,,architecture ,,and ,,democracy    ,,by
    ,,claude ,,bragdon  ,f4,a4,i4,a4    
#aiah                ,illustration3     
,,plate ,i4 ,,the ,,woolworth           
,,building1 ,,new ,,york                
,,preface      ,this book can lay no    
claim to unity of theme1 since its      
subjects range  from skyscrapers to     
symbols and soul states2 but the author 
claims for  it nevertheless a unity of  
point of view1 and one 7correct or not7 
so  comprehensive as to include in one  
synthesis every subject dealt  with4    
,for according to that point of view1 a 
skyscraper is only a  symbol--and of    
what8 ,a condition of consciousness1    
that is1 a state of  the soul4          
,democracy even1 we are beginning to    
discover1 is a condition  of            
consciousness too4    ,our only hope of 
understanding the welter of life in     
which we are  immersed1 as in a swift   
and muddy river1 is in ascending as near
  to its pure source as we can4 ,that   
source is in consciousness and          

consciousness is in ourselves4 ,this is 
the point of view from which  each      
problem dealt with has been attacked2   
but lest the author be at  once set down
 as an impracticable dreamer1 dwelling  
aloof in an ivory  tower1 the reader    
should know that his book has been      
written in  the scant intervals afforded
 by the practice of the profession of   
architecture1 so broadened as to include
 the study of abstract form1  the       
creation of ornament1 experiments with  
color and light1 and such  occasional   
educational activities as from time to  
time he has been  called upon to perform
 at one or another architectural school4
    ,the three essays included under the
 general heading of ,democracy  and     
,architecture were prepared at the      
request of the editor of ,the           
,architectural ,record1 and were        
published in that journal4 ,the two     
following1 on ,ornament from            
,mathematics1 represent a recasting and 
a rewriting of articles which have      

appeared in ,the ,architectural         
,review1 ,the ,architectural ,forum1 and
 ,the ,american ,architect4  ,harnessing
 the ,rainbow is an address delivered   
before the ,ad4 ,club  of ,cleveland1   
and the ,rochester ,rotary ,club1 and   
afterwards made into  an essay and      
published in ,the ,american ,architect  
under a different  title4 ,the          
appreciation of ,louis ,sullivan as a   
writer appears here for  the first time1
 the author having previously paid his  
respects to ,mr4  ,sullivan's strictly  
architectural genius in an essay in     
,house and  ,garden4 ,color and         
,ceramics was delivered on the occasion 
of the  dedication of the ,ceramic      
,building of the ,university of         
,illinois1  and afterwards published in 
,the ,architectural ,forum4 ,symbols and
  ,sacraments was printed in the        
,english ,quarterly ,orpheus4 ,self     
,education was delivered before the     
,boston ,architectural ,club1 and       
afterwards published in a number of     

architectural journals4                 
,acknowledgment is hereby tendered by   
the author to the editors of  these     
various magazines for their consent to  
republication1 together  with thanks1   
however belated1 for their unfailing    
hospitality to the  children of his     
brain4    ,,claude ,,bragdon4    ,august
 #a1 #aiah4          ,,contents         
,,architecture ,,and ,,democracy        
,i4 ,before the ,war        ,,ii4       
,during the ,war       ,,iii4 ,after the
 ,war        ,,ornament ,,from          
,,mathematics         ,i4 ,the ,world   
,order        ,,ii4 ,the ,fourth        
,dimension        ,,harnessing ,,the    
,,rainbow        ,,louis ,,sullivan1    
,,prophet ,,of ,,democracy              
,,color ,,and ,,ceramics                
,,symbols ,,and ,,sacraments            
,,self-,,education          ,,list ,,of 
,,full ,,page ,,illustrations           
,plate    ,i4 ,the ,woolworth ,building1
 ,new ,york      ,plate   ,,ii4 ,the    
,new ,york ,public ,library      ,plate 

,,iii4 ,the ,prudential ,building1      
,buffalo1 ,n4,y4      ,plate   ,,iv4    
,the ,erie ,county ,savings ,bank1      
,buffalo1 ,n4,y4      ,plate    ,v4 ,the
 ,new ,york ,central ,terminal          
,plate   ,,vi4 ,plan of the ,red ,cross 
,community ,club ,house1                
,camp ,sherman1 ,ohio      ,plate       
,,vii4 ,interior ,view of the ,camp     
,sherman ,community ,house      ,plate  
,,viii4 ,imaginative ,sketch by ,henry  
,p4 ,kirby      ,plate   ,,ix4          
,architectural ,sketch by ,otto ,rieth  
,plate    ,x4 #bjj ,west #egth ,street1 
,new ,york      ,plate   ,,xi4          
,imaginary ,composition3 ,the ,portal   
,plate  ,,xii4 ,imaginary ,composition3 
,the ,balcony      ,plate ,,xiii4       
,imaginary ,composition3 ,the ,audience 
,chamber      ,plate  ,,xiv4 ,song and  
,light3 ,an ,approach toward ,color     
,music      ,plate   ,,xv4 ,symbol of   
,resurrection          ,every form of   
government1 every social institution1   
every  undertaking1 however great1      

however small1 every symbol of          
enlightenment or degradation1 each and  
all have sprung and are still  springing
 from the life of the people1 and have  
ever formed and are  now as surely      
forming images of their thought4 ,slowly
 by centuries1  generations1 years1     
days1 hours1 the thought of the people  
has  changed2 so with precision have    
their acts responsively changed2 thus   
thoughts and acts have flowed and are   
flowing ever onward1 unceasingly        
onward1 involved within the impelling   
power of ,life4 ,throughout this  stream
 of human life1 and thought1 and        
activity1 men have ever felt  the need  
to build2 and from the need arose the   
power to build4 ,so1  as they thought1  
they built2 for1 strange as it may seem1
 they could  build in no other way4 ,as 
they built1 they made1 used1 and left   
behind  them records of their thinking4 
,then1 as through the years new men     
came with changed thoughts1 so arose new
 buildings in consonance  with the      

change of thought--the building always  
the expression of  the thinking4        
,whatever the character of the thinking1
 just so was the  character of the      
building4    ,what is ,architecture8 ,a 
,study in the ,american ,people of      
,today1 by  ,,louis ,,sullivan4         
,architecture and ,democracy    ,i      
,,before ,,the ,,war      ,the world war
 represents not the triumph1 but the    
birth of democracy4  ,the true ideal of 
democracy--the rule of a people by the  
demos1 or  group soul--is a thing       
unrealized4 ,how then is it possible to 
consider  or discuss an architecture of 
democracy--the shadow of a shade8 ,it is
  not possible to do so with any degree 
of finality1 but by an intention  of    
consciousness upon this juxtaposition of
 ideas--architecture and                
democracy--signs of the times may yield 
new meanings1 relations may  emerge     
between things apparently unrelated1 and
 the future1 always  existent in every  
present moment1 may be evoked by that   

