BETTER ARCHITECTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18685, 15 April 1924, Page 8

BETTER ARCHITECTURE.

The necessity for good architecture was rightly emphasised by Mr. R. A. Lippincott in his address to the Rotary Club yesterday. It is a necessity ■ that young and rapidlygrowing communities are apt to ignore, and this Dominion has exemplified the tendency. Justice to facts will find excuse for this in the necessities inseparable from pioneer settlement: the elemental needs of a land's early settlers compel attention to serviceable shelter as a prime requisite, and ornament must be an afterthought. Your pioneer colonist, making his home in the wild, must usually be his own architect and builder, and use materials most easily got. There is small blame attaching to him for his shanties and lean-tos, often ugly and roughly built; they are the best the circumstances allow, and must be judged accordingly. So, to a considerable degree, is it with his nearer successors, bent on rapid acquisition of industrial and commercial security; they too can afford to give but scant heed to aesthetic considerations. However, New Zealand's' emergence from the colonising stage brings an obligation to regard no building as wholly serviceable that is designed without regard to beauty, and the cultivation of good taste in architecture should In these later days be regarded as an essential part of an adequate education. Mr. Lippincott's plea for beautiful schools is well based ; the subconscious effect of an ugly building constantly seen inevitably defeats the effort to instil artistic appreciation by word of mouth or occasional picture. It must be confessed that, in common with many other colonial cities, Auckland is lacking in architectural qualities. There are some public buildings in the city that are artistically designed, having regard to their uses, and eot a few admirable private . dwellings. But less satisfying structures are common. A practical difficulty presents itself in the path to better things. There is no assurance that the designers of buildings have the artistic sense that is so highly desirable. Anybody who bo wishes may plan a building: the public is unprotected against bad architecture. Where plumbing or electric wiring, say, is to be done in a building, only a certificated work-

man is legally employable; but for the .edifice vas it meets the eye, .the edifice as it tafces ; its place in the appearance of the city, anyone may be designer. Where good taste is lamentably rare the total effect is often repellent, sometimes ludicrous, when judged by canons of beauty. In these circumstances the best that can be done is to provide the community with good architectural tuition, and the decision of the College Council to establish its school of architecture 6n a better footing by engaging a well-paid professor is a step in the right direction. It snould lead to an improved public appreciation of architecture as well as a higher standard among trained professional architects.