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

ii8 THE

ARCHITECTURE OF HUMANISM]]

attempted something

different from what he did

attempt, then the dome of St.

Peter's may

induce

nothingbut

anintellectualirritation. Butthen,this

attitudetoarchitecture,carried

toitslogical

results,

ignores

its character as an art altogether, and re-

ducesitsimplyto

engineering

;

andwehave

already

demonstrated the reductio ad absurdum which that

involves.

Thusvanishestheargumentfromstructure. The

prestige which still,in all ourthought, attaches

to

mechanical considerations, has given tosoweaka

case a

perversevitality. Onecentralpointshould,

however,beclearfromthis

analysis.

It

may

bere-

stated in conclusion, for it is important.jTwo

sensesof

'

structure' havebeenentangledandcon-

fused. Structure,inonesense,isthescientificmethod

of

'

well-building.' Itsaimis

'

firmness

J Itsendis

achieved when once the stability ofarchitectureis

assured. And anymeans tothat endare,scientifi-

cally, justified in proportion to their effectiveness.

Structure,butnowinadifferentsense,isalsothebasis

of

architectural

'

delight' Forarchitecture,

realised

aesthetically,isnotmerelineorpattern. Itisanart

in

threedimensions,

withalltheconsequence

ofthat.

Itis an art of spacesand ofsolids, a felt

relation

between

ponderable

things, an adjustment

to one

another of evident forces, a grouping of

materiar

bodies subject like ourselves

to

certain elementary