LOOKING DOWNWARD.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIII, Issue 3, 1 May 1912, Page 4

LOOKING DOWNWARD.

Ike coming into practical use of the , tcroplaue is to have an important in- i hience upon architecture, theArchi-- i avtural Review thinks. At the pre- j ;ent time buildings arc designed «:t.i the idea that tlicy will be scon only ) from the ground around thorn or t:;c . windows of adjoining houses. A vio.v of a town from above discloses a welter of confusion and makeshifts. "The grimy shifts for roofing and the escapes Tor smoke," says the journal, "together with tanks, peiithouser, lift-covers and skylights, all ominoush mean, make one feel as though the city were scalped, and all the ugly chaos of its brain exposed. It is a sight intolerable to the gods; and the aeronaut, in this connection, will be as they. So we may expect that honesty of design will Hood the skyfacades, and that the city of a hundred years hence will be no more disgraceful from above than were the cities- of a hundred years ago." The chief changes that will be made will take place in the interior of the buildings. It is not difficult to believe that before the end of the present century the main entrance to a mansion will be found on the flat roof, which will be fitted for the reception of aeroplanes. The natural outcome of this feature will be the use of the upper storeys for social and living purposes, while the accommodation for employees will he found in the lower floors." The attic will no longer be regarded as the special preserve of the | domestic worker. "The town councillor," says the Architectural Review, "will be enabled to learn more concerning the main bounds, contours and routes of the town whose efforts he controls in one afternoon than he might with years of study of the place by crawling about and conning plans. He will he able in one comprehensive glance to gather up the physical essentials of his problem. When lay authorities are able with architects to appreciate and enjoy the symmetries and resolved coherence of a fine synthetic plan great and new possibilities will await the recognition of toe Muse."