184.3.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



31 



REMARKS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF ARCHITECTURAL TASTE 

 AND PRACTICE IN OUR LARGE TOWNS. 



(From the North of England Magazine, June 1843. J 



I. — General Prtncivi.es of Architecture. 



The state of architectural taste in this country is confessedly very low and 

 imperfect, and does not receive that degree of attention and regard which 

 from its nature and importance it deserves. As the subject of taste does not 

 touch our personal comforts and wants, it is apt to be regarded with indif- 

 ference, by many, wdio have means and opportunities of encouraging the art 

 and influencing its practice. It would not be right to say that the majority 

 of such individuals disregard this subject from the direction of their habits 

 and tastes lying altogether, or chiefly, in personal gratification ; but, I believe, 

 there are many individuals who, having made it the business of their lives to 

 acquire wealth, and, from association and circumstances, been led to regard 

 material comforts and ease as the chief end of their every-day life, have had 

 no favourable opportunity or stimulus to the cultivation of those refinements 

 cf sense and feeling, which embody themselves in the productions of the fine 

 arts. It is true mental endowments are possessed and cultivated in a very 

 high degree by people of all classes, and the present age is immensely supe- 

 rior to any previous one, if not in the profundity, at least in the variety and 

 almost universal diffusion of its scientific acquirements ; but this eminence is 

 almost entirely intellectual : it evinces little refinement of taste or feeling, or 

 lively perception of the beautiful. 



I do not intend the above remarks to apply, by any means, universally ; 

 but they apply, I think, equally to all classes. The middle and lower classes 

 have not the opportunities which are possessed by the upper, of testifying 

 their taste in architecture, but as far as I am able to judge, the latter do not 

 evince that superiority, which from their position might have been expected. 

 There are indeed many distinguished exceptions. There are many who have 

 a very high appreciation of excellence in this art, but still that the censure 

 deservedly applies to us generally, cannot, I think, be denied. Without at- 

 tempting to account for this state of taste, I merely remark that the eflect is 

 in some degree aided, in manufacturing towns at least, by the fact of the 

 mind becoming habituated to the contemplation of works of mere utility in 

 the shape of mills, warehouses, ike, and that the principles which determine 

 their character are unconsciously, but very improperly, applied to works of a 

 totally different nature. 



The art, as well as the literature of the present day, is too much a subject 

 of fashion and caprice, and depends too much on the particular taste of the 

 public which may happen to predominate at the time ; this remark applies 

 especially to architecture. It may, perhaps, be said that such has been the 

 case in the best ages of antiquity, but it will be found on examination, that 

 the changes which were always going on in style, among the Greeks for ex- 

 ample, took place when the art was advancing towards perfection, and were 

 the result of a deep study of its principles and capabilities, and of the vari- 

 ations which are always going on in the manners and customs of a partially 

 civilized people. Our architecture, on the contrary, wants character, and 

 application to the circumstances of the times. A building ought to grow 

 without effort and almost unconsciously out of the wants which call it forth, 

 and should be the result of these, produced under the direction of taste. It 

 is this which makes the remains now existing in Greece, Egypt, Sec, so in- 

 teresting and valuable, as monuments of the past history of those nations ; 

 and it is only by working on these principles that we can give our buildings 

 either character or interest. 



