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

140 THE

ARCHITECTURE OF

HUMANISM

critic

issometimes

thinkingofthe

consequencesofa

work upon the craftsman

,' sometimes of

the ends

whichtheworkissettoserve,andof

itsconsequences

upon

the public.

But in allcases his

mind moves

straight

to the attendant

conditions and ultimate

results ofbuildingin onewayratherthan

another.

Theimportanceofthematterisasocialimportance

;

the

lifeofsocietyisthoughtofasan

essentiallyindi-

visiblewhole, andthat fragmentofit which is the

lifeof

architecturecannot

—

^itis

suggested

—

^bereally

good,ifitisgoodattheexpenseofsociety

;

andto

a properly sensitive conscience

it

cannot even be

agreeable. Purchased at that price,it becomes,

in

every sense,

or in the most important sense,

bad

architecture. Thearchitectural doctrinesof such a

manasMorris

—

apicturesquefusionofartisticwith

democratic

propaganda

—

^areforthemostpartof

this

type.

The underlying argument is simple. Ethics

—orpolitics

—

claim,

ofnecessity,precisely

thesame

controlover

aesthetic valuethat architecture, in

its

turn,exercisesbyrightoverthesubordinatefunctions

ofsculpture and the minorarts

; and Renaissance

architectureis

rejectedfromtheirscheme.

Evenso,itisclearthatcriticismwillstillhavetwo

factors to consider

: the aesthetic quality ofarchi-

tecture

anditssocial result. Toconfusethesocial

consequenceswith the aesthetic value

would be

an

ordinary instance of
the Romantic Fallacy. Those