90 G. H. KNIBBS. 



the cut off of corners adequate, provision may be made for a 

 small square, a monument, clump of foliage, or small garden. A 

 still greater cut-off will permit of a central square, circle or 

 ellipse of finer proportions, with roadways round it, and which 

 may be utilized for a more pretentious central feature, and the 

 independent treatment of every intersection will produce a 

 gratifying result. 



In addition to those at street intersections, spaces are also 

 desirable in front of, and in some cases even on three sides of, 

 certain types of public buildings, especially those in which the 

 architectural elaboration would not normally be restricted to the 

 front, as, for example, museums, theatres, churches, etc. Arcades 

 and approaches thereto are features which, since they can be 

 made very effective in appearance, ought to be provided for in 

 the design ; and further, sites should be indicated for those fine 

 pieces of sculpture or architectural art which the artistic sentiment 

 of any cultured people will eventually require. Since all artistic 

 elements must stand in harmonious relationship to one another, 

 and their distribution be such as to give them a maximum efficiency 

 in relation to their influence in beautifying the city, they ought 

 all to be considered in the original design, so that the necessary 

 provision may be made. The usual practice of either entirely 

 neglecting, or inadequately regarding these matters, and then 

 doing the best possible with the sites that chance to be available, 

 can never be satisfactory, as is obvious when one contemplates 

 the all too common hopeless disfigurement of what were originally 

 ideally perfect sites. 



18. Public parks and gardens. — Public parks and gardens are 

 not only an ornament to a city but a necessity to its people, if 

 their health is to be regarded, and considerations of health and 

 beauty may at least have weight in important cities. 1 Hence we 

 are justified in making liberal provision for public gardens, 



1 The antagonism of interest between the estate vendor and the public 

 good should be guarded against. The price paid for cupidity on the one 

 hand and ignorance on the other is serious.! 



