THE PRACTICAL BOOK OF ARCHITECTURE CHAPTER I ARCHITECTURE THE NATURE OF ARCHITECTURE AND ITS PLACE AS PART OF A LIBERAL EDUCATION. THE VALUE AND BENEFIT OF ARCHITECTURAL APPRECIATION. ARCHITECTURE NOT A TECHNICAL SUBJECT. SOME FUNDAMENTALS OF ARCHITECTURE. UNDERSTANDING OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE DEPENDENT UPON ACQUAINTANCE WITH PAST HISTORIC STYLES T O attempt to define architecture, or art, is to fall into the danger of dealing in catch-phrases. Few definitions are safe, and the best of them are more clever than accurate. Architecture has been called "the art of building beautifully" which, perhaps, is as valuable as most epigrammatic definitions. The attempt has been made from the time of Vitruvius, and an early English writer, paraphrasing that classic authority, states that "Well-building hath three conditions: Commodity, Firmness and Delight." Perhaps it would be hard to find any terse characterisation so accurately applicable to all architecture-that a building should be appropriate to its use, strongly built, and pleasing to look upon. This interesting statement, however, could not be called, exactly, a definition of architecture, although it gives us a reasonably clear idea of the aim and purpose of architecture. Taking any one of these three essentials alone as the aim of architecture, the world would have been, and would be to-day, a heavy loser. Conceive first the aspect of architecture if "Commodity" or the intended use of the building had been always its sole governing architectural factor. Grain elevators and factories are built primarily with a view to use, and include also the second essential of "Firmness," but ignore the third. The third, however, the building which has been so beautifully designed that it is a "Delight," would be but a short-lived one if it were not firmly built, and a useless one if it served no purpose. We must think of architecture, then, regardless of its divisions into domestic, monumental or ecclesiastical buildings, as a perfect co-relation of the three essentials of suitability, strength and beauty. In certain types of building one of these considerations, or two, may somewhat overbalance each of the three may not hold equal importance. Generally speaking, however, architecture must take cognisance of all, and by keeping the three essentials constantly in mind in our individual consideration of any given building, we will establish from the outset a certain basis of universal application, regardless of "style" or any other detail. We will ask ourselves: "What kind of a building is this? What was its purpose? Does its design express this purpose? Is it well-built, or is its construction cheap and dishonest? Is it pleasing in its form and detail?” These are basic considerations of significance, entirely independent of whether it be designed in the style of the Italian Renaissance or Modern French; whether we are looking at a church or a theatre. It is an interesting circumstance that this country affords an opportunity to study adaptations-in many cases excellent adaptations-of the architectural styles of all countries and all periods. Architecturally, as |