294 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Arsrat, 



CANDIDUS'S NOTE-BOOK. 



FASCICULUS LVII. 



" I must have liberty 

 Withal, as large a charter as the winds. 

 To blow on whom 1 please."' 



I. Dr. FultoD, I perceive, imputes tome something like indiscretion 

 for urging architects to exercise their invention rather more than they 

 do, and give us something new. He says that the cry should rather 

 be for ' somelhhig good,' ' good :' — of course ; but that condition was, I 

 conceived, so evidently implied that there was no necessity vrhatever 

 for mentioning it. Mere novelty, without any other quality to recom- 

 mend it may be achieved by any one, and may be had any day; conse- 

 quently in speaking of novelty or originality as a merit in productions 

 of art or literature, it is naturally presumed that by such term is un- 

 derstood what so far from excluding other excellences, superadds to 

 them a fresh attraction. Dr. Fulton, however, is less exigi'ant than 

 myself, since he, it appears, is content to abide by what is established 

 as 'good,' and would rather dissuade us from aiming at aught better — 

 at least different, lest instead of 'better,' we should obtain 'worse.' 

 It has been urged by many others beside him that a love of novelty 

 has always been a symptom and forerunner of the decline of archi- 

 tectural taste. But then it is because novelty has been valued for its 

 own sake only, and has been made the chief aim irrespective of all 

 other ffisthetic merits. 



The /oKj'oKrs perc?//.r' system is sure to fail even in matters of art; 

 nor does it avail at all to preach against the love of novelty, and say 

 there ought to be no such passion in the constitution of the human mind, 

 since there it is, and how is it to be got rid of? To think of eradi- 

 cating it is hopeless ; still we need not wholly despair, since it is possi- 

 ble to manage it. This, however, is cot to be done by reining it too 

 tightly ; not by tying ourselves down to certain approved models, and 

 saying to Art "thus far shalt thou attempt to go and no further!" for 

 in that case Art either degenerates into drowsy, spiritless, plodding 

 routine, or else breaking from all trammels, runs wild and wilful 

 equally unguided and unchecked. 



II. The excessive economy in regard to frontage, which the enor- 

 mous price of ground in the metropolis compels builders to observe, 

 is anything but favourable to the character of our street architecture. 

 Even where several houses are united together into one general fa9ade 

 the narrowness of the individual dwellings interferes more or less with 

 design and with nobleness of style. Very rarely can the appearance 

 of a single large mansion be kept up, if only on account of the win- 

 dows being put so closely together, and there being such a dispropor- 

 tionate number of doors on the ground floor. If the houses are only 

 two windows in breadth— and a frontage of from twenty tu five-and- 

 twenty feet will hardly admit of more, where regard is to be had to 

 expression of solidity and dignity of character, — there will be just as 

 many doors as windows on the ground floor, unless, as is sometimes 

 done, additional windows are put there in order that each front par- 

 lour may have two. Yet, instead of at all-mending matters, this only 

 makes them worse, not only destroying all symmetry but causing the 

 whole of the lower part of the building to show itself less solid than 

 the rest, and to appear mean and squeezed up, and cut up, and to be 

 upon a smaller scale. Neither is it much better, if instead of two win- 

 dows in front below to each house, a single window of larger dimen- 

 sions be given to the front parlours. In either case — whether there 

 be three openings below to two above, or the same number, but a 

 wider and narrower one, — there is this additional defect, that the lower 

 openings are not in the same line or axis as those over them ; conse- 

 quently, however good the general elevation may be in other respects 

 it is marred by that of the ground floor. Such is the case with the 

 newly erected range of houses in Maddox Street, which is neverthe- 

 less by very far the best specimen of street architecture anywhere in 

 town ; and to point out what must be an exceedingly great merit in 

 Dr. Fulton's eyes, it hiis no cocked hats .' Where the houses are three 

 windows in breadth, the inconvenience here spoken of is, of course, 

 got rid of, but there unless the frontages be proportionably increased, 

 the design suffers in consequence of the windows being too much 

 crowded together. Observation, if not books, may furnish us with a 

 tolerably good general rule in regard to the distance between windows 

 in astylar composition, or where it is not regulated by pilasters or 

 columns, viz., the clear space between the window dressings ought to 

 be equal, or nearly so, to the width of the windows including their 

 dressings. Such we find to be the case in the Travellers' and Reform 

 Clubhouses. 



