Title: The Brochure Series of Architectural Illustration, Vol. 01, No. 10, October 1895.
Author: Various
Release date: February 9, 2005 [eBook #14987]
Most recently updated: December 19, 2020
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Alison Hadwin and the PG Online
Distributed Proofreading Team.
As it is the purpose of THE BROCHURE SERIES to cover as wide a field as possible in choice of subject matter for its illustrations, and at the same time hold rigidly to the idea of furnishing only what will be useful to its subscribers, it has seemed desirable to present something a little nearer our everyday life than the Italian work which has thus far formed the greater part of the plate matter.
The domestic architecture of France and England has naturally served as a model for a great deal of our American work, and especially is this noticeable during the present generation in the close relation between the French châteaux and the more pretentious American residences, as witness the recent productions of the late Mr. Hunt, which have just been published since his death. We are, to be sure, looking in all directions for suggestions, and it cannot help appearing wonderful to a thoughtful observer how many and varied these suggestions are.
Our wealthy citizens are building châteaux in the style of Francis I or of somebody else, Venetian or Florentine palaces, Roman villas, Flemish guild-halls, Elizabethan half-timber houses. All, if tastefully and skilfully designed and placed, have their special points of beauty and excellence, and all may in the hands of an architect of ability be made to harmonize with our modern ways of living and the surroundings in which they must take a part.
None of these models, however, are more adaptable to our ways than the country houses of France. This, of course, should not be understood as meaning that any of these buildings can be transplanted bodily to American soil and still be satisfactory. Architectural borrowing of this class is never satisfactory; but no architecture of which we have any knowledge is independent of precedent, and it only behooves us to adopt from the experience of others those features or ideas which are most suited to our needs. The plans and the original uses of the rooms of these French manoirs may not prove directly adaptable to our ways of living, but the general massing of the design and the rambling arrangement of plan, as well as the picturesqueness of it all, are characteristics which can well be embodied in our country houses. In their way, no better models can be found than the two manoirs from Normandy which we illustrate in this number. They have both suffered from the ravages of time and hard usage, and both are at present, and for a long time have been, used as farmhouses. The Manoir d'Ango is the finer and more important of the two, and is better preserved in some of its more interesting features.
It is one of the main beauties of the charming village of Varengeville-sur-Mer, on the north coast of Normandy. It is now converted into a farmhouse, but in it once a celebrated privateersman of Dieppe received the ambassadors of the King of Portugual. There are still many evidences of the former dignity and grandeur in its present degradation.
Ango was strictly a manoir in the French sense, that is, a residence of the second class—not a château, such as Chambord or Blois.
The principal part of the building consists of but one story with an open gallery beneath, supported by an arcade with columns bearing finely carved caps ornamented with female heads, angels, etc.
In the interior as well as on the exterior may be seen fragments of sculpture which show much refinement. In one of the rooms of the tower a monumental mantel carved in stone bears in its centre the bust of an old man having in his hand a globe surmounted by a cross, the imperial emblem. This may be the portrait of one of the founders of the Ango family.
The Ferme de Turpe is situated near the town of Neuchatel-en-Bray, famous for its cheese. It has fewer interesting details than the Manoir d'Ango and is in even poorer repair, but in massing and general picturesque effect it offers many suggestions which can be utilized to advantage in our country houses.
Of these four views very little need be said. The charming picturesqueness of the two general views is sufficient excuse for presenting them, but they contain much more to the student of architecture who cares to look for it. The two detailed views give an excellent idea of the simple, straightforward methods of the builders.
This building was erected between the years 1530 and 1542. Its general design and especially its detail are of the François I type, and very beautifully executed, as will be seen from the larger scale details. The materials as indicated are stone and brick.
In Benoist's La Normandie Illustrie a remarkably interesting circular brick dove-cote is shown in the courtyard of this manoir, but it does not appear in any of our views, and may have been demolished since M. Benoist's sketches were made in 1852. Its walls were decorated with colored brick, laid in bands and diaper patterns.
The Baltimore Architectural Club commenced its active work for the season on the first of October. It has its rooms in the Wilson Building, Saratoga and Charles Streets, which are always open for the use of its members, and there will be regular meetings every Thursday evening during the winter and spring. At these meetings various subjects of interest will occupy the attention of the members, both of a practical and æsthetic character.
At one meeting of each month there will be an informal talk or lecture on some of the mechanical, constructive or sanitary questions connected with architecture.
On one evening there will be sketching from the cast, and on another an impromptu sketch projet, to be completed in an hour. In addition to these there will be competed for three of the larger and more important regular projets, such as were made last season by the Club, and for which two prizes are offered to those obtaining the first and second place in point of general merit.
The present officers and Board of Control of the Baltimore Architectural Club are J.B. Noel Wyatt, W. Emmart, Wm.G. Nölting, Geo. Worthington, W.M. Ellicott, W.G. Keimig, and Charles Anderson.
The last meeting of the T Square Club of Philadelphia, was one of unusual activity. The annual election of officers and the competition of summer sketches as called for by the Club syllabus was found to be too much for one evening, and consequently the judging of the sketches was postponed a week.
The following officers were elected: President, Albert Kelsey; Vice-President, Edgar V. Seeler; Secretary, A.B. Lacey; Treasurer, David K. Boyd; Executive Committee, Walter Cope, Louis C. Hickman, William L. Price.
The summer sketches, which were judged at one of the Club's Bohemian Nights, were of unusual quality and quantity. Walter Cope, who won first mention, had a large collection of pencil drawings representing the fruits of his labor in Spain.
Walter Price (who won third place) and John Bissegger had one end of the room covered with sketches in color and line made during a recent trip through England,
and Wilson Eyre, Jr., the winner of the second mention, had a variety of subjects beautifully rendered on quaint paper, and in his well-known and ever novel way.
Music and beer were plentiful, and had a cheering effect upon Titus, Dull, Kelsey, and Klauder, whose summer work failed to score a mention.
The syllabus of the Club's work for the coming year has just been issued and contains some features of special interest. The problems in design are chosen with much care and the programmes are more explicit than is usual, and will doubtless contribute to the usefulness of the work to be done.
The T Square Club appears to be more fortunate than some of the other architectural clubs in having interested and succeeded in holding the interest of a number of the stronger of the older men among the local architects. It now numbers about one hundred and twenty members, and its work is necessarily having considerable influence in outside circles.
Its example is a good one to hold up before other and less influential clubs.
Among the architectural clubs thus far noticed in this column no account has been taken of the clubs connected with the architectural schools. Of these there are at present several which are doing good and effective work, but the only one of which we have data for a description is that connected with Lehigh University. The school of architecture, as it is called, is not a school of architecture at all, but of engineering (which is a very different thing), but its work is none the less dignified or important on this account, and the opportunity open to the students' club is in consequence a wider and more serious one than usual if they choose to concern themselves with artistic considerations.
Two years ago the first class in architecture graduated from the Lehigh University, and since that time the classes have continually increased, until now the course is a distinct one in the curriculum of studies of the University. The objects of the department are to provide a thorough training in architectural engineering, with such additional studies in history, design, and drawing as must necessarily accompany all architectural problems.
The first year is of a preparatory nature in which no distinctively architectural subject is taken up, and in the second year the subjects are those closely related to civil engineering, including a very complete course in higher mathematics. It is in the third year that architectural subjects are brought in, and with studies and lectures on the architectural styles, smaller problems in design, sanitary engineering, and theory of roofs and bridges, the full course is opened for the fourth year, of steel construction in office buildings (design and computations), specifications by lectures, thorough study of ventilation, designs for roof trusses and girders, and hydraulics, finally ending with a thesis design. To supplement this prescribed work the students have organized the Architectural Club of the University. The objects of this society are to distribute blue prints to members from a growing collection of negatives owned by the Club; to collect specimens and models of building material; to aid in securing a students' library, and to hold monthly competitions in pen-and-ink rendering, besides managing any of the affairs of the architectural course in which the students as a body desire to act. It is an organization for mutual benefits and already has made itself felt, although only two years old.
After a summer of more or less inactivity, during which, in June, its quarters were moved to 77 City Hall, where it is much more conveniently located, the Cleveland Architectural Club has taken up its work with characteristic enthusiasm, and already a vigorous winter's work has been planned, beginning on November 14, with the annual banquet at the Hollenden Hotel, followed by the yearly meeting for the reports of officers and the election of new officers.
