“THE BUILDER”
DEBATE
XXIII.—THE PUBLIC TASTE.
“ That, in view of the fact that enlightened opinion has lost touch with public taste, some vigorous campaign of public education in artistic matters, particularly architectural, should be inaugurated,”
Sir,—We are continually reminded of the tastelessness of our age, though it is one that is producing accomplished artists and inspired works of art, probably in as great an extent as, if not greater than, any previous epoch. We cannot be satisfied by the energy which throws tar bombs at ostentatious incompetence all the time that less obvious affronts against good taste remain not only unquestioned but sought after. The average performance of the average cinema records the average taste of the public, and those who seek the best in every art can find little ground for encouragement before the “ movie screen.” Enlightened opinion delights in Shakespeare, Sheridan, Galsworthy, and Shaw. Public opinion follows the breathless horsemanship of Cowboy Joe with greater relish. There appears to be nothing to bridge the chasm between the few who enjoy the mental stimulus and the many who indulge in mental narcotics.
Is it to be wondered that a society so constituted should tolerate for generations the iron monstrosity at Charing Cross, and view with equanimity the destruction of its fair neighbour to the east ; or that none should arise capable of convincing public opinion as to a right artistic solution of either problem ? Is it to be wondered at that whatever be the merits or otherwise of the proposed statue to Lord Haig, public opinion relates its criticisms to the standard of faithful photography? Is it to be wondered at that the man in the street not only does not know whether to back the Dean’s scheme for the Sacristy or his opponents, but does not care twopence what happens? The news of the day abounds with similar instances which show that this age has no taste of its own, and no artistic conscience, and I fail to see how any age can live with honour in history unless it is proud of its arts and careful of their honour.
I suggest, sir, that it is time that something was done to improve this state of affairs, and that an immediate campaign be started by which the sensible few may transfuse some part of the pleasure they take in beautiful things into the public conscience. The Press and the lecture platform are the obvious means towards this desirable end. I recently saw a list of “ popular lectures ” given in a country town in England. I was told that each of them was well attended and enthusiastically received. Yet the list of subjects smacked of the rummage sale. They included such as these : “ Three Years in Central Africa ” ; “ South American Insects and their Habits”; “Whale Fishing in the Mediterranean”; “The Life and Habits of the Eskimo.” The subjects may not be reported in literal correctness, but they serve as typical of the subjects thought to catch the imagination of the public, and evidently responding to a popular appetite. They are, no doubt, interesting and instructive, and certainly harmless, subjects; but has it not occurred to anyone that the people who are willing to sit on a hard chair and hear about South American insects would be just as likely to sit on a hard chair and hear about the principles of architectural design, the uses and nature of building materials, or the principles of town planning? Surely it is because no enlightened person has recognised that the public are willing to be instructed in useful things that the same public remains ignorant of any standard of taste by which beautiful things may be judged. Hence our artists stand in thin ranks, and their advice falls upon ears that understand no artistic language.
Positive.
CORRESPONDENCE
[While we are olad to publish letters on professional and other matters of interest to our readers, it must be mderstood that we do not necessarilu endorse the remarks of correspondents, who will oblige us if they will express their views as briefly as possible.
Small Houses and Big Issues.
Sut,—Your “Leader” and the correspondence on “ Small Houses and Big Issues ” voices the growing conviction of architects that tile B.I.B.A. is taking too long over the production of a scheme for co-operation between architects and speculative builders. Having been associated from the beginning with those who were instrumental in getting the Council of the B.I.B.A. to agree to the principle and to appoint a committee to work out the details, I am very conscious of the chief difficulties. We are trying to formulate for the whole of the kingdom a scheme which will be just remunerative. It would help if those of your readers who have prepared plans of buildings and of lay-out for speculative builders would give particulars. They should state, possibly under a nom-de-plume :
(1) Whether they are members of the B.I.B.A. ;
(2) The county in which the buildings lie; (3) The approximate oost of the job;
(4) The amount of the architect’s remuneration ;
(5) Whether the work, after making due allowance for all outgoings, proved to be business or philanthropy.
In ordinary 6 per oent. work, working expenses and profits tend to equalise. Where time spent in writing specifications, in getting in tenders and in supervision is entirely eliminated, working expenses must fall considerably below 3 per cent. Any data would be both valuable and interesting.
Hast well Grayson.
“ Interesting Episodes.”
Sir,—The letter under this heading in your issue of the 18th inst., and signed “ Six Per Cent.,” shows up an actual case of corruption. Many of us know that corruption exists, but cannot prove it. I am sure that the gentleman referred to in the episodes as Mr. Blank, sanitary inspector and spare-time architect, has laid himself open to a criminal charge for which the law provides heavy penalties.