To imagine that grandeur or even importance can be given to street 

 architecture by merely continuing along the same design to an immo- 

 derate extent, is a very great error. In such case the idea of unify— 



of a single facade or mass of building is lost sight of. The eye is 

 offended by a provoking sameness and repetition, where there was op- 

 portunity for variety and contrast. The sort of deception to which 

 the spectator would readily lend himself, if practised more modestly 

 and with greater regard to vraisemblance, is altogether frustrated. 

 What was meant to be palace-looking becomes barrack-looking, for 

 the more the design is drawn out the more insignificant do its features 

 and character appear. In a facade composed of several houses, some 

 sort of ratio between height and breadth ought to be observed, so as 

 to produce a well-proportioned mass ; which is the more desirable in 

 street architecture, because the sameness of a very extended line of 

 front cannot be relieved or broken up by projecting or receding parts 

 in the plan. 



III. There is one tolerably safe mode of experimentalizing with re- 

 gard to the effect of colours in decoration, which is, to make several 

 drawings of the room or interior which is to be embellished, colouring 

 them differently in order to judge what harmonies or contrasts would 

 best suit the design, or the particular character intended to be given 

 it. Unless this be done, the result must be left more or less to con- 

 jecture ; excepting indeed nothing more is wished for than what has 

 done over and over again before, in which case there is no experiment 

 to be made. Where colouring is to be employed are/iz7cctera//)/, some 

 previous general scheme or design of it is almost as necessary as an 

 outline one for the forms and surfaces to which it is to be applied, and 

 which it is intended to relieve. Nevertheless, although the study of 

 colours and colouring is one of great interest in itself, and of great 

 artistic importance, it forms no branch of architectural study. There 

 is no system — no principles laid down for it ; the subject is not even 

 so much as glanced at by any writers upon architecture ; consequently 

 in regard to it, every one is left to become — if he thinks it worth 

 while to do so — his own instructor, — to proceed empirically, picking 

 up what hints and ideas he can for his own information and guidance. 

 People seem to have got a notion that colouring is what they call 

 "onere matter of taste," and therefore, according to the well-known rule 

 " de gusiibus," no matter for criticism to interfere with : as if decora- 

 tion itself of every kind, and all that constitutes architectural design, 

 were not entirely matter of taste — either good or bad ; therefore, to 

 say that it is merely such, is a more easy than satisfactory way of 

 settling "the matter." 



IV. At the present day it will not do to talk disparagingly of " mere 

 taste," now that it is made " matter" of public importance, and we 

 have Royal Commissions of Art, who are endeavouring to inoculate us 

 all with Taste — with what success may be more safely predicted some 

 twenty years hence. The " mere-raatter-of-taste" folks must hold their 

 tongues, or perhaps, they may talk as much as they please, since their 

 voices are likely to be drowned in the general acclamation and outcry 

 for " Taste." Where the public must pay for Taste whether they 

 will or no, it is better that they should have to pay for good instead of 

 bad, and experience ought by this time to have convinced them that 

 if the good is apt to be expensive, the bad has seldom anything to 

 reconcili' us to it on the score of cheapness, as is proved by those 

 samples of it Buckingham Palace, the Post Office, and the British 

 Museum. 



V. Ere very long, it is to be hoped,some engravings will be brought 

 out, affording us faithful delineations of those portions and details of 

 the New Palace of Westminster which are actually executed, leaving 

 others to follow from time to time accordingly as the respective works 

 shall be completed. By that means the livmg generation of profes- 

 sional men and artists, those abroad as well as here at home, might be 

 put in possession of studies which they cannot hope for, if no archi- 

 tectural work of the kind is to be commenced until after the whole 

 edificeshall have been thoroughly completed. Besides, the time that 

 would be required for bringing out a full series of adequate illustra- 

 tions of such an extensive pile of building would greatly delay a work 

 of the kind, if it is not to be commenced before the edifice itself is 

 finished. Some may be of opinion that illustrations would be super- 

 fluous altogether ; since what necessity, they will ask, can there be for 

 showing upon paper what may be as well or better seen in the build- 

 ing itself? According to such argument, no drawings whatever are 

 required of actually existing buildings ; whereas, it may be presumed 

 that those in Britton's Cathedrals, and similar works, have very greatly 

 facilitated the study of the originals. Without actual inspection, it 

 is hardly possible "to judge truly of a building, but even the most 

 careful inspection, unless repeated again and again, will not enable 

 any one to study it thoroughly in all its circumstances without the aid 

 of drawings, which submit every part of it to close examination. He 

 must be furnished with a most excellent memory indeed — must be 

 able to recollect every particular far better than the architect himself, 

 who could dispense with sitcb assistance. 



