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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Jan. 13, 



OBSERVATIONS ON ARCHITECTS AND ARCHITECTURE, 



By Henry Fulton, M.D. 



No. 5. 



FEMALE TnAINING SCHOOL, TALBOT STREET, DLRLIN. 



Scale20ft. to theinch. 



The introduction of the Italian stj'le is a novelty in llie architecture 

 of Ireland. It might be called the Farnese style, which as far as a 

 bold unbroken cornice goes, is excellent. The edifice, ot' which a 

 view is given, is newly finished; it is the design of Mr. Owen, the 

 architect of the Board of Works, (the Woods and Forests of Ireland,) 

 and does him considerable credit, and is intended for a model school. 

 The unbroken cornice is very bold, perliaps a little too much so, as 

 seen from immediately beneath ; this is not the fault of the cornice, 

 but of the site, as the building requires a larger space and wider street 

 in front. I presume tiie architect was obliged to group the windows, 

 and hence the necessity for the unmeaning tatooed pilasters which in- 

 tervene. There is a kind of overlapping scale ornament, such as may 

 be seen on the lately finished front of the London and Dublin Bank, 

 ir Dame Street, which would have had a better effect ; and the ta- 

 tooed quoins might also have been dispensed with. 



Botli on account of appearance and utility, it is desirable not to 

 ))!ace chimneys at the ends of an edifice; any heat which is obtained 

 from them might be serviceable in the centre, but here it is lost. 

 The windows of the ground-lloor might have had circular heads to 

 make them correspond with the arches of the porch ; still on the 

 whole, we congratulate Mr. Owen on the production; and admire the 

 omission of pediments and shoulders to the mouldings of the windows, 

 an example uf good taste which we hope to see followed. 



IF. In the last monthly immber of this Journal, page 445, there is a 

 very alile article on the state of architecture ; it goes at once to the root of 

 the evil which impedes the progress of improvement. Were I a great 

 potentate with plenary power, I would compel every architect in niv 

 dominions to read it; and if Mr. Gwilt were under niv control, I 

 would force him nokm roleiis to read it aloud in public : but alas, 

 (for the nonce,) my authority is not so extensive, and I can only re- 

 commend its perusal. 



The part of the paper I wish to call attention to, is that which 

 treats of " the public and the profession," and the jealousy with 

 which some, I am happy to say only su/ne, of the latter (amongst 

 whom Mr. Gwilt takes the lead) show in sneering at amateurs. I 

 believe there is talent enough and taste enough, although it be latent 

 in the profession to work out great tilings, aud place the science 

 where it ought to be, but where it is not, at the head of the fine arts; 

 this will never he the case until such a pressure is applied from 

 without as shall force the latent talent to show itself in practice; tliat 

 is, until the public, who are the judges, shall be able to judge and re- 

 quire its development. If the public were well informed, I do not 

 mean as to the mechanical part, hut had their tastes and judgments 

 improved aud informed, would many of the edifices which have been 

 erected in our day ever have had existence? 



Sir William Chiiinhers appeals to have written his treatise in order 

 to put down the "^iislu gacu" aud give force in its stead to the 

 gustv Paltadw. Sir William was successful in his day. but )iis works 



shall not again be esteemed until the gutlo greco shall again 

 have been extinguished. I believe Mr. Hosking was the 

 first to assert his want of faith in the infallibility of Palladio, 

 and no disciple has come to the rescue. Even in Ireland, 

 where Palladio reigned supreme, not a voice is now heard 

 in his defence, although the Royal Institute of the architects 

 of Ireland, in the inaugural address on the formation of the 

 society, extolled the art as that which " Vitruvius taught and 

 Palladio adorned," and we were even threatened with a 

 course of lectures which were actually prepared, and were 

 well known to be orations in praise of Palladio and his 

 school, such as would have delighted Mr. Gwilt himself; 

 but although these lectures and the drawings to illustrate 

 them were all ready, they were not, and for aught I know, 

 never will be delivered. The truth is, the star of Vincenza 

 is on the wane. 



III. Something must be done to raise up another and a 

 better school. One naturally turns to the British Institute 

 in expectation that they may be induced to do that some- 

 thing. Now, although I may come under the lasli of Mr. 

 Gwilt's pen, as "one of those idlers who had better mind 

 their own business," yet I would wish in all Iminility, to 

 give a few hints to the Institute on a subject of so much 

 importance. 



First, then, sue for a divorce from the Royal Academy, not 

 indeed out of disrespect to the sister arts of painting and sculp- 

 ture, or because you and I love them less, but because we 

 love architecture more ; and because the brilliant colouring of 

 the one sister, and the poetic form of the other, quite throw 

 the exhibition of architectural drawings into the shade, even 

 if the hanging committee were disposed to give the best place 

 in the rooms, and the consequence is, that few of the great 

 body of the profession send drawings to the exhibition — few of 

 those sent are exhibited — few of those exhibited are looked at — and 

 still fewer are understood by the few who do see them. And, after 

 all, although both Mr. Gwiit and myself might be able to see the 

 beauty of an architectural drawing, and to realize in the mind's eye 

 the efi'ect which would be produced when constructed, yet many can- 

 not, and others will not be at the trouble of giving it a thought at anv 

 time, and still less so when the eye is dazzled with the bright anil 

 varied hues of painting. I shall endeavour to point out a remedy for 

 this in the third division. 



Secondly, the Institute must get up an exhibition on their own 

 account. 



Thirdly, it is well known that the public in general are most pro- 

 foundly ignorant of the nature of architectural drawings, and even of 

 the subject itself, yet there is a method to teach them in spite of them- 

 selves, aye, and to instil into them a love of the art without their being 

 aware of the why or the wherefore ; it is by models, and when they 

 fail the patient may be given up to the hopeless contemplation of such 

 edifices as the palace at Whitehall, or the sentry box at the Horse- 

 guards, or any other military post. 



But of models, such as are to be desired, I have seen very few, and 

 never a pleasing model of a modern edifice, nor indeed do I know any 

 material out of which such a model can be formed, so as to give as 

 good an idea of a perfect building as cork-wood does, of one which 

 bears marks of the hand of time. I cannot speak of Sir John Soane's 

 humbug collection, said to be given to the public, I mean humbug as 

 far as the admission, or rather non-admission, of the public is con- 

 cerned, for I never could get a peep at it. The models in cork which 

 are in the Adelaide Gallery, in the Strand, are not well executed, nor 

 do they appear to be on a scale. There is an artist at Rome, and an- 

 other at Marseilles, who execute models of this description most beau- 

 tifully, but they are worthless, except as toys, from being out of all 

 due proportion, and as studies they would tend to corrupt, rather than 

 improve, the taste. There is, or was some years ago, a collection of 

 models in plaster to be seen in the Institute at Paris, but they are not 

 worth the trouble of finding out the room in which they are ke[it. In 

 the Museum at Naples there are some models in cork of part of the 

 excavations at Pompeii, but as they are necessarily on a very small 

 scale, they look more like toys than architectural works. 



What I would propose is, that the British Institute of Architects 

 should form a museum of moilels well executed, and all on the same 

 scale, of all the buildings of antiquity of which we have accurate deli- 

 neations, and also of all the modern ones of merit. As all the antiques 

 are more or less dilapidated, cork-wood will answer admirably as a 

 material: for the modern or restored works a premium should be 

 ottered for the discovery of a suitable material: or, perhaps, papier 

 mai lit-, to which the colour of Portland stone was given, might pro- 

 bably answer the purpose. 'J'lie effect of wood painted is bad : the 

 wood with which the Dutch, German, and Swiss toys are made would 



