THE FIRST GERMAN MUNICIPAL EXPOSITION 55
free peripatetic lectures on various phases of the exposition by experts in the several departments, many of which were very good indeed. They also permitted a Mr. Hafker to give a series of lectures, presenting a more general view of the exposition, showing the interrelation of the several departments and the organic character of the municipality as a whole. This, after all, was one of the chief lessons of the exposition. Furthermore the Drcsdner Anzcigcr published a series of articles on the exposition by specialists. A book is expected to appear in May, 1904, which would have been invaluable for students of the exposition. It is to be a collection of studies of the municipal departments pre- sented at the exposition, largely by Dresden municipal officials who made a study of their special sections during the exposition.
G. PUBLIC ART.
Street decoration. The municipality, through the building department, has jurisdiction over the decoration of the street, which is the aesthetic unit of the city, just as it is the building unit, the sanitary unit, etc. Ordinances and regulations affect the position of building lines, the presence or absence of front gardens, the minimal and maximal height of buildings, the style of the fagade (in a general way) ; and in formulating these gov- erning rules, the building department takes into account the aesthetic effect of the street picture. Nothing that would detract from the harmony of this picture is to be permitted. Lamp posts, for gas or electricity, advertising pillars, street clocks, waiting- rooms, lavatories, refreshment booths, newspaper stands all have a definite aesthetic value as well as utility. The best are designed to conform to their surroundings in street or square, and thus form a harmonious addition to the picture. Telephone and telegraph wires are usually laid in conduits; and in those cases where they must be above ground they are strung across the house-tops. Even trolley poles are made artistic; though they have to disappear sometimes in business districts and in boulevards, where the wires are underground. The departmental regulations with regard to plan and style of the buildings to be erected are, of course, intended to be merely general; but it is
