ARCHITECTS OF TO-DAY

Hokitika Guardian, 15 March 1930, Page 3

ARCHITECTS OF TO-DAY

A ouLID i'Go.NDA'iION

PKLoiDEN'i AD ALLRLsnS

“I, envy them their t.aining,” said Air. F- itiu.wi Neixuan, jj .ii.i.u,.*.,. piesiucii l, or k n« A.ciiKevUuai Aow.ra-

Aron. dtiaUn, re.eiuiy, speaking o

Juui.g ilveiii.yi.is or io-viUj, qi. a weeiing or Uie u..su.i.Uiun ysaya “Tr.e Times,” Lonuou.j

iie said Umi to-day, with oyer 270

students in their scLuR, trie posiiiuii was very dure rent flout that of UU jeurs ago. 'l'iiy great tr.ticiam levelled at the tiuiuitig or those days Mas that dreir efforts were little more than a poor iiriitaiioii of the training

an avo.age pupn received in an average aiehiLe t’s iiiiite.' There was no doubt, however, that the quiet, restraining iiutueines of those Uajs had

placed a part in producing the sount. qualities so evident in the smaller vuilauigs and domestic work of to : day. If had also to no remembered that the whole scheme of arelineeLu. al education was then in ns infancy, and that a. was hardly realised that the day school system, started wnh six studI'li.s in jfKil, would develop in such a unaliner as to result in the almost complete c.using down of articled pupilage ill the.great towns.

Ei rECi uF THE WAR, T'lie ioiemost reason lor the change in outlook had been the war and, resul mg.'.from tiiat, tiie dissent of the present generation fiom the unquestioned formulas of pre-war days, the vtendency to endeavour 10 solve its own problems and create i;s own standards 01 fitness and beamy, I.respective oi tradition and pieveimnt, with tire natural sequence inn.. Knowledge oi wnat Juki ~v e u don« m the past uie. not make tln< same appeal ns an essential pun. oi t.ie equipment of an arehi:e,n. They could no longer discuss ; 'Ovn any. vnu su Ji mundane subjects ids' ”Water supply for country mansions.” or “Dormers and Chimneystacks,” even “House drainage : and sewage disposal.” Perhaps “The origin bf a sense of taste in art” or “Responsibility for, style” or “Sentiment in arci.itecture’.was nearer their demands to-day. but even these subjects hap an air of > placid dreaminess, and dealt loss with the luture than with the past. In their own sphere they mum "undoubtedly recognise that at present a r;(efinite effort was being made to men. the wants of to-day. bn a structura basis rather than 011 capricious nas theli'lines, irrespective of sui:ability. Architectural expression meant something more than mere mechanical expression of fitness and <onstruction At the moment the pendulum wa> swinging toward leaving form and mass, co-ordinated by purpose, fitness of-materials, and sound- construct ion-' tiy.qdbvtheli; Avprli alone.-,'. This .was un. dpuhtedly no pose, but a definite trend of thought and a reaction from tn, misuse of traditional methods of architectural expression. ;- He envied the students in the schools to-day's training, for it was no haphazard effort, but a. carefully iliQugbt-out scheme for giving a sound jxjijindation on which to build a future, ity.would not make them architects, for therp were no short cuts to that and. but it would set them on the road with a measure of equipment for which those who were born to early to benefit by it bad to' fight far harder than could be imagined. ,