7 Apri 5, 1872. THE BUILDING NEWS. 269
THE BUILDING NEWS.
—
LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1872.
THE PROXIMATE PRINCIPLES OF
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN.—III.
1 SUG the subject of window design,
we will now consider the next step—
namely, esthetic character or expression. As
an organ of utility, a window, doubtless,
should also be made one of expression and
beauty. Let us see how this may be effected.
Tn my last paper the essential or logical con-
ditions of window design were considered
under the several heads of form, position, and
construction, and we arrived approximately
at the principles which should determine the
design in these particulars. That these
naturally lead to the last step, or the esthetic
expression of such a feature, it requires little
argument to prove, nor do the limitations or
conditions laid down in our previous investi-
gation at all necessarily limit a free or artistic
treatment of such a feature as some may
suppose. On the contrary, it will be found
a thoroughly rational basis of design, or one
founded on an order of consequential ideas as
indicated, and will generally be promotive of
original thought and invention ; while, the
trammels of precedent being disregarded, no
restraint of a mere fictitious kind can impose
itself upon the artist, who is thus left free to
his notions of common ‘sense and the peculiar
requirements of his work. It may be argued
that such a system of design virtually
excludes the teaching of experience,
that it takes no account of the many
beautiful examples of art which have been
left to us upon which we can exercise our
discrimination and selection, and that these
examples, moreover, afford the means of dis-
pensing with any process or method. Such
an argument carries its own condemnation ;
it would leaye us nothing upon which to
perpetuate or develope the art; it would, in
short, make the most successful copyist the
best architect, instead of the best inventor
or deviser. This is, indeed, our position
just now. If we plan a building in accordance
with common sense and our wants and com-
forts (and this we are compelled to do, save in
some cases where conventional types and pre-
cedent still predominate, church building, to
wit) we fit to it a Gothic, or Classic, or
Italian exterior: we set it to a particular
mould or type almost intuitively—it may be
to a style borrowed from the far East, and
developed thousands of years ago, long
anterior to Christian civilisation; or it may
be a style hundreds of years old, closer to
home, but equally removed in many respects
from our habits of life, and thought, and
civilisation. We cannot do better according
to some—perhaps not at present, but the
onus probandi vests with those who deny that
we may do better if we set to work about it
in the proper and only rational way.
T have chosen a window asa feature which,
perhaps more than any other, forms a very
important element in our architectural
works, and which, to a certain extent,
is essentially a modern requirement. The
form which suggests itself as the most
fitting for a light-admitting opening we have
found to be an oblong parallelogram, and we
have now to consider the most agreeable ex-
pression that can be given to this form, and
the construction indicated. By this term
“expression,” I mean the outward utterance
or ‘‘cast” to be given to the rational form. It
is difficult to draw a line where the logical
fitness of a thing ends and the esthetic
power or expression commences. ‘The condi-
tions of a simple light-aperture would be per-
fectly satisfied by a simple perforation in a
wall of the proportion noticed; hence our
plain prosaic windows, as seen in workhouses,
factories, and the like, are complete rational
exponents, But the mind requires a more
| polite or elegant expression of purpose than
such a plain square opening can give; it re-
quires a more discriminating utterance—in
other words, the bare fact has to be clothed
in a language of its own. Thus the form
must be improved by agreeable proportion and
outline, and by such other means and appli-
ances as may aid in harmonising it with the
other constructive necessities of the building,
and at the same time give it a phonetic power
to bespeak itself. But all these means or
modes must be governed by some definite law,
as much as our rational form was. ‘There
must be cause and effect, precedence of fun-
damental to the mere accessory or ornamental,
the same as in a poem or in elocution, the
construction of the words or the intelligible
idea must not be lost sight of in the figura-
tive—the imagery and personification in which
the words are attired. Again, the fundamental,
the logical design, is not perfect without its
counterpart, the moral aptitude. Now, every
design, every work of art, must appeal to
reason through the finer perceptions, to have
any impression at all; this is as true in the
world of art as it is in the moral life. The
language of reason if unaccompanied by
kindness, fails in making an impression, be-
cause it does not touch the heart. So the
mere sensual and mental qualities of a work
must be toned or measured ; must be regu-
lated by some measure or proportion. Emer-
son has said the love of beauty is mainly the
love of measure or proportion. This apti-
tude or esthetic power of form, then, I
think, may be called the good manners or
moral power of it. In this way art, or the
artistic expression of a thing, is akin to that
which makes fellowship or society agreeable,
namely, a species of politeness which blends
the crude, harsh, and cold fact and points of
character with the morally~ pleasing or
agreeable. In a window, for example, we
have to blend or unite the simple aperture
for the intromission of light with the other
parts of a structure so that neither should
suffer or interfere in the least with the other.
We want to invite, not to repel, the benifi-
cent element of light. Large apertures are,
therefore, more significant and expressive
than small ones. Large windows, like large
eyes, seem naturally to betoken openness,
cheerfulness, and hospitality of character.
