1842.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



49 



two of the princes, his sons, and at the foot of each of lier's, two of 

 the princesses, her daughters. But the latter do not rise above half 

 the height of the leg of the six colossi which compose the magnificent 

 and unique portico of this astonishing troglodyte palace. On the left 

 side of the portal, Sesostris is sculptured in the act of slaying a van- 

 quished negro, who wears large gold earrings: on the right side he is 

 represented in linnl conflict with the same chief of the nation of the 

 Robou, whose duel with him is depicted at Luxore. The gigantic 

 character of ihls/aradt may be appreciated by a glance at the large 

 head latelv built up over the doorway of the Gallery of Antiquities, 

 British Museum, which was cast by Mr. C. Smith, from one of the 

 fallen Caryatides. The resemblance of Sesostris to Napoleon is re- 

 markable. 



It is our opinion that the Egyptian style might be applied to new 

 buildings of a particular class, as well as to street architecture. We 

 recommend it as being preferable in many respects to Greek, Palla- 

 dian, or Gothic. We do so looking at it with a view to saving, to appli- 

 cabilitv, and to capacity. This noble and impressive style of architecture 

 has been too much neglected in this country, although it has been 

 adopted with great advantage in some of the chief cities in the Ame- 

 rican Union. That it is the incorporation of the sublime and beautiful 

 in architecture no one can deny. But it is also capable of as great 

 elegance, harmony, and beauty as the pure Greek style, by which we 

 mean, not the Roman Greek adopted in our street and sacred archi- 

 tecture, and represented in its high state of improvement by the chef 

 d'aeurm of Michael Angelo and Sir C. Wren, but the pure Greek style 

 distinguished by its peculiar characteristics of the barn shaped cella, 

 poi tico and peristyle. The Egyptian style, in its severer characteristics, 

 is ecjually well calculated for churches and for palaces, for lordly man- 

 sions and for prisons. Again, nothing can be better calculated for ceme- 

 teries, piers, lighthouses and quays. It has the special merit of being 

 eminently economical. With regard to ecclesiastical architecture, the 

 lantern spire of those churches which have been lately built on the 

 Greek model, is an invention of modern times, as a substitute for the 

 towers and belfries of the Gothic sacred edifices. In some cases it 

 has been well adapted, in others badly ; as in the instances of the 

 Lanthem of Demosthenes, the Temple of the Winds, and the Choragic 

 Monument. Although there be no instance, except the single example 

 of the pavilion we have noticed, of two stories being employed in 

 the Egyptian sacred or palacial structures, and no instance of the ad- 

 dition of a turret nr spire, yet it is our opinion that an addition of this 

 description, in couforn\ity with the Egyptian style, might be rendered 

 applicable both to palaces and churches. A steeple supplied to the 

 flat roof of the Egyptian pronaoi in the form of an obelisk or pyramid 

 would, we apprehend, be a failure; and in proof of this we need 

 look no further than the steeple of All Soul's, in Langham Place, and 

 the pyramidical spire of St. George's, Bloorasbury. But architectural 

 ingenuity would conquer the difficulty ; and it must be recollected that 

 the imposing facade of an Egyptian temple was in all cases grandly 

 associated with lofty towers of truncated pyramids ; towers which, 

 beyond a question, originated the belfries of the Eastern Christian 

 churches, and the minarets of the Turkish mosque. 



These few concluding suggestions are neither uninteresting nor 

 unimportant at the present time, when a city of palaces has suc- 

 ceeded, as if by magic, a congregation of narrow and squalid streets. 

 The result is in every respect good, whether we look to mere grati- 

 fication, or to the improvement, by the dilTusion of good models, of 

 the public taste, so intimately connected with the arts of design, on 

 which our manufacturing prosperity depends. 



E. C. 



THE EASTERN PENITENTIARY OF THE STATE OF 

 PENNSYLVANIA. 



CDeiigneil and executed by Jobs IIavila.vd, Esq., Anhilect.) 



'INii-. admirable specimen of priion architecture is tituated in the North- 

 western environs of Philadelphia, about two miles from the centre of the city. 



it occupies an elevated site near the river Schuylkill, and presents one of the 

 noblest, and most comm-inding architectural objects in the country. It was 

 commenced in the year 1822, and completed in 1837, at an expense of 

 COO.OOO dollars. 



