'
Shadows rise around us as we write--dim reproachful shadows of an age of
unspeakable beauty in constructive art, and of (apparently)
unapproachable excellence in design; and the question recurs to us
again--Can we ever hope to compete with thirteenth-century buildings
whilst we lead nineteenth-century lives? It may not be in our
generation, but the time will assuredly come when, as has been well
remarked, 'the living vigour of humanity will break through the monotony
of modern arrangements and assert itself in new forms--forms which may
cause a new generation to feel less regret at being compelled to walk in
straight lines.'
Here our thoughts, on the great question of architectural beauty and
fitness, turn naturally to a New World. If, as we believe, there is a
life and energy in the West which must sooner or later make its mark in
the world, and perhaps take a lead for a while, amongst the nations, in
the practical application of Science and Art; may it not rest with a
generation of Americans yet unborn, to create--out of such elements as
the fast-fading Gothic of the middle ages--a style of architecture that
will equal it in beauty, and yet be more suitable to a modern era; a
style that shall spring spontaneously from the wants and requirements of
the age--an age that shall prize beauty of form as much as utility of
design? Do we dream dreams? Is it quite beyond the limits of possibility
that an art, that has been repeating itself for ages in Europe--until
the original designs are fading before our eyes, until the moulds have
been used so often that they begin to lose their sharpness and
significance--may not be succeeded by a new and living development which
will be found worthy to take its place side by side with the creations
of old classic time? Is the idea altogether Utopian--is there not room
in the world for a 'new style' of architecture--shall we be always
copying, imitating, restoring--harping for ever on old strings?
It may be that we point to the wrong quarter of the globe, and we shall
certainly be told that no good thing in art can come from the 'great
dollar cities of the West,' from a people without monuments and without
a history; but there are signs of intellectual energy, and a process of
refinement and cultivation is going on, which it will be well for us of
the Old World not to ignore.
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