Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-11
IN SPANISH CAPITAL
international Congress Of
Architects at Madrid.
KING GIVES RECEPTION
OUTLINE OF PROCEEDINGS GIVEN
By MIR. TOTEM.
Washington Represented by Four
Delegates-Next Convention to
Be Held In London.
KING GIVES RECEPTION

/
| Be Held In London.
Mr.. George Oakley Totten. jr.. Of this
! city has returned from Madrid, Spain.
! whore he went the latter part OF March
last as one Of the official delegates OF the
| United States to the sixth international
| congress Of architects, held in the Spanish
| capital the week Of April 6. Mr.. Totten Is
now engaged in translating an official copy
Of the proceedings Of the congress and in
preparing his formal report to the Secre-
| tary Of State. by whom he was designated
as delegate. Following the Madrid conven-
| ton Mr.. Totten travelled extensively
| through Europe, returning to this country
| only last Saturday.
| One of the most interesting features of
| the congress was the official reception ten
! dered the delegates by the youthful King
Alphonso at the royal palace. The king
| spoke in an affable manner to the delega-
| tions from the different countries in their
| respective tongues. being an ACCOMPLISHED
| linguist The affair delightfully."- IN
| formal and intimate, and every one present
| was charmed by the hospitable atmosphere
| of the palace. The congress was held I'M
| der the high auspices of the king, and the
| deep interest felt in architecture through
| out Europe is shown by the fact that the
| Spanish government bore One-half of the
| expenses of the congress. which were con-
! siderable.
The international congress of architects
| is a permanent organization which meets
| every three or four years. The last meet
| ing prior to the Madrid gathering of this
year was in Paris in 1900 The preceding
! congress was held In Brussels in 1897.
| While associated with the supervising
architects Office Mr.. Totten was named to
| represent this country at the Brussels meet
| ing. Since that time interest has steadily
grown in the International gathering, and
| this country has now taken a place in the
| delibera tons of the congress on an equal
| footing with the older nations. Mr.. Totten
| was one of several delegates named to at
| tend the Paris congress. where he was Sc
| 1ected a secretary of honor. At the re-
| cent Madrid congress ten delegates from
| the United States were designated by Sec
| rotary Hay. Mr.. Totten was at this con-
| ference chosen one of the vice presidents OF
| honor. and had the pleasure and distinction
| Of presiding over one Of the sessions.
The Washington Delegates.
The ten delegates named for the Madrid
gathering included four architects of this
| city, Messrs G. o. Totten, jr., Joseph Horn
blower Glenn Brown and Mr.. Taylor, the
supervising architect Of the treasury. other
| architects in the delegation were Mr.. Will
| lam Eames of st. Louis, president of the
American institute VI ftICflteCtS NIL w III
| lam Ittner, president Of the Architectural
League of America Mr.. Richmond Allen of
| Boston; Mr.. Norman Patton of Chicago,
| Mr.. M Russell of Pittsburg and Mr.. Moran
| of ST Louis. Mr. Totten the only
| member of the Washington contingent of
| delegates able to attend. The American
| delegation, at conference in Madrid, de-
| termined upon the part to be played in the
congress by the various members Mr..
| Totten was chosen to make the opening adj
dress for the delegation. The language of
| the convention was French, and the ad-
dresses from the different countries were
| spoken in this tongue.
| international congresses such as the
| one just closed, of which the proceedings
| with papers and discussions by the
| brightest minds are republished in all the
| modern languages, are of immense value
| to the profession at large" said Mr. Tot
| ten. But they possess still more of in
| terest to the fortunate few who are able
| to attend, for to them the congress has
| the added advantage of visiting a foreign
| country under the most advantageous
| circumstances, when everything is thrown
| open for the inspection Of the delegates
and every courtesy extended to them. And
| again, there is the exceptional oppor-
| tunity of meeting in person the distin-
| guished men of ones own profession
| from all parts Of the world. The presi-
| dent of the congress was Velasquez, the
eminent Spanish architect. Urioste, Ca
bello and Republics also represented Spain.
Pascal and Daumet came from Paris,
| Count de Suzor from Russia. Cuipers from
| Holland and DeVestel from Belgium.
Ones Idea of the Spaniards is of
lslow-moving. leisurely people. but must
say that the men in charge of the con-
vent1on displayed degree of energy and
conducted the congress in a manner sur
passing any gathering of similar magni-
tude and Importance 1t has ever been my
good fortune to witness. We found in
every instance that the most minute de-
| tails had been strictly attended to.
MY
cision. A daily bulletin was printed in
the French and Spanish languages This
was an interesting feature of the con-
vention at the time and is now a valued
record OF the proceedings.
Impressive Opening Exercises.
"The opening session, held in the great
hall Of the university was a most impress
sive affair. There were present the minis
| ter of public instruction and fine arts. the
minister of public works, the civil governor
or Madrid the mayor and the diplomatic
corps The meeting was held at 3 O'Clock
In the afternoon and every one appeared In
olnclal dress The picture was a gay one.
The cabinet ministers and other high Span-
| ish officials appeared in court costumes, the
diplomats wore their most respondent uni
forms. the government architects were like
wise clad, while most of the foreign dele
gates were in conventional full dress. Many
of the architects wore the decorat ions con-
ferred upon them by their respective gov
ernments. The royal band furnished music
for the OCCASION which was formal and
magnificent from beginning to end
Seventeen countries were represented at
the congress. AS delegate of the American
Institute Of Architects as well as repre-
sentative of the government, 1 had the
pleasure OF extending to the congress an
invitation to meet in America at an early
date. England and Italy had put in prior
claims, however. and it was decided that
the next congress should be in London.
probably In 1906. Following that the con-
gress will probably meet in Rome. and then
we have every reason to believe that the
United States will have the pleasure of
entertaining this distinguished body of
men,"
The congress was in session daily In the
amphitheater Of the Antheneum for the dis
cussion of topics of worldwide interest,
One OF the subjects was "L'Art Nouveau as
Applied to Architecture" Another was
THE Preservation and Restoration of Ar
chitectural Monuments" In the discussion
OF this paper 1t was urged that the gov