THE NEW AGE OF BUILDING

Northern Advocate, 1 December 1936, Page 12

THE NEW AGE OF BUILDING

New Zealanders, in their own country, see progressive firms demolishing solid buildings, which have become obsolete and replacing them with structures specially designed for modem needs. This kind of development fwas impressively covered recently by Mr Francis Lome, F.R.1.8.A., in a paper read at a meeting of British architects.

“We must not forget that we are entering an entirely new age of build- ; ing, when our work will date almost fas quickly as a woman’s gown; an age where suitability for purpose will become increasingly important and where flexibility will be important, too. It will be essential that buildings be assembled with a view to change,” he sad, “and their lifetime will be much shorter than in the past. The conditions of life are changing so rapidly that it is well nigh impossible for us to build beyond our own generation and more difficult for us to dream of what our children will require.

Nonsense Exploded

“The nonsense of building for hundreds of years must be exploded. Jt must be apparent to most of you that buildings today are scrapped not because they are decayed, but because they are out of date and it is cheaper to rebuild than to remodel. Once upon a time a man wore a suit of clothes for many a year and a carriage lasted him a lifetime, now he seldom wears his suit more than a season or two, and he buys a new model car every other year. This attitude is certain to grow and reflect itself in architecture.

“In order to grasp the principles which underlie this new movement and be able to plan for it, the architect must have a knowledge of the social conditions in which he lives and of the economic laws which govern his living. He will tend as years go by to be less concerned with abstract theories of aesthetics and more concerned with the growing demands to improve the living conditions of his race. Conditions will demand of him a much wider knowledge and use of the scientific inventions of his day and it will be incumbent upon him to use these for the creation of a new type of building px-oviding greater amenities of living. New Materials. “He will tend, therefore, to use less and less the materials which have been handed down by his fathers and more and more the materials of his own more scientific invention. He will have to approach his problem with the attitude of the scientist and be guided in his work by fact more

than by romantic sentimentalism. He will tend less and less to be just a perspective and elevational monger, or dealer in ornament and more and more an intelligent, well-informed planner of humanity. “Our schools of architecture hold the key to the situation wherein the youth of the profession can be trained not in academic theories, but to a sense of their responsibilities in planning and designing for the present day to meqt its practical, economic and aesthetic requirements, to develop homes, buildings and cities wherein can be fostered a sense of freedom and a joy in work and play. Wo must remember that modern architecture is the expression of an entirely new philosophy of life. It is concerned with simplicity, directness, the fitness of things, and a profound conviction that the amenities of life which formerly onljy (tor the few shall be extended to all. It is not much concerned with exclusiveness, insincerities, shams, decorations and sentimentalities. It will work out its own life and make its own set of values. It is not for all to worry about the sphere through which they will come, but come they will, if they are not in large part already here. It is our job as architects to plan for them and not live in a dream of architecture as an idealised conception surrounded by the glamour, motives and symbols of tradition.’’