On the evening of January 9, 1896, the first annual exhibition of the Club will be inaugurated, to continue during the balance of the week. This will be the first distinctively architectural exhibition ever held in Cleveland.
In the last competition, "An Entrance to Lake View Cemetery," the mentions were as follows: W.D. Benes, first; Chas. S. Schneider, second; Wilbur M. Hall, third; Geo.W. Andrews, fourth; L.R. Rice, fifth.
The membership of the Club is rapidly increasing, a majority of the members of the local chapter of the A.I.A. having already become associate members.
Subscription Rates per year ... 50 cents, in advance Special Club Rates for five subscriptions ... $2.00
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If not a subscriber, you are respectfully asked to carefully examine this number of THE BROCHURE SERIES, and consider whether it is not worth fifty cents a year to you. A subscription blank is enclosed.
It has been suggested by a correspondent prominently connected with one of the principal architectural clubs of the country that a very desirable and instructive exhibition could be made up of the year's work of the various clubs. If collected by some concerted plan, to include the premiated or mentioned designs in the club competitions, and all sent to some one city or club, they could be exhibited and then passed on to the next club in the circuit.
Exchange of ideas and comparison of methods among the architectural clubs is much to be desired and could not help resulting in benefit. No more direct or easier way of opening relations of mutual helpfulness could be found than this, and we trust that some one will take it upon himself to take the initiative. Our correspondent intimates that this might be the first step towards a national federation of architectural clubs. It is rather unsafe to speculate upon what might take place in such an event.
Suggestions in Brickwork with illustrations from the Architecture of Italy, together with a Catalogue of Bricks, made by the Hydraulic-Press Brick Companies, Eastern Hydraulic-Press Brick Co., Philadelphia, 1895. $3.00.
To the architect who desires to use iron or steel in construction and to figure out his own drawings for the purpose, nothing can take the place of the handbooks furnished by the great iron and steel companies to aid in this work; and the convenience of having all tables, formulas, etc., together with a reliable catalogue of commercial and practical possibilities, all in one little handbook is not to be over-estimated.
What has in the past been done for the users of constructional iron and steel work has now been attempted in a very different field for architects who may wish to design in brick, both plain, moulded and ornamental. That this attempt is well considered and most thoroughly carried out would be perfectly certain if for no other reason than for the name of the compiler, Mr. Frank Miles Day, of Philadelphia. There have been similar attempts made in the past, but they are crude in comparison with the handsome volume now before us. It does not matter that this beautifully printed and illustrated book is a perfectly frank advertisement, put forward for purely business reasons. It has a most important bearing upon the progress and development of the best American architecture.
The suggestions in designs are very largely taken from the buildings in the north of Italy, adapted, of course, to the requirements of modern bricks. They show at all times a most discriminating and delicate taste and familiarity with the best architecture.
The ostensible purpose of the book is to remedy the difficulty which all who have attempted to use bricks in designing have experienced to a greater or less extent, of finding forms suitable for a given space.
The book is divided into two distinct parts, the first made up of twenty-eight plates of designs with accompanying descriptive matter, for arcades, loggias, doorways, windows, moulded bands, cornices, brick mosaics, fireplaces, balconies,
The choice of the patterns themselves deserves the highest commendation.
The forthcoming number of The Architectural Review (Vol. IV, No. 1) will include several noteworthy features. The plates are of the same class of subjects which has given the paper its present high standing. The four gelatine plates are devoted to illustrating Messrs. Cram, Wentworth & Goodhue's design for the Public Library to be erected in Fall River, Mass. The two remaining line plates are devoted to the Bowery Bank building in New York by Messrs. McKim, Mead & White. The principal article in the text portion of the number is a sketch of a trip across England from Liverpool to London by Wilson Eyre, Jr. The delicate and, in the main, truthful reproductions of Mr. Eyre's incomparable sketches give the article a more than common interest. Of all American architects who have been attracted by the picturesque features of English and French domestic work, no one has shown a closer sympathy or been able in his sketches to render more of its charm than Mr. Eyre.
