The American Architect and Building News,
VOL. XXXIII.
Copyright, 1891, by Ticknor & Company, Boston, Mass.
№ 818.
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston as second-class matter.
august 29. 1891.
Summary : —
The Competition for the Rhode Island State-House and the satisfactory terms of Competition. — Mr. F. W. Smith’s Scheme for a National Gallery at Washington. — Some Particulars concerning it. — The Architectural Record. — Proposed Return of the New York Obelisk to Alexandria.— The
Accident in Park Place, New York.........................................125
German Architecture. — IV.............................................................127 Architect, Owner & Builder Before the Law. — VI. . . 129 American Construction through English Eyes. — III. . . . 131 Ancient Architecture for Students. — XII................................132 Books and Papers................................................................................134 Illustrations : —
Building of the American Trust, Loan and Guaranteed Investment Company, Philadelphia, Pa. —Randolph Macon Woman’s College, Lynchburg, Va. — Casino at Meyer’s Lake, Canton, 0. — Unitarian Church, Topeka, Ivans.— A Pair of Double Houses at Detroit, Mich. — Cottage at Nantucket, Mass.
Additional: Plans and Section of the Theatre at Tours, France. — The Manchester, Eng., Crematorium.—-Model of the Pantheon at Rome.—The New Victoria Courts, Birmingham, Eng. — Monument to the late Lord Frazer, Edinburgh, Scotland. —The Grand Prix Diploma: Paris Exhibition, 1889. — Residence at Beccles, Eng. — St. Thomas’s Church, Telford Park, Streatham, Eng. — Residence, Wake Green Road, Moseley, Birmingham, Eng —The Council House, Sheffield, Eng. — Dining-room in the Chateau St.
Leger, St. Germain-en-Laye, France.........................................135 Standards Lost and Found...............................................................138 Communications : —
The Formulas for Deflection of Beams. — The Temple of Baal.—-The Calvert Monument at St. Mary’s, Md.—Books
on Bridge Building—Misuse of the Word Etching. . . . 139 Notes and Clippings...........................................................................139
THE State of Rhode Island is about to select a design for its new State-house in Providence, by what may be called
very nearly a model competition. Messrs. Hoppin, Read & Hoppin, and Messrs. Stone, Carpenter & Willson, and W. R. Walker & Son, of Providence, and Messrs. Carrere & Hastings, McKim, Mead & White and J. C. Cady & Co., of New York, and Messrs. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, of Boston, have been invited to submit designs. For each design, which shall be certified to by the expert architects who will assist the Commission, as complying with the conditions of competition, one thousand dollars will be paid, provided that its author shall have made no attempt to influence the decision of the Commissioners or their advisers, and that it shall appear that the probable cost of carrying it into execution will not exceed by more than twenty-five per cent the limit of one million dollars fixed by the conditions ; but the property in the plans still remains in the architects submitting them, and they are only to be used, in whole or in part, by agreement with their authors and further compensation. From the designs furnished which conform to the conditions, one will be selected, which shall be presented to the General Assembly of the State as the design for the new building; but this design shall still remain the property of the architect or firm who made it, and is not to be used, in whole or in part, unless such architect or firm is employed to carry his plan into execution according to the rales of the American Institute of Architects. It will be observed that the programme does not absolutely promise the execution of his plan to the author of the design selected; but, as the Commissioners are only authorized to present a plan, but not to engage an architect, they were unable to bind the State any further. It was, however, within their authority to promise that the design selected by them should not be used without proper compensation to its author, and this they have done.
0
N the whole, this promises to be the most satisfactory competition for a public building yet held in this country. The Commission has chosen a list of competitors, any one of whom will do himself and the State credit, and has promised to choose one of the designs, instead of “ reserving the right to
reject all,” as is usually done where some contemptible fraud on competitors is intended. It is needless to say that none of the architects invited would have had anything to do with a competition in which this promise was not made them, but it is none the less gratifying to find how frankly and readily the Commissioners have acceded to the principles of fair competition, as recognized by architects the world over, and by the public in the most civilized communities. On its own side, the State, by its honorable and businesslike arrangement with its architects, will gain what few public bodies in this country are able to get, — the best service of some of the best men in the profession, — and its building, if it is carried out in the same spirit as that shown in the selection of a design, will be an honor to the community which possesses it. We hope and believe that this excellent example will be widely followed by similar bodies, and that the day of competitions decided by bribing, janitors, or exercising “ pressure ” upon legislators, which find their natural outgrowth in the ludicrous design, the tottering walls, the galvanized-iron ornaments, the collapses, investigations, recriminations and repairs characteristic of our public architecture, is nearly over in this country.
