ˮKodak” or “Pneus Stock Dunlop” or “Chariot” at the Cinema Palace, but there were countless bits of atmosphere which seemed not of this age, giving the whole thing an air of fanciful unreality. This was after the second aperitif, I will admit. At the far end of the square, perspiring painters on the top rungs of long, spidery ladders were carefully painting brown timbers on two graceful, creamy-white buildings. This was quite a shock until a closer inspection revealed that the origi
nal timbers were still faintly in evidence under the white paint, A smiling maid drew up a clothes basket and began to exhibit strange sculpture in the form of coarse, lava-textured, red rubber sponges, so well known to the morning tubbers. Very pliable the material would seem to be, for it assumed the forms of Chinese laundrymen, teddy bears, Zulu belles, bungalows, warships, crocodiles, windmills and kangaroos.
Overhead could be heard the persistent purr of a motor, and soon the silvery form of a Paris
London plane sped through the blue sky. The scene was a bit too complex to absorb at once. But Beauvais was entirely unforgettable at first glance, despite the thermometer. The finest old houses in Beauvais, inset with sparkling old polychrome brick and tile, are on obscure side streets and not on the square, regrettably enough.
To point out that old half timber construction, before being decorative, is essentially structural, is to be guilty of being rather inexcusably obvious.
Mention is made because it is undeniable that some of the half timber work seen in America aims first at being decorative, and misses its mark for want of possessing the underlying motive of being structural. Plentiful as are the examples in France, there is comparatively small diversity in framework, due largely to the aforementioned structural purpose.
Such a thing as surface facing to give the effect of half timber is apparently unknown in France, a fact which can hardly be deplored. Rare indeed
A FINE EXAMPLE OF HALF TIMBER WORK IN AUXERRE FROM THE ORIGINAL SKETCH BY SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN
nal timbers were still faintly in evidence under the white paint, A smiling maid drew up a clothes basket and began to exhibit strange sculpture in the form of coarse, lava-textured, red rubber sponges, so well known to the morning tubbers. Very pliable the material would seem to be, for it assumed the forms of Chinese laundrymen, teddy bears, Zulu belles, bungalows, warships, crocodiles, windmills and kangaroos.
Overhead could be heard the persistent purr of a motor, and soon the silvery form of a Paris
London plane sped through the blue sky. The scene was a bit too complex to absorb at once. But Beauvais was entirely unforgettable at first glance, despite the thermometer. The finest old houses in Beauvais, inset with sparkling old polychrome brick and tile, are on obscure side streets and not on the square, regrettably enough.
To point out that old half timber construction, before being decorative, is essentially structural, is to be guilty of being rather inexcusably obvious.
Mention is made because it is undeniable that some of the half timber work seen in America aims first at being decorative, and misses its mark for want of possessing the underlying motive of being structural. Plentiful as are the examples in France, there is comparatively small diversity in framework, due largely to the aforementioned structural purpose.
Such a thing as surface facing to give the effect of half timber is apparently unknown in France, a fact which can hardly be deplored. Rare indeed
A FINE EXAMPLE OF HALF TIMBER WORK IN AUXERRE FROM THE ORIGINAL SKETCH BY SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN