VOLUME CXXXIIJULY 5, 1927NUMBER 2524
THE
AMERICAN ARCHITECT
FOUNDED 1876
THE SPIRIT OF BROTHERHOOD IN ARCHITECTURE
By William P. Bannister, F. A. I. A.
Chairman, Committee on Registration Laws, A. I. A.
Agroup of architects, in their own quiet way, organized the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, that no competent brother architect should suffer because of the variations in the statutes of the states having registration laws. They succeeded in accomplishing their purpose. The American Institute of Architects generously aided. In one other profession there is a somewhat similar group, but interstate practice in architecture probably far exceeds such practice in any other profession. The spirit of brotherhood in architecture is thus truly shown and proved by sacrifice of time, energy and money by very busy, able architects that they may serve their competitors. There does not appear to be a single record that would indicate that any official registration board ever sought to bar an honorable and competent architect from practice in its state, no matter from what other state or country he may have come. On the contrary, the great effort by such boards is so to interpret the spirit of the law that provisions of statute shall not prevail if unjust in certain specific cases. All this leads to an estimate of the architect as a personality. State boards have an opportunity to study the mental characteristics of architects by closer contact than can the members of any society of architects. They meet those who make up the great number,—those who have the title “architect” under the statutes but who are really but draftsmen in the limited fields of corporations. The stamp of the spirit of architecture is branded on some of these, but necessities of life and environment cause most of them to stay in the ranks of draftsmen. They serve architecture faithfully to an extent that is seldom fully appreciated.
The board member meets the great commercial class whose sole interest is in financial return, recognizing the aesthetic only to the extent of its commercial value. This type usually succeeds in its pur
pose if not led too far on the road of speculation. He is always a difficult person for a board to deal with in considering his qualifications.
Then there is that great number from the large offices with real talent, highly developed, but narrowed by the organization of which they are a part, —possibly a designer, a superintendent or a specification writer,—men who, given an opportunity, would broaden out and develop into true architects.
Finally we reach the heart of architecture,—the man who refuses to accept any limitations of opportunity or environment and to whom the lure of architecture is irresistible; in most cases an endurer of financial cares almost too great to carry. We find him giving freely of his time in committee work for all of our societies of architects, committees which have to do with conditions industrial, educational, religious, medical and domestic. The ablest of those who serve humanity in any of these groups are the men who make the greatest sacrifices for the public and those of their own profession. They are the men first to publicly express frank approval and appreciation of a good work by a competitor in their own particular field. It is not an ideal, it is an actuality,—a medal or honorable mention to which public attention is invited through the press. The press in its turn gladly joins with this group, realizing the great importance of their efforts.
The roads which the real architects have travelled to the point where they are able to lead and to give out from their store of knowledge to others, are numerous and sometimes surprising. Many have travelled by way of the schools of architecture, but many more by other paths. A few examples may be mentioned to illustrate how compelling architecture is to those who come within its shadow.
A youth wondered what architecture was, felt that he would like to know more about it and concluded that the school was the way for him. A woe
(Copyright, 1927, The Architectural & Building Press, Inc.)
THE
AMERICAN ARCHITECT
FOUNDED 1876
THE SPIRIT OF BROTHERHOOD IN ARCHITECTURE
By William P. Bannister, F. A. I. A.
Chairman, Committee on Registration Laws, A. I. A.
Agroup of architects, in their own quiet way, organized the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, that no competent brother architect should suffer because of the variations in the statutes of the states having registration laws. They succeeded in accomplishing their purpose. The American Institute of Architects generously aided. In one other profession there is a somewhat similar group, but interstate practice in architecture probably far exceeds such practice in any other profession. The spirit of brotherhood in architecture is thus truly shown and proved by sacrifice of time, energy and money by very busy, able architects that they may serve their competitors. There does not appear to be a single record that would indicate that any official registration board ever sought to bar an honorable and competent architect from practice in its state, no matter from what other state or country he may have come. On the contrary, the great effort by such boards is so to interpret the spirit of the law that provisions of statute shall not prevail if unjust in certain specific cases. All this leads to an estimate of the architect as a personality. State boards have an opportunity to study the mental characteristics of architects by closer contact than can the members of any society of architects. They meet those who make up the great number,—those who have the title “architect” under the statutes but who are really but draftsmen in the limited fields of corporations. The stamp of the spirit of architecture is branded on some of these, but necessities of life and environment cause most of them to stay in the ranks of draftsmen. They serve architecture faithfully to an extent that is seldom fully appreciated.
The board member meets the great commercial class whose sole interest is in financial return, recognizing the aesthetic only to the extent of its commercial value. This type usually succeeds in its pur
pose if not led too far on the road of speculation. He is always a difficult person for a board to deal with in considering his qualifications.
Then there is that great number from the large offices with real talent, highly developed, but narrowed by the organization of which they are a part, —possibly a designer, a superintendent or a specification writer,—men who, given an opportunity, would broaden out and develop into true architects.
Finally we reach the heart of architecture,—the man who refuses to accept any limitations of opportunity or environment and to whom the lure of architecture is irresistible; in most cases an endurer of financial cares almost too great to carry. We find him giving freely of his time in committee work for all of our societies of architects, committees which have to do with conditions industrial, educational, religious, medical and domestic. The ablest of those who serve humanity in any of these groups are the men who make the greatest sacrifices for the public and those of their own profession. They are the men first to publicly express frank approval and appreciation of a good work by a competitor in their own particular field. It is not an ideal, it is an actuality,—a medal or honorable mention to which public attention is invited through the press. The press in its turn gladly joins with this group, realizing the great importance of their efforts.
The roads which the real architects have travelled to the point where they are able to lead and to give out from their store of knowledge to others, are numerous and sometimes surprising. Many have travelled by way of the schools of architecture, but many more by other paths. A few examples may be mentioned to illustrate how compelling architecture is to those who come within its shadow.
A youth wondered what architecture was, felt that he would like to know more about it and concluded that the school was the way for him. A woe
(Copyright, 1927, The Architectural & Building Press, Inc.)