strange magic  which resides in the     
human mind4    ,architecture1 at its    
worst as at its best1 reflects always a 
true  image of the thing that produced  
it2 a building is revealing even  though
 it is false1 just as the face of a liar
 tells the thing  his words endeavor to 
conceal4 ,this being so1 let us make    
such  architecture as is ours declare to
 us our true estate4    ,the            
architecture of the ,united ,states1    
from the period of the ,civil  ,war1 up 
to the beginning of the present crisis1 
everywhere reflects a  struggle to be   
free of a vicious and depraved form of  
feudalism1  grown strong under the very 
gis of democracy4 ,the qualities that   
made  feudalism endeared and enduring2  
qualities written in beauty on  the     
cathedral cities of mediaeval           
,europe--faith1 worship1  loyalty1      
magnanimity--were either vanished or    
banished from this  pseudo-democratic1  
aridly scientific feudalism1 leaving an 
inheritance  of strife and tyranny--a   

strife grown mean1 a tyranny grown      
prudent1  but full of sinister power the
 weight of which we have by no means    
ceased to feel4    ,power1 strangely    
mingled with timidity2 ingenuity1       
frequently  misdirected2 ugliness1 the  
result of a false ideal of beauty--these
  in general characterize the           
architecture of our immediate past2 an  
architecture without ancestry or hope of
 posterity1 an architecture  devoid of  
coherence or conviction2 willing to lie1
 willing to steal4  ,what impression    
such a city as ,chicago or ,pittsburgh  
might have made  upon some denizen of   
those cathedral-crowned feudal cities of
 the  past we do not know4 ,he would    
certainly have been amazed at its giant 
energy1 and probably revolted at its    
grimy dreariness4 ,we are wont  to pity 
the mediaeval man for the dirt he lived 
in1 even while smoke  greys our sky and 
dirt permeates the very air we breathe3 
we think of  castles as grim and        
cathedrals as dim1 but they were        

beautiful and gay  with color compared  
with the grim1 dim canyons of our city  
streets4    ,lafcadio ,hearn1 in ,a     
,conservative1 has sketched for us1 with
 a  sympathy truly clairvoyant1 the     
impression made by the cities of the    
,west upon the consciousness of a young 
,japanese samurai educated under  a     
feudalism not unlike that of the ,middle
 ,ages1 wherein was worship1  reverence1
 poetry1 loyalty--however strangely     
compounded with the more  sinister      
products of the feudal state4           
,larger than all anticipation the ,west 
appeared to him1--a      world of       
giants2 and that which depresses even   
the boldest      ,occidental who finds  
himself1 without means or friends1 alone
      in a great city1 must often have  
depressed the ,oriental exile3      that
 vague uneasiness aroused by the sense  
of being invisible      to hurrying     
millions2 by the ceaseless roar of      
traffic      drowning voices2 by        
monstrosities of architecture without a 

soul2 by the dynamic display of wealth  
forcing mind and      hand1 as mere     
cheap machinery1 to the uttermost limits
 of      the possible4 ,perhaps he saw  
such cities as ,dor saw ,london3        
sullen majesty of arched glooms1 and    
granite deeps opening      into granite 
deeps beyond range of vision1 and       
mountains      of masonry with seas of  
labor in turmoil at their base1 and     
monumental spaces displaying the        
grimness of ordered power               
slow-gathering through centuries4 ,of   
beauty there was nothing      to make   
appeal to him between those endless     
cliffs of stone      which walled out   
the sunrise and the sunset1 the sky and 
the      wind4    ,the view of our      
pre-war architecture thus sketchily     
presented is sure  to be sharply        
challenged in certain quarters1 but     
unfortunately for  us all this is no    
mere matter of opinion1 it is a matter  
of fact4 ,the  buildings are there1 open
 to observation2 rooted to the spot1    

they  cannot run away4 ,like criminals  
caught with the goods they stand1       
self-convicted1 dirty with the soot of a
 thousand chimneys1 heavy with  the     
spoils of vanished civilizations2 graft 
and greed stare at us out  of their     
glazed windows--eyes behind which no    
soul can be discerned4  ,there are      
doubtless extenuating circumstances2    
they want to be clean1  they want to be 
honest1 these monsters of the mere      
market1 but they  are nevertheless the  
unconscious victims of evils inherent in
 our  transitional social state4    ,let
 us examine these strange creatures1    
doomed1 it is hoped1 to  extinction in  
favor of more intelligent and gracious  
forms of  life4 ,they are big1 powerful1
 necessitous1 and have therefore an     
impressiveness1 even an sthetic appeal1 
not to be denied4 ,so subtle  and       
sensitive an old-world consciousness as 
that of ,m4 ,paul ,bourget  was set     
vibrating by them like a violin to the  
concussion of a  trip-hammer1 and to the

 following tune3        ,the portals of 
the basements1 usually arched as if     
crushed      beneath the weight of the  
mountains which they support1 look      
like dens of a primitive race1          
continually receiving and      pouring  
forth a stream of people4 ,you lift your
 eyes1 and you      feel that up there  
behind the perpendicular wall1 with     
its innumerable windows1 is a multitude 
coming and      going1--crowding the    
offices that perforate these cliffs of  
brick and iron1 dizzied with the speed  
of the elevators4      ,you divine1 you 
feel the hot breath of speculation      
quivering      behind these windows4    
,this it is which has fecundated these  
thousands of square feet of earth1 in   
order that from them may      spring up 
this appalling growth of business       
palaces1 that hide      the sun from you
 and almost shut out the light of day4  
,the simple power of necessity is to a  
certain degree a principle of  beauty1  
says ,m4 ,bourget1 and to these         

structures this order of beauty  cannot 
be denied1 but even this is vitiated by 
a failure to press the  advantage home3 
the ornate faades are notably less      
impressive  than those whose grim and   
stark geometry is unmitigated by the    
grave-clothes of dead styles4 ,instances
 there are of strivings toward  a beauty
 that is fresh and living1 but they are 
so unsuccessful and  infrequent as to be
 negligible4 ,however impressive these  
buildings may  be by reason of their    
ordered geometry1 their weight and      
magnitude1  and as a manifestation of   
irrepressible power1 they have the      
unloveliness of things ignoble being the
 product neither of praise1  nor joy1   
nor worship1 but enclosures for the     
transaction of sharp  bargains--gold    
bringing jinn of our modern ,aladdins1  
who love them not  but only use them4   
,that is the reason they are ugly2 no   
one has loved  them for themselves      
alone4    ,for beauty is ever the very  
face of love4 ,from the architecture of 

