Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-19

edifices which have any architectural
character worth mentioning are of a Sc
verely -plain and classic type. leaning
strongly toward the Roman and some
what Influenced by the Romanesque and
early Gothic. Other buildings. like the
pension office and a very few of it's type.
have no architectural character whatever.
They merely represent masses of build
ing material of good quality and admira-
bly, designed for permanence: but they
possess no characteristics to indicate the
purpose for which they are intended, or
to in any way show their fitness for that
purpose. from the standpoint Of the ar
chtect
OF the early classic structures. how
ever. 1t may be said that. by their very
plainness and severely classic character
they typify the epoch and the nation
which gave them being. just as the more
Ella borate and luxuriously appointed
buildings recently erected reflect the
wealth, the luxury and the desire for en-
berlishment of the present day.
Development of the Nation.
The buildings of today are a growth
and development paralleling in an archi-
tectural sense the growth and develop
ment of the nation. When our first pub
lie buildings were erected they were
strongly typical of and Influenced in the
character of their architecture by the pu-
In our country-StrOng. plain. rugged
characters. shorn of all establishment.
Those of today. although not sacrificing
strength and stability of character. are
expressive rather of the development of
the finer sensibilities of a people who
have the time. the money and the taste to
devote to estheticism in all the walks of
life.
THE nation that in its earliest DAYS
sufficiently revered that which was best
IN archltectural precedent to spend vast
sums of money out of a treasury none too
aff1uent to bui:d structure Ike our
Treasury building. with it's magnificent
columns. had within 1t the seed of ar
tstic development which is manifestine
itself In it's fuller beauty and grandeur in
the present day. The architecture of the
future. like tnat of the present time
must take its basic character from the
classic architecture of Greece and Rome
The column is the basis of the classic
architecture Its complement is the hori-
zontal feature displayed in the archi-
trave, the frieze and the cornice. These
taken together. with any superimposed
structure. sucn as the ballustrade or the
parapet. constitute what is known as the
entablature. The columns. the curtain
wall behind them and the entablature in
It's various notifications are the hallmark
OF all architecture derived from the
classic
Looking to the Future.
so the architecture of the future will
show these features even if the dream of
the idealist is ultimately realized in a
truly developed American type of archi-
lecture. This will still preserve the uni
ties. While showing an unbrokan devel-
Opment of architecture through various
periods IMPLYING the growth of our ma
tional life. What has been said of the
architecture of the municipal building ap-
plies with equal force to the two new
magnificent structures elected as Office
States Senate and House of Representa-
tives, as we'll as to the new Department
of Agriculture and the National Museum
They represent the French schoo!-not as
the French architect would disclose it,
but as strained through the English or
American mind.
Responding TO a captious criticism as
TO the cost of these new buildings. it
should be borne in mind that he same
criticism arose in the early days of the
republic of what. TO the simple folks of
those times. seemed the prodigal waste of
money on the a!l-too magnificent Capitol.
the White House. the Treasury and other
of their type National build
ings are. or should be- monuments typify-
ing the national character, the wealth. in
tellece and culture of the nation. They
are not constructed for a generation, but
for all time.
NJ, one of the present day would for
lngs of earlier times less strong, less
handsome. less costly than they are. So,
too. will 1t be. fifty or a hundred years
hence. of the public buildings erected
now. In them the development of the
wealth. thee intelligence and the artistic
world, viii be reflected, and they will