The Washington times., 1913-09-27
DEGREES BUILDING
OF TALL STRUCTURES
Waddy B. Wood Deprecates
Hue and Cry for Height in
Washington.

Is Washington being diverted from the
| pursuance of the city beautiful move
ment which Is. and always has oeen
uppermost in the mind of the citizen
with any local spirit?
Is commercialism getting hold Of the
city, so that there is a present tendency
toward ragged buildings. built CONNER
cially, and not aestheticaIIy?
In the opinion of waddy B. Wood.
one or Washington's most prominent
architects and local spirited citizens,
there is tendency in that direction
There seems to be a desire on the
part of commercial men to want to
erect tall buildings in this city" said
Mr.. Wood this morning. There is al
ways a hue and cry for permission to
extend the height of local buildings. so
that instead Of Washington as il has
always been. We would have a New
YORK: decidedly what We do not want"
Washington's chief asset is ner
beauty her buildings and their arrange
ment should make of this city the most
beautiful In the world. As such it
would attract residents and commerce
Should the policy of New York and the
larger commercial cities be followed we
should lose that beauty, and when that
is lost, Washington loses her chief at
traction. and 1t follows. much Of her
commerce
Revival of Roman.
''The Capital city is classic as shown
in its architecture. which is but a re-
vival Of the Roman. To that style we
should always adhere religiously, and
that implies an absence of tall buildings
for classic building cannot be tall and
artistic. To the professional and one
trained In architectural evolution, an af-
front to the classical rule is shown in
the War. State and Navy building.
which featur- s the French styfe md
was simply misapplied in a city where
the classic form had already been set
That structure followed the erection of
the Capitol and the Treasury, which
are strictly Roman.
We are Roman in our imitation. and
Il Is but logical that We should be. We
are people with political ideals nearer
to the Roman than to any other gov
ernment the world has ever known, and
1t Is not unreasonable that those ideals
should be reflected in our architecture.
Paris set an example Of architectural
arrangement and beauty before the
world that was quickly initiated by the
great European cities. And Paris is and
always has been the greatest shopping
center of all time. 1t has always held
title to being the most beau
ter Of the modern world. We have the
fundamental ideals that Paris has
L'Fnfant, who designed this city, saw
to it that our city should be laid out in
ge neral lines similar to those of the
ca pital Of his country.
Depreciate Values.
"Commercialism. with its selfish inn |
pulses, wants now to destroy what the |
artist destroyed. Commercialism wants |
tall buildings. because they increase |
business. AS a matter of fact, they do |
not achieve this aim, but tend to depre- |
,iate real estate values. and are cer-
ainly menace to the small man who
s located in their shadows. This from
l commercial, an artistic and sani-
airy point of view. go
1t follows that ultimately our COM
nerce will suffer for mistakes We may |
make.
That the building regulations. as
existing now, allow an owner of prop
rty to build bay windows projecting
'ver the building line and on Govern
nent property is a development which
hould be discouraged. The bay win
low projection, which Is a common
eature on the sidewalks of every buai=j
less thoroughfare in Washington, issa
mistake.
Paris has no projecting show win
lows in her shops, and her streets are
more attractive. They are made to re-
emble a garden. and more air is given
he pedestrian, and more light and air
re given to the business man behind
hop windows. 1t was originally be-
eved that the bay window idea i'm
roved Washington's picturesqueness
nd general beauty.
Grasps Opportunity.
This privilege is grasped by the
roperty holder, as he is allowed to
uild on Government property without
aging taxes on the space he occupies. !
Washington is a happy hunting
round for architects from other cities
18th political pull. They care less for
ne ideals in beauty development that
re nearer the heart of the local archi- >
ect. and they are numerically willing !
D erect any sort of structure here.
'.Washingtons fraternity of afchi- I
ects numbers men who are as high in 7
leir profession as any in the country, ,
nd it would seem that the desire to
nbue the local business men with q
igher architectural ideals is latent in Q
lem. n
The crux of the whole matter is in o
he cooperation of business men with
lilders. architects and the municipal
V, and Washington has every possi- Il
lity in time of becoming the most o
aautful city In the world. AS such, c
$ commerce cannot but receive a pro- e
ounced impetus I
n