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

HUMANIST

VALUES 223

are straight. No doubt

the straight lines which

boundthe

rectangular

formsofarchitecture,itsdoors

anditswindows,arechieflyrealised,notassensations

in

themselves,but asdefinitions

oftheshapesthey

enclose. Theirchiefuseistodeterminetheposition

ofa

patchuponagiven surface

;

and theaesthetic

valueofthiswill beconsideredin a moment. But

/any

emphasisuponverticallinesimmediatelyawakens

inusa

senseof

upwarddirection, andlines which

are spread—horizontal lines

—

convey suggestions

ofrest\ Thus thearchitecthasalready,inthe

lines

ofadesign,aconsiderableopportunity. Hecontrols

the

path of the eye

;

the path we follow is our

movement

;

movementdeterminesourmood,

/feut

lineisnotthesolemeansofaifectingour

sense

ofmovement. Space,also,

controlsit. Spacesmay

beintwodimensionsorinthree\ Wemay

consider

thesimplercase

first. Alarge partofarchitectural

design con^sts in the arrangement

of forms upon

surfaces, that

is to say, within spaces.

The part

which movement

here plays will be clear from a

commoninstance. Aman

whoisarrangingpictures

onawall

will say thatone is

'

crowded

'

or

'

lost

'

in the space it occupies,

that it

'

wants to

come

'

upordown.

That istosay,

the positionofforms

upon asurface

is realised in

terms ofour physical

consciousness. Ifa

certain patch

'

wants

tocome

'

down, we

ourselves,byour

unconsciousimitation

of