Mawson obtained the fourth supplementary premium by a design in which the City Hall again occupies the centre of the north side of the square, it being flanked by Public Offices and Municipal Offices; opposite are placed the Museum and Library. The Mansion House closes the west side of the square, while the place of honour on the east side is occupied somewhat inappropriately by a gigantic hotel.
“The Civic Square. ”
The scheme, if highly conventional, is well thought out, and illustrates the fashionable preference for “detached” buildings, it now being apparently con
sidered that every building of importance should, if possible, be given an “island” site. The result of this idea, which perhaps owes its origin to the “Garden City’’ movement, is that continuity is sacrificed, and the civic square has no very definite architectural entity, but is merely an area partly closed in by a series of buildings which, by the very nature of their conformation, cannot have an intimate æsthetic relationship to one another. Moreover, and this is an important point, the multiplication of the island site leads to great extravagance in street works, the proportion of road area to building area being unnecessarily large. It may be contended that the civic square itself would have gained in dignity had all the
public buildings facing it been aligned in continuous façades. By this arrangement, instead of half-a-dozen buildings of importance, we should have had one grand composition with a cumulative architectural effect far exceeding that produced by the separate and detached edifices which nearly all the competitors have shown. Mr. G. Oulie-Hansen, of Oslo, Norway, who obtained the fifth supplementary premium, has planned a fine civic “place” of greater longitudinal
dimension than that shown in any of the other schemes, but while he has given the buildings a certain measure of continuity, no attempt has been made to give to each its relative status and importance, the City Hall, Museum, and Library being lined up to take their places haphazardly, as if on the principle of “First come, first served. ” The road communica
tions are, however, very good, and the scheme has the merit of being economical of execution. Mr. Armando d’Angelo, of New York, submitted a design which has the distinction of being the only one with its main axis aligned with the entrance to the War Memorial. He has certainly produced an interesting composition, but the multiplication of island sites gives a ‘‘spotty’’ effect, the general confusion being
enhanced by the fact that the main traffic routes cross the civic “place” obliquely. Mr. Ir. A. Boeken, of Amsterdam, sent in a clever lay-out, in which the BIRMINGHAM CIVIC CENTRE COMPETITION: FIRST PREMIATED DESIGN.
Maximilian Romanoff and Ziza Duertein-Romanoff (Paris).
“The Civic Square. ”
The scheme, if highly conventional, is well thought out, and illustrates the fashionable preference for “detached” buildings, it now being apparently con
sidered that every building of importance should, if possible, be given an “island” site. The result of this idea, which perhaps owes its origin to the “Garden City’’ movement, is that continuity is sacrificed, and the civic square has no very definite architectural entity, but is merely an area partly closed in by a series of buildings which, by the very nature of their conformation, cannot have an intimate æsthetic relationship to one another. Moreover, and this is an important point, the multiplication of the island site leads to great extravagance in street works, the proportion of road area to building area being unnecessarily large. It may be contended that the civic square itself would have gained in dignity had all the
public buildings facing it been aligned in continuous façades. By this arrangement, instead of half-a-dozen buildings of importance, we should have had one grand composition with a cumulative architectural effect far exceeding that produced by the separate and detached edifices which nearly all the competitors have shown. Mr. G. Oulie-Hansen, of Oslo, Norway, who obtained the fifth supplementary premium, has planned a fine civic “place” of greater longitudinal
dimension than that shown in any of the other schemes, but while he has given the buildings a certain measure of continuity, no attempt has been made to give to each its relative status and importance, the City Hall, Museum, and Library being lined up to take their places haphazardly, as if on the principle of “First come, first served. ” The road communica
tions are, however, very good, and the scheme has the merit of being economical of execution. Mr. Armando d’Angelo, of New York, submitted a design which has the distinction of being the only one with its main axis aligned with the entrance to the War Memorial. He has certainly produced an interesting composition, but the multiplication of island sites gives a ‘‘spotty’’ effect, the general confusion being
enhanced by the fact that the main traffic routes cross the civic “place” obliquely. Mr. Ir. A. Boeken, of Amsterdam, sent in a clever lay-out, in which the BIRMINGHAM CIVIC CENTRE COMPETITION: FIRST PREMIATED DESIGN.
Maximilian Romanoff and Ziza Duertein-Romanoff (Paris).