THE PITTSBURGH ARCHITECTURAL CLUB 
EXHIBITION, 1905 
By John T. Comes 
/ T V HE biyearly Architectural Exhibition 
recently held by the Pittsburgh Archi¬ 
tectural Club, at the Carnegie Art Galleries, 
is becoming more and more a recognized 
factor in developing the artistic taste of the 
people of Pittsburgh, especially in matters of 
building. There is every reason why this 
should be so, because there is no art 
so broad, universal, comprehensive, and 
which comes so close to man, as that of 
architecture; nor is there any one which 
receives so scant a popular support and 
encouragement. 
If the average American citizen really un¬ 
derstood the connection between good and 
noble architec¬ 
ture, and a noble 
and cultured 
character, and 
equally the con¬ 
nection between 
the crude and 
tawdry design 
and an unculti¬ 
vated character, 
the “howling 
aberrations” of 
buildings that 
now desecrate 
our cities and 
suburbs would 
not be so numer¬ 
ous as they now 
are. 
As a rule we 
do not take the 
b u i 1 d i n g of a 
home, public 
building,church, 
or even a com¬ 
mercial build¬ 
ing, seriously 
enough. We 
are satisfied too 
frequently to 
give way to the 
purely utilitarian side of the problem and 
utterly lose sight of the artistic factor which 
is of equal importance, and contrary to the 
general opinion does not necessarily imply 
the sacrifice of things practical. A building 
cannot be called successful if it is purely 
utilitarian, or if it is purely artistic; it must 
satisfy thoroughly the demands of each. 
One requirement ought to play into the hands 
of the other one, and the practical and the 
artistic should be so united as to make a 
complete, organic and beautiful whole. 
This is one of the main reasons for holding 
an architectural exhibition. It convinces the 
skeptic that utility and beauty are not nec¬ 
essarily contra- 
distinct terms; 
it polishes the 
taste of the al¬ 
ready initiated; 
it stimulates the 
architectural 
draughtsman to 
higher ideals and 
it broadens the 
taste of the prac¬ 
tising architect. 
As previously 
announced by 
the Architectu¬ 
ral Club, special 
attention was 
given to display¬ 
ing plans for the 
architectural im¬ 
provement of the 
important cen¬ 
tres of different 
cities. One of 
the strongest 
drawings repre¬ 
senting this 
movement of 
municipal art 
is a beautiful 
water-color 
ENTRANCE FARMERS BANK BUILDING 
Alden & Harlow, Architects 
83 
