PEACE IN THE HOME

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 145, 22 June 1938, Page 20

PEACE IN THE HOME

AN ARCHITECT'S VIEW

is B cs? e „nnn" of or na™ntation" is cast upon machines by Dr Walter Sec >■ an SS cte J a *' T^ "rfcan "The human being lost n the mcreasing chaos of mechan sio^ivf ame timid and "ncSffihow tentw ex P r « S10 " to his inward intentions, his: imagination became stunted he wrote. "The horror vacui broke i oose , fi lling dece nt empty space on walls, floors, furniture, and ym P bS deS '7 ith Unorganic ShS Trl? U ' x nd ornai "ents, as supposed sedatives for the troubled soul A revolution was due. "Modern architecture represents the vital reaction to this chaotic confu! th£7\ Vie ? TOUS attem P t t0 "d us of these hopeless narcotics and to find again a true expression which may fsfVr V6ry W* of the age. The new vision in architecture presumes that ..man should be the focus; that he needs quietness and H*°*U n } h f rush of our We, that u s 4t dlst racted nerves, so dangerously loise of traffic and by the continuously changing scene of life, must be balanced by the harmony of his dwelling I '' Q " ietin S surroundings, simplicity, and harmony of forms and colours, instead of a super-abundance of bygone jor meaningless forms and ornaments j prepare for his 'creative pause * They will fit him to relax, to contemplate, to think precisely, and to produce new ideas Our rhythm of life and our mentality differ entirely from those of a Rococo or Georgian period, and this new environment should be the very medium of expression for the creative artist. His power of imagination, his vitality, have been absorbed so far by the creative effort towards a new understanding of space, by his research (into the integral elements of our-jiew conception of design, and by the struggle of coming to terms with the machine.

This revitalising process, corresponding to the shift towards a new social structure, must be settled before the refinement of the new form and of a new ornament of our own can originate. This ornament does not yet exist. Individual attempts at a modern ornamentation passed by quickly, as they were only transitory fashions— not the result of a common social ideal within the community as a whole. The present 'streamline' fashion, for instance—a thoughless misuse of true dynamic forms of speedy bodies for bodies which are static, such as furniture and the like—will be doomed to failure, of course, just as were all the other fashions.

"But the first symptoms of refinement in modern architecture are becoming apparent. A true modern architect—that is to say, an architect .who tries to shape'our new conception of life, who refuses to live by repeating the forms and ornaments of our ancestors—is constantly on the look-out for new means of enriching his design in order to enliven the starkness and rigour of the early examples of the architectonic revolution. His increasing ability to introduce refined industrial processes of surface treat-

mznt into his compositions, by emphasising the contrast of their component parts with different materials and different textures, indicates the probable direction of further development towards ornamentation."