Evening star., 1898-11-05
A HODGEPODGE STRUCTURE
The Post Office Building Criticised by a
Leading Architect.
EAecrable Design and Worse Execu-
tiOn-He Characterizes 1t as
q Bad Job.

freely today to a Star reporter about the
charges made by former Superintendent
Stewart against the supervising architects
Office in connec ton with the building of the
new city post office.
1T was a bad job. a bad job said the
architect Mr.. Pest, the president of the
Institute of Architects that met here this
week. said the building is a travesty upon
art in this country. He was able to say
what We could only think The design is
execrable and the execution is worse 1t is
a POOR construction, q hodgepodge from
foundation to roof. l don't believe it was
designed by the supervising architect in
Office al the time the building was started.
Some one in his office drew the plans and
he signed his name across them without
giving the subject proper thought. How
could he? He had and the office still has,
too much to do. Besides, it has not the
caFacity, or, let me say, the ability to do
the art work put upon it.
The men employed there are not artists
masters of their art. No man of that cali
Der would take a position there at 81 500 or
5000 per dnnurn. Many of them are little
more than draughtsmen, and have not the
brain to conceive or the experience to de-
sign structure at once perfect in design
and practical in construction. l was of
fered berth there. but do you think I
would or could afford to accept It at q pit
tarce. giving UP my practice, and then
being subject to the caprice of politics?
Political Pull.
There should be 10 politics in art but
there is. The men who should get the con-
tracts to design government buildings are
the ones who do not get them, and vice
versa 1t is because of politics. ard be
cause no honest architect will let himself
become the tool of others and the cats
paw of Swindler builders. Why, there are
architects whOce names entered in q COM
petition mean at once that they vii! be
favored. and l always withdraw. 1t is use
less to compete with them. Deserve1ly or
not. they will get the award. Take the
work done for the War and Navy Depart
ments. 1t is usually of the most inferior
kind.
The buildings are botches. Go over 10
Fort Myer and see the budings-all of a
kind and size-truly like soldiers in a row
one looks like another. 1t may be mill
tary, but it's not architecture. Then go to
West Point, where the buildings We're put
up by various architects in New York city.
There was jealousy among them. and the
result-every building there is different and
there is no harmony or uniformity between
them. just as bad this way as the other
way. So it goes.
Effect of Competition.
'Al the designing and construction of
buildings under the Treasury Department
are done by the supervising architect 5
office. Not long ago Congress enacted a
law that allows plans for these structures
TO be drawn by architects in competition,
the award being made by a committee
from the Institute of Architects, appointed
by the president OF that organization at the
request of the Secretary of the Treasury.
Already three competitions have been held,
and the results were eminently satisfac-
tory.
The cure OF the evil which have spoken
lies here. There can be no political job
berry about the award of the committee, as
they are men who have no interest in the
work or the architects And If the presi-
dent of the institute fell a victim to poIiti-
cal tempterS and il became apparent to
the institute. why. he'd be out in q year,
and could not be reelected. Then, too "a
man cannot hold that office more than
twice in succession covering a period of two
years only. OF course, the law is not
mandatory, and the supervising architect
Is not required TO call competition. The
present supervising architect, Mr.. Taylor
is a very good man and was appointed after
a very hard competitive examination. No
suspicion of incOnpetency attaches to him.
II the law were made to cover the other
departments of the government and mad,
mandatory, then complaints would soon
cease Furthermore. if the government paid
$4,000 or $1,000 year for its chief arc hi
tect and $4,000 each for his assistants, with
certain tenure of office, good architects
could be had for these places. They would
be men more than masters of ths technical
details of their art. There must he some
thing more than this qualification to make
such an architect as is needed for public
work He must be a lawyer, q good busi-
ness man and yet an idealist. He must be
able to unite the real and the ideal His
brain creates and his hands execute. Above
all, he must be practic in the carrying out
of the creations of his genius and imagina-
tion. Only such men these can draw
up the specifications for building that will
have the minimum of faults"