The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-11-20

architect. Money there was plenty,
and the lot on which the new building
stands gave them sufficient room TO
carry out every idea as TO exterior
adornment and noble approaches. All
Of these they have supplied, and the
broad, sweeping marble stairways
that lead to the main corridor from
all four sides are the best examples
of this character OF work in America.
Let the layman who has little if any
acquaintance with architectural plans
as they are drawn upon paper, mag
inc himself making swift tour of
the building from the front portal in
Fifth avenue TO the main reading
room which runs along the top floor
on the west side. The portal itself, TO
begin with, is stately enough. but the
actual doors of entrance are compare
lively small and recessed beneath
three great arches. This central mo-
tive i'm the main facade is duly en-
phasiZed, and at the same time the
architects have avoided the note Of
excessive spaciOusness which only be-
fits some great exposition building or
a place OF public entertainment. The
entrance, in other words, is precisely
I'm the key OF an institution Of learn
ing.
That quality of restraint made man
fest on the threshold is felt through
out The Vaulted entrance hall, from
which the staircase rises on either
side, is a work of massive simplicity,
while the stone piers, arches and roof
of this portion of the structure be-
speak the sincerest treatment and con-
struction. The hall is eXquisitely
beautiful i'm its proportions. in its lines
and its surfaces. Panels are embed
ded on the sides OF the stairway upon
which the mural artist can give his
artful scope. yet should this never be
done and the panels left in their pres
ent nude simplicity, nothing viii be
lacking in the tout ensemble.
Delicacy and Ingenuity.
The spacing has been done with
such deicacy and ingenuity, and the
arrangements OF walls and openings
so cleVerly executed. that one is con-
stantly impressed by some happy ef-
feet OF line. or light and shade. As
YOU pass beneath the arches OF the
entrance hall you cross a lateral cor
ridor that runs through the building
from north to south, and another not
So long, in both of these the contours
of pillars and arches convey an i'm
preston that is monumental and yet
fun of lightness and grace. There is
nothing stilted or cold in the treat
ment here. Grace everywhere abounds.
This same treatment is apparent in
the spacious exhibition rooms which
lie between the corridors just men
toned and the vast stack room which
fills the furthermOst section of the
building. on this floor and on the
floors above the architects have at
tanned the same result, giving one the
impression of large simplicity, perfect
convenience, and, 81 the same time, of
variety, of interest, and in all matters
of decoration, OF popularity refined
and exquisite taste.
For their decorative elements they
have relied upon cool surfaces Of mar
be. the rich texture of wood. panelled
or carved. Their interior stOnewOrk,
when any attempt at ornamentatiOn
was made, are discTeetly designed and
executed in low relief.
Stateliness and Majestic Sweep.
But to return TO the big reading
room, one is impressed by the state
illness and majestic sweep that lies be-
fore him. All there is 10 relieve the
broad sweep of roof is the magnifl-
Gently decorated ceiling and the clev-
erly executed screen that extends
across he room, thus providing the
working attaches of the room privacy
and this without marring the general
effect. This double screen is quite
large enough in itself 70 break and ac-
cent the long horizontal lines of the
room. but not so large as 10 disturb
the majestic effect of the whole.
The beauty of the facades on all
sides of the building is startling. To
appreciate this in its entirety IL would
be well TO go TO the rear of the struc-
ture, where the masonry beneath the
arched windows of the main reading
room is pierced by twenty-six narrow
stripiike openings 10 admit light to the
stackrOOm. The problem was a serl-
Gus one for the architects TO solve for
IL meant the breaking up of an i'm
mense wall surface where there were
no horizontal divisions demanding
structural definition. The architects
were thus between the two dangers of
making the wall commonplace and
dead or teasing il with meaningless
and trivial decorative expedients. BY
adherins 10 the principal of bringing
out columnar effects they overcame
this barrier. and now the exterior of
the stackroom wall Is extraordinarily
fresh ana light in character. The cor
nice and roof above hold together with
the corner pavilions, and all together
tremendously blend with the little
reading room balconies and the carved
friezes beneath them. This rear wall
is an exquisite example of the archi-
tects' skill. and one cannot realize that