I would like to suggest that “ Six Per Cent.” should, for the honour of our profession, and as a public duty, give chapter and verse, either to the police authorities or at least to the B.I.B.A., who, I cannot doubt, would, if necessary, prosecute rather than allow such corruption to continue unchecked.
D. A. Forster. Cambridge.
THE NEW SESSION
OF THE R.I.B.A.
The new session of the B.I.B.A., which opens on November 4, promises to be one of exceptional activity and interest. The newly elected President, Sir Banister Fletcher, will deliver his inaugural address at the opening meeting. The programme of lectures to be delivered is a very varied one. Dr. Baymond Unwin will speak on the Greater London Town Planning Scheme, a vast undertaking the importance of which is hardly as yet realised. Professor Patrick Abercrombie will lecture on “ The Thames Valley Preservation Scheme” ; Mr. Baillie Scott will open a debate on “Are Building By-laws destructive of Bural Beauty?”; Mr. Frank Pick, general manager of the London Underground system, will lecture on “ The Design of Modern Bailway Stations in Europe and America”; Mr. Alan Munby will give a paper on “ The Design of Science Buildings ” ; Mr. C. L. Woolley, the explorer of Ur, will speak on “ Becent Excavations at Ur”; and Mr. Hubert Worthington, of Manchester, recently Professor of Architecture at South Kensington, will lecture on the work of “ Antonio da San Gallo the Younger”; while Professor A. E. Bichardson, of the University of London, will deal with “ Architects’ Drawings of 1800-1850.”
The Architects’ Begistration Bill, which was passed through all its stages without opposition by the House of Lords last session, will be introduced into the House of Commons, and if time permits it is hoped that it will become law before the prorogation. The B.I.B.A. scheme of development was approved by a majority in a referendum of the members just before the holidays. As regards its new home, the Council of the B.I.B.A. have decided that an open competition is to be held for the design of the new building, for which a site has been secured in Portland-place, and in the near future the preliminary stages of the competition will probably be taken in hand.
Famous City Clock. • The effigies of Gog and Magog, replicas of the Guildhall figures, together with the clockwork and bells, over the shop of Sir John Bennett, Limited, in Cheapside, have been sold to an American company. The movements of these figures and of Venus and Father Time, as the bells have rung out the hour and its quarters, have interested old and young for nearly a century. The company have now decided on headquarters in the West End, though their City business is to be continued.
Designs by Alfred Stevens.
Lent by Mr. Alfred Drury, B.A., to the Exhibition of Retrospective Art, Brussels
DEBATE
XXIII.—THE PUBLIC TASTE.
“ That, in view of the fact that enlightened opinion has lost touch with public taste, some vigorous campaign of public education in artistic matters, particularly architectural, should be inaugurated,”
Sir,—We are continually reminded of the tastelessness of our age, though it is one that is producing accomplished artists and inspired works of art, probably in as great an extent as, if not greater than, any previous epoch. We cannot be satisfied by the energy which throws tar bombs at ostentatious incompetence all the time that less obvious affronts against good taste remain not only unquestioned but sought after. The average performance of the average cinema records the average taste of the public, and those who seek the best in every art can find little ground for encouragement before the “ movie screen.” Enlightened opinion delights in Shakespeare, Sheridan, Galsworthy, and Shaw. Public opinion follows the breathless horsemanship of Cowboy Joe with greater relish. There appears to be nothing to bridge the chasm between the few who enjoy the mental stimulus and the many who indulge in mental narcotics.
Is it to be wondered that a society so constituted should tolerate for generations the iron monstrosity at Charing Cross, and view with equanimity the destruction of its fair neighbour to the east ; or that none should arise capable of convincing public opinion as to a right artistic solution of either problem ? Is it to be wondered at that whatever be the merits or otherwise of the proposed statue to Lord Haig, public opinion relates its criticisms to the standard of faithful photography? Is it to be wondered at that the man in the street not only does not know whether to back the Dean’s scheme for the Sacristy or his opponents, but does not care twopence what happens? The news of the day abounds with similar instances which show that this age has no taste of its own, and no artistic conscience, and I fail to see how any age can live with honour in history unless it is proud of its arts and careful of their honour.
I suggest, sir, that it is time that something was done to improve this state of affairs, and that an immediate campaign be started by which the sensible few may transfuse some part of the pleasure they take in beautiful things into the public conscience. The Press and the lecture platform are the obvious means towards this desirable end. I recently saw a list of “ popular lectures ” given in a country town in England. I was told that each of them was well attended and enthusiastically received. Yet the list of subjects smacked of the rummage sale. They included such as these : “ Three Years in Central Africa ” ; “ South American Insects and their Habits”; “Whale Fishing in the Mediterranean”; “The Life and Habits of the Eskimo.” The subjects may not be reported in literal correctness, but they serve as typical of the subjects thought to catch the imagination of the public, and evidently responding to a popular appetite. They are, no doubt, interesting and instructive, and certainly harmless, subjects; but has it not occurred to anyone that the people who are willing to sit on a hard chair and hear about South American insects would be just as likely to sit on a hard chair and hear about the principles of architectural design, the uses and nature of building materials, or the principles of town planning? Surely it is because no enlightened person has recognised that the public are willing to be instructed in useful things that the same public remains ignorant of any standard of taste by which beautiful things may be judged. Hence our artists stand in thin ranks, and their advice falls upon ears that understand no artistic language.
