第 33 节
作者:
青涩春天 更新:2021-02-27 02:38 字数:9321
libraries; laboratories; and lecture rooms。 The last of these is
the least exacting; and it is the one most commonly well
supplied。 It is also; on the whole; the more conspicuous in
proportion to the outlay。 But all these are matters chiefly of
interior arrangement; appliances and materials; and they are all
of a relatively inconspicuous character。 Except as detailed in
printed statistics they do not ordinarily lend themselves with
appreciable effect to the art of advertising。 In meeting all
these material requirements of the work in hand a very large
expenditure of funds might advantageously be made
advantageously to the academic use which they are to serve
without much visible effect as seen in perspective from the
outside。 And so far as bears on this academic use; the exterior
of the buildings is a matter of altogether minor consequence; as
are also the decorative appointments of the interior。
In practice; under compulsion of the business principles of
publicity; it will be found; however; that the exterior and the
decorative appointments are the chief object of the designer's
attention; the interior arrangement and working appointments will
not infrequently become a matter of rude approximation to the
requirements of the work; care being first taken that these
arrangements shall not interfere with the decorative or
spectacular intent of the outside。 But even with the best…advised
management of its publicity value; it is always appreciably more
difficult to secure appropriations for the material equipment of
a laboratory or library than for the shell of the edifice; and
still more so for the maintenance of an adequate corps of
caretakers and attendants。
As will be found true of other lines of this university
enterprise in publicity; so also as to this presentation of a
reputable exterior; it is designed to impress not the academic
personnel; or the scholarly element at large; but the laity。 The
academic folk and scholars are commonly less susceptible to the
appeal of curious facades and perplexing feats of architecture;
and then; such an appeal would have no particular motive in their
case; it is not necessary to impress them。 It is in the eyes of
the unlettered; particularly the business community; that it is
desirable for the university to present an imposing front; that
being the feature of academic installation which they will
readily appreciate。 To carry instant conviction of a high
academic worth to this large element of the populace; the
university buildings should bulk large in the landscape; should
be wastefully expensive; and should conform to the architectural
mannerisms in present vogue。 In a few years the style of
architectural affectations will change; of course; as fashions
necessarily change in any community whose tastes are governed by
pecuniary standards; and any particular architectural contrivance
will therefore presently lose much of its prestige value; but by
the time it so is overtaken by obsolescence; the structures which
embody the particular affectation in question will have made the
appeal for which they were designed; and so will have served
their purpose of publicity。 And then; too; edifices created with
a thrifty view to a large spectacular effect at a low cost are
also liable to so rapid a physical decay as to be ready for
removal and replacement before they have greatly outlived their
usefulness in this respect。
In recent scholastic edifices one is not surprised to find
lecture rooms acoustically ill designed; and with an annoying
distribution of light; due to the requirements of exterior
symmetry and the decorative distribution of windows; and the like
holds true even in a higher degree for libraries and
laboratories; since for these uses the demands in these respects
are even more exacting。 Nor is it unusual to find waste of space
and weakness of structure; due; e。g。; to a fictitious winding
stair; thrown into the design to permit such a facade as will
simulate the defensive details of a mediaeval keep; to be
surmounted with embrasured battlements and a (make…believe)
loopholed turret。 So; again; space will; on the same ground; be
wasted in heavy…ceiled; ill…lighted lobbies; which might once
have served as a mustering place for a body of unruly
men…at…arms; but which mean nothing more to the point today; and
in these premises; than so many inconvenient flagstones to be
crossed in coming and going。
These principles of spectacular publicity demand a nice
adjustment of the conspicuous features of the plant to the
current vagaries in decorative art and magnificence;that is to
say; conformity to the sophistications current on that level of
culture on which these unlettered men of substance live and move
and have their being。 As touches the case of the seats of
learning; these current lay sophistications draw on several more
or less diverse; and not altogether congruous; lines of
conventionally approved manifestation of the ability to pay。 Out
of the past comes the conventional preconception that these
scholastic edifices should show something of the revered traits
of ecclesiastical and monastic real…estate; while out of the
present comes an ingrained predilection for the more sprightly
and exuberant effects of decoration and magnificence to which the
modern concert…hall; the more expensive cafes and clubrooms; and
the Pullman coaches have given a degree of authentication。 Any
one given to curious inquiry might find congenial employment in
tracing out the manner and proportion in which these; and the
like; strains of aesthetic indoctrination are blended in the
edifices and grounds of a well…advised modern university。
It is not necessary here to offer many speculations on the
enduring artistic merit of these costly stage properties of the
seats of learning; since their permanent value in that respect is
scarcely to be rated as a substantial motive in their
construction。 But there is; e。 g。; no obvious reason why; with
the next change in the tide of mannerism; the disjointed
grotesqueries of an eclectic and modified Gothic should not
presently pass into the same category of apologetic neglect; with
the architectural evils wrought by the mid…Victorian generation。
But there is another side to this architecture of notoriety; that
merits some slight further remark。 It is consistently and
unavoidably meretricious。 Just at present the enjoined vogue is
some form of bastard antique。 The archaic forms which it
ostensibly preserves are structurally out of date; ill adapted to
the modern materials and the modern builder's use of materials。
Modern building; on a large scale and designed for durable
results; is framework building。 The modern requirements of light;
heating; ventilation and access require it to be such; and the
materials used lend themselves to that manner of construction。
The strains involved in modern structures are frame…work strains;
whereas the forms which these edifices are required to simulate
are masonry forms。 The outward conformation and ostensible
structure of the buildings; therefore; are commonly meaningless;
except as an architectural prevarication。 They have to be
adapted; simulated; deranged; because in modern use they are
impracticable in the shape; proportion and combination that of
right belonged to them under the circumstances of materials and
uses under which they were once worked out。 So there results a
meaningless juxtaposition of details; that prove nothing in
detail and contradict one another in assemblage。 All of which may
suggest reflections on the fitness of housing the quest of truth
in an edifice of false pretences。
These architectural vagaries serve no useful end in academic
life。 As an object lesson they conduce; in their measure; to
inculcate in the students a spirit of disingenuousness。 But they
spread abroad the prestige of the university as an ornate and
spendthrift establishment; which is believed to bring increased
enrolment of students and; what is even more to the point; to
conciliate the good…will of the opulent patrons of learning。 That
these edifices are good for this purpose; and that this policy of
architectural mise en scene is wise; appears from the greater
readiness with which funds are procured for such ornate
constructions than for any other academic use。 It appears that
the successful men of