Evening star., 1927-05-11

| Declaring the world is in revolt on
| the arts, Milton B. Medary, lr., OF
Philadelphia predicted the develop
ment in this country of an archltec-
ture that will be a fusion of all the
arts. in an address here today at the
sixtieth convention of the American
Institute of Architects, of which he
is president. The convention opened in
the United States Chamber of Com
merce Building, and will last for three
days.
The meeting marked the launching
of a movement to advance American
architecture by an alliance OF archl-
tects, sculptors, mural painters, land-
scape architects and craftsmen. {.
Grant La Fargo of New York, char
man of the committee on allied arts
led the discussion, advocating Ma
tion-wide movement, beginning with
the schools, to bring this about.
I'VE refuse to repeat the express
sion of other lives and demand oppor-
tunity to add our own expression 10
the sum of truth and beauty bullt
up through the ages. said MI.
Medary But as in all revolts. we
are passing through the extreme
forms of complete reputation with
all it's crude accompaniment, called
for want of a better word by the
name of jazz
Would Destroy Fallacy.
Mr.. Medary said the institute has
resolved to destroy forever the fal-
lacy that a gulf exists between the
material and the beautiful. The
architect. he continued, hears every
where Let us have new archl-
lecture. an American architecturei
let us have done with the dealers
in classic and medieval forms; let
us try something truly American.
This" he said, lis plain sophlstry.
This sophistry is due to the contu-
sion which fails to differentiate be-
tween using the soul and mind oil
Shakespeare as our own and using
the words with which he expressed
the thing born in his own splrlt'
words which have become exquisite
with every delicate shade of mean
ing only because men have long
used them and understand them
without them the power OF
beautiful expression would dlsap-
pear. The written language is lIV-
ing, changing thing, however, and
slowly and surely, as Doric archl-
lecture become Ionic, and Roman
Romanesque and Romanesque Gothic,
the English of Chaucer became that
of the sixteenth century, of the
eighteenth century and of the present
day.
Called Fusion of Arts.
81 have come to firm conviction
that architecture can have no exist
ence apart from the elements of
which it is composed; that no archi-
lecture can be created or ever has
been created which is not an as
semblage Of arts, and that no truly
great architecture ever was or can
be except it be a complete fusion
of all the arts into a perfect har-
mony, each dependent upon the
other, the whole inspired at its con-
ception by the appropriate beauty
each holds ready for the enrichment
of every other and of the whole.
"Here, then, lies the trail over
which we must travel, hand in hand,
a happy company Of the arts, each
enriching the others with power and
vision none could hope to achieve
alone.
Planned as Motif.
"This convention has been planned
to make such a theme it's major
motif; to inaugurate understanding CO.
operation of all those whose lives are
dedicated to the service of the several
arts. both in the schools and in the
actual building Of the fabric of the
world; to help us to know each other
better, that each Of us shall be en-
riched by that knowledge, that IN
creating the material we may. help
each other to express the spiritual.
that sculpture may once more be
thought of as part of Parthenon
without losing it's dignity as sculpture.
that painting may become again
vital part of walls and ceilings and
altar. pieces, that the names of artists
will recall their part in collective COM
positions as do the names of della
Robbia Giotto and LIE Notre.
upon this theme there have already
been founded the American Academy
in Rome, the American Federation of
Arts and the Architectural League of
New York. Upon it our committee on
education, backed by the Carnegie
Foundation, has launched a program
for a wider understanding of the sig
nificance of the arts, and upon 1t |
hope the American Institute of Archi-
tects will build a program for the
future in which all the elements Of
architecture shall be represented in
all our contacts with the schools and
the public, as well as within our own
profession"
Awards Are Announced.
Formal announcement was made
this morning by the committee on
allied arts Of the awards of medals
for outstanding achievement in art
and architecture during the past year.
Gold medals went to Lee LaWrie,
sculptor Of New York City, and Frank
G.. Holmes, art director and designer
in pottery Of Trenton, n. j.
The medals, which represent the
highest honors bestowed by an Amer
lean organization for artistic accom-.
plishment, will be formally presented
at the annual banquet Of the institute
Friday evening in the auditorium of
| the Chamber of Commerce of the
| United States.
Presentation Of the gold medal
awarded last year to Howard Van
Doren Shaw, Chicago architect,
whose death occurred on the day fol-
| lowing the award, will be made to his
widow at the same ceremony.
Work Is Recognized.
Mr.. Lawrie will receive the Fine
Arts Medal because of the general
excellence of his work and the par
| tlcular excellence or his sculpture in
the Nebraska State Capitol, according
to Mr.. La Fargo, chairman of the
institutes allied arts committee,
which selected the medalists. The
late Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue,
who received the institutes gold
| medal in 1925, was the architect of
the Nebra ska Capitol Building.
Mr.. LaWrie has made the sculpture
for most of the buildings designed
by Mr.. Goodhue, among them the