Correspondence
Architectural School Competitions
To the Editor of The Architect and Building News.
Sir,—I have read with interest Mr. Bernard Widdows’ letter in your issue of October 7. I cannot, however, agree with him that an assessor would of necessity prefer his own solution to any other scheme submitted in competition. As a competitor may confess himself well and honestly beaten by a superior design, so an assessor—who after all is essentially critic rather than creator—must surely appreciate points in other schemes which are outside his own range. Always to prefer one’s own solution is almost inconceivably narrow-minded.
Having said this, I must confess that behind Mr. Widdows’ argument lies a certain truth. The younger generation is rarely entrusted with the assessing of an important competition. This privilege usually arrives when a man has achieved a well-deserved reputation, and—incidentally—has settled and formulated his own ideas for good and all. Such an assessor, however worthy and distinguished, cannot enter upon his task with a truly open mind.
This is all destructive. What is the solution? Mr. Widdows advocates a jury of eight, six of whom are laymen! Mr. Widdows may have exceptionally happy relations with his committees, but even he must own that the layman looks to the architect for advice on architectural problems. To place architects and laymen on a jury with equal powers in marking designs is to me unthinkable.
To my mind, the assessors of architectural competitions must be architects, or those at present somewhat nebulous people—architectural critics. But before starting on their work they must consult headmasters, education authorities, and the like, so that they may go forward with perfect knowledge of the everyday requirements of the building under consideration.
I think, further, that no jury should be composed of more than three people. Give us a jury of three architects, two of them below the age of forty. Show them the best relevant examples of modem work, throw them at the heads of masters and authorities, give them a thorough grasp of the practical and aesthetic requirements (fine buildings in fine surroundings have a greater lasting effect upon boys than is usually conceded), and I will back them to select the best design.—Yours faithfully,
Graham R. Dawbarn.
London, W.C.l.
Professional Societies
R.I.B.A.
The Board of Architectural Education of the Institute announces the following awards of R.I.B.A. Maintenance Scholarships in Architecture :
The R.I.B.A. Fourth and Fifth Year Maintenance Scholarship.—This scholarship has been awarded to C. J. Bartlett, of the School of Architecture, the Technical College, Cardiff. The scholarship is of the value of £100, and is tenable for two years in the fourth and fifth year courses at a School of Architecture recognised by the R.I.B.A. by a student who has already completed satisfactorily a three years’ course in a recognised school.
The A.G.B.I. Maintenance Scholarship. — This scholarship has been awarded to J. F. D. Wylson, of Whitstable, Kent. The scholarship is intended to enable the son or daughter of an architect or artist to attend an approved course at one of the Schools of Architecture recognised by the R.I.B.A. for the purpose of exemption from its examinations. The scholar
ship is £100 in value for one year, and is renewable for two further periods of one year each.
Six scholarships were awarded in July, 1926, and five of these have been renewed for the academic year 1927-1928. The scholarships supply a need in the architectural profession, and it is hoped in future to be in a position to award scholarships to a total value of about £1,000 annually. With this object in view a capital fund has been started, which it is hoped to increase materially, and it is also intended to found more fourth and fifth year scholarships to enable promising students to continue their architectural education for longer periods.
The designs of students of Schools of Architecture recognised for exemption from the R.I.B.A. Final Examination will be exhibited in the R.I.B.A. Galleries, 9 Conduit Street, W.l, until November 4, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Saturday from 10 to 5).
The R.I.B.A. Board of Architectural Education Silver Medal for Recognised Schools is awarded for the best set of drawings submitted. This year the followingschools have sent exhibits : School of Architecture, the Architectural Association; School of Architecture, University of Liverpool; School of Architecture, University of Manchester; School of Architecture, Robert Gordon’s Colleges, Aberdeen; Glasgow School of Architecture; School of Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art; Bartlett School of Architecture, University of London; School of Architecture, McGill University, Montreal; Department of Architecture, The Technical College, Cardiff.
New Offices at Leek
This office block, designed by Messrs. Longden & Venables, must have presented several difficulties in planning. A corner site having two sides already built up, if it exceeds a certain limited area, requires an internal courtyard to light and ventilate the rooms furthest away from the street frontage. Where, however, the ground is especially valuable, and it is necessary, as was apparently the case in the present instance, to reduce this internal open area to the minimum, some of the rooms must needs subsist upon borrowed light. Considering how completely this corner site is built upon, the architects deserve great credit for such an orderly and spacious plan in which all the apartments of the building, with the exception of the telephone-room and three small reception-rooms, receive ample illumination. On the ground floor, through a grand Ionic portico, we enter a vestible giving access to a large entrance hall with enquiry office immediately behind it. The two interiors here illustrated show the buyers’-room on the ground floor and the board-room, both of which are decorated in a style that can best be described as one of opulent simplicity. In the former case we have white plastered walls and ceiling, parquetted floors, and in one end of the room a row of cupboards delicately detailed, while in the latter the walls are decorated with tall panels crowned by a cornice, which in its turn supports a vaulted plaster ceiling with large skylight, rectangular on plan.
As a work of architecture, this office block has obviously great merits. Yet, although its form and style are so commendable, its character is open to criticism on the ground that the building looks far more like a museum, or art gallery, than a block of commercial offices. It has beauty, but beauty of a kind not usually associated with its particular function. Nevertheless the building, as seen from the street, is a very fine composition, and the Ionic Order of a type derived from the Erectheion is used with distinction.
