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

224

THE

ARCHITECTUREOF

HUMANISM

it,havethesense

ofaperpetuallythwarted

instinct

of

movement. The arrangement

of the scheme is

imperfectly

humanised. It may be

picturesque, it

may be useful, it may be

mechanically superior

;

butit

isatvariancewithourideal

movement. And

beautyof

dispositionin architecture,like beautyof

line,arisesfromourownphysical

experienceofeasy

movementinspace.

Butnotallmovements

arepleasantorunpleasant

inthemselves

;

themajorityofthemare

indifferent.

Nevertheless/^ series of suggested movements, in

themselvesindifferent,mayawaken

inus

anexpect-

ancyandconsequentdesireofsomefurthermovement;

and ifthespacesofarchitecturearesoarranged as

firsttoawakenandthenfalsifythisexpectation,we

haveugliness.\Forexample,ifadesignbeobviously

.based onsymmetryand accustoms us toa rhythm

of equal movements

—

^as in the case of a typical

eighteenth-century

house—

and one

of the windows

wereplacedoutoflineandlowerthanthe rest,we_

shouldfeeldiscomfort. Theoffence

wouldlieagainst

oursenseofamovement,which,whenitreachesthat

pointof a design, is compelled to

dropoutof step

and

to

dip againstitswill.

Yetthe-relationofthe

windowtoitsimmediatelysurroundingformsmight

notinitselfbenecessarilyugly.

A converse instancemay here begiven-. Classic

design—the style which in Italy

culminated

in