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

104

THEARCHITECTURE

OFHUMANISM

bebeautiful,itwould

be

a

reductioadabsurdumtobe

forcedtoadmitthattheyallare:

stillmorethatthey

are

essentially more beautiful than

the Greek and

Gothic styles of architecture.

Yet to this conclu-

sionourdefinition,asitstands,mustlead

us.

Clearly, then, when Greek and

Gothic buildings

are cited in support ofthe view that the essential

virtue

of architecture

lies in its being

'

good con-

structiontruthfullyexpressed,'we musttakeobjec-

tion,andsay,eitherthesestyles,and, afortiori, all

others,areessentially

bad,

orourdefinitionmustbe

amended. Thescientificcriticismwouldpresumably

preferthelatteralternative. Thoseofitssupporters

who identify architectural beauty with good

and

truthful construction (and
there

aremany) itmust

disown
;

and we may suppose it to modify the

definitionsomewhatasfollows:

Beauty,

itwillsay,isnecessarytogoodarchitec-

ture, andbeauty cannotbe the sameas good con-

struction. But good construction
is

necessary as

wellasbeauty. Wemustadmit,itwillsay,thatin

achieving thisnecessary combination, some conces-

sionsin
pointofperfectconstructionmustconstantly

be made. Architecture cannot always be ideally

economical in its selection of means to ends, nor

perfectlytruthfulin

itsstatement. Andontheother

hand, it may happen that the interests of sincere

construction may impose some

restraint upon

the