a true democracy1 founded on love and   
mutual service1 beauty would  inevitably
 shine forth2 its absence convicts us of
 a maladjustment in  our social and     
economic life4 ,a skyscraper shouldering
 itself aloft at  the expense of its    
more humble neighbors1 stealing their   
air and  their sunlight1 is a symbol1   
written large against the sky1 of  the  
will-to-power of a man or a group of    
men--of that ruthless and  tireless     
aggression on the part of the cunning   
and the strong so  characteristic of the
 period which produced the skyscraper4  
,one of  our streets made up of         
buildings of diverse styles and shapes  
and  sizes--like a jaw with some teeth  
whole1 some broken1 some rotten1  and   
some gone--is a symbol of our unkempt   
individualism1 now happily  becoming    
curbed and chastened by a common danger1
 a common devotion4    ,some people hold
 the view that our insensitiveness to   
formal beauty is  no disgrace4 ,such    
argue that our accomplishments and our  

interests are  in other fields1 where we
 more than match the accomplishments of 
older  civilizations4 ,they forget that 
every achievement not registered in     
terms of beauty has failed of its final 
and enduring transmutation4 ,it  is     
because the achievements of older       
civilizations attained to their         
apotheoses in art that they interest us1
 and unless we are able  to effect a    
corresponding transmutation we are      
destined to perish  unhonoured on our   
rubbish heap4 ,that we shall effect it1 
through  knowledge and suffering1 is    
certain1 but before attempting the  more
 genial and rewarding task of tracing1  
in our life and in our  architecture1   
those forces and powers which make for  
righteousness1  for beauty1 let us look 
our failures squarely in the face1 and  
discover if we can why they are         
failures4    ,confining this examination
 to the particular matter under         
discussion1  the neo-feudal architecture
 of our city streets1 we find it to lack

  unity1 and the reason for this lack of
 unity dwells in a divided              
consciousness4 ,the tall office building
 is the product of many  forces1 or     
perhaps we should say one force1 that of
 necessity2 but its  concrete embodiment
 is the result of two different orders  
of talent1  that of the structural      
engineer and of the architectural       
designer4  ,these are usually incarnate 
in two different individuals1 working   
more or less at cross purposes4 ,it is  
the business of the engineer  to        
preoccupy himself solely with ideas of  
efficiency and economy1  and over his   
efficient and economical structure the  
designer smears  a frosting of beauty in
 the form of architectural style1 in the
  archological sense4 ,this is a foolish
 practice1 and cannot but result  in    
failure4 ,in the case of a ,greek temple
 or a mediaeval cathedral  structure and
 style were not twain1 but one2 the     
structure determined  the style1 the    
style expressed the structure2 but with 

us so divorced  have the two things     
become that in a case known to the      
author1 the  structural framework of a  
great office building was determined and
  fabricated and then architects were   
invited to submit designs  for the      
exterior4 ,this is of course an extreme 
example and does not  represent the     
usual practice1 but it brings sharply to
 consciousness  the well known fact that
 for these buildings we have            
substantially one  method of            
construction--that of the vertical      
strut1 and the horizontal  fill--while  
in style they appear as ,grecian1       
,roman1 ,renaissance1  ,gothic1 ,modern 
,french and what not1 according to the  
whim of the  designer4    ,illustration3
 ,,plate ,,ii4 ,,the ,,new ,,york       
,,public ,,library    ,with the modern  
tendency toward specialization1 the     
natural outgrowth  of necessity1 there  
is no inherent reason why the bones of a
 building  should not be devised by one 
man and its fleshly clothing by another1

  so long as they understand one        
another1 and are in ideal agreement1    
but there is in general all too little  
understanding1 and a  confusion of ideas
 and aims4 ,to the average structural   
engineer the  architectural designer is 
a mere milliner in stone1 informed in   
those  prevailing architectural fashions
 of which he himself knows little and   
cares less4 ,preoccupied as he is with  
the building's strength1 safety1        
economy2 solving new and staggeringly   
difficult problems with address  and    
daring1 he has scant sympathy with such 
inconsequent matters as  the stylistic  
purity of a faade1 or the profile of a  
moulding4 ,to the  designer1 on the     
other hand1 the engineer appears in the 
light of a  subordinate to be used for  
the promotion of his own ends1 or an    
evil  to be endured as an interference  
with those ends4    ,as a result of this
 lack of sympathy and co-ordination1    
success crowns  only those efforts in   
which1 on the one hand1 the stylist has 

been  completely subordinated to        
engineering necessity1 as in the case of
  the ,east ,river bridges1 where the   
architect was called upon only to  add a
 final grace to the strictly structural 
towers2 or on the other  hand1 in which 
the structure is of the old-fashioned   
masonry sort1 and  faced with a familiar
 problem the architect has found it easy
 to be  frank2 as in the case of the    
,manhattan ,storage ,warehouse1 on #dbnd
  ,street1 ,new ,york1 or in the ,bryant
 ,park faade on the ,new ,york          
,library4 ,the ,woolworth building is a 
notable example of the complete         
co-ordination between the structural    
framework and its envelope1 and  falls  
short of ideal success only in the      
employment of an archaic and  alien     
ornamental language1 used1 however1 let 
it be said1 with a fine  understanding  
of the function of ornament4    ,for the
 most part though1 there is a difference
 of intention between  the engineer and 
the designer2 they look two ways1 and   

the result of  their collaboration is a 
flat and confused image of the thing    
that  should be1 not such as is produced
 by truly binocular vision4 ,this       
difference of aim is largely the result 
of a difference of education4           
,engineering science of the sort which  
the use of steel has required is  a     
thing unprecedented2 the engineer cannot
 hark back to the past for  help1 even  
if he would4 ,the case is different with
 the architectural  designer2 he is     
taught that all of the best songs have  
been sung1 all  of the true words       
spoken4 ,the ,glory that was ,greece1   
and the ,grandeur  that was ,rome1 the  
romantic exuberance of ,gothic1 and the 
ordered  restraint of ,renaissance are  
so drummed into him during his years of 
training1 and exercise so tyrannical a  
spell over his imagination that  he     
loses the power of clear and logical    
thought1 and never becomes  truly       
creative4 ,free of this incubus the     
engineer has succeeded in  being        

