ARCHITECTURE AND THE PUBLIC

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 31 July 1924, Page 3

ARCHITECTURE AND THE PUBLIC

i There is a itval need at the present lime of increasing public appreciation and understanding of the function of architecture. This title opens up a I very large subject, and, ,it is pleasin" i to note, a, subject that is being taken more and more notice of by public men and loaders of thought throughout Now Zealand. For instance, two prominent Auckland men, Dr Leges and Lho Rev. J. Calder, have recently been stressing the need for good architecture and pointing out its power to improve the general welfare. It has a, direct- bearing on the social question—far more so than the man in the street realises —and in a most convincing way these gentlemen point out that just as the architecture of the liou.su lias a great influence on tlie occupant, so does the designing (beautiful or otherwise) of shops and public buildings have a. direct hearing on the moral of tlio community in general. The New Zealand Institute of Architects is to bo congratulated not only on the way in which it is Irving to improve architecture in New Zealand, but also in endeavouring in elevate jts own students and educate the genera) public. A great percentage of the public still consider that one had only to be capable of drawing four straight Tines, or able to build lour walls and a. roof to become an architect. Too often an architect is looked on as superfluous—and although architecture is the oldest profession extant, it has less legal protection than any other profession. No ono can practise law, medicine, or dentistry, without being duly qualified ; a survey is.not legal unless signed by a qualified surveyor; nor,, unless one is a registered plumber dare he so much as fix a washer to a leaking tap, be he ever so skilful in tlio use wf plumbers' tools. Does ifc not seem somewhat of "an anomaly that all those professions and trades have to hold qualifications or be registered? And yet the architect lias no such protection ! Surely there is something lacking as far as architecture is concerned? The answer probably lies in the fact that the general public does not know what architecture really is or its value to the- public welfare: and, further, that the Government has not yet realised, or recognised the vast importance of architecture to the national character. It is often said that the beauty of a city is marred by its architecture, and sub-consciously the public blames the architect. Yet, it would be safe to say that 90 per cent of the'buildings (publb and private) in this city are erected without the services of an architect. Ono only needs to compare some of the more recently erected buildings in tin's town to the older atrocities of stucco and wood. The former designed with due regard to proportion and balance, and constructed with a judicious blending of materials j the Latter unsightly drab masses of monstrous stucco, crudely designed and forever , an offence, instead of a pleasure to the eye. It is not realised that an architect has to go through a long and tedious training to become efficient. It is necessary for him to be somewhat, of an artist as well as to master the very complex subject of design, and he must be so trained to a sense of beauty, proportion ,nnd symmetry that he is able to detect in an instant what is a deformity. In a young and rapidly growing country our forefathers unfortunately lacked vision as to the value and essential civic necessity of good architecture. Deuce in most New Zealand towns we have far too many deformities. Compare, for example the wisdom and foresight shown in the erection of modern garden cities, and ono must realise the beneficial influence reflected on people living under such improved conditions. These places could never become sordid slums. For another example we could compare the bridges of London and Paris. With few exceptions the bridges over the Thames are given forbidding structures, efficient, doubt, from, an engineering standpoint, but how lacking in the qualities that make the Seine bridges so beautiful and attractive from an artistic point of view, and in which the engineer and artist have worked harmoniously for art as well as utility. One must admit the financial saving of producing buildings of exactly the I same design together with the duplication of a standard specification. What more depressing examples can we take than the suburban post offices and railway stations throughout New Zealand? Is it possible to elevate the, minds of the people with such deformities? These stereotyped designs are probably regarded as an economical building programme, but itis very problematical if this is so in the larger sense. To those about to build we would appeal for a wider understanding of their duty to their fellow citizens in producing beautiful as well as merely efficient buildings. There is, of course, a business side to architecture, but to advance alongTight lines wo must try and exclude the worldy aspect and endeavour to i inculcate the inward _and spiritual, grace when thinking of architecture: for, after all, architecture has proved to bo throughout the centuries the embodiment of national traditions, I