Architectural School Competitions
To the Editor of The Architect and Building News.
Sir,—I have read with interest Mr. Bernard Widdows’ letter in your issue of October 7. I cannot, however, agree with him that an assessor would of necessity prefer his own solution to any other scheme submitted in competition. As a competitor may confess himself well and honestly beaten by a superior design, so an assessor—who after all is essentially critic rather than creator—must surely appreciate points in other schemes which are outside his own range. Always to prefer one’s own solution is almost inconceivably narrow-minded.
Having said this, I must confess that behind Mr. Widdows’ argument lies a certain truth. The younger generation is rarely entrusted with the assessing of an important competition. This privilege usually arrives when a man has achieved a well-deserved reputation, and—incidentally—has settled and formulated his own ideas for good and all. Such an assessor, however worthy and distinguished, cannot enter upon his task with a truly open mind.
This is all destructive. What is the solution? Mr. Widdows advocates a jury of eight, six of whom are laymen! Mr. Widdows may have exceptionally happy relations with his committees, but even he must own that the layman looks to the architect for advice on architectural problems. To place architects and laymen on a jury with equal powers in marking designs is to me unthinkable.
To my mind, the assessors of architectural competitions must be architects, or those at present somewhat nebulous people—architectural critics. But before starting on their work they must consult headmasters, education authorities, and the like, so that they may go forward with perfect knowledge of the everyday requirements of the building under consideration.
I think, further, that no jury should be composed of more than three people. Give us a jury of three architects, two of them below the age of forty. Show them the best relevant examples of modem work, throw them at the heads of masters and authorities, give them a thorough grasp of the practical and aesthetic requirements (fine buildings in fine surroundings have a greater lasting effect upon boys than is usually conceded), and I will back them to select the best design.—Yours faithfully,
Graham R. Dawbarn.
London, W.C.l.
Professional Societies
R.I.B.A.
The Board of Architectural Education of the Institute announces the following awards of R.I.B.A. Maintenance Scholarships in Architecture :
The R.I.B.A. Fourth and Fifth Year Maintenance Scholarship.—This scholarship has been awarded to C. J. Bartlett, of the School of Architecture, the Technical College, Cardiff. The scholarship is of the value of £100, and is tenable for two years in the fourth and fifth year courses at a School of Architecture recognised by the R.I.B.A. by a student who has already completed satisfactorily a three years’ course in a recognised school.
The A.G.B.I. Maintenance Scholarship. — This scholarship has been awarded to J. F. D. Wylson, of Whitstable, Kent. The scholarship is intended to enable the son or daughter of an architect or artist to attend an approved course at one of the Schools of Architecture recognised by the R.I.B.A. for the purpose of exemption from its examinations. The scholar
ship is £100 in value for one year, and is renewable for two further periods of one year each.
Six scholarships were awarded in July, 1926, and five of these have been renewed for the academic year 1927-1928. The scholarships supply a need in the architectural profession, and it is hoped in future to be in a position to award scholarships to a total value of about £1,000 annually. With this object in view a capital fund has been started, which it is hoped to increase materially, and it is also intended to found more fourth and fifth year scholarships to enable promising students to continue their architectural education for longer periods.
The designs of students of Schools of Architecture recognised for exemption from the R.I.B.A. Final Examination will be exhibited in the R.I.B.A. Galleries, 9 Conduit Street, W.l, until November 4, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Saturday from 10 to 5).
The R.I.B.A. Board of Architectural Education Silver Medal for Recognised Schools is awarded for the best set of drawings submitted. This year the followingschools have sent exhibits : School of Architecture, the Architectural Association; School of Architecture, University of Liverpool; School of Architecture, University of Manchester; School of Architecture, Robert Gordon’s Colleges, Aberdeen; Glasgow School of Architecture; School of Architecture, Edinburgh College of Art; Bartlett School of Architecture, University of London; School of Architecture, McGill University, Montreal; Department of Architecture, The Technical College, Cardiff.
New Offices at Leek
This office block, designed by Messrs. Longden & Venables, must have presented several difficulties in planning. A corner site having two sides already built up, if it exceeds a certain limited area, requires an internal courtyard to light and ventilate the rooms furthest away from the street frontage. Where, however, the ground is especially valuable, and it is necessary, as was apparently the case in the present instance, to reduce this internal open area to the minimum, some of the rooms must needs subsist upon borrowed light. Considering how completely this corner site is built upon, the architects deserve great credit for such an orderly and spacious plan in which all the apartments of the building, with the exception of the telephone-room and three small reception-rooms, receive ample illumination. On the ground floor, through a grand Ionic portico, we enter a vestible giving access to a large entrance hall with enquiry office immediately behind it. The two interiors here illustrated show the buyers’-room on the ground floor and the board-room, both of which are decorated in a style that can best be described as one of opulent simplicity. In the former case we have white plastered walls and ceiling, parquetted floors, and in one end of the room a row of cupboards delicately detailed, while in the latter the walls are decorated with tall panels crowned by a cornice, which in its turn supports a vaulted plaster ceiling with large skylight, rectangular on plan.
As a work of architecture, this office block has obviously great merits. Yet, although its form and style are so commendable, its character is open to criticism on the ground that the building looks far more like a museum, or art gallery, than a block of commercial offices. It has beauty, but beauty of a kind not usually associated with its particular function. Nevertheless the building, as seen from the street, is a very fine composition, and the Ionic Order of a type derived from the Erectheion is used with distinction.