The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-04-19
CHAT AND CHAFF.

| oNef hc was eloquent. lie hneN uo"
10 make you feel as he felt. Accord
ingly as a member of the board that
advised with the State House commits
sioners as TO the selection of plan. he
carried great weight both because OF his
distinguished attainments and because
he was most delightful and convinc-
ing expounder of his views. AS to his
Judgment I'm the matter. that was rein
forced by the judgment of his fellows
on the advisory board. and. in the end.
the whole State House commission was
unanimous in favor OF the plan which is
now expressed in solid marble on Capt.
tol Hill.
II remember Hunt well. recall
his handsome face. his charming voice.
his vigorous speech and his magnetic
| personality.
/ remember listening rapt TO him
| preaching the doctrine of blank
wall" as the ideal OF architectural
beauty.
But when Hunt advocated the plaps
of the new State. House, finally adopted,
l am sure he did not mean that all
buildings and every sort and variety Of
building should be built on that model.
beautiful as IL was and fitting as 1t
was for a state house.
Hunt was an enthusiast. He was elo-
quent in behalf of architectural purity
and simplicity. He taught us the glory
OF the straight lire and warned us to
beware of the temptation OF filigree and
the seduction of ticdouloureux in archi-
lecture, to seek for substance and
look with suspicion on gingerbread.
But Hunt was not a crank or a one
idea man.
Not much.
IF you saw the various plans sub
mitted in the State House competition
and placed on public view with the pur-
pose OF feeling the popular pulse in the
matter of a selection, you will recall
how varied was the architecture ex-
pressed.
And you will also perhaps recall that
of the six sets the one selected was
different in more respects from all the
others than were any OF the others
from each other.
i recall very well how Hunt and his
fellows on the advisory board insisted
on the plan finally adopted without dis
paraging any of the other plans except
that none of the others was SO suitable
for a state house.
That was the whole burden OF Hunts
argument, that for a state house the
McKim, Mead K White plan should
be the choice. One OF the competing
plans. / recall, he demonstrated as fit-
ting for city hall, another for a court
house. But the question Of choosing a
state house was chief factor to be
considered. aside from the respective
merits of the competing plans as
samples of architecture and pictures Of
buildings.
The factor Of appropriateness was
thus impressed upon the committee.
The significance and purpose of cap
ftol building were to be considered in
selecting plan. And so il came about
that the State House commissioners
chose the last plan that the general run
OF folks expected would be chosen. The
rest of us only came to approve IL when
we were taught as much OF the Hunt
philosophy as IL was possible to reach
US with.
But promptly upon becoming edu-
Gated to the ideal OF the new State
House there was begun the architectu-
raj revolution which has DISTINGUISHED
recent efforts in these parts ever since.
You have heard of how sheep go over
a wall--one over. all over.
That is the way we have been build
ing public buildings since the State
House was set up as a model, an ac-
cepted standard.
1t made no difference what sort of a
building II was TO be. the State House
model. which most of us had denounced
when the commissioners made their de.
cision. has been the preferred model.
Architects who saw the drift of pub
| lie sentiment and bowed to II have
| profited thereby.
Architects who refused to admit that
| the blank WALL was to be regarded
| as an essential in every sort of a build
| ing have lost in the competitions.
so we built a new Normal School on
! the State House model.
| And the School for this Deaf.
| Then the central police station.
| Then a couple of high school build
| ings.
Then the Consolidated railroad made
| it's plans for a railroad depot following
the State House model--simplicity. the
| pantheon. straight lines. blank walls
and the rest OF the architectural push
| that distinguishes the State House idea.
| Then the Providence public library
state House again in miniature.
And now the central fire station
| more State House.
| All these. and perhaps there are one
| or two others that do not come TO mind
State Houses In miniature toy replicas
J of our fine building on Capitol Hill.
L n. .ot .,aaL ou a. .et,to ...t.t-a /,