We must go back to first principles, and apply them to our wants and cir- 

 cumstances. Such is our want of character, that if half-a-dozen of the 

 principal public buildings, which have*been erected in this country within 

 the last half century, should be examined a thousand years hence, without 

 accompanying history or tradition, it would be a more puzzling question 

 than has ever yet been proposed to the antiquary, to determine the cha- 

 racter, civil or religious, of the people who could raise monuments so various 

 and anomalous. Fortunately the doubt is as to their surviving one century 

 instead of ten. In addition to this prevailing ignorance and indifference to 

 architectural excellence, the architecture of the present day is subjected to 

 the pernicious influence of what is called by some economy, but which is 



often more akin to meanness. It has been said by an eminent living architect, 

 " Economy is the bane of architecture ;" but it is only false economy that 

 architecture has to dread ; and I cannot but think that true economy, pro- 

 perly directed, would exercise a very beneficial influence on works of archi- 

 tecture. How often do we see individuals and committees, in attempting to 

 avoid the charge of economy, falsely so called, and to acquire a reputation 

 for liberality and taste, actually commit a much mure egregious error than 

 the one they seek to avoid. The result in such cases is often little better 

 than ostentation and a paltry regard for appearances ; the works are sure to 

 be all outside, and what little enrichment they do possess, is invariably in the 

 most conspicuous places, to catch the eye of every casual observer. A glance 

 is sufficient to show all the beauty or interest they possess, and when once 

 seen, little desire is felt for a second inspection. Hon few of our modem 

 buildings offer any temptation to explore and examine their beauties. What 

 have we to compare with our old cathedrals, aobeys, or even small country 

 churches, where almost every visit reveals some new beauty, or tends to 

 deepen the impression of former ones ; and this, independent of all interest 

 arising from association? 



The Ignorance from which all these evils spring, is unfortunately not con- 

 fined to the public generally, who cannot be expected to possess any profound 

 knowledge on the subject, but is very prevalent among even professional 

 men. It is much to be wished that some standard of proficiency were es- 

 tablished, by which the competence of all desiring to enter the profession 

 might be tested ; for it is notorious, that comparatively few of those prac- 

 tising as architects, in some of even our most important towns, are really 

 competent by talent or education, to do credit either to themselves or to the 

 profession. That this opinion is founded on jealousy or ill will, I think no 

 one, who looks round on the different buildings in the neighbourhood of 

 Manchester or Liveipool for instance, will assert. With few exceptions, all 

 the buildings in those towns which display real taste, or evince originality of 

 conception, are by non-resident architects; but it would be invidious to re- 

 mark further, than merely to mention the fact, as regards these localities. 

 Happily this wide-spread ignorance is now beginning to disappear before an 

 increasing zeal for the cultivation of the art, and investigation of its princi- 

 ples ; and it may very safely be prophesied, that the more it is studied and 

 understood, the more will its claim to a high place in our regard be acknow- 

 ledged. 



I do not consider it necessary to say anything in defence of the fine arts 

 in general, or of architecture in particular. The time is gone by for its 

 being looked upon as an art merely of utility ; and there are few now who 

 will venture to deny its beneficial tendency to elevate the mind to the per- 

 ception of refined and intense pleasure. I may remark, however, that if 

 taste be important and worthy of cultivation in the fine arts generally, it is 

 particularly so as regards architecture, as the productions of this art are 

 costly, and their influence, whether beneficial or otherwise, lasting as them- 

 selves. Besides, buildings of some sort or other cannot be dispensed with, 

 and, being open to the view of all, must have a very extensive influence on 

 the public taste. 



1 propose first to lay down, and explain as familiarly as I can, some of the 

 chief fundamental principles of the art, including nothing but what may be 

 called the postulates, or self-evident truths, which are really very few and 

 simple, and on which it will be my endeavour to found all the subsequent 

 remarks I may have to make. The chief difficulty in the way of the free 

 reception of the truth of these principles, and the propriety of their applica- 

 tion, to our every-day circumstanees, is that of divesting the mind of pre- 

 judice, or that effect of long habit in viewing objects of a particular cha- 

 racter as perfect, or least without at the time feeling conscious of their de- 

 fects. Almost the whole of architectural rule may be comprized in one idea, 

 which applies equally as a test of excellence in all the arts, viz., Fitness or 

 Propriety. It is unnecessary to adduce any proof or even illustration of this, 

 as it would obviously be useless to argue with one who would deny that a thing 

 is good or excellent, in proportion as it serves the purpose for which it was in- 

 tended, without redundancy or deficiency, and as it accords with propriety 

 of feeling and character. This principle applied to works of architecture, 

 ought to enable a competent and unprejudiced mind, on viewing a building, 

 to ascertain at once, or at least to form a tolerable conjecture, as to its pur- 

 pose and destination, 



43 



