The Domoinion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1908. THE GOVERNOR ON ARCHITECTURE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 299, 11 September 1908, Page 6

The Domoinion. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1908. THE GOVERNOR ON ARCHITECTURE.

4With the dreadful example before him of Bishop Julius, who incurred the violent, displeasure of a leading politician by speaking with some freedom of the boastfulnesa of / thia little country, His Excellency the Governor must have felt that he was doing a rather rash thing when he so whole-heartedly attacked the " contemptible " character of domestic architecture in New Zealand. But he will 'find many a heart warmly responsive to his vigorous onslaught upon the dreadful monotony of our "abominations " in house architecture, with "the same tin roof, painted the same red, and probably the wrong red; the same drab mud colour on the front, and the same horriblo tin thing to hold the water in at the back." He is not the first, of course, to burst forth against the deadness of most New Zealanders to architectural beauty. Mr Fkank Bullen was particularly severe on the eternal stucco of Wellington, and other people inconveniently interested in the way in which people house themselves have expressed their horror at the outward appearance of the things we live in. In older countries than New Zealand it is widely held that a community, through its official heads, should have some power of veto to prevent any violent offences against good taste in public buildings or monuments. In somo countries there actually do exist bodies which can prevent the disfiguration of city streets by mean examples of architecture. Although Mr. Dooley has expressed the opinion that " a Gorman's idee iv Hiven is painted blue, with cast-iron dogs on th* lawn," it is in Great Britain that the liberty of the citizen to build ugly houses and lead the unaesthetic life is regarded as a fundamental part of the Constitution. Germany is really awake to the value of treating as matters of public concern aesthetic questions that are left to the "faddists" in Britain. In Germany many towns possess local by-laws aimed at the protection of what is old in street architecture, and the avoidance of interference with the genius loci through discordant new buildings. Some American cities have Boards of Art Commissioners to keep municipal „ buildings beautiful. In France—which is supposed to have' a Ministre des Beaux-Arts, but which has him only in the shape of a Mihister of Public Instruction who has little time to attend to aesthetic matters —the official power to prevent the abominations that Lord Plunket dislikes is very small, and very little cxerciscd. Italy, as one would expect, takes a very serious view of architecture. Under a law passed ten years ago, Communal Councils aro' authorised to frame by-laws which prevent the crcction of such buildings as injure the appearance of city strocts, and tho civic authorities aro fnithI orified to'' rcfvific sanction to now

building if it is' 1 " contrary to the general demands of art and amenity." Wellington, we are bound to say, would be a much pleasanter place if " the general demands of art and amenity " were adopted into the narrow set of principles admitted by our public men. Tho rapid increaso of population, and tho brisk domand for more accommodation, have left the builders and tho people no time to care for the graccs of line or colour in house architecture. ' Architectural grace does not imply extra expense, and the slopes and steep places of Wellington are aids, rather than hindrances, to tho expression of beautiful ideas in building. But there seems to bo no possibility of any remedy for tho condition of things that has ■ roused Lord Plunket's indignation. Nothing good could come of placing tho custody of " art and amenity " in the hands of a local body, since its standard of taste can only bo the general standard of the community. And in this, country that is a very low standard. With the exceptioii of music, which is universal in its appeal, none of the arts —no,t literature, nor sculpture, nor painting—has yet more than a few enlightened lovers in New Zealand. This is duo partly to tho severe isolation of. New Zealand, and tho dearth of inspiring examples, and partly to tho fact that the country bogan with no heritago of artistic ideals. Busy still with the work of making tho raw land habitable, New Zealand has had little time to spare for the cultivation of a mental pleasuregarden. That will como in time, and when it comes there will be an end of the " drab mud colour " and the " horrible tin thing" as tho accepted standards of* beauty in architecture.