New-York tribune., 1920-02-08

ural report for which we have so long
been accustomed to look to the league.
we can see, for example, some of the
prlnclpal monumental buildings of re-
cent date. The frontispiece illustrates
the fne portico of the new Hotel Penn
sylvania, by McKim, Mead & White.
an ana1r of gigantic pillars worthy Of
Mchlm's masterpiece near at hand. Mr..
T.. d. Lltchfield's Public Library for
st. Paul 'leaves q hne impression cs-
peclally in its stone gallery. We wish
tnere were picture of the whole
building A new design is illustrated
the one with which Messrs. York and
Sawyer were successful in the CONNIE
titlon for the Federal Reserve Bank.
The first stage in the scheme is a
good adaptation of the rustcated
front OF Florentine palazzo. The up-
per part OF the elevation is less inn
pressive, terminating in series of
arches just under the tiled roof. This
AS"S"AS oeoihs IKE IaclltlOuS add
tlon rather than like an inevitable
part of an organic whole There is a
charming photograph OF a small memo
rial art gallery by McKim, Mead &
| White. 1t wears the air of some
prncely Italian villa; little gem. In
! striking contrast to this is the vast
hotel at Santa Monica, in California
1t IS an immense structure, more no.
tlceable for its size than anything
else, but it is Interesting as a Judi
clous solution Of a problem that would
! have defeated an American architect
IN the formative years of the league
The building would have been dcspica-
bic then, to use Mr.. Riordan's pungent
phrase Now it is at least in good
taste. Mr.. Myron Hunt, the architect,
uses restraint in piling up his vast
masses. This is, Of course, the out
standing gain to American architecture
IN the long period which is cotermi-
nous with the history Of the league
People wonder sometimes if we have
developed or are going to develop
distinctive style of American archi-
lecture. We haven't done it yet Per-
haps we never will. What we have
done has been to acquire so much ex-
pcrience and culture in the art of
building, so much taste, that even
when our architecture does not reveal
creative imagination 1T is notably re-
fined and dignilied. Mr.. Dom Barber
has designed a great tower for the
Travellers Insurance Company, in
Hartford. His drawing presents an
admirable composition, massy where it
needs to be, but in its complete sill
houette having the right aerial quality
and achieving this without any mere
tricious expedients. 1t is typical.
Some interesting new churches are
illustrated. Mr.. Goodhue's Cathedral
of Maryland is a truly noble concep-
tion, romantic in atmosphere, but with
an unmistakable grandeur about it. 1t
is a Gothic composition, in the develop
ment of which the architect has had
plenty of elbow room, and the large
ness of plan allowed him has enabled
him to give free play to certain large
ness of style. In the drawing, at any
rate, he seems to establish the Gothic
idea upon American soil as something
more natural than it usually appears
to be. In the field of domestic archi-
lecture and of the landscape architec-
ture which is SO closely allied with it
the photographs in the catalogue dis
close some of the most admirable de-
signs which the league has brought
forward in long time. The compost
tions contributed by Messrs Delano and
Aldrich beautifully ratify the award
which has been made to that firm this
year of the Medal of Honor in Archi-
lecture. They invite recurrence to
that matter of taste on which we have
paused. The House at Syosset, all the
facades OF which we wish we could see,
has all the merits of simplicity in the