How to Study Architecture by Charles H. Caffin (reading the story of the .TXT) đź“–
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Gothic Influence.—Accordingly, in time, as the logic of the problem of the tall building came to be more resolutely grasped, it was realised that, if a precedent was to be adopted, it might be found in the Gothic style. This is essentially the style of vertical design and upward growth, and its characteristic profile has a tendency to set back from the ground line instead of projecting over it. Furthermore, if you choose to consider it, it was the style of the Northern nations as contrasted with the horizontal styles of the Mediterranean nations; the style of the races most represented in our population, evolved by them as an expression of their adventurous and daring spirit. Even in relation to inherited racial genius, as well as to fitness of design and practicability of conditions of site, the Gothic is full of suggestion.
Its influence at first appeared in the character of detail of some of the later sky-scrapers; but gradually more fundamentally, as the architect began to give fuller attention to the masses of his composition. Up to the present, the noblest example of this new movement is the Woolworth Building, which is not only the tallest of the tall buildings but a monument of arresting and persuasive dignity. The repetition of ornamental detail may be somewhat dry and mechanical; but from a short distance off this melts into the mass, which vies with mediæval towers and spires in its splendid assertion of organic upward growth.
Such a building supplies an uplift to the spirit, whereas the exteriors of many sky-scrapers, conveying no suggestion of organic growth, being only monstrous piles of masonry, produce instead an oppression of the spirit. Nor is such an impression imaginary; it is a physical result of the sunless, airless canyons into which these cliff-like walls have transformed the narrow streets. Architects, in fact, realise that the problem they present is one not only of construction and design but also of relation to the general city plan. Various proposals have been made to confine them to certain areas; to restrict their height on the street line, while setting back the higher portions, which would rise like towers above the rest of the building; to limit the number of such towers in a given space, and so forth. Some such restrictions are enforced in certain cities; but in New York, where the problem is greatest and most urgent, the consideration of the question has not made much headway against the general indifference to matters of large public concern. Here, as in so many other instances, the welfare of the community, as a collective whole, is not properly adjusted to individualistic interests.
Architect and Engineer.—This and other matters of “city planning”—a subject that is more and more engaging the attention of progressive communities—demands the co-operation of the architect and engineer. Indeed, the co-operation of their functions in all important works, especially those of a public character, is one of the urgent needs of the age. There is scarcely an architectural scheme that does not involve problems of engineering; and many an engineering achievement would have been of greater public utility if beauty of design had been considered. For it is only a narrow view of utility that overlooks the utility of beauty. It is in the power of an engineer to improve or mar the appearance of a locality, and hence to add to or detract from the happiness of the human lives which inhabit it.
Nor is the union of the functions of engineer and architect a new thing. The only difference between the past and the present is, that in Classic, Gothic, and Renaissance periods the functions were united in one person, whereas with the advent of the age of iron, followed by that of steel, they have been specialised in separate individuals. Accordingly, to-day there is one school of Architecture, and another school of Engineering; and the separation has caused each to disregard the points at which their respective arts can and should unite. The desirability, however, of some affiliation is being recognised and certain schools of engineering now include a course in the principles of architectonic design.
Any termination of a book on Architecture is but an abrupt stop in the telling of a story that is perpetually continuous. It will go on as long as man applies his creative ability to the solution of new problems of construction as they arise, and persists in stamping the work of his hands with the evidence of his desire of beauty. This little book, however imperfect, will add its mite to human progress if it has awakened or stimulated in the reader a realisation of the rich and varied humanness of the art of Architecture in its intimate relation to the lives of individuals and the progress and welfare of the community.
GLOSSARYA, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Z
Abacus: the block that forms the uppermost member of the capital of a column. Usually a square block; but in Roman Ionic and Corinthian, the sides are concave, while in Gothic the block may also be circular, octagonal or clustered.
Abutment: a member of solid masonry to sustain a lateral strain or thrust; e.g., that of an arch.
Acanthus: a plant of the warmer regions of Europe, distinguished by large, handsome leaves, with indented and sharply pointed edges. Conventionalised as a decorative motive in Classic architecture: specially in the Corinthian capital.
Acropolis: a hill within a city, converted into a citadel; often containing, as at Athens, the temples of the tutelary or guardian divinities.
Acroteria: plinths or blocks, placed on the apex and ends of a Pediment (which see), for the support of a carved ornament.
Æsthetic: of or pertaining to beauty. That quality in anything, especially a work of art, that stimulates the senses, emotions or imagination to an appreciation and love of the beautiful.
Aisles (lit. “wings”): the lateral divisions of a church or cathedral, parallel to the nave and separated from it by columns.
Alcove: a covered recess, opening from a room or corridor.
Ambo: plural Ambones: raised pulpits from which the Epistles and Gospels, respectively, were read.
Ambulatory: a space, usually covered, for walking in.