straightforward and sensible1 to say the
 least2 subject to it  the man with a   
so-called architectural education is too
 often tortuous  and absurd4    ,the    
architect without any training in the   
essentials of design  produces horrors  
as a matter of course1 for the reason   
that sin is the  result of ignorance2   
the architect trained in the false      
manner of the  current schools becomes a
 reconstructive archologist1 handicapped
 by  conditions with which he can deal  
only imperfectly1 and imperfectly       
control4 ,once in a blue moon a man     
arises who1 with all the advantages     
inherent in education1 pierces through  
the past to the present1 and  is able to
 use his brain as the architects of the 
past used theirs--to  deal simply and   
directly with his immediate problem4    
,such a man is ,louis ,sullivan1 though 
it must be admitted that not  always has
 he achieved success4 ,that success was 
so marked1 however1  in his treatment of
 the problem of the tall building1 and  

exercised  subconsciously such a spell  
upon the minds even of his critics and  
detractors1 that it resulted in the     
emancipation of this type of  building  
from an absurd and impossible           
convention--the practice1  common before
 his time1 of piling order upon order1  
like a house  of cards1 or by a         
succession of strongly marked string    
courses  emphasizing the horizontal     
dimension of a vertical edifice1 thus   
vitiating the finest effect of which    
such a building is capable4    ,the     
problem of the tall building1 with which
 his predecessors dealt  always with    
trepidation and equivocation1 ,mr4      
,sullivan approached  with confidence   
and joy4 ,what1 he asked himself1 is the
 chief  characteristic of the tall      
office building8 ,it is lofty4 ,this    
loftiness is to the artist-nature its   
thrilling aspect4 ,it must be  tall4    
,the force of altitude must be in it4   
,it must be every inch a  proud and     
soaring thing1 rising in sheer          

exultation that from bottom  to top it  
is a unit without a dissenting line4    
,the ,prudential  7,guaranty7 building  
in ,buffalo represents the finest       
concrete  embodiment of his idea        
achieved by ,mr4 ,sullivan4 ,it marks   
his  emancipation from what he calls his
 masonry period1 during which  he tried1
 like so many other architects before   
and since1 to make a  steel-framed      
structure look as though it were nothing
 but a masonry  wall perforated with    
openings--openings too many and too     
great not  to endanger its stability4   
,the keen blade of ,mr4 ,sullivan's mind
 cut  through this contradiction1 and in
 the ,prudential building he carried    
out the idea of a protective casing so  
successfully that ,montgomery  ,schuyler
 said of it1 ,i know of no steel framed 
building in which the  metallic         
construction is more palpably felt      
through the envelope of  baked clay4    
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iii4 ,,the     
,,prudential ,,building1 ,,buffalo      

,n4,y4    ,the present author can speak 
with all humbleness of the general      
failure1 on the part of the             
architectural profession1 to appreciate 
the importance of this achievement1 for 
he pleads guilty of day after  day      
having passed the ,prudential building1 
then fresh in the majesty  of its       
soaring lines1 and in the wonder of its 
fire-wrought casing1  with eyes and     
admiration only for the false           
romanticism of the ,erie  ,county       
,savings ,bank1 and the empty bombast of
 the gigantic ,ellicott  ,square4 ,he   
had not at that period of his life      
succeeded in living down  his           
architectural training1 and as a result 
the most ignorant layman  was in a      
better position to appraise the relative
 merits of these  three so different    
incarnations of the building impulse    
than was he4    ,since the ,prudential  
building there have been other tall     
office  buildings1 by other hands1      
truthful in the main1 less rigid1 less  

monotonous1 more superficially pleasing1
 yet they somehow fail to  impart the   
feeling of utter sincerity and fresh    
originality inspired  by this building4 
,one feels that here democracy has at   
last found  utterance in beauty2 the    
,american spirit speaks1 the spirit of  
the  ,long ,denied4 ,this rude1         
rectangular bulk is uncompromisingly    
practical  and utilitarian2 these rows  
on rows of windows1 regularly spaced1   
and  all of the same size1 suggest the  
equality and monotony of obscure1       
laborious lives2 the upspringing shafts 
of the vertical piers stand  for their  
hopes and aspirations1 and the          
unobtrusive1 delicate  ornament which   
covers the whole with a garment of fresh
 beauty is like  the very texture of    
their dreams4 ,the building is able to  
speak  thus powerfully to the           
imagination because its creator is a    
poet  and prophet of democracy4 ,in his 
own chosen language he declares1 as     
,whitman did in verse1 his faith in the 

people of these states--,a  ,nation     
announcing itself4 ,others will         
doubtless follow who will make  a richer
 music1 commensurate with the future's  
richer life1 but such  democracy as is  
ours stands here proclaimed1 just as    
such feudalism  as is still ours stands 
proclaimed in the ,erie ,county ,bank   
just across  the way4 ,the massive rough
 stone walls of this building1 its      
pointed  towers and many dormered       
chateau-like roof unconsciously         
symbolize the  attempt to impose upon   
the living present a moribund and alien 
order4 ,democracy is thus afflicted1 and
 the fact must needs find  architectural
 expression4    ,in the field of        
domestic architecture these dramatic    
contrasts are  less evident1 less       
sharply marked4 ,domestic life varies   
little from  age to age2 a cottage is a 
cottage the world over1 and some        
manorial  mansion on the ,james ,river1 
built in ,colonial days1 remains a      
fitting  habitation 7assuming the       

addition of electric lights and sanitary
  plumbing7 for one of our ,captains of 
,industry1 however little an  ancient   
tobacco warehouse would serve him as a  
place of business4  ,this fact is so    
well recognized that the finest type of 
modern country  house follows1 in       
general1 this or some other equally     
admirable model1  though it is amusing  
to note the millionaire's preference for
 a feudal  castle1 a ,french chateau1 or
 an ,italian villa of the decadence4    
,the man of moderate means1 so called1  
provides himself with  no difficulty    
with a comfortable house1               
undistinguished but  unpretentious1     
which fits him like a glove4 ,there is a
 piazza towards  the street1 a          
bay-window in the living room1 a        
sleeping-porch for the  children1 and a 
box of a garage for the flivver in the  
bit of a back  yard4    ,for the wage   
earner the housing problem is not so    
easily nor  so successfully solved4 ,he 
is usually between the devil of the     

speculative builder and the deep sea of 
the predatory landlord1 each  intent    
upon taking from him the limit that the 
law allows and giving  him as little as 
possible for his money4 ,going down the 
scale of  indigence we find an          
itinerancy amounting almost to          
homelessness1 or  houses so abject that 
they are an insult to the very name of  
home4    ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,iv3   
,,the ,,erie ,,county ,,savings ,,bank1 
,,buffalo1 ,n4,y4    ,it is an eloquent 
commentary upon our national attitude   
toward a most  vital matter that in this
 feverish hustle to produce ships1      
airplanes1  clothing and munitions on a 
vast scale1 the housing of the workers  
was  either overlooked entirely1 or     
received eleventh-hour consideration1   
and only now1 after a year of           
participation in the war1 is it         
beginning to be adequately and          
officially dealt with--how efficiently  
and intelligently remains to be seen4   
,the housing of the soldiers was        

