The Washington times., 1937-03-22
ISSUE
HERE, CLASSIC
OR MODERN
Classic or modern?

Reduced to its essence, this Is
the issue which confronts Wash
ington, Congress, the architectural
profession and the country as a
whole in planning the further de-
velopment Of the National Capital.
AS architects and adminlstra-
tors see it, the time has come to
reach a decision as to whether
washington is to expand its "petr1-
fled forest of Greek columns" as
Eames MacVeagh Of the PWA de-
scribes it, or do something about
what he calls this "transcendent
new era" which has found expires
sion in such structures as the Fol-
ger Library, Rockefeller Center
and Manhattan's skyline generally,
and in some of the neoclaSsic
structures along Constitution Ave
nue..
Plethora Of Columns
Instead of columns to right OF
lis columns to left Of us, columns
all around u.s." the modernists
think it's time to get away from
columns, whether Corinthlan,
Ionic or Doric.
Instead Of squatty domes, they
think it's time to think Of square
or beveled roof lines, recessed
corners, pitched roofs and pyra-
mids, and to lean on mass and
proportion for effect rather than
on the traditional treatment OF
memorials and public buildings
as found in Washington.
It was this dependence on
classic architectural forms which
led a nationally known New York
architect-not John Russell Pope
to exclaim as he rode down
Constitution avenue few years
back:
"Why doesn't the Govern
ment buy a pilaSter factory
and be done with it?"
Today's furore in governmental
and architectural circles had its
origin in criticism Of Mr.. Pope's
design for the proposed Jefferson
memorial to be built at the edge
of the Tidal Basin, in which he
uses the same dome-and-columnS
association which dominate the
design of several Of his better
known architectural creations
throughout the country.
Same Design
It has been discovered that he
had something of the same idea
in mind when he submitted de-
signs for the proposed Lincoln
Memorial back in 1914. Al.
though his design was rejected
in favor of that of the late
Henry Bacon, who similarly
favored a Greek temple as a
memorial to the woodcutter-Presi-
dent, he has used parts OF 1t
in his design for the Jefferson
Memorial, as approved without
competition by the Fine Arts
Commission.
Othe. architects have Joined in
the protest since Mr.. McVeagh
brought the issue into the open,
some of them because they agree
with him that the "petrified for
est is getting too thick, and some
because they want a chance to sub
nit designs of their own for the
memorials and public buildings to
be erected in Washington.
Most of the buildings in the Tri-
angle group we're designed by arch
itects appointed arbitrarily by Gov
ernment officials, after board OF
architectural consultants which in
cluded men highly placed in their
profession had decided that the
sTriangle ought to look as it does.
Enough is Enough
But, say the modernistS and the
others who have not had chance
to compete, enough is enough, un-
less the principles of artistic dem
ocracy and architectural original
ity are to die, and Washington is
to become lost in its stone forest.
Another idea has come to the
fore also: jefferson wanted to be
remembered for his contribution
to education in the University Of
Virginia, and for his insistence on
religious freedom in America.
Why not express these ideas in the
design for a Jefferson Memorial?
To which the Fine Arts Commis-
sion. which never backs water,
even when it's in the Tidal Basin,
replies in classic languauge:
Nothing doing"