The architecture of humanism; a study in the history of taste

THEMECHANICAL

FALLACY

97

intermittentbuttressinghadsolved
theconstructive

problemwhichhadpuzzledthe

architectsofthenorth

ever since they had set out to vault the Roman

basilica. Theevolutionofthe

Gothicstylehadbeen,

onemight

almostsay,thepredestinedprogressof

that

constructiveinvention. Theclimax

ofitseffort,and

itsliteralcollapse,

atBeauvais,wassimplytheclimax

andthe collapse of aconstructive experiment

con-

tinuously prolonged. In no

architecture in the

worldhadso

manyfeatures

shownamoreevidently

constructive origin,or retained a moreconstructive

purpose, than

in the Gothic. The shafts

which

clusteredsorichly

in

the

naves

wereeachanecessary

and

separatearticulation in thestructuralscheme

;

dividing

themselvesintothedelicatetraceries

ofthe

roof,constructionisstilltheircontrollingaim. The

Greekstyle

alonecouldshowaconstructivebasis

as

defined

;

and,fora

generationinterestedin

mechani-

cal

ingenuity, the Gothic had this advantage over

theGreek,thatits

constructionwasdynamic

rather

thanstatic,

and,byconsequence,at

once

moredaring

and more

intricate. Thus, Gothic, remote,fanciful,

and

mysterious, was,at

thesametime,exact,

calcu-

lated, and

mechanical: the

triumph

of science no

less than the

incarnation of romance. In direct

contrast

with this stood

the architecture of

the

Renaissance.

\^Here was astyle which, as we have

seen, had

subordinated, deliberately and without

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