another matter3 that necessity was plain
 and urgent1 and the miracle  has been  
accomplished1 but except by indirection 
it has contributed  nothing to the      
permanent housing problem4    ,other    
aspects of our life which have found    
architectural expression  fall neither  
in the commercial nor in the domestic   
category--the great  hotels1 for        
example1 which partake of the nature of 
both1 and our  passenger railway        
terminals1 which partake of the nature  
of neither4  ,these latter deserve      
especial consideration in this          
connection1 by  reason of their         
important function4 ,the railway is of  
the very essence  of the modern1 even   
though 7with what sublime unreason7     
,imperial ,rome  is written large over  
,new ,york's most magnificent portal4   
,think not that in an age of unfaith    
mankind gives up the building  of       
temples4 ,temples inevitably arise where
 the tide of life flows  strongest2 for 
there ,god manifests1 in however strange

 a guise4 ,that  tide is nowhere        
stronger than in the railroad1 which is 
the arterial  system of our             
civilization4 ,all arteries lead to and 
from the heart1  and thus the railroad  
terminus becomes the beating heart at   
the center  of modern life4 ,it is a    
true instinct therefore which prompts to
  the making of the terminal building a 
very temple1 a monument to  the conquest
 of space through the harnessing of the 
giant horses of  electricity and steam4 
,this conquest must be celebrated on a  
scale  commensurate with its importance1
 and in obedience to this necessity  the
 ,pennsylvania station raised its proud 
head amid the push-cart  architecture of
 that portion of ,new ,york in which it 
stands4 ,it is not  therefore open to   
the criticism often passed upon it1 that
 it is too  grand1 but it is the wrong  
kind of grandeur4 ,if there be truth in 
the  contention that the living needs of
 today cannot be grafted upon the  dead 
stump of any ancient grandeur1 the      

futility of every attempt to  accomplish
 this impossible will somehow1          
somewhere1 reveal itself to  the        
discerning eye4 ,let us seek out1 in    
this building1 the place of  this       
betrayal4    ,it is not necessarily in  
the main faade1 though this is not a    
face1  but a mask--and a mask can1 after
 its kind1 always be made beautiful2  it
 is not in the nobly vaulted corridor1  
lined with shops--for all we  know the  
arcades of ,imperial ,rome were         
similarly lined2 nor is it in  the      
splendid vestibule1 leading into the    
magnificent waiting room1 in  which a   
subject of the ,csars would have felt   
more perfectly at home1  perhaps1 than  
do we4 ,but beyond this passenger       
concourse1 where the  elevators and     
stairways descend to the tracks1        
necessity demanded the  construction of 
a great enclosure1 supported only on    
slender columns  and far-flung trusses  
roofed with glass4 ,now latticed        
columns1 steel  trusses1 and wire glass 

are inventions of the modern world too  
useful  to be dispensed with4 ,rome     
could not help the architect here4 ,the 
mode  to which he was inexorably        
self-committed in the rest of the       
building  demanded massive masonry1     
cornices1 mouldings2 a tribute to ,csar 
which could be paid everywhere but in   
this place4 ,the architect's  problem   
then became to reconcile two            
diametrically different systems4  ,but  
between the west wall of the ancient    
,roman baths and the modern  skeleton   
construction of the roof of the human   
greenhouse there is  no attempt at      
fusion4 ,the slender latticed columns   
cut unpleasantly  through the granite   
cornices and mouldings2 the first       
century ,a4,d4 and  the twentieth are   
here in incongruous juxtaposition--a    
little thing1  easily overlooked1 yet   
how revealing6 ,how reassuring of the   
fact ,god  is not mocked6    ,the ,new  
,york ,central terminal speaks to the   
eye in a modern tongue1  with however   

,french an accent4 ,its faade suggests a
 portal1 reminding  the beholder that a 
railway station is in a very literal    
sense a city  gate placed just as       
appropriately in the center of the      
municipality as  in ancient times it was
 placed in the circuit of the outer     
walls4    ,neither edifice will stand   
the acid test of ,mr4 ,sullivan's       
formula1  that a building is an organism
 and should follow the law of organisms1
  which decrees that the form must      
everywhere follow and express the       
function1 the function determining and  
creating its appropriate form4  ,here   
are two eminent examples of arranged    
architecture4 ,before  organic          
architecture can come into being our    
inchoate national life  must itself     
become organic4 ,arranged architecture1 
of the sort we  see everywhere1 despite 
its falsity1 is a true expression of the
  conditions which gave it birth4       
,illustration3 ,,plate ,v4 ,,the ,,new  
,,york ,,central ,,terminal    ,the     

grandeur of ,rome1 the splendour of     
,paris--what just and adequate          
expression do they give of modern       
,american life8 ,then shall we find in  
our great hotels1 say1 such expression8 
,truly they represent1 in the  phrase of
 ,henry ,james1 a realized ideal and a  
study of them should  reveal that ideal4
 ,from such a study we can only conclude
 that it  is life without effort or     
responsibility1 with every physical need
  luxuriously gratified4 ,but these     
hotels nevertheless represent           
democracy1 it may be urged1 for the     
reason that every one may there  buy    
board and lodging and mercenary service 
if he has the price4 ,the  exceeding    
greatness of that price1 however1 makes 
of it a badge  of nobility which        
converts these democratic hostelries    
into feudal  castles1 more inaccessible 
to the ,long ,denied than as though     
entered  by a drawbridge and surrounded 
by a moat4    ,we need not even glance  
at the churches1 for the tides of our   

spiritual life flow no longer in full   
volume through their portals2  neither  
may the colleges long detain us1 for    
architecturally  considered they give   
forth a confusion of tongues which has  
its  analogue in the confusion of ideas 
in the collective academic head4    ,is 
our search for some sign of democracy   
ended1 and is it vain8 ,no1  democracy  
exists in the secret heart of the       
people1 all the people1  but it is a    
thing so new1 so strange1 so secret and 
sacred--the ideal  of brotherhood--that 
it is unmanifest yet in time and space4 
,it is  a thing born not with the       
,declaration of ,independence1 but only 
yesterday1 with the call to a new       
crusade4 ,the ,national ,army is its    
cradle1 and it is nurtured wherever     
communities unite to serve the  sacred  
cause4 ,although menaced by the bloody  
sword of ,imperialism in  ,europe1 it   
perhaps stands in no less danger from   
the secret poison  of graft and greed   
and treachery here at home4 ,but it is a

