The Washington times., 1932-06-22


There is something to be written about that ex-
perience-a drge lamentation. 1t would surpass in
the profundy of its Implications that other view OF
death, Grays Elegy' Life and death were pondered
by Gray; the threnody to be written the view from
the Empire State would chiefly be concerned with
death in life, the contemporary malady. For all that
had felt about contemporary civilization was,
for moment, crystazed there; that vast colorless
strewn heap of stone-death not life. AS far the
life until looked to the harbor, and there smoke
pail the Corsar perhaps, riding the swell. One had
to lean over the parapet before what the
woman standing next to me described as ANTS! just
ants! with the air of who suddenly realizes fully
the import of a figure of speech.
Modern Babel
"One thought of Babel how it fell-and this though
the Empire State had been open only season. The vast
ness of our life was there laid out; stone, sone-en
tombed thought of the stone-strewn beach at Dieppe
where, at mournful turn in my fe used to walk in
November mists with the Villas the hotels deserted the
entire ocean-front unpeoped. There the same
coored cooessness for being made of many coors but
there less of life from the Empire States roof in the
brightness OF afternoon sum- than there had been IN
those November evenings mists Life the of life;
yes on Deppes PLACE. even with the nymphs departed,
there had been these but from the Empire State where
was life or the of life? There, below far the
could see stone, stone stone; plume two of
smoke curling up but from indecipherable of
sone yacht riding the SWELL but beside strewn field
of stone
Modern Building
"A this has to do with contemporary defeatsm, but it
is good approach any to contemporary archtec
ground to in toto like that to in the
rather than by stages, preliminary promenade through
the brownstone of the East Ffties to the PanHeenic
Building through the tawrness of Times Square to the
McGraw-Hil Building, by elevator to exhibition of
models of houses by modern architects My objection to
modern archecture-apart from the fact that most of it
| have to me bad, bad architecture, bad
theorizing based complete misconceptions mine
before that visit Before had been content modestly
to say of this that example that did not for it,
and let it go at that. feel less modest now.
A 7ouse-Not Machine
"The modern architects aphorism "A house is
machine to be lived m to less opposite than the
conception of the plane world of Seventh Day Adventist
have not been around the world; have lived in houses
To me house is primarily a shelter-sheter for man,
for mans activities for those activities which most
dignity man. most gorfy God whether He be the God to
wnom Herr Enstein must admit possible existence,
the God we have departed from Adam wreaths and
Georgian pillars Gothic inches and Victorian swahes are
not anathema to me; not much obsessed with
nostalgia for the past with nostalgia for present.
This isn't all of Mr. Larsons criticism of modern build
ing He finds something wanting in modernistic houses
and thinks that enthusiasm for them indicates some
thing wanting in ourselves shall ask him to make his
points in full presently.