(Continued from page 123.) [Transcriber's Note: issue 8]
And speaking of costumes reminds me of some very successful ones, and particularly that of a Highlander, the whole of which was made on the spot from the club's "props" and was complete even to a practical bagpipe, which was composed of three tin horns, a penny whistle, a piece of burlap, and a rubber tobacco pouch. Both in tone and looks it was an exceedingly good imitation of the genuine article.
One of the things that has afforded the P.D.'s a great deal of amusement is a supposititious newspaper, wherein the members are interviewed on any and all occasions and many interesting things brought to light. In one of them, for instance, Ictinus confides to the reporter that he was born in the shadow of the Parthenon. This mixing up of one's peculiarities, habits, and nationality with those of the illustrious individual whose name he bears, is capable of being given many laughable twists and has been taken advantage of in many amusing skits.
Besides the interviews there are fashion notes, society and sporting notes, architectural news, and receipts. Among the latter is a receipt for making Welsh rare-bits that should be in the possession of every one addicted to them.
The club has been regaled at various times with comic opera (with scenery painted for the occasion), readings and recitations; and at one of the annual dinners an illustrated history of the club and its members was given on an ingeniously contrived miniature stage.
Every dinner, every voyage of discovery, every reception, and in short anything happening that would be of interest to the absent members, is written up by some one for their edification. The P.D.'s out-Wegg Mr. Wegg in the matter of dropping into poetry, and although its quality cannot be presumed to approach that selected by that famous individual for the delectation of Mr. Boffin, it being, not to mention the matter of theme, very often afflicted with a deplorable weakness or strength in its feet, yet it can be said of it, as in the case of Mercutio's wound, that it serves.
Most of these literary efforts eventually find a place in the scrapbook, and their perusal reminds us of many a joyous evening.
"We seem to see, to taste, to hear,
Joys that have passed; who say too fleet
The rush of time? Things passed are dear."
This, then, is a slight account of the P.D.'s, and if their doings be branded as folly, it is to them at least a very innocent and delicious sort of folly, and just the thing to free them from the perplexing problems of the day and fit them to grapple with a freshened and renewed energy those of the morrow.
The new office building of the Chicago Varnish Company, now in the course of erection at the corner of Dearborn Avenue and Kinzie Street, Chicago, from the designs of Mr. Henry Ives Cobb, covers a plat of ground 45 x 90 feet. It is in the style of the brick architecture of Holland, which has been recently adopted in several instances in New York and Philadelphia, notably by Mr. Frank Miles Day and Mr. R.W. Gibson. It is to be built of St. Louis red pressed brick
Many a new building that is approaching is first winter will be found lacking if its architect forgot the specification of the Folsom Snow Guard. A great many buildings do not need this device, but where one does, it needs it badly. It is so cheap, so simple and so perfectly effective that it should be used where there is the least chance of danger or inconvenience from snow sliding off the roof.
The development of the kitchen range has been along certain well defined lines, the ornament changed, new parts nickeled, dimensions varied, etc., but it has remained the same old stove. The Walker & Pratt Mfg. Co., of Boston, have made a move towards an entirely different style, in their "Culinet," which is illustrated on this page. It presents many good points. The cooking surface is at the same height as an ordinary table. The oven is about the height of the elbow, making it convenient of access, and greatly lessening the danger of burning the arms in using it. The fire, broiler door, clinker door, and ash-pan door are all in front. All holes are hot, and the oven is heated on six sides, making it not only an even baker, but a sure baker on the bottom. One damper does the whole regulating business. A guard rail to keep the clothes from contact with the heated surface and convenient towel driers are also provided. There is no nickel finish, but solid bronze instead. These are features which should recommend it to architects; besides which it is compact, and occupies little floor space, durable, and made with the same care in every detail that has characterized the Walker & Pratt goods for forty years. It is a kitchen ornament, as well as a kitchen help.
"The Making of a Range" is a cleverly prepared little pamphlet, fully illustrated, that was issued primarily for distribution from the Mechanics' Fair (Boston) exhibit of the Walker & Pratt Mfg. Co. It is well worth sending for, if one is interested in details of manufacture. The "Culinet" was the only stove which was awarded a Gold Medal at the Mechanics' Fair.
