ARCHITECTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT. 203 



where it is possible, little attention is given to the direction of 

 the sunlight in order that the living-rooms may receive the full 

 benefit of the natural warmth, nor are those rooms where it is 

 not needed, or minor offices, relegated to the exposed side. The 

 most important external feature, the door, is seldom adjusted to 

 the climate. Even in large office-buildings, hotels, and churches, 

 where there should be ample space for every structural conven- 

 ience, the door is frequently of cramped dimensions, and, instead 

 of being preceded by a porch, which would be an integral part 

 of the architecture, and which is absolutely essential in our long, 

 cold, damp winters, is boarded up with " storm-doors " that are 

 not only hideous in design but an actual obstruction. With the 

 rapid increase in the value of land which has taken place in all 

 our large cities in late years, a wild fear lest any inch be wasted 

 has resulted in a compactness of plan that is frequentlypainful. 

 The housekeeper longs for the roomy closets and ample store- 

 rooms of the old buildings; the fine hall that once formed an 

 imposing and appropriate entrance has given place to the narrow 

 entry through which it is frequently impossible to carry the 

 larger articles of furniture. The same difficulty is experienced 

 in the sharp, frequent turns which characterize so many stair- 

 ways. Bedrooms are pushed into corners where they seldom 

 have the benefit of pure, free air and the heat of the sun, for no 

 other reason than that space is required for ample reception-rooms 

 and state apartments, which, though used comparatively seldom, 

 are treated as the most important part of the house. 



The same indifference to the true ends of building are to bo 

 noted in public edifices as well as in private ones. Offices are 

 small and frequently without light. In many churches it is im- 

 possible either to see the preacher or to hear him, and some of our 

 public halls are not much better, while, as a crowning touch, the 

 seats are placed so close together as to render them the very acme 

 of discomfort to all but dwarfs. Nor are these structural differ- 

 ences the only ones that call for improvement. There are a mul- 

 titude of modern contrivances that are yet in an undeveloped 

 state. Questions of drainage, of heating, of artificial light, of ele- 

 vators, of protection against fire, of ventilation, and the very 

 means of supporting life, are not seldom denied us in structures 

 that astound us by their size and which have cost vast sums. It 

 is not because these things are expensive that they are neglected, 

 nor because they are out of the range of our mechanical powers, 

 but because they are looked upon as adjuncts to the buildings to 

 be taken up at some later time and are then never given the strict 

 attention they require. A draughtsman who has prepared a de- 

 sign that captivates him by its beauty, and seems destined to win 

 a much-desired prize by its mere art superiority over other draw- 



