Professional Societies
R. I. B. A. Notes
The Statutory Control and Development of Rural England. — A comprehensive report on this subject, prepared by the Town Planning and Housing Committee, was approved, and forwarded to the Council for the Preservation of Rural England.
International Congresses. —In view of the agreement reached in Paris at a meeting of the Comité Central des Congrés Internationaux des Architectes, held on February 21, 1927, whereby it was unanimously agreed to dissolve the temporary organisation and revive the Comité Permanent International des Architectes as this existed in 1914; the Council approved the reconstitution of the British section of the C. P. I. A. as previously existing, and agreed to nominate delegates to represent the R. I. B. A. at the forthcoming International Congress, to be held at the Hague from August 28 to September 4, 1927.
The Preservation of Ancient Cottages. — Mr. O. P. Milne (F) was appointed to represent the R. I. B. A. on the Advisory Committee set up by the Royal Society of Arts to administer the scheme for the ‘‘Preservation of Ancient Cottages. ’’
The University of Sheffield Court of Governors. — Mr. Robert Atkinson (F) was re-appointed as
the R. I. B. A. representative on the Court of Governors of Sheffield University for a further period of three years.
The Empire Forestry Association Governing Council. — Mr. H. D. Searles-Wood (F) was re
appointed as the R. I. B. A. representative on the Governing Council of the Empire Forestry Association.
The Fellowship. — The Council, by a unanimous vote, elected the following architects to the Fellowship, under the powers defined in the Supplemental Charter of 1925 ― Great Britain: J. L. Ball (Birmingham), J. B. Nicol (Aberdeen), F. C. Mears (Edinburgh), M. H. Bailie Scott (London), and Adrian Gilbert Scott (London). Overseas: A. S. Hook (President of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales), B. J. Waterhouse (Vice-President of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales), and John Perry (President of the Cape Institute of Architects).
Competition News
Rotherham
Rotherham Borough Council Education Committee propose to erect a new technical college in Rotherham. An open competition is being held for the appointment of an architect for the scheme.
Wimbledon
The Corporation, after consultation with Mr. H. V. Ashley, F. R. I. B. A., the assessor, have arranged all details in connection with the competitive designs for the town hall scheme.
Silvercraft Competition.
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths propose to hold a competition aiming at the improvement of design in silverwork. Specimens selected by the Company’s judges will be purchased by the Company to the Value of £500 (provided that sufficient good work is submitted), with a view to exhibitions in various directions of representative modern work. The judges will be Sir Edwin Lutyens, R. A., Mr. C. H. St. John Hornby, Mr. Charles Aitken, Director of the Tate Gallery, Mr. B. J. Fletcher, Principal of the Birmingham Art School, Mr. F. H. Courthope and Mr. Arthur Duvall Bishop, with power to add to their number. The competition is open to British subjects only, and all entries must be sent to the Clerk of the Goldsmiths’ Company, Goldsmiths’ Hall, E. C. 2, before October 15 next.
Merthyr Vale War Memorial Competitioni
The Competitions Committee desire to call the attention of members to the fact that the conditions of the above competition are not in accordance with the regulations of the R. I. B. A. The Competitions Committee are in negotiation with the promoters in the hope of securing an amendment. In the meantime members are advised to take no part in the competition.
Book Reviews
The Architecture of Greece and Rome
The Architecture of Ancient Greece. By W. J.
Anderson, A. R. I. B. A., and R. Phene Spiers, F. S. A., F. R. I. B. A. Revised and re-written by W. B. Dinsmoor, Professor of Architecture, Columbia University, and in the American School of Classical Studies, Athens. One volume. 21s net. London: B. T. Batsford.
The Architecture of Ancient Rome. By W. J. Anderson, A. R. I. B. A., and R. Phene Spiers, F. S. A., F. R. I. B. A. Revised and re-written by Thomas Ashby, D. Litt., F. S. A., late Director of the British School at Rome. One volume. 21s. net. London: B. T. Batsford.
It is no disparagement to Anderson and Spiers’ original volume on “The Architecture of Greece and Rome” that it has now been divided into two parts, each of which has been thoroughly overhauled and re-written to bring the work abreast of the results of modern investigation and research. Knowledge of the architectures of the ancient world is so far yet from being precise and determined that we cannot dispense with a certain amount of fluidity in its presentation; nor overlook the fact that what is presented to-day may need some revision on the morrow. With, until comparatively recent years, so much definite information hidden under the soil, it was easy to foresee that some of the facts and deductions of twenty-five years ago might have to be considerably modified. And it is to the credit of the publishers that they set about this revision in no hesitating or uncertain fashion. The interruption of the War has not been without value, for it has enabled the respective editors of the new volumes to incorporate much new information that has become available only through the extensive researches and discoveries of the last few years.
Beyond adhesion to the evolutionary theory, propounded by the original authors, and a restriction to the examples selected by them, Professor Dinsmoor has practically re-written the material on Grecian architecture; and Mr. Ashby, in regard to that on Roman work, confesses that “more and more changes have been introduced” as he progressed, “and while
some passages have been retained unaltered, others are perhaps hardly recognisable. ” In the circumstances it does occur to one that the two distinguished authorities entrusted with the revision might have been given a clear field on their own account. Presumably, however, ‘ ‘ Anderson and Spiers” is a name of value in the list of classical text-books; so now, being re-written, revised and largely re-illustrated to accord with the present state of knowledge, we can confidently recommend it to the new generation of students.
Books Received
Modern Electrical Illumination. By Cyril Sylvester, A. M. I. E. E., A. M. I. Mech. E., etc., and Thomas E. Ritchie, A. M. I. E. E., etc. (Longmans, Green & Co., Ltd. ) 42s. net.