 spiritual  birth1 and therefore it     
cannot perish1 but will live to write   
itself  on space in terms of beauty such
 as the world has never known4          
,,ii    ,,during ,,the ,,war      ,the  
best thing that can be said about our   
immediate architectural  past is that it
 is past1 for it has contributed little 
of value to an  architecture of         
democracy4 ,during that neo-feudal      
period the architect  prospered1 having 
his place at the baronial table2 but now
 poor ,tom's  a-cold on a war-swept     
heath1 with food only for reflection4   
,this  is but natural2 the architect1 in
 so far as he is an artist1 is a        
purveyor of beauty2 and the abnormal    
conditions inevitable to a state  of war
 are devastating to so feminine and     
tender a thing1 even though  war be the 
very soil from which new beauty springs4
 ,with ,mars in  mid-heaven how         
afflicted is the horoscope of all       
artists6 ,the skilled  hand of the      
musician is put to coarser uses2 the eye

 that learned  its lessons from the     
sunset must learn the trick of making   
invisible  warships and great guns4 ,let
 the architect serve the war-god        
likewise1  in any capacity that offers1 
confident that this troubling of the    
waters will bring about a new           
precipitation2 that once the war is     
over1 men will turn from those old1     
unhappy1 far-off things to  pastures    
beautiful and new4    ,in whatever way  
the war may complicate the architect's  
personal  problem1 it should simplify   
and clarify his attitude toward his art4
  ,with no matter what seriousness and  
sincerity he may have undertaken  his   
personal search for truth and beauty1 he
 will come to question1  as never       
before1 both its direction and its      
results4 ,he is bound to  perceive1 if  
he does not perceive already1 that the  
war's arrestment  of architecture 7in   
all but its most utilitarian and        
ephemeral phases7  is no great loss to  
the world for the reason that our       

architecture was  uninspired1           
unoriginal1 done without joy1 without   
reverence1 without  conviction3 a thing 
which any wind of a new spirit was bound
 to make  appear foolish to a generation
 with sight rendered clairvoyant through
  its dedication to great and           
regenerative ends4    ,he will come to  
perceive that between the ,civil ,war   
and the crusade  that is now upon us1 we
 were under the evil spell of           
materialism4 ,now  materialism is the   
very negation of democracy1 which is a  
government  by the demos1 or over-soul2 
it is equally the negation of joy1 the  
negation of reverence1 and it is without
 conviction because it cannot  believe  
even in itself4 ,reflecting thus1 he can
 scarcely fail to  realize that         
materialism1 everywhere entrenched1 was 
entrenched  strongest in the camps of   
the rich---not the idle rich1 for       
materialism is so terrible a taskmaster 
that it makes its votaries its  slaves4 
,these slaves1 in turn1 made a slave of 

the artist1 a minister  to their pride  
and pretence4 ,his art thus lacked that 
sad sincerity  which alone might have   
saved it in a crisis4 ,when the storm   
broke  militant democracy turned to the 
engineer1 who produced buildings at     
record speed1 by the mile1 with only    
such architectural assistance as  could 
be first and easiest fished up from the 
dragnet of the draft4    ,in one        
direction only does there appear to be  
open water4 ,toward the  general housing
 problem the architectural profession   
has been spurred  into activity by      
reason of the war1 and to its credit be 
it said1 it  is now thoroughly aroused4 
,the ,american ,institute of ,architects
 sent a  commissioner to ,england to    
study housing in its latest             
manifestations1  and some of the ablest 
and most influential members of that    
organization have placed their services 
at the disposal of the  government4     
,moreover1 there is a manifest          
disposition1 on the part of  architects 

everywhere1 to help in this matter all  
they can4 ,the danger  dwells in the    
possibility that their advice will not  
be heeded1 their  services not be fully 
utilized1 but through chicanery1        
ignorance1  or inanition1 we will       
relapse into the tentative1 expensively 
provisional methods which have governed 
the housing of workers  hitherto4 ,even 
so1 architects will doubtless recapture1
 and more  than recapture1 their        
imperiled prestige1 but under what      
changed  conditions1 and with what an   
altered attitude toward their art and   
their craft6    ,they will find that    
they must unlearn certain things the    
schools had  taught them3 preoccupation 
with the relative merits of ,gothic and 
,classic--tweedledum and tweedledee4    
,furthermore1 they must learn  certain  
neglected lessons from the engineer1    
lessons that they will  be able         
immeasurably to better1 for although the
 engineer is a very  monster of         
competence and efficiency within his    

limits1 these are  sharply marked1 and  
to any detailed knowledge of that       
beautiful  necessity which determines   
spatial rhythm and counterpoint he is a 
stranger4 ,the ideal relation between   
architect and engineer is that of  a    
happily wedded pair--strength married to
 beauty2 in the period just  passed or  
passing they have been as disgruntled   
divorcs4    ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,vi4
 ,,plan ,,of ,,the ,,red ,,cross        
,,community ,,club ,,house1  ,,camp     
,,sherman1 ,,ohio    ,the author has in 
mind one child of such a happy union    
brought about  by the war2 the building 
is the ,red ,cross ,community ,club     
,house at ,camp  ,sherman1 which1 in the
 pursuit of his destiny1 and for the    
furtherance  of his education1 he       
inhabited for two memorable weeks4 ,he  
learned  there more lessons than a few1 
and encountered more tangled skeins of  
destiny than he is ever likely to       
unravel4 ,the matter has so direct a    
bearing1 both on the subject of         

architecture and of democracy1 that it  
is worth discussing at some length4     
,this club house stands1 surrounded by  
its tributary dormitories1 on a         
government reservation1 immediately     
adjacent to the camp itself1  the whole 
constituting what is known as the       
,community ,center4 ,by the  payment of 
a dollar any soldier is free to         
entertain his relatives  and friends    
there1 and it is open to all the        
soldiers at all times4  ,because the    
iron discipline of the army is relaxed  
as soon as the  limits of the camp are  
overpassed1 the atmosphere is favourable
 to  social life4    ,the building      
occupies its acre of ground invitingly1 
though exteriorly  of no particular     
distinction4 ,it is the interior that   
entitles it to  consideration as a      
contribution to an architecture of that 
new-born  democracy of which our army   
camps have been the cradle4 ,the plan of
  this interior is cruciform1 two       
hundred feet in each dimension4 ,built  

by the ,red ,cross of the state of      
,ohio1 and dedicated to the larger  uses
 of that organization1 the symbolic     
appropriateness of this  particular     
geometrical figure should not pass      
unremarked4 ,the cross  is divided into 
side aisles1 nave1 and crossing1 with   
galleries and  mezzanines so arranged as
 to shorten the arms of the cross in its
  upper stages1 leaving the clear-story 
surrounding the crossing  unimpeded and 
well defined4 ,the light comes for the  
most part from  high windows1 filtering 
down1 in tempered brightness to the     
floor4 ,the  bones of the structure are 
everywhere in evidence1 and an element  
of  its beauty1 by reason of the        
admirably direct and logical            
arrangement of posts and trusses4 ,the  
vertical walls are covered with         
plaster-board of a light buff color1    
converted into good sized  panels by    
means of wooden strips finished with a  
thin grey stain4 ,the  structural wood  
work is stained in similar fashion1 the 