Positive.
CORRESPONDENCE
[While we are olad to publish letters on professional and other matters of interest to our readers, it must be mderstood that we do not necessarilu endorse the remarks of correspondents, who will oblige us if they will express their views as briefly as possible.
Small Houses and Big Issues.
Sut,—Your “Leader” and the correspondence on “ Small Houses and Big Issues ” voices the growing conviction of architects that tile B.I.B.A. is taking too long over the production of a scheme for co-operation between architects and speculative builders. Having been associated from the beginning with those who were instrumental in getting the Council of the B.I.B.A. to agree to the principle and to appoint a committee to work out the details, I am very conscious of the chief difficulties. We are trying to formulate for the whole of the kingdom a scheme which will be just remunerative. It would help if those of your readers who have prepared plans of buildings and of lay-out for speculative builders would give particulars. They should state, possibly under a nom-de-plume :
(1) Whether they are members of the B.I.B.A. ;
(2) The county in which the buildings lie; (3) The approximate oost of the job;
(4) The amount of the architect’s remuneration ;
(5) Whether the work, after making due allowance for all outgoings, proved to be business or philanthropy.
In ordinary 6 per oent. work, working expenses and profits tend to equalise. Where time spent in writing specifications, in getting in tenders and in supervision is entirely eliminated, working expenses must fall considerably below 3 per cent. Any data would be both valuable and interesting.
Hast well Grayson.
“ Interesting Episodes.”
Sir,—The letter under this heading in your issue of the 18th inst., and signed “ Six Per Cent.,” shows up an actual case of corruption. Many of us know that corruption exists, but cannot prove it. I am sure that the gentleman referred to in the episodes as Mr. Blank, sanitary inspector and spare-time architect, has laid himself open to a criminal charge for which the law provides heavy penalties.
I would like to suggest that “ Six Per Cent.” should, for the honour of our profession, and as a public duty, give chapter and verse, either to the police authorities or at least to the B.I.B.A., who, I cannot doubt, would, if necessary, prosecute rather than allow such corruption to continue unchecked.
D. A. Forster. Cambridge.
THE NEW SESSION
OF THE R.I.B.A.
The new session of the B.I.B.A., which opens on November 4, promises to be one of exceptional activity and interest. The newly elected President, Sir Banister Fletcher, will deliver his inaugural address at the opening meeting. The programme of lectures to be delivered is a very varied one. Dr. Baymond Unwin will speak on the Greater London Town Planning Scheme, a vast undertaking the importance of which is hardly as yet realised. Professor Patrick Abercrombie will lecture on “ The Thames Valley Preservation Scheme” ; Mr. Baillie Scott will open a debate on “Are Building By-laws destructive of Bural Beauty?”; Mr. Frank Pick, general manager of the London Underground system, will lecture on “ The Design of Modern Bailway Stations in Europe and America”; Mr. Alan Munby will give a paper on “ The Design of Science Buildings ” ; Mr. C. L. Woolley, the explorer of Ur, will speak on “ Becent Excavations at Ur”; and Mr. Hubert Worthington, of Manchester, recently Professor of Architecture at South Kensington, will lecture on the work of “ Antonio da San Gallo the Younger”; while Professor A. E. Bichardson, of the University of London, will deal with “ Architects’ Drawings of 1800-1850.”
The Architects’ Begistration Bill, which was passed through all its stages without opposition by the House of Lords last session, will be introduced into the House of Commons, and if time permits it is hoped that it will become law before the prorogation. The B.I.B.A. scheme of development was approved by a majority in a referendum of the members just before the holidays. As regards its new home, the Council of the B.I.B.A. have decided that an open competition is to be held for the design of the new building, for which a site has been secured in Portland-place, and in the near future the preliminary stages of the competition will probably be taken in hand.
Famous City Clock. • The effigies of Gog and Magog, replicas of the Guildhall figures, together with the clockwork and bells, over the shop of Sir John Bennett, Limited, in Cheapside, have been sold to an American company. The movements of these figures and of Venus and Father Time, as the bells have rung out the hour and its quarters, have interested old and young for nearly a century. The company have now decided on headquarters in the West End, though their City business is to be continued.
Designs by Alfred Stevens.
Lent by Mr. Alfred Drury, B.A., to the Exhibition of Retrospective Art, Brussels