M
R. FRANKLIN W. SMITH has published an interesting and really valuable pamphlet in aid of what he calls the “ Propaganda for the National Gallery,” which he wishes to see established in Washington. Our readers already know something of his plan, which contemplates the erection of a vast group of buildings, to be executed, for the sake of cheapness, in concrete, and to afford room for collections of artistic objects of the most varied kinds. Mr. Smith is unquestionably an enthusiast on his subject, but he seems to be a sincere and unselfish one; and the means which he proposes for carrying out the scheme are perfectly reasonable. Although a hundred acres or so of gallery-room seems extravagant, even for Washington, Mr. Smith mentions that, less than twenty years ago, a Swede began in Stockholm a modest museum, to contain only articles illustrating the past and present of Scandinavia. His efforts attracted attention and support, and the museum which he began now fills five large buildings ; and there can he no doubt that the intelligence, wealth and public spirit so characteristic of Americans would soon suffice to fill at least a very large group of buildings with valuable objects.
W
HILE Mr. Smith’s pamphlet is rather more enthusiastic than coherent, one cannot read it without respect and admiration for its author, who, according to the modest account which he gives of himself, was a merchant in Boston, with, however, like Fergusson and Schliemann, a passionate love of architecture and history, and a mind singularly active in many ways. So long ago as 1851 he was able to indulge himself in a trip to Europe, where, after visiting the World’s Fair at London, he made a prolonged tour, bringing hack with him notes, photographs being then unknown, from which, in his intervals of leisure, lie constructed models of Jerusalem ; of localities in Wittenberg, “hallowed,” as he says, “by the history of Luther, Melancthon and Frederick the Elector; ” of the mediaeval Micklegate of York: of the Porta Maggiore at Rome ; Giotto’s. Campanile ; the Wartburg; Ilolyrood Palace ; Kenilworth Castle, and other buildings. Since then, he has made sixteen foreign journeys, devoting himself partly to the study of museums, and partly to actual buildings. As his means and leisure increased, his artistic ambition grew with it; and, after a visit to Spain, he resolved to build for himself a Moorish house at home. This idea was carried out in the Villa Zorayda, at St. Augustine, Florida, which was executed entirely in concrete, even to the raised patterns on the walls. This house was richly furnished with Oriental objects, and has since formed Mr. Smith’s winter residence. The success of his first venture induced Mm to attempt a much more important undertaking, the construction, at Saratoga, N. Y., of a Graeco- Roman house, so far as possible a reproduction of the house of Pansa, at Pompeii. This building, which is two hundred feet long, and seventy-five feet wide, is carried out, like the Villa Zorayda, in concrete, and, fully furnished with reproductions from antique objects ; it forms the summer residence of its owner, as well as one of the most popular curiosities in New York State. Although it was only recently finished, and is
VOL. XXXIII.
Copyright, 1891, by Ticknor & Company, Boston, Mass.
№ 818.
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston as second-class matter.
august 29. 1891.
Summary : —
The Competition for the Rhode Island State-House and the satisfactory terms of Competition. — Mr. F. W. Smith’s Scheme for a National Gallery at Washington. — Some Particulars concerning it. — The Architectural Record. — Proposed Return of the New York Obelisk to Alexandria.— The
Accident in Park Place, New York.........................................125
German Architecture. — IV.............................................................127 Architect, Owner & Builder Before the Law. — VI. . . 129 American Construction through English Eyes. — III. . . . 131 Ancient Architecture for Students. — XII................................132 Books and Papers................................................................................134 Illustrations : —
Building of the American Trust, Loan and Guaranteed Investment Company, Philadelphia, Pa. —Randolph Macon Woman’s College, Lynchburg, Va. — Casino at Meyer’s Lake, Canton, 0. — Unitarian Church, Topeka, Ivans.— A Pair of Double Houses at Detroit, Mich. — Cottage at Nantucket, Mass.
Additional: Plans and Section of the Theatre at Tours, France. — The Manchester, Eng., Crematorium.—-Model of the Pantheon at Rome.—The New Victoria Courts, Birmingham, Eng. — Monument to the late Lord Frazer, Edinburgh, Scotland. —The Grand Prix Diploma: Paris Exhibition, 1889. — Residence at Beccles, Eng. — St. Thomas’s Church, Telford Park, Streatham, Eng. — Residence, Wake Green Road, Moseley, Birmingham, Eng —The Council House, Sheffield, Eng. — Dining-room in the Chateau St.
