“PRACTICAL" MEN

Evening Star, Issue 23683, 17 September 1940, Page 3

“PRACTICAL" MEN

ARCHITECT'S COMMENT IMAGINATION NECESSARY TO SUCCESS LINKED WITH EFFICIENCY A former president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects has made some terse remarks on the word “ practical ” in relation to designs of buildings. “ \vc have a growing and'exacting public demand for the knowledge and efficiency of the architect; on the other hand we sec a very largo amount of work going to those untrained for the purpose,” he said. “My answer is: Get on with the job. he it a small one or a big one, and make it a successful piece of work. Combine imagination with technical efficiency. Prove ourselves, and do not worry about others; they, important as they arc, are but links in a chain, and oiie link cannot make a chain. They can never win a largo and abiding share of our work (if we do it properly) until they are able to do all of our job, and then they become architects and of ns. “ In the meantime collaborate with them, use them, respecting each his special technical equipment, as part of that co-ordination of the processes of building which is our particular work. Remember that as co-ordinators—-planners—wo have it in us to bo the ideal practical man.

ARCHITECTS BUILD CHEAPER, “ It was an architect who was responsible for both the simple directness of the plans and attractive 'appearance of tho now London Tube stations; it was an architect, and a young man at that, who planned the Mersey Tunnel approaches and power houses; architects designed the Battersea Power Station and the new bridges over the Thames.

“ Let ns bo confident in knowledge of the fact that when we plan efficiently wo not only build better but we build cheaper than the so-called ‘ practical ’ man. The plan of the latter may look cheaper—-that is one of the characteristics of architectural illiteracy, but such appearance is generally more than belied by the expense involved in the lack of directness ajid simplicity ot the plan. Through plan, through structural processes, co-ordina-tion in a building has its fulfilment in the internal and external character it assumes, and in tho oxto,nt to which this favourably excites the emotions.

“ ARTIST ” LABEL HARMFUL. 11 It is, I think, in tho misconception surrounding this ‘ fulfilment ’ that so much harm has been done to the profession in the past. We arc called artists—we talk about taste, inspiration, art, and ‘ matters of pure design.’ At least, to be fair, we do not so speak, but, as a legacy from past days, the public does. Which is all very well and possibly true, but it gets us nowhere. In fact it is, 1 am sure, a handicap in regard to many of the types of work that wo are especially qualifted to perform, for it carries tho impression of something which _ one would not usually associate with either what is practical or what is economical. The factory building owner’s first requirement is not taste or ‘ art ’; ho wants cold-blooded efficiency—he wants cheapness. The result is that the socalled ‘ practical ’ man, the man whom any properly qualified architect could 'ran rings round ’ in regard to simplicity and efficiency of planning, structural work and the economy of his building—tho ‘ practical ’ man often gets the job.” DECONTAMINATION PROBLEM MUSTARD GAS ON TIMBER A grim note was struck at a meeting of the Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors in Canada recently, when one speaker dealt with decontamination of building materials. Timber should be decontaminated immediivtely alter being contacted by the liquid from which mustard gas is vaporised, otherwise, ho said, the oil enters into the wood and might continue to vaporise dangerously for as 'much as three weeks. ELIMINATING NOISE SUGGESTION FOR THE WORKROOM Amateur craftsmen may bo interested to hoar of a simple plan for deadening the noise in their workshops or in small factories where offices are adjoining, says ‘ Armchair Science.’ Under the work bench a few inches of sand or sawdust is first poured into wooden boxes, and on each of these a block of wood is laid for tho particular foot or log of the bench to rest on. Around the block, foot, and leg more fine sand or sawdust is poured. Noise and jars are thus prevented, and an ordinary smith’s anvil, so mounted, can be used in a dwelling house without annoying tho other inmates. The cost is negligible.