The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-03-15
MAKING CITIES BEAUTIFUL.
Why the Architect is More Important
 Than fha ENnoipoar


 Than the Engineer.
 With us cities far surpassing in size the largest cities of the world have grown so rapidly that the utilitarian size has forced itself upon the people, and taken all their energy, means and thought, leaving no opportunity for art excepting of the most perfunctory and casual character, so that we are now confronted with the necessity, from the artistic point of view, of re- modelling practically the whole of the United States. not by the will of the Caesars, of a Napoleon or even of a Haussmann, but by the will of eighty million people of different races and with different views, a large majority of whom have no appreciation of the subject, and are, moreover, sordid and thinking of the present, without any consideration for the future.
 I find that the more I study the sub- ject the more apparent 1t is to me that there are a few cardinal principles which can be considered as essential to city building and city development. First-C Circulation. Convenient ade- quate and direct circulation, by which iilCdAi dlllplC loCillIy lOI Cf- cry sort of traffic, so arranged as to | connect every point of the city in the 1 most direct and adequate possible man ner with any other point. no matter | how distnt. Second-Hygiene. That is 1 to say, the promotion of health by pro- viding for every scientific means of sanitation, drainage and especially for natural ventilation, by which mean | that certain proportion should be es- abolished throughout every city be- tween the voids and the solids, the areas covered by buildings and other improvements and those reserved for air and light. Third-The esthetic side By which I mean the science of solving the two first problems, and all the pro- blems dependent thereon, in an artistic way
 | In our cities, and, in fact, in our whole mode of life, we separate work from pleasure, the practical from the beauti- ful, instead of blending them, as is so skilfully done by the older nations of the world. A street is apt to be nothing but thoroughfare. so that we must go land come and travel upon it without en- ijoyment, which we must seek elsewhere at given points laid aside for the partic- lular purpose. In the same manner we do not combine work and pleasure suffi- Iciently, with the result that both our work and our pleasures are strenuous in character and often become excesses.
 There is no reason why our streets should not be thoroughfares and breathing spaces, and pleasure grounds all in one. Neither is there any reason lwhy we should not get as much pleas ure in travelling through our streets lduring working hours as at other times. IThe beauty of a street induces beauty in buildings and adds beauty to life, whereas the confusion of streets and Humble of buildings that surround US in Jour American cities contribute nothing valuable to life; on the contrary they Isadly disturb our peace of mind and de- lstroy that repose within us which is the ltrue basis of all contentment.
 There is hardly practical solution of a single municipal development which lis presented that cannot be made less expensive within a very few years by the development of the artistic side and possibilities of the problem, whether by creating entirely new civic centers
 whether by adding to the beauty and Iattractiveness of these centers, and thereby enhancing the value of proper lty and increasing the tax levy, o1 Whether only by making an improve
 ment which is permanent and capable of indefinite development, so that the first cost is not an absolute waste oi money.
 The principal reason for the great
 waste of artistic opportunity in munich
 pal development, and some other lines of development, is without question
 due to the fact that the engineer, anG not the architect, has been the master
 mind which has conceived and execu.
 ted the projects. The engineers point of view is stritly quantitative. It is
 therefore important that we, the artists who compose this league. and to whom
 the public looks for inspiration, should see to it that the architect in this sense
 and not the the engineer, should be tht
 guiding spirit in the future growth anc development of our great cities.-Fron
 a Lecture Before the New York Archi-
 tectural League by John M. Carrere. | <>r -~r-