Further, the ethereal nature of light would
seem to favour curvilinear to rectilinear-
shaped openings ; besides, the former would
be more agreeable than straight lines. On
this account elliptical apertures, or better
still, a parabolic curvature, the window sill
being straight, may be employed, but these
forms have the disadvantage of expense and
difficulty of fitting the sashes and frames. This
reason and the constructive facilities afforded
by right-lined and square apertures outweigh
the esthetic reasons that may be adduced in
such forms. Again, light is diffusive, and as
the best section of jamb or reveal for the in-
tromission of light as well as for outlook is that
with splayed or bevelled edges, so also is it
the most expressive of purpose and most
agreeable to the sense. So far, then, the dic-
tates of reason and good taste seem to concur.
/isthetically, we have (1st) proportion and
outline in their relation to use, form, and con-
struction, (2nd) the accessory or adjunc-
tive office of ornament or that mode of render-
ing the material by which the expression of
the feature may be fully attained for the end
in view. Here, again, we get the abstract
and special ideas combined or rendered into
the material language of art. We may here
inquire what this accessory effect may con-
sist in as regards window design. ‘This may
be classified in the following sort of order :—
1. Protection from the weather or sun, in the
shape of hoods, pedimental coverings, labels,
canopies, &c.; 2. Adjunct for outlook and
convenience, as sills, baleonies, &c.; 3. Em-
phasis or ornament to relieve wall surfaces
and harmonise with other features. ‘Those
who doubt the value of this last kind of art
| may be reminded of the very analogous in-
stance of the human eye, of what inestimable
value it is, with what consummate skill this
natural lens is set, and yet, withal, with what
expression and beauty in the human counten-
ance. In the contracting membrane and its
aperture we have the influx of light wonder-
fully modified and regulated ; and, again, ex-
ternally, protection afforded by the closing
eyelids—the perfection of shuttering. But
this is not all; the eye is situated in
a natural cavity or orbit of the brain
to protect it from harm, which also gives
depth and expression to the countenance.
Here we may learn to recess our window
openings in thick walls. But further, the
eye has its brow and eyelashes, and here we
learn to emphasize and express our windows
by pediments, hoods, or label mouldings.
What more expressive fenestration can be
imagined! Windows are the eyes of build-
ings, and the general architectural character
depends more on them than on any other
feature. One other essential point to be
noticed is the connection or combination of
windows in a composition, and their relation
to other features. I think we have to thank
our French neighbours for affording us a
lesson in fenestration, especially the connection
of windows vertically ; but inmy next I will
allude to this more particularly, and illustrate
what I have here said in reference to this all-
important question of lighting and windows.
Goo G:
ed
EXPERIMENTS ON MORTAR,
COMMON & SELENITIC.
A SERIES of experiments has been made
by Mr. David Kirkaldy to ascertain the
adhesive power of mortar made with lime
prepared according to the process patented by
Major General Scott, C.B., as compared with
mortar prepared in the ordinary manner:
Also to ascertain the comparative powers of
resistance of the two kinds of mortar to crush-
ing and tearing forces.
A few months since a number of experi-
ments were made by Mr. A. W. Colling, clerk
of the works at the new Law Courts. ‘These
consisted of bedding pairs of bricks with com-
mon and with patent selenitic mortar. The
common mortar specimens had proportions
of 3 and 4 of sand to 1 of lime, and the
patent mortar specimens had proportions
of 5 and 6 of sand to 1 of lime. ‘The best
results obtained from the common mortar
were resistance up to 137lb. of pulling force,
with samples with 3 and 4 of sand to 1 of lime
respectively. The selenitic mortar, with 5 of
sand to 1 of lime, held together up to 354Ib.,
and with 6 of sand to 1 lime to 228lb. The
specimens were tested four weeks after the
mortar was mixed and the bricks bedded.
The specimens tested by Mr. Kirkaldy were
prepared on his premises, and the tests ap-
plied eight weeks after their preparation. The
first series of experiments in the report refer
to crushing stress. ‘The lime used in all the
experiments was Lee’s Burham. The pro-
portions of lime to sand in the three series of
tests were the same throughout, for com-
mon mortar 1 of lime to 2, 3, and 4 of sand
respectively ; and for the selenitic mortar
proportions of 1 of lime to 4, 5, and 6 of
sand. The following are a few of the results
of the tests for thrusting stress :—
COMMON MORTAR GAUGED.
Highest Lowest Mean of
stress. stress. 4 tests.
Ib. Ib. Ib.
1to3of sand... 1288 1063 1168
ie ie 991 858 971
ea 808 713 776
PATENT SELENITIC MORTAR GAUGED.
Dene hess 2906 2482 2630
fyal soe. 2487 2341 2405
TerGs es 1812 1559 1637
PATENT SELENITIC MORTAR PRESSED.
Lino: 5806 5442 5573
hae Se 4804 4692 4742
TsGtae 4636... 4309 4493