Leger, St. Germain-en-Laye, France.........................................135 Standards Lost and Found...............................................................138 Communications : —
The Formulas for Deflection of Beams. — The Temple of Baal.—-The Calvert Monument at St. Mary’s, Md.—Books
on Bridge Building—Misuse of the Word Etching. . . . 139 Notes and Clippings...........................................................................139
THE State of Rhode Island is about to select a design for its new State-house in Providence, by what may be called
very nearly a model competition. Messrs. Hoppin, Read & Hoppin, and Messrs. Stone, Carpenter & Willson, and W. R. Walker & Son, of Providence, and Messrs. Carrere & Hastings, McKim, Mead & White and J. C. Cady & Co., of New York, and Messrs. Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, of Boston, have been invited to submit designs. For each design, which shall be certified to by the expert architects who will assist the Commission, as complying with the conditions of competition, one thousand dollars will be paid, provided that its author shall have made no attempt to influence the decision of the Commissioners or their advisers, and that it shall appear that the probable cost of carrying it into execution will not exceed by more than twenty-five per cent the limit of one million dollars fixed by the conditions ; but the property in the plans still remains in the architects submitting them, and they are only to be used, in whole or in part, by agreement with their authors and further compensation. From the designs furnished which conform to the conditions, one will be selected, which shall be presented to the General Assembly of the State as the design for the new building; but this design shall still remain the property of the architect or firm who made it, and is not to be used, in whole or in part, unless such architect or firm is employed to carry his plan into execution according to the rales of the American Institute of Architects. It will be observed that the programme does not absolutely promise the execution of his plan to the author of the design selected; but, as the Commissioners are only authorized to present a plan, but not to engage an architect, they were unable to bind the State any further. It was, however, within their authority to promise that the design selected by them should not be used without proper compensation to its author, and this they have done.
0
N the whole, this promises to be the most satisfactory competition for a public building yet held in this country. The Commission has chosen a list of competitors, any one of whom will do himself and the State credit, and has promised to choose one of the designs, instead of “ reserving the right to
reject all,” as is usually done where some contemptible fraud on competitors is intended. It is needless to say that none of the architects invited would have had anything to do with a competition in which this promise was not made them, but it is none the less gratifying to find how frankly and readily the Commissioners have acceded to the principles of fair competition, as recognized by architects the world over, and by the public in the most civilized communities. On its own side, the State, by its honorable and businesslike arrangement with its architects, will gain what few public bodies in this country are able to get, — the best service of some of the best men in the profession, — and its building, if it is carried out in the same spirit as that shown in the selection of a design, will be an honor to the community which possesses it. We hope and believe that this excellent example will be widely followed by similar bodies, and that the day of competitions decided by bribing, janitors, or exercising “ pressure ” upon legislators, which find their natural outgrowth in the ludicrous design, the tottering walls, the galvanized-iron ornaments, the collapses, investigations, recriminations and repairs characteristic of our public architecture, is nearly over in this country.
M
R. FRANKLIN W. SMITH has published an interesting and really valuable pamphlet in aid of what he calls the “ Propaganda for the National Gallery,” which he wishes to see established in Washington. Our readers already know something of his plan, which contemplates the erection of a vast group of buildings, to be executed, for the sake of cheapness, in concrete, and to afford room for collections of artistic objects of the most varied kinds. Mr. Smith is unquestionably an enthusiast on his subject, but he seems to be a sincere and unselfish one; and the means which he proposes for carrying out the scheme are perfectly reasonable. Although a hundred acres or so of gallery-room seems extravagant, even for Washington, Mr. Smith mentions that, less than twenty years ago, a Swede began in Stockholm a modest museum, to contain only articles illustrating the past and present of Scandinavia. His efforts attracted attention and support, and the museum which he began now fills five large buildings ; and there can he no doubt that the intelligence, wealth and public spirit so characteristic of Americans would soon suffice to fill at least a very large group of buildings with valuable objects.
W
HILE Mr. Smith’s pamphlet is rather more enthusiastic than coherent, one cannot read it without respect and admiration for its author, who, according to the modest account which he gives of himself, was a merchant in Boston, with, however, like Fergusson and Schliemann, a passionate love of architecture and history, and a mind singularly active in many ways. So long ago as 1851 he was able to indulge himself in a trip to Europe, where, after visiting the World’s Fair at London, he made a prolonged tour, bringing hack with him notes, photographs being then unknown, from which, in his intervals of leisure, lie constructed models of Jerusalem ; of localities in Wittenberg, “hallowed,” as he says, “by the history of Luther, Melancthon and Frederick the Elector; ” of the mediaeval Micklegate of York: of the Porta Maggiore at Rome ; Giotto’s. Campanile ; the Wartburg; Ilolyrood Palace ; Kenilworth Castle, and other buildings. Since then, he has made sixteen foreign journeys, devoting himself partly to the study of museums, and partly to actual buildings. As his means and leisure increased, his artistic ambition grew with it; and, after a visit to Spain, he resolved to build for himself a Moorish house at home. This idea was carried out in the Villa Zorayda, at St. Augustine, Florida, which was executed entirely in concrete, even to the raised patterns on the walls. This house was richly furnished with Oriental objects, and has since formed Mr. Smith’s winter residence. The success of his first venture induced Mm to attempt a much more important undertaking, the construction, at Saratoga, N. Y., of a Graeco- Roman house, so far as possible a reproduction of the house of Pansa, at Pompeii. This building, which is two hundred feet long, and seventy-five feet wide, is carried out, like the Villa Zorayda, in concrete, and, fully furnished with reproductions from antique objects ; it forms the summer residence of its owner, as well as one of the most popular curiosities in New York State. Although it was only recently finished, and is