-
Articles/Ads
Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL OHAPTER. ← Page 2 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Ohapter.
visited , a great expense be undergone 7 and special plans be drawn up , which can never be employed again , and are throwm as a loss on the disappointed competitor . There is , however , another side to this , on which the public are not invited to look , but which some people are ungracious enough to bethink themselves of : that is , the design paraded at several successive competitions , and that vamp , " a bed by night , a chest of drawers by day , "
wdiich , as need serves , is a corn exchange , a town hall , a museum , a literary institution , a grammar school , and all things by turns , -with its tetrastyle or hexastyle Ionic portico , or its bell turret , or its corner tower—which lasts for ever , with occasional re-copying and touching up , and . which in . the course of time may draw , if not a commission , a second or third premium . We do not see that this class of sufferers in competitions was at all referred to in the discussion at the Institute , though it is to be presumed
most of the Fellows must be aware of it—nay , we fear that some of them belong to it ;_ . and it well deserved notice , for these poverty-stricken designs are to be seen at every competition , swelling the rank and file . Now , were remuneration to be awarded to disappointed competitors , it will be easily seen it would never stop , with such a premium to architectural mendicancy . Granted that , in such a case as the competition for the government offices , or for the Memorial Church at Constantinople , many designs of
great study and original merit were left without any pecuniary reward , still it is a great thing for the young architect to have such an opportunity of displaying his ability before the public . Many of the unsuccessful in those competitions found advocates and champions who upheld their claims , and who maintain that if they were improperly deprived of premiums they gained distinction . Look for instance at the various representatives of the mediaeval styles : they had a host of supporters ready to do battle for
their pretensions . So too there were many of the unsuccessful who nevertheless proved their capacity to deal with the Italian , the Renaissance , or the Parisian style , and who will hereafter get commissions 6 n the strength of what they showed in Westminster Hall . Then the competitors obtained a notice from the public press which otherwise they would never have received ; and the lottery was not such a barren one , for many obtained positive prizes .
The arguments of competitors against competition abuses sometimes run too near arguments against competition altogether ; for by dwelling too strongly on defects which are inseparable from competition—and it is to be remarked there are defects obnoxious to committee men as well as those obnoxious to competitors—the conclusion to be drawn in many cases is , that it is better to be without a competition at all . This might be very
satisfactory to old architects , who would monopolize the commissions , or to men having good connexions , but it would be a very sorry fate for the young and unknown architect . In these days many a man of eminence has owed his rise to competitions , and it will take us a little trouble to forget that Sir Charles Barry was the successful competitor in the contest for the Palace of Westminster , Mr . Tite in that for the Royal Exchange , and Harvey Lonsdale Elmes in those for St . George ' s Hall and the
Assize Courts at Liverpool . This is a list which we could make a long one , and many of our readers can fill up , but the events of the day speak for themselves . England is not the only country where English architects compete ; there is Prance , where we gained the Lille Church in competition ; Belgium , where we gained the Dadizele Church ; Sardinia , where we have just gained the hvst prize for the Turin prison . Now , any . consideration of the principles and details of competitions must have reference not to England 3 it 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Ohapter.
visited , a great expense be undergone 7 and special plans be drawn up , which can never be employed again , and are throwm as a loss on the disappointed competitor . There is , however , another side to this , on which the public are not invited to look , but which some people are ungracious enough to bethink themselves of : that is , the design paraded at several successive competitions , and that vamp , " a bed by night , a chest of drawers by day , "
wdiich , as need serves , is a corn exchange , a town hall , a museum , a literary institution , a grammar school , and all things by turns , -with its tetrastyle or hexastyle Ionic portico , or its bell turret , or its corner tower—which lasts for ever , with occasional re-copying and touching up , and . which in . the course of time may draw , if not a commission , a second or third premium . We do not see that this class of sufferers in competitions was at all referred to in the discussion at the Institute , though it is to be presumed
most of the Fellows must be aware of it—nay , we fear that some of them belong to it ;_ . and it well deserved notice , for these poverty-stricken designs are to be seen at every competition , swelling the rank and file . Now , were remuneration to be awarded to disappointed competitors , it will be easily seen it would never stop , with such a premium to architectural mendicancy . Granted that , in such a case as the competition for the government offices , or for the Memorial Church at Constantinople , many designs of
great study and original merit were left without any pecuniary reward , still it is a great thing for the young architect to have such an opportunity of displaying his ability before the public . Many of the unsuccessful in those competitions found advocates and champions who upheld their claims , and who maintain that if they were improperly deprived of premiums they gained distinction . Look for instance at the various representatives of the mediaeval styles : they had a host of supporters ready to do battle for
their pretensions . So too there were many of the unsuccessful who nevertheless proved their capacity to deal with the Italian , the Renaissance , or the Parisian style , and who will hereafter get commissions 6 n the strength of what they showed in Westminster Hall . Then the competitors obtained a notice from the public press which otherwise they would never have received ; and the lottery was not such a barren one , for many obtained positive prizes .
The arguments of competitors against competition abuses sometimes run too near arguments against competition altogether ; for by dwelling too strongly on defects which are inseparable from competition—and it is to be remarked there are defects obnoxious to committee men as well as those obnoxious to competitors—the conclusion to be drawn in many cases is , that it is better to be without a competition at all . This might be very
satisfactory to old architects , who would monopolize the commissions , or to men having good connexions , but it would be a very sorry fate for the young and unknown architect . In these days many a man of eminence has owed his rise to competitions , and it will take us a little trouble to forget that Sir Charles Barry was the successful competitor in the contest for the Palace of Westminster , Mr . Tite in that for the Royal Exchange , and Harvey Lonsdale Elmes in those for St . George ' s Hall and the
Assize Courts at Liverpool . This is a list which we could make a long one , and many of our readers can fill up , but the events of the day speak for themselves . England is not the only country where English architects compete ; there is Prance , where we gained the Lille Church in competition ; Belgium , where we gained the Dadizele Church ; Sardinia , where we have just gained the hvst prize for the Turin prison . Now , any . consideration of the principles and details of competitions must have reference not to England 3 it 2