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

THE MECHANICAL

FALLACY 105

graceormajestyof

thedesign. Butgoodarchitecture,

j

nevertheless,

mustbe, on the whole, at once beautifull

andconstructivelysincere.

.

\

But this

is to admitthat thereare twodistinct

elements

—

goodconstructionand

beauty

;

thatboth

havevalue,butareirreducibletotermsofoneanother.

Howthenarewetocommensurate

thesetwodifferent

elements? If

a

building

have much ofthe second

and little of the first—^and

this, many will say, is

thecaseof Renaissance

architecture

—

^whereshallwe

placeit,whatvaluemayweputuponit,

andhow

shall

wecompareitwithabuilding, letussay, wherethe

conditions arereversed and constructive rationality

co-existswithonly

a

little

modicumofbeauty? How

is

the architecttobeguided in thedilemma which

willconstantlyarise,ofhaving

tochoose

betweenthe

two? And,imagininganextremecaseoneitherside,

howshall wecompareabuildingwhichcharmsthe

eyebyitsproportionsanditselegance, andbythe

well-disposed

lightandshadeofitsprojections,but

wheretheintelligencegraduallydiscoversconstructive

' '
irrationality

'

oneveryhand,and

a

buildinglikeour

1

supposedrailwaystation,whereeveryphysicalsense

is offended, but which is structurally perfect and

sincere? Now, thelastquestion willsurelysuggest

tous

thathere,at

anyrate,wearecomparingsome-

thingthatisart(though,itmaybe,faultyart)with

somethingthatisnotartat

all.

Inother

words,that