iron rods1  straps1 and bolts being     
painted black4 ,this color scheme is    
completed and a little enlivened by red 
stripes and crosses placed at           
appropriate intervals in the general    
design4    ,the building attained its   
final synthesis through the             
collaboration of  a ,cleveland architect
 and a ,national ,army captain of       
engineers4 ,it is  so single in its     
appeal that one does not care to inquire
 too closely  into the part of each in  
the performance2 both are in evidence1  
for  an architect seldom succeeds in    
being so direct and simple1 while an    
engineer seldom succeeds in being so    
gracious and altogether suave4          
,entirely aside from its sthetic        
interest--based as this is on beauty  of
 organism almost alone--the building is 
notable for the success with  which it  
fulfils and co-ordinates its manifold   
functions3 those of a  dormitory1 a     
restaurant1 a ballroom1 a theatre1 and a
 lounge4 ,the  arm of the cross         

containing the principal entrance       
accommodates the  office1 coat room1    
telephones1 news and cigar stand1 while 
leaving  the central nave unimpeded1 so 
that from the door one gets the unusual 
effect of an interior vista two hundred 
feet long4 ,the restaurant  occupies the
 entire left transept1 with a great     
brick fireplace at the  far end4 ,there 
is another fireplace in the centre of   
the side of  the arm beyond the         
crossing2 that part which would         
correspond in a  cathedral to the choir 
and apse being given over to the uses of
 a  reading and writing room4 ,the right
 transept forms a theatre1 on  occasion1
 terminating as it does with a stage4   
,the central floor  spaces are kept     
everywhere free except in the           
restaurant1 the sides  and angles being 
filled in with leather-covered sofas1   
wicker and  wooden chairs and tables1   
arranged in groups favourable to comfort
 and  conversation4 ,two stairways1 at  
the right and left of the restaurant1   

give access to the ample balcony and to 
the bedrooms1 which occupy  three of the
 four ends of the arms of the cross at  
this level4    ,the appearance and      
atmosphere of this great interior is    
inspiring2  particularly of an evening1 
when it is thronged with soldiers1 and  
civilian guests4 ,the strains of music1 
the hum of many voices1 the  rhythmic   
shuffle on the waxed floor of the feet  
of the dancers--these  eminently social 
sounds mingle and lose themselves in the
 spaces of  the roof1 like the voice of 
many waters4 ,tobacco smoke ascends like
  incense1 blue above the prevailing    
green-brown of the crowd1 shot here  and
 there with brighter colors from the    
women's hats and dresses1 in  the       
kaleidoscopic shifting of the dance4    
,long parallel rows of orange  lights1  
grouped low down on the lofty pillars1  
reflect themselves  on the polished     
floor1 and like the patina of time on   
painted canvas  impart to the entire    
animated picture an incomparable tone4  

,for the  lighting1 either by accident  
or by inspiration1 is an achievement  of
 the happiest1 an example of the        
friendliness of fate to him who         
attempts a free solution of his problem4
 ,the brackets consist merely  of a     
cruciform arrangement of planed pine    
boards about each column1  with the end 
grain painted red4 ,on the under side of
 each arm of the  cross is a single     
electric bulb enclosed within an        
orange-coloured  shade to kill the      
glare4 ,the light makes the bare wood of
 the fixture  appear incandescent1      
defining its geometry in rose colour    
with the  most beautiful effect4    ,the
 club house is the centre of the social 
and ceremonial life of the  camp1 for   
balls1 dinners1 receptions1 conferences1
 concerts without  number2 and it has   
been the scene of a military            
wedding--the daughter  of a             
major-general to the grandson of an     
ex-president4 ,to these events  the     
unassuming1 but pervasive beauty of the 

place lends a dignity new  to our social
 life4 ,in our army camps social life is
 truly democratic1  as any one who has  
experienced it does not need to be told4
 ,not alone  have the conditions of     
conscription conspired to make it so1   
but there  is a manifest                
will-to-democracy--the growing of a new 
flower of  the spirit1 sown in a        
community of sacrifice1 to reach its    
maturity1  perhaps1 only in a community 
of suffering4    ,the author may seem to
 have over-praised this ,community ,club
 ,house2  with the whole country to draw
 from for examples it may well appear   
fatuous to concentrate the reader's     
attention1 for so long1 on a  building  
in a remote part of the ,middle ,west3  
cheap1 temporary1  and requiring only   
twenty-one days for its erection4 ,but  
of the  transvaluation of values brought
 about by the war1 this building is  an 
eminent example3 it stands in symbolic  
relation to the times2 it  represents   
what may be called the architecture of  

,service2 it is among  the first of the 
new temples of the new democracy1       
dedicated to the  uses of simple1       
rational social life4 ,notwithstanding  
that it fills a  felt need1 common to   
every community1 there is nothing like  
it in  any of our towns and cities2     
there are only such poor and partial    
substitutes as the hotel1 the saloon1   
the dance hall1 the lodge room  and the 
club4 ,it is scarcely conceivable that  
the men and women who  have experienced 
its benefits and its beauty should not  
demand and  have similar buildings in   
their own home towns4    ,illustration3 
,,plate ,,vii4 ,,interior ,,of ,,the    
,,camp ,,sherman ,,community  ,,house   
,beyond the oasis of the ,community     
,club ,house at ,camp ,sherman stretch  
the cantonments--a ,euclidian nightmare 
of bare boards1 black roofs  and        
ditches1 making grim vistas of straight 
lines4 ,this is the  architecture of    
,need in contradistinction to the       
architecture of  ,greed1 symbolized in  

the shop-window prettiness of those     
sanitary  suburbs of our cities created 
by the real estate agent and the        
speculative builder4 ,neither contain   
any enduring element of beauty4    ,but 
the love of beauty in one form or       
another exists in every human  heart1   
and if too long or too rigorously denied
 it finds its own  channels of          
fulfilment4 ,this desire for            
self-expression through beauty  is an   
important1 though little remarked       
phenomenon of these mid-war  times4 ,at 
the camps it shows itself in the efforts
 of men of  specialized tastes and      
talents to get together and form        
dramatic  organizations1 glee clubs1 and
 orchestras2 and more generally by the  
disposition of the soldiers to sing     
together at work and play and on  the   
march4 ,the renascence of poetry can be 
interpreted as a revulsion  against the 
prevailing prosiness2 the amateur       
theatre is equally a  protest against   
the inanity and conventionality of the  

