individual and also to the development of a high order of citizenship. A man taken from civil life, with perhaps but a limited earning capacity, returned to this country after months of military training, discipline and contact with the big things of the world, will, when re-educated to meet his new conditions, become a valuable and patriotic citizen.
T
HE experience gained during this war has developed, and in large numbers, types of men who will put the impress of their fine abilities on every future undertaking. In every professional rank there has been learned the lesson that it is the practical, workable idea that counts, that gets results. There has been no place in the turmoil of preparation and the steady grind of the daily task for the theorist, the dreamer or the poseur. It has been shown that men of the highest ideals can only successfully work with their fellows when they combine with such ideals the hard, practical sense that leads to success.
Particularly has this been shown in the fields of architecture and engineering. Just what history has been written in this country during the past two years in the annals of these two professionals need not be dwelt upon here. They have been discussed and argued to a point where further allusion would only be repetition. It has been clearly demonstrated that in times of stress, or active operation, only one type of man can survive in the daily turmoil of war’s activities. That man will be the most practical and most efficient that can be found. Whatever errors of omission or commission may in the future be set against our Government, it will be conceded that it sought out in every field of endeavor the most practical and efficient and aggressive type of men it could find. That large group of men with yearly earning capacities of upwards of a million dollars, who patriotically set aside every selfish consideration to serve their country at a salary of one dollar a year, exemplifies the class that will in the future dominate every field of labor. The lesson is obvious.
T
HE suspension of building operations for a period of many months, does not afford an opportunity to refer to the progress of our architectural development. Building in this country, with the exception of the Government’s operations, has been practically at a standstill. But, in the feverish activity displayed in the vicinity of our
shipyards, cantonments and munition plants, there has been opportunity to note the probable future effects of a very matter-of-fact attitude toward building and the architectural progress that may have accompanied it.
Possibly this war has served to develop features of industrial housing to a greater extent than any other. In design and plan, the homes of our industrial workers have been so vastly improved as to mark an epoch in this phase of construction. Architects may claim and prove their contention that it is to their abilities that this great advance is due. In every instance where large operations have been under architectural control, there has been no word of inefficiency, and the results are so very good that they will exert the most lasting influence on our domestic architecture.
M
EANWHILE, the large number of men in the profession of architecture who at great personal sacrifice have closed their offices and gone to the war, are returning educated to all those higher things which their trained powers of observation will have taught them. It is among this class that we may with calmness look for that type of man who will show to all the world just what an architect is and means to his profession. There are problems now that architects must take up and solve. They must realize that while they are artists, trained in the power of artistic expression, they are also business men and must become good executives. With the military training received by the architect, the higher and broader outlook he has acquired, he will regard everything he undertakes with the view of a super-educated, practical man. The future of architecture under the control of men of this type looks brighter now than ever before. It will be this class of men who will dominate the profession. It will be these men who, having learned that much of the study in their college courses was, as referring to their future work, so much lost time, will see to it that the curricula of our architectural educational institutions are revised so as properly to fit the young man for the work before him.
T
HIS question of education in architecture is one of the first that the profession in its efforts towards reconstruction in its own field will need to consider. Undoubtedly many of the things in architectural practice about which we so loudly
T
HE experience gained during this war has developed, and in large numbers, types of men who will put the impress of their fine abilities on every future undertaking. In every professional rank there has been learned the lesson that it is the practical, workable idea that counts, that gets results. There has been no place in the turmoil of preparation and the steady grind of the daily task for the theorist, the dreamer or the poseur. It has been shown that men of the highest ideals can only successfully work with their fellows when they combine with such ideals the hard, practical sense that leads to success.
Particularly has this been shown in the fields of architecture and engineering. Just what history has been written in this country during the past two years in the annals of these two professionals need not be dwelt upon here. They have been discussed and argued to a point where further allusion would only be repetition. It has been clearly demonstrated that in times of stress, or active operation, only one type of man can survive in the daily turmoil of war’s activities. That man will be the most practical and most efficient that can be found. Whatever errors of omission or commission may in the future be set against our Government, it will be conceded that it sought out in every field of endeavor the most practical and efficient and aggressive type of men it could find. That large group of men with yearly earning capacities of upwards of a million dollars, who patriotically set aside every selfish consideration to serve their country at a salary of one dollar a year, exemplifies the class that will in the future dominate every field of labor. The lesson is obvious.
T
HE suspension of building operations for a period of many months, does not afford an opportunity to refer to the progress of our architectural development. Building in this country, with the exception of the Government’s operations, has been practically at a standstill. But, in the feverish activity displayed in the vicinity of our
shipyards, cantonments and munition plants, there has been opportunity to note the probable future effects of a very matter-of-fact attitude toward building and the architectural progress that may have accompanied it.
Possibly this war has served to develop features of industrial housing to a greater extent than any other. In design and plan, the homes of our industrial workers have been so vastly improved as to mark an epoch in this phase of construction. Architects may claim and prove their contention that it is to their abilities that this great advance is due. In every instance where large operations have been under architectural control, there has been no word of inefficiency, and the results are so very good that they will exert the most lasting influence on our domestic architecture.
M
EANWHILE, the large number of men in the profession of architecture who at great personal sacrifice have closed their offices and gone to the war, are returning educated to all those higher things which their trained powers of observation will have taught them. It is among this class that we may with calmness look for that type of man who will show to all the world just what an architect is and means to his profession. There are problems now that architects must take up and solve. They must realize that while they are artists, trained in the power of artistic expression, they are also business men and must become good executives. With the military training received by the architect, the higher and broader outlook he has acquired, he will regard everything he undertakes with the view of a super-educated, practical man. The future of architecture under the control of men of this type looks brighter now than ever before. It will be this class of men who will dominate the profession. It will be these men who, having learned that much of the study in their college courses was, as referring to their future work, so much lost time, will see to it that the curricula of our architectural educational institutions are revised so as properly to fit the young man for the work before him.
T
HIS question of education in architecture is one of the first that the profession in its efforts towards reconstruction in its own field will need to consider. Undoubtedly many of the things in architectural practice about which we so loudly