Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1910-12-02
The City Beautiful.

1t is timeworn phrase, 1.-THE city
beautiful" yet to thoughtful minds
these three words contain sad re-
minder of opportunities for civic dignity
and splendor that are being uniformly
neglected in the upbuilding of the
mighty cities of our western hemis-
phere, whose lusty growth is the won
der of all the world. The city wonder
full, the city costly, the city luxurious,
we have within our borders in plenty;
but of the city beautiful, how few.
Therefore we welcome as all lovers of
their country should the effort of the
Municipal Art Society of this city to
bring about coordination among those
important interests which are concerned
in large way with the laying out of
urban and suburban property, and the
| construction of the more important city
buildings.
The failure of New York city, and
most of the larger cities of the United
| States, to present to view those open
plazas and spacious boulevards sur
rounded or fanked by municipal build
| ings of dignity, and so placed as to pre-
sent a harmonious architectural COM
bination, is not due to any lack of enter
prise or want of capital for construc-
ton, but rather, and we might say al
most entirely, to want of foresight, and
the failure on the part of the munich
pal authorities, at least in the earlier
days, to pay any attention whatsoever
to the question of the future architec-
tural and aesthetic appearance of the
city.
Such important structures as railroad
terminals, steamship and ferry docks
and landings, and bridges for spanning
our great rivers, to say nothing of i'm
posing municipal buildings, should al
ways be planned with reference, not
merely to their unitarian purposes,
but to their architectural fitness as re-
lated to the site on which they are
built, and the character of the arch-
lecture by which they are, or in the
future are likely to be, surrounded.
The principal cause of the lack of
beauty in our cities is to be found in the
want of any such coordination and su-
pervision in the years gone by. Almost
invariably there has been too much
individualism, and streets have been
laid out and buildings erected according
to the passing mood or whim of the
city department or the supervising
architect in charge. Hence that dis
tressing lack of harmony which COM
|
public square, or collection of civic
and commercial buildings which, had
they been grouped on a well-ordered
plan, would have possessed sufficient
dignity and beauty to place them in
rank with some of the finest and best
districts in the older European cities.
The Municipal Art Society has COM
municated with the leading railroad
interests and the commissioners of the
tenement house, dock, and other city
departments having control of munich
pal buildings, and has requested their
advice in drawing up revised city plan
which shall modify, as far as possible,
present defects, and make provision for
careful regulation in the future. Al
though we cannot pull down our cities
to rebuild them upon more wisely
ordered plan, we can, at least, make
sure that in future extensions or re-
buildings the laws of harmony shall be
considered. At the present time, hun
dreds of millions of dollars are being
expended in New York alone upon con-
struction, and it is the aim of the So
ciety to so direct this expenditure in
regard to the aesthetic and architec-
tural effects produced, as to develop, in
the course of time, practical, compre-
hensive, and ideal plan for the city of
New York. To this end, they will
shortly issue map of the new city as
proposed, which will be scattered broad
cast and posted in all public places.
We heartily commend this movement to
the attention of the citizens, not only of
New York itself, but of every one of
those great civic centers which the re-
cent Federal census has shown to be
having such phenomenal growth. -
Scientific American.