The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-04-29

mere was pTODleLl III putting
| the many and varied offices and rooms
of courthouse into form which
should express unity to the world,
and at the same time give some Idea
of what was contained inside each
portion of the building, which all good
architecture tries to do. There is the
courtroom, for instance, which should
| be the most dignified room in the
| building, and next to it the witness
room, which is nothing more nor less
| than a waiting room. There are the
! lobby, the heart of the building, and
! the county offices, which are just
| business offices; there are the toll
cts, there is the Jail, and the sheriffs
living apartments, coy little mod
ern flat.
1.-THE problem was put all these va
rious rooms in a skin, so to speak, of
,, stone, which would hold them ALL
present dignified, beautiful and uni
| fed front to the world, and at the
same time give some suggestion as to
| the uses of the various parts of the
| building from the outside.
"As the county funds were limited,
| I had, moreover, to do these things as
inexpensively as possible, and to get
| my effects by simplicity, by spacing.
| by light and shade; in short by the
relation of different parts to one an
other, rather than the elaboration of
| the different parts themselves"
Entering the central door, compare
| lively small, but emphasized by the
shields bearing the state seal above,
as we'll as the three slabs of dark
marble between the columns above.
YOU come into the entrance lobby, alb
| solutely unadorned except for a plain
panel at each end.
| Originals In Vatican
The originals from which these
| panels were taken are in the loggla
Of the Vatican, in Rome, and Hlestand
worked over their color five times be-
fore he was satisfied. At the west
end of the central hall, colorless ex-
cept for the design of the panels, and
| a little color on the ceiling to pick
out the straight severity Of the roof
beams, is the auditorium, which will
hold about 300 people. 1t is place
| of subdued coloring. straight lines,
and is finished in the Indiana walnut
which furnishes the wood work or the
whole interior. Two lamps picked up
at a bargain by Hiestand, relieve the
severe effect of the lower LOBBY.
! Ascending the stairway, you come
into the central lobby, which is
study in simplicity, with the Gettys-
burg address of Abraham Lincoln en-
graved in bronze on a panel IN the
wall. The columns of the courtyard
! of the old Italian palace run around
the third story, and the lovely arches
of the gallery with its delicate pas re-
lief in cream colored plaster, furnishes
perhaps the browning decorative touch
OF the whole building.
| Study in Simplicity
| The courtroom is on the third floor,
as are the judges rooms and the Ii
prary. 1t is also study in stmpli-
city. But the beautiful bas reliefs
of the ceiling were done by master
Italian worker in plaster, brought
from New York by Hiestand, and here,
,as in the bas reliefs in the lobby,
every care was taken to make them
delicate, authentic and perfect.
Behind the simple bar, with its three
great chairs made Of the universal
walnut, is a great panel, repeating the
universal arch design which was found
by Hiestand repeated over and over
again in the churches of Siena, Italy,
celebrated for hundreds of years as
one of the most beautiful cities in the
world. Two little shields of the archi-
tect's own design, bearing a rising
sun and an oak tree, are above and
to each side of this panel.
The columns of the outside OF the
building are of Bedford stone, and all
the carving of the outside was done
by the master carver of the Bedford
stone company. Not satisfied with
the carving done on the ground, the
carver was sent up to put on the fin
fishing touches after it was swung into
place on the walls.
! Repeat Medieval Motif
The lamps throughout repeat the
medieval motif, although they were or
dered from various companies through
out the country. Perhaps the most
beautiful ones are the large chande-
lier which hangs in the lobby, and the
large central lamp in the circuit court
room.
All through the building are beauti-
full doors of the plain walnut which
Hiestand chose as the wood for the
interior Perhaps the most beautiful
of them is practically buried in the
jury room.
With all this fidelity to artistic de-
tail, the building is the very latest