The principal front is 070 feet in length, and is wholly composed of finely 

 wrought grauite, accurately jointed, and employed iu unusually large masses. 

 Tlie character of the composition is strikingly appropriate to the olijectjof 

 the building; its bold and massy features, its broad lights and deep shadows, 

 its well proportioned and well managed openings, and the expressive unity of 

 design which characterizes the whole, produce on the mind of the spectator 

 a most solemn and impressive effect. 



The entire fai^ade is caslellaled, and its embellishments are in the " early 

 pointed," or " lancet" style of English Gothic. The gate of entrance, which 

 occupies the centre of the front, is 15 feet wide by 27 feet high; the upper 

 portion of it is secured with a massive wrought iron port-cullis, and the 

 lower part with immense oaken gates, studded with projecting iron rivets; 

 the jambs of the opening are strengthened by massy buttresses, which at the 

 same time, imp.irt a bold architectural effect to the composition. 



On either side of the entrance a square tower is constructed, of 50 feet in 

 height, crowned with an embattled parapet, supported by pointed arches 

 springing from corbels. These towers define the extent of the centre build- 

 ing, which is about 200 feet, and tlieir projection from the face of the main 

 wall is 10 feet. The curtain between the towers is also embattled, and its 

 height from the ground is 41 feet. 



The extremities of the front arc finished with octagonal towers pierced 

 with loop-holes and pointed windows, and crowned with embattled parapets; 

 and a massy octagonal tower rises out of the centre of the front to the height 

 of .SO feet, thus forming a picturesque termination to the group. 



The outside walls are 30 feet in height. 12 feet thick at the base, and 640 

 feet in length on each side, thus enclosing a space equal to about leu acres. 



The cells are built in seven blocks or ranges, radiating from seven sides of 

 an octagonal building of 40 feet in diameter, situated in the centre of the 

 enclosure. The cells of each block are built on either side of a spacious 

 corridor, and these corridors all lead to the centre building, thus affording a 

 view of every cell door in the whole establishment from one and the same 

 point of sight. The upper part of the centre building constitutes an obser- 

 vatory, from which a complete supenision may be had over the entire en- 

 closure; and the lower part, or cellar, contains a resen'oir for supplying the 

 establishment with water. 



The whole niunber of separate cells contained in the seren ranges, amounts 

 to 844. The three blocks which were first erected are but one story in height, 

 and to each cell is attached a separate yard of 18 feet long by 8 feet wide, 

 surrounded by a wall of 12 feet in height : these enclosures were intended 

 as airing yards for the prisoners, but it has been found, by experience, that 

 the ample dimensions of the cells, and their perfect ventilation, render it un- 

 necessar)- to remove the prisoners at any lime from their cells, except in case 

 of sickness ; hence, in the four ranges which were subsequently erected, the 

 yards have been omitted, and the cells made two stories in height. The 

 second stories are approached by means of galleries extending along the cor- 

 ridors, supported by cast iron brackets ; the stairs, and the balustradiug on 

 the galleries are also composed of cast iron. 



The cells of the different blocks, or ranges, differ in dimensions, the smallest 

 being 1 1 feet 9 inches long by 7 feet inches wide, and the largest, 1 1 feet 

 9 inches long by 9 feet wide. Each cell has a separate hydrant, a water 

 closet, an aperture for admitting pure air, and a flue for ventilation. 



The whole prison is warmed on Perkins' plan of hot water circulation 

 through iron pipes, and those who have the management of the institution 

 seem to be satisfied that the plan is a good one for such an establishment. 



The front budding, through which the prison is entered, contains, on the 

 right of the gate-way, commodious apartments for the Warden, and chaniben 

 for the meetings of the Inspectors. On the left are the clerks' offices, and 

 the rooms of the deputy keepers. Over the entrance, on the second floor, 

 are the apothecary's apartments, and in the left wing, the infirmary. 



A high clegree of architectural taste and skill is evinced in the whole de- 

 sign of this noble and costly structure, while the beauty and joliiiity of iti 

 execution are equally creditable to its accomplished and tasteful architect, 

 John llaviland, Esq., whose name it it destined to transmit with honour and 

 renown to after ages. — Franklin Journal. 



\ 



