liioiml finj3titut(ou of (Sxtai li3vitaiu. 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, January 31, 1879. 



William Spottiswoode, Esq. M.A. D.C.L. Pros. R.S. &c. 

 Vice-President, in the Chair. 



H. Hbathcote Statham, Esq. 



The Logic of Architectural Design. 



Arohitegture may be most comprehensively defined as " the art of 

 building with expression ; " but in order to estimate rightly the capa- 

 bilities and the limits of the art as thus defined, it is necessary to 

 bear in mind that it difiers from other arts which aj)peal to the sense 

 of sight, in two essential particulars. In the first place, it is an art 

 arising out of practical requirements and governed by practical con- 

 ditions. If we did not want buildings to shelter us, there would be 

 no architecture; if we do not build them in accordance with true 

 statical conditions, they fall down. Secondly, architecture as an art 

 has no direct reference to nature, and does not copy natural forms : 

 which is probably one reason why there is so much more uncertainty 

 and divergence of opinion in regard to this art than in regard to 

 sculpture or painting. The latter arts express themselves through 

 forms directly imitated from nature ; so that if (to put an extreme 

 case) a painter represented a man with two heads, we need listen to 

 no reason on the subject, we simply condemn him on our knowledge 

 of the facts of nature. It may, however, be just as wrong for an 

 architect to put two towers where there should be only one, or a 

 pillar where there should be a buttress ; but the right or wrong of the 

 matter is in this case based not on reference to the concrete facts of 

 nature in her physical aspect, but on a process of abstract reasoning 

 which few people take the trouble to go through. The main prin- 

 ciples which should form the basis of such reasoning may be briefly 

 summarized in the following axioms, which embody the fundamental 

 principles of what may be called " architectural morality." 



1. Architecture, being based on practical requirements, can only be 

 true and logical so far as it is in accordance with and expresses these. 



2. The plan of the building is the basis of the whole design. A 

 good plan is one in which the various departments are arranged and 

 combined in such a manner as to insure the greatest convenience and 

 the best possible effect. 



3. The exterior grouping and design of a building should arise 

 out of and indicate tlie interior plan and arrangement. 



Vol. IX. (No. 71.) h 



