Evening star., 1933-07-01
DENIES ARCHITECTS
ENTIRELY TO BLAME
American Institute Director
Places Blame for Failure of
Expression on Other Groups.

Failure of many modern buildings to
express our age Of development cannot
be laid entirely to the schools OF archl-
lecture, according to Dean G. H. Edgell
of the School of Architecture, Harvard
University, who, answering general
Indictment of architectural teachlng
methods by George Herbert Gray OF
New Haven, Conn, director OF the new
England division of the American In
stitute of Architects. attributes part OF
the responsibility to engineers, con-
tractors, building spectators and real
estate operators"
E. R. Bossange, dean OF College OF
Fine Arts, New York University. ana
a fellow of the institute, and Clinton
H. Cowgill dean of the department OF
architectural engineering, Virginia Poly
technic Institute, joined in a rebuttal
of the criticism.
1T is true that many modern build
ings are by common consent failures,
and often prodigious failures, Dean
Edgell said. quoting Mr.. Grays state
ment, but it is rather broad assump-
ton to say that all efforts at modern
architecture can be traced back to the
schools of architecture in particular.
At present, a large percentage of COM
meTCldl DulOlllsS nave bcCli OOi4C Ny
engineers, contractors, building specu-
lators, and real estate operators.
Public Is Confused.
Hand in hand with this unsound
practice of building goes the process OF
publicizing and advertising modern
architecture, with a consequent tend
ency to confuse the public. Neverthe-
less, the schools must accept the re-
sponsibility and, If the men are trained
as they should be, they will eventually
get an ever more complete control OF
the production of building and stamp
the architecture Of the country with
the result of their thought and their
training"
Mr.. Gray contended that American
schools of architecture were failing
to equip the student, the architect-to-
be, with the necessary facts and the
necessary habits of thought to cope
nationally with any radically new
problem
Architecture would better reflect
the building technique and the life OF
its own times" he declared, "if the
student had right and sufficient train
ing, in intimate contact with building
operations AS it is. the youthful ef
forts are too often the fantasma Of an
abstract philosophy. working through
the medium of a drafting room tech
nique"
Urges Proper Teaching.
Mr.. Gray, in his recommendations to
the deans of American schools OF
architecture, emphasized the teaching
of the history of architecture "as the
outgrowth of definite and known con-
ditions, the by-product of civilization
In the various stages of its evolution"
and urged the collaboration of the
department of design with that of con-
struction. thus breaking down the alb
surd antagonism between the de
signer' and the practical man."
Dean Edgell. also member OF the
institute, stated that the Harvard fac
ulty lis in complete agreement with
most of what Mr.. Gray says" the best
proof being that his program curl
ously recapitulates many of the more
important changes in our curriculum
which we're determined by the faculty
in a series of conferences last Autumn
and which will be incorporated in our
offering next year.
"One of the effects of the attitude
that Mr. Gray considers so desirable
will be so to train men that they can
compete with the engineer and jerry
builder meet the practical and the
economic problem successfully and Sus-
tain the ideal of the profession. which
is to create a practical building and
make it work Of art"