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

(Ben Green) #1
HUMANIST

VALUES

237

axialplanning mustresult.

Symmetryand

Balance

are

forms
of Order; but they
are beautiful, not

because they are orderly,
but because they carry

with

them

amovement and stabiUtywhichare

our

naturaldelight. Then,since
architectureisamonu-

mentalart,surrounding
us with an influencenever

relaxed andnottobeescaped,
calmandunthwarted

movement will here
most often be desired. Thus

Order, thoughitcannot ensure

beauty, mayfollow

initswake.

r.

YetCoherenceinarchitecture,distinctthoughitis

frombeauty,has
a

function
ofitsown./Humanised

mass, space,and line are the basis of beauty, but

coherence
is the

basis of styl^j Mass,space, and

line afford the

material of individual aesthetic

pleasures, of beauty isolated and detached. But

architecture aims at

more than isolated pleasures.

Itisaboveallelseanart ofsynthesis. Itcontrols

anddisciplinesthebeauty

ofpainting,sculpture,and

,


the minorarts;it austerelyorderseven thebeauty

which is itsown. It

seeks,throughstyle,togiveit

clarity and scope, and that

coherence which the

beauty of.Nature

lacks. Nature, it is true, is for

sciencean

intelligiblesystem. But

thegroupswhich

theeye,atanyone

glance,discoversinNatureare

not

intelligible. Theyare

understood onlybysuccessive

acts ofattention

and elimination
;

and,even

then,

wehaveto

supplementwhat

ourvisiongivesusby
Free download pdf