The Modern English House. (Country Life, Ltd. )
R. I. B. A. Notes
The Statutory Control and Development of Rural England. — A comprehensive report on this subject, prepared by the Town Planning and Housing Committee, was approved, and forwarded to the Council for the Preservation of Rural England.
International Congresses. —In view of the agreement reached in Paris at a meeting of the Comité Central des Congrés Internationaux des Architectes, held on February 21, 1927, whereby it was unanimously agreed to dissolve the temporary organisation and revive the Comité Permanent International des Architectes as this existed in 1914; the Council approved the reconstitution of the British section of the C. P. I. A. as previously existing, and agreed to nominate delegates to represent the R. I. B. A. at the forthcoming International Congress, to be held at the Hague from August 28 to September 4, 1927.
The Preservation of Ancient Cottages. — Mr. O. P. Milne (F) was appointed to represent the R. I. B. A. on the Advisory Committee set up by the Royal Society of Arts to administer the scheme for the ‘‘Preservation of Ancient Cottages. ’’
The University of Sheffield Court of Governors. — Mr. Robert Atkinson (F) was re-appointed as
the R. I. B. A. representative on the Court of Governors of Sheffield University for a further period of three years.
The Empire Forestry Association Governing Council. — Mr. H. D. Searles-Wood (F) was re
appointed as the R. I. B. A. representative on the Governing Council of the Empire Forestry Association.
The Fellowship. — The Council, by a unanimous vote, elected the following architects to the Fellowship, under the powers defined in the Supplemental Charter of 1925 ― Great Britain: J. L. Ball (Birmingham), J. B. Nicol (Aberdeen), F. C. Mears (Edinburgh), M. H. Bailie Scott (London), and Adrian Gilbert Scott (London). Overseas: A. S. Hook (President of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales), B. J. Waterhouse (Vice-President of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales), and John Perry (President of the Cape Institute of Architects).
Competition News
Rotherham
Rotherham Borough Council Education Committee propose to erect a new technical college in Rotherham. An open competition is being held for the appointment of an architect for the scheme.
Wimbledon
The Corporation, after consultation with Mr. H. V. Ashley, F. R. I. B. A., the assessor, have arranged all details in connection with the competitive designs for the town hall scheme.
Silvercraft Competition.
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths propose to hold a competition aiming at the improvement of design in silverwork. Specimens selected by the Company’s judges will be purchased by the Company to the Value of £500 (provided that sufficient good work is submitted), with a view to exhibitions in various directions of representative modern work. The judges will be Sir Edwin Lutyens, R. A., Mr. C. H. St. John Hornby, Mr. Charles Aitken, Director of the Tate Gallery, Mr. B. J. Fletcher, Principal of the Birmingham Art School, Mr. F. H. Courthope and Mr. Arthur Duvall Bishop, with power to add to their number. The competition is open to British subjects only, and all entries must be sent to the Clerk of the Goldsmiths’ Company, Goldsmiths’ Hall, E. C. 2, before October 15 next.
Merthyr Vale War Memorial Competitioni
The Competitions Committee desire to call the attention of members to the fact that the conditions of the above competition are not in accordance with the regulations of the R. I. B. A. The Competitions Committee are in negotiation with the promoters in the hope of securing an amendment. In the meantime members are advised to take no part in the competition.
Book Reviews
The Architecture of Greece and Rome
The Architecture of Ancient Greece. By W. J.
Anderson, A. R. I. B. A., and R. Phene Spiers, F. S. A., F. R. I. B. A. Revised and re-written by W. B. Dinsmoor, Professor of Architecture, Columbia University, and in the American School of Classical Studies, Athens. One volume. 21s net. London: B. T. Batsford.
The Architecture of Ancient Rome. By W. J. Anderson, A. R. I. B. A., and R. Phene Spiers, F. S. A., F. R. I. B. A. Revised and re-written by Thomas Ashby, D. Litt., F. S. A., late Director of the British School at Rome. One volume. 21s. net. London: B. T. Batsford.
It is no disparagement to Anderson and Spiers’ original volume on “The Architecture of Greece and Rome” that it has now been divided into two parts, each of which has been thoroughly overhauled and re-written to bring the work abreast of the results of modern investigation and research. Knowledge of the architectures of the ancient world is so far yet from being precise and determined that we cannot dispense with a certain amount of fluidity in its presentation; nor overlook the fact that what is presented to-day may need some revision on the morrow. With, until comparatively recent years, so much definite information hidden under the soil, it was easy to foresee that some of the facts and deductions of twenty-five years ago might have to be considerably modified. And it is to the credit of the publishers that they set about this revision in no hesitating or uncertain fashion. The interruption of the War has not been without value, for it has enabled the respective editors of the new volumes to incorporate much new information that has become available only through the extensive researches and discoveries of the last few years.
Beyond adhesion to the evolutionary theory, propounded by the original authors, and a restriction to the examples selected by them, Professor Dinsmoor has practically re-written the material on Grecian architecture; and Mr. Ashby, in regard to that on Roman work, confesses that “more and more changes have been introduced” as he progressed, “and while
some passages have been retained unaltered, others are perhaps hardly recognisable. ” In the circumstances it does occur to one that the two distinguished authorities entrusted with the revision might have been given a clear field on their own account. Presumably, however, ‘ ‘ Anderson and Spiers” is a name of value in the list of classical text-books; so now, being re-written, revised and largely re-illustrated to accord with the present state of knowledge, we can confidently recommend it to the new generation of students.
Books Received
Modern Electrical Illumination. By Cyril Sylvester, A. M. I. E. E., A. M. I. Mech. E., etc., and Thomas E. Ritchie, A. M. I. E. E., etc. (Longmans, Green & Co., Ltd. ) 42s. net.
The Modern English House. (Country Life, Ltd. )