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

THE MECHANICAL

FALLACY 109

whethertheidealisas rationalandconsistent
asit

sounds.

In the first place,it is clear that

the vivid con-

structive properties ofabuilding,in sofarasthey

areeffectivelyconstructive,must

existas/ac^5i,- The

securityof
the

building,and

hencealsoofanyartistic

valueitmaypossess,dependsonthis

;

andasupport

whichseemedto

be

adequatetoitsload,butactually

wasnot,would, asconstruction,bewrong. Butin

sofar

as

they

arej\a^d,theymustexist

asappear-

ances.. It is theeffect which the constructive pro-

pertiesmakeontheeye,andnotthescientificfacts

thatmaybe

intellectuallydiscoverable

aboutthem,

which alone can determine their vividness. Con-

struction, it may be granted, is always, or nearly

always, insomesense, ourconcern,butnot always

in the same sense. The two requirements

which

architecture so far evidently has are constructive

integrity in fact, and constructive vividness in

appearance.

Now, what our scientific critics

have

takenforgranted,

isthatbecausethese

tworequire-

ments have

sometimes beeil satisfied at the same

moment, andby

the same means, no

otherwayof

satisfying

themis permissible. Buttherehas been

nonecessityshown

thusfar,norisit

easytoimagine

one,for

insistingthatthesetwoqualificationsshould

alwaysbeinterdependent,

andthatboth

mustinvari-

ablybesatisfied

atasinglestroke. Theirvaluein