第 33 节
作者:青涩春天      更新:2021-02-27 02:38      字数:9321
  libraries; laboratories; and lecture rooms。 The last of these is
  the least exacting; and it is the one most commonly well
  supplied。 It is also; on the whole; the more conspicuous in
  proportion to the outlay。 But all these are matters chiefly of
  interior arrangement; appliances and materials; and they are all
  of a relatively inconspicuous character。 Except as detailed in
  printed statistics they do not ordinarily lend themselves with
  appreciable effect to the art of advertising。 In meeting all
  these material requirements of the work in hand a very large
  expenditure of funds might advantageously be made
  advantageously to the academic use which they are to serve
  without much visible effect as seen in perspective from the
  outside。 And so far as bears on this academic use; the exterior
  of the buildings is a matter of altogether minor consequence; as
  are also the decorative appointments of the interior。
  In practice; under compulsion of the business principles of
  publicity; it will be found; however; that the exterior and the
  decorative appointments are the chief object of the designer's
  attention; the interior arrangement and working appointments will
  not infrequently become a matter of rude approximation to the
  requirements of the work; care being first taken that these
  arrangements shall not interfere with the decorative or
  spectacular intent of the outside。 But even with the best…advised
  management of its publicity value; it is always appreciably more
  difficult to secure appropriations for the material equipment of
  a laboratory or library than for the shell of the edifice; and
  still more so for the maintenance of an adequate corps of
  caretakers and attendants。
  As will be found true of other lines of this university
  enterprise in publicity; so also as to this presentation of a
  reputable exterior; it is designed to impress not the academic
  personnel; or the scholarly element at large; but the laity。 The
  academic folk and scholars are commonly less susceptible to the
  appeal of curious facades and perplexing feats of architecture;
  and then; such an appeal would have no particular motive in their
  case; it is not necessary to impress them。 It is in the eyes of
  the unlettered; particularly the business community; that it is
  desirable for the university to present an imposing front; that
  being the feature of academic installation which they will
  readily appreciate。 To carry instant conviction of a high
  academic worth to this large element of the populace; the
  university buildings should bulk large in the landscape; should
  be wastefully expensive; and should conform to the architectural
  mannerisms in present vogue。 In a few years the style of
  architectural affectations will change; of course; as fashions
  necessarily change in any community whose tastes are governed by
  pecuniary standards; and any particular architectural contrivance
  will therefore presently lose much of its prestige value; but by
  the time it so is overtaken by obsolescence; the structures which
  embody the particular affectation in question will have made the
  appeal for which they were designed; and so will have served
  their purpose of publicity。 And then; too; edifices created with
  a thrifty view to a large spectacular effect at a low cost are
  also liable to so rapid a physical decay as to be ready for
  removal and replacement before they have greatly outlived their
  usefulness in this respect。
  In recent scholastic edifices one is not surprised to find
  lecture rooms acoustically ill designed; and with an annoying
  distribution of light; due to the requirements of exterior
  symmetry and the decorative distribution of windows; and the like
  holds true even in a higher degree for libraries and
  laboratories; since for these uses the demands in these respects
  are even more exacting。 Nor is it unusual to find waste of space
  and weakness of structure; due; e。g。; to a fictitious winding
  stair; thrown into the design to permit such a facade as will
  simulate the defensive details of a mediaeval keep; to be
  surmounted with embrasured battlements and a (make…believe)
  loopholed turret。 So; again; space will; on the same ground; be
  wasted in heavy…ceiled; ill…lighted lobbies; which might once
  have served as a mustering place for a body of unruly
  men…at…arms; but which mean nothing more to the point today; and
  in these premises; than so many inconvenient flagstones to be
  crossed in coming and going。
  These principles of spectacular publicity demand a nice
  adjustment of the conspicuous features of the plant to the
  current vagaries in decorative art and magnificence;that is to
  say; conformity to the sophistications current on that level of
  culture on which these unlettered men of substance live and move
  and have their being。 As touches the case of the seats of
  learning; these current lay sophistications draw on several more
  or less diverse; and not altogether congruous; lines of
  conventionally approved manifestation of the ability to pay。 Out
  of the past comes the conventional preconception that these
  scholastic edifices should show something of the revered traits
  of ecclesiastical and monastic real…estate; while out of the
  present comes an ingrained predilection for the more sprightly
  and exuberant effects of decoration and magnificence to which the
  modern concert…hall; the more expensive cafes and clubrooms; and
  the Pullman coaches have given a degree of authentication。 Any
  one given to curious inquiry might find congenial employment in
  tracing out the manner and proportion in which these; and the
  like; strains of aesthetic indoctrination are blended in the
  edifices and grounds of a well…advised modern university。
  It is not necessary here to offer many speculations on the
  enduring artistic merit of these costly stage properties of the
  seats of learning; since their permanent value in that respect is
  scarcely to be rated as a substantial motive in their
  construction。 But there is; e。 g。; no obvious reason why; with
  the next change in the tide of mannerism; the disjointed
  grotesqueries of an eclectic and modified Gothic should not
  presently pass into the same category of apologetic neglect; with
  the architectural evils wrought by the mid…Victorian generation。
  But there is another side to this architecture of notoriety; that
  merits some slight further remark。 It is consistently and
  unavoidably meretricious。 Just at present the enjoined vogue is
  some form of bastard antique。 The archaic forms which it
  ostensibly preserves are structurally out of date; ill adapted to
  the modern materials and the modern builder's use of materials。
  Modern building; on a large scale and designed for durable
  results; is framework building。 The modern requirements of light;
  heating; ventilation and access require it to be such; and the
  materials used lend themselves to that manner of construction。
  The strains involved in modern structures are frame…work strains;
  whereas the forms which these edifices are required to simulate
  are masonry forms。 The outward conformation and ostensible
  structure of the buildings; therefore; are commonly meaningless;
  except as an architectural prevarication。 They have to be
  adapted; simulated; deranged; because in modern use they are
  impracticable in the shape; proportion and combination that of
  right belonged to them under the circumstances of materials and
  uses under which they were once worked out。 So there results a
  meaningless juxtaposition of details; that prove nothing in
  detail and contradict one another in assemblage。 All of which may
  suggest reflections on the fitness of housing the quest of truth
  in an edifice of false pretences。
  These architectural vagaries serve no useful end in academic
  life。 As an object lesson they conduce; in their measure; to
  inculcate in the students a spirit of disingenuousness。 But they
  spread abroad the prestige of the university as an ornate and
  spendthrift establishment; which is believed to bring increased
  enrolment of students and; what is even more to the point; to
  conciliate the good…will of the opulent patrons of learning。 That
  these edifices are good for this purpose; and that this policy of
  architectural mise en scene is wise; appears from the greater
  readiness with which funds are procured for such ornate
  constructions than for any other academic use。 It appears that
  the successful men of