surfaces which catch direct or strongly reflected light.
The only motive used in the details which has been extensively used before is the rope moulding. That was used because it gave the greatest sparkle to a vertical member in gold terra cotta or bronze. The other details consisted of an organic scroll, swirling off from a flowing stem. It might be called “Maya brought up to date” and made exciting and nervous as the first truly American architecture might have been, had it not died out in its primitive form.
As the stone masons of the middle ages incorporated in their carving of detail significant, and often humorous, reflections of their times, so the Public Service Building has included in its decora
tive motives emblems indicative of the progress of public utilities. These are typified by the clipper ship, the modern ocean greyhound, the covered wagon, the aeroplane, the oil well, dynamo and similar devices. A Revolutionary cannon found in a well on the site is also used in gold terra cotta as a form of decoration.
A touch of humor is added to this Boston building by the inclusion of the Bean Pot and the “Sacred Cod. ” Boston’s Book of Learning and a head of an Early Puritan, who might be mistaken for John Harvard, also add to the decorative scheme.
The making of the working drawings for the Public Service Building was also a problem. If ordinary drawings were made, the effect of color
PRELIMINARY MODEL OF PUBLIC SERVICE BUILDING, BOSTON, MASS.
HAROLD FIELD KELLOGG, ARCHITECT
The only motive used in the details which has been extensively used before is the rope moulding. That was used because it gave the greatest sparkle to a vertical member in gold terra cotta or bronze. The other details consisted of an organic scroll, swirling off from a flowing stem. It might be called “Maya brought up to date” and made exciting and nervous as the first truly American architecture might have been, had it not died out in its primitive form.
As the stone masons of the middle ages incorporated in their carving of detail significant, and often humorous, reflections of their times, so the Public Service Building has included in its decora
tive motives emblems indicative of the progress of public utilities. These are typified by the clipper ship, the modern ocean greyhound, the covered wagon, the aeroplane, the oil well, dynamo and similar devices. A Revolutionary cannon found in a well on the site is also used in gold terra cotta as a form of decoration.
A touch of humor is added to this Boston building by the inclusion of the Bean Pot and the “Sacred Cod. ” Boston’s Book of Learning and a head of an Early Puritan, who might be mistaken for John Harvard, also add to the decorative scheme.
The making of the working drawings for the Public Service Building was also a problem. If ordinary drawings were made, the effect of color
PRELIMINARY MODEL OF PUBLIC SERVICE BUILDING, BOSTON, MASS.
HAROLD FIELD KELLOGG, ARCHITECT