague factor
In life. 1t is so vague, so indeterminate
In many ways that its advocates. though
! they persistently believe do not agree. .
1t is universally conceded that abllnd-
| ant sunlight and pure air are essential
| TO health and comfort Of the human
race; any interference therefore. with
| these requirements is a transgression OF
the laws Of nature which carries its con-
! comitant penalty with it.
The purifying and revitalizing effects
/ Of the rays of the sun that gift of the
| gods, upon the air is prevented from TAX
! ing place in the confined spaces between
/ high buildings abutting on narrow
! streets. These high buildings likewise
| obstruct the free movement of the at
mosphere. and thus, by partial stagna-
tion render II deleterious The golden
rays of the sun move and purify the
atmosphere in mild currents, and there
by cheer the healty and heal the sick.
Often this confined air is vltiated by
gases form sewers and by the incursion
| OF damp and noxious emanations from
the soil-''ground air''-and not infre-
quently it is further polluted by evapora-
tions from decomposed animal or vege-
table matter in the cellars and stores of
these buildings.
II is a well-known fact that this con-
dition Of the air generates variety of
avoidable diseases and Is well suited to
! foster and spread epidemics. / tbs the
duty of municipal authorities therefore,
| TO check this pernicious outrage to ex-
punge the causes which create them.
and, by stringent laws, to prevent their
! occurrences.
1.-The High Building" is not the Off
! spring of fancy, nor is it what Is some
foster and spread epidemics 1t is the
| outgrowth of a necessity of modern
! times, especially in America, and its eX-
| istence has been rendered practicable
through the advance made in elevator
service and steel constructions, and, as
a consequence of the necessity for their
! presence and the facility of construc-
! tion, any concomitant evils involved in
their erection create problem which can
| be safely left for solution to the inteli-
! gence and experience of the American
| architects and engineers, who will un-
doubtedly disspate all the evils, while
! preserving the advantages of these mod
/ ern structures.
The intelligent and pubic-spirited leg
| islator WILL when called upon, devise
! and enact laws which viii ameliorate the
| present conditions, and discover equitable
ways 10 meet the just requirements of
| the future. We live in progressive
! age, and in a country where retrogres-
I sive tendencies are out of place.
The high building has come to stay,
and the architect and engineer must
master the problem as stated, and not
| oppose its welcome advent.
| I should not, perhaps, affirm the broad
| premises which ! have laid down for the
| government of this subject without Civ
ing an example of the application of the
principle of elasticity l have suggested
| with reference to the building regula-
| tions and to do this ] shall refer 20
| Washington, the City of Magnificent Dis
! tances, with its wide streets, broad ave-
| nues and numberless parks, where the
regulations provide that, in the residen-
tial portions, no building shall be erected
more than 90 feet high, and in the busi-
ness locality no building shall be erected
| more than 10 feet high, with the pro-
| yfso that on avenues of $50 feet in
width, buildings may be erected 13O feet
high.
The point I wish to emphasize is that
the regulations should not be applied with
| iron-clad effect but with an elasticity In
yolving good judgment as well as the Sc
curing of the ends sought in their adop-
ton. For instance, if the application is
| made for a permit to build an apartment
! house. which would involve the invest
ment say, of s250,000 on a business street
of a width which. under the regulations
| limits the height of the building TO III
feet, and ii is found that the investor
| does not feel justified in building unless
| his structure can be made l20 feet hlgh
| and it further appears that the location
| of the proposed building is surrounded
| by four streets, or is opposite an eXten-
| sive public square or other open reserva-
ton, and the surroundings or adjacent
buildings are of such a character that
the general aesthetic purposes of the reg
ulations will be secured, even though the
proposed structure rises given number
of feet higher than is prescribed, the ap
plication of the good judgment principle
should be made primarily to secure the
investment of the capital involved, as ar
element of substantial advancement IL
the prosperity of the municipality. while
not infringing upon the hygienic aes
thetic conditions much full com
pliance with the regulations might do II
the building in some other locality IL
| which there was no open public reserva
tion, and where the adjacent building!
were of such a character as to render tn,
| contrast severe.
In this connection would suggest tha