Amphi-prostyle: used to designate a temple-plan that has a rear as well as a front portico. Compare Prostyle.
Anta: plural Antæ (lit. opposite): specially in Classic architecture, the pilaster attached to the side of a temple, opposite a column. Generally, any pilaster opposite a column. For In Antis see Portico.
Antefixæ: ornamental blocks placed along the lower edge of the roof of a temple, to cover the joints of the tiles.
Anthemion: a decorative device, also called Honeysuckle or Palmette ornament, composed of flower forms or fronds, radiating from a single point. Used especially on the cyma recta moulding, round the necks of columns and on stele-heads and antefixæ.
Annula or Annulet: a small fillet or flat band, encircling a Doric column below the Echinus (which see).
Apse: originally, the semi-circular projection at one end of a basilica hall; later, the semi-circular or polygonal termination of a choir in a Continental Gothic cathedral, as contrasted with the square-ended choir of English Gothic.
Apsidal: having the form of an Apse.
Apteral (Gk. “without wings”): applied to a temple that has no colonnade on the sides.
Arabesque: a fanciful, painted, modelled, or carved ornamentation, composed of plant forms, often combined with human, animal, and grotesque forms. Used by the Romans and revived by the Renaissance decorators. Also used by the Arabs—hence the name—for a flatly modelled and coloured ornament of intricate design, without human or, generally, animal forms.
Arcade: a system or range of arches, supported on columns, e.g., the range of arches and columns on each side of the nave of a cathedral or church. When used as an embellishment of exterior or interior walls, it is distinguished as Open or Blind Arcade, according as it is detached from or attached to the plane of the wall.
Arch: generally, a structure supported at the sides or ends and composed of pieces, no one of which spans the whole interval. Specifically, a structure, involving one or more curves, supported at the sides, spanning an opening and capable of supporting weight. Distinguished according to the nature of the curve as, segmental, semi-circular, ogee, pointed, horseshoe, four-centred, trefoil, cinquefoil, and multifoil. Arches, involving straight lines as well as curved, are known as “shouldered.”
Architect (pr. ar-ki-tect): lit. the master-builder.
Architectonic: possessing an architectural, or organically constructive, character. See Organic.
Architecture: the science and art of designing and constructing buildings, with a view to Utility and Beauty. See Beauty.
Architrave (lit. “principal beam”): the lowest member of an Entablature (which see); hence applied to any beam that rests on columns and carries a superstructure; also to the moulded frame which bounds the sides as well as the head of a door or window opening.
Archivolt: the mouldings around the face of an arch.
Arris: the sharp edge at which meet two flutings of a Doric Column.
Ashlar: applied to masonry of which the stones are squared and dressed with hammer or chisel.
Astragal: a convex moulding with a profile semi-circular, like that of the Torus, only smaller in width. Often decorated with Bead and Spool ornament.
Astylar: used of a façade, not treated with columns.
Asymmetries: deviations from geometrical symmetry and precision; such as substituting a slight curve for horizontal and vertical straight lines; varying slightly the spaces between columns, setting columns on a curving instead of a straight line, and so forth. Refinements which Hellenic, Byzantine, and Gothic architects introduced to give flexibility and rhythm to their structures. See Refinements.
Atlantes: See Caryatid.
Atrium: in Roman houses an entrance court open to the sky, but surrounded by a covered ambulatory. In Early Christian architecture, a similar entrance court in front of churches.
Attic: the upper story of a building, above the cornice.
Axis: an imaginary line, about which an architect arranges the symmetry of his design. The main axis usually runs through the longest direction of the building and may be intersected at right angles by a second axis. See Crossing.
Baldachino: or Baldachin: a canopy supported on uprights; used especially to surmount an altar.
Baluster: a small ornamental pillar supporting a rail or coping; the whole structure being called a Balustrade.
Balustrade: See Baluster.
Baroque: fantastic, grotesque, applied to some of the heavily decorated architecture of the eighteenth century.
Barrel-vault: also called Semi-circular or Wagon-headed vault: a continuous arched roof over an oblong space, resting on the side walls.
Barrow: an artificial mound of earth, forming a prehistoric sepulchral monument.
Bar Tracery: See Tracery.
Base: the lower member of any structure; compare Plinth.
Basilica: originally a building erected for business or legal procedure; specifically the large hall of such a building; later, in Christian times, a church that more or less retains the plan of such a hall.
Batter: the upward, inward slope of a wall, affording greater resistance to Thrust (which see).
Battlement: the termination of a Parapet (which see) in a series of indentations, called embrasures, while the intervening solid parts are called merlons.
Bay: each of the principal compartments into which the vaulting of a roof is divided; also used of the space between any two columns of an Arcade (which see) of a Gothic church.
Bay-window: a window of angular plan, that projects from the wall and reaches to the ground. Distinguished from an Oriel window that is supported on a bracket or Corbel (which see) and from a
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