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

HUMANIST VALUES

235

thismethod, while thebaroquearchitects

soughtto

emphasisemassbythe

magnitudeofthepartsthem-

selves. But

in

both casesthe conditions of

success

werethesame: thewholemust

predominateoverthe

parts,theweightseempowerfullyadjusted,thescale

beconsistentlymaintained.

VI

-^he humanist instinct looks in the world for

physical conditionsthatarerelatedtoourown, for

movementswhicharelike

thosewe

enjoy,

for

resist-

ancesthatresemblethosethatcansupportus,fora

settingwherewe

shouldbeneitherlostnorthwartedX

Itlooks,therefore,forcertainmasses,lines,andspaces,

tendstocreatethemandrecognisetheirfitnesswhen

created. And, by ourinstinctive

imitationofwhat

wesee,theirseemingfitnessbecomesourreal

delight.

/* But besides these favourable physical states,/Dur.

instinctcraves fororder, since

orderisthe pattern

ofthehuman mind\And

thepattern ofthemind,

nolessthanthebody'shumour,maybe

reflectedin

^

theconcreteworld.

/Orderinarchitecture

meansthe

presenceoffixedrelations inthe

position,the char-

acterandthemagnitude

ofitsparts\ It

enablesus

tointerpretwhatwesee with

greaterreadiness

;

it

renders form

intelligible by making

it coherent

;

it

satisfiesthedesireofthe

mind

;

ithumanises

archi-

tecture.