commercial  stage2 while the ,community 
,chorus movement is an evidence of a    
desire  to escape a narrow              
professionalism in music4 ,a similar    
situation  has arisen in the field of   
domestic architecture1 in the form of   
an unorganized1 but wide-spread reaction
 against the cheap and ugly             
commercialism which has dominated house 
construction and decoration of  the more
 unpretentious class4 ,this became      
articulate a few years ago  in the large
 number of books and magazines devoted  
to house-planning1  construction1       
decoration1 furnishing1 and             
garden-craft4 ,the success  which has   
attended these publications1 and their  
marked influence1  give some measure of 
the magnitude of this revolt4    ,but   
now attention must be called to a       
significant1 and somewhat  sinister     
fact4 ,the professional in these various
 fields of sthetic  endeavour1 has shown
 either indifference or active hostility
 toward  all manner of amateur efforts  

at self-expression4 ,free verse aroused 
the ridicule of the professors of       
metrics2 the ,little ,theatre movement  
was solemnly banned by such pundits as  
,belasco and ,mrs4 ,fiske2 the          
,community ,chorus movement has         
invariably met with opposition and      
misunderstanding from professional      
musicians2 and with few exceptions  the 
more influential architects have        
remained aloof from the effort  to give 
skilled architectural assistance to     
those who cannot afford to  pay them ten
 per cent4    ,thus everywhere do we    
discover a deadening hand laid upon the 
self-expression of the democratic spirit
 through beauty4 ,its enemies  are of   
its own household2 those who by nature  
and training should  be its helpers     
hinder it instead4 ,why do they do this8
 ,because their  fastidious1 sthetic    
natures are outraged by a crudeness     
which they  themselves could easily     
refine away if they chose2 because also 
they  recoil at a lack of conformity to 

existing conventions--conventions  so   
hampering to the inner spirit of the    
,newness1 that in order to  incarnate at
 all it must of necessity sweep them    
aside4    ,but in every field of sthetic
 endeavour appears here and there a  man
 or a woman with unclouded vision1 who  
is able to see in the  flounderings of  
untrained amateurs the stirrings of     
demos from his  age-long sleep4 ,these1 
often forsaking paths more profitable1  
lend  their skilled assistance1 not     
seeking to impose the ancient outworn   
forms upon the ,newness1 but by a       
transfusion of consciousness  permitting
 it to create forms of its own4 ,such a 
one1 in architecture1  ,louis ,sullivan 
has proved himself2 in music ,harry     
,barnhart1 who evokes  the very spirit  
of song from any random crowd4 ,the     
demos found voice  first in the poetry  
of ,walt ,whitman who has a successor in
 ,vachel  ,lindsay1 the man who walked  
through ,kansas1 trading poetry for food
  and lodging1 teaching the farmers'    

sons and daughters to intone  his       
stirring odes to ,pocahontas1 ,general  
,booth1 and ,old ,john ,brown4  ,isadora
 ,duncan1 ,gordon ,craig1 ,maeterlinck1 
,scriabine are perhaps  too remote from 
the spirit of democracy1 too tinged with
 old-world  stheticism1 to be included  
in this particular category1 but all    
are image-breakers1 liberators1 and have
 played their part in the  preparation  
of the field for an art of democracy4   
,to the architect falls the task1 in the
 new dispensation1 of providing  the    
appropriate material environment for its
 new life4 ,if he holds the  old ideas  
and cherishes the old convictions       
current before the war  he can do       
nothing but reproduce their forms and   
fashions2 for  architecture1 in the last
 analysis1 is only the handwriting of   
consciousness on space1 and materialism 
has written there already all  that it  
has to tell of its failure to satisfy   
the mind and heart of  man4 ,however    
beautiful old forms may seem to him they

 will declare  their inadequacy to      
generations free of that mist of        
familiarity which  now makes life       
obscure4 ,if1 on the other hand1        
submitting himself  to the inspiration  
of the demos he experiences a change of 
consciousness1 he will become truly and 
newly creative4    ,his problem1 in     
other words1 is not to interpret        
democracy in terms  of existing idioms1 
be they classic or romantic1 but to     
experience  democracy in his heart and  
let it create and determine its new     
forms  through him4 ,it is not for him  
to impose1 it is for him to be  imposed 
upon4      ,the passive ,master lent his
 hand      ,to the vast soul that o'er  
him planned    says ,emerson in ,the    
,problem1 a poem1 which seems           
particularly  addressed to architects1  
and which every one of them would do    
well to  learn by heart4    ,if he is at
 a loss to know where to go and what to 
do in order to be  played upon by these 
great forces let him direct his         

attention to  the army and the army     
camps4 ,here the spirit of democracy is 
already incarnate4 ,these soldiers1     
violently shaken free from their        
environment1 stripped of all but the    
elemental necessities of life2  facing a
 sinister destiny beyond a              
human-shark-infested ocean1  are today  
the fortunate of earth by reason of     
their realization of  brotherhood1 not  
as a beautiful theory1 but as a blessed 
fact of  experience4 ,they will come    
back with ideas that they cannot utter1 
with memories that they cannot describe2
 they will have dreamed dreams  and seen
 visions1 and their hearts will stir to 
potencies for which  materialism has not
 even a name4    ,the future of the     
country will be in their young hands4   
,will they  re-create1 from its ruins1  
the faithless and loveless feudalism    
from which the war set them free8 ,no1  
they will seek only for                 
self-expression1 the expression of that 
aroused and indwelling spirit  which    

shall create the new1 the true          
democracy4 ,and because it is a         
spiritual thing it will come clothed in 
beauty2 that is1 it will find  its      
supreme expression through the forms of 
art4 ,the architect who  assists in the 
emprise of weaving this garment will be 
supremely  blessed1 but only he who has 
kept the vigil with prayer and fasting  
will be supremely qualified4            
,,iii    ,,after ,,the ,,war      ,when 
the old world is sterile    ,and the    
ages are effete1    ,he will from wrecks
 and sediment    ,the fairer world      
complete4          ,the ,world ,soul4   
,emerson4    ,he whom the ,world ,soul  
forbids to despair cannot but hope2 and 
he  who hopes tries ever to imagine that
 fairer world yearning for birth  beyond
 this interval of blood and tears4      
,prophecy1 to all but the  anointed1 is 
dangerous and uncertain1 but even so1   
the author cannot  forbear attempting to
 prevision the architecture likely to   
arise from  the wrecks and sediment left

 by the war4 ,as a basis for this       
forecast  it is necessary first of all  
briefly to classify the expression of   
the  building impulse from what may be  
called the psychological point of  view4
    ,broadly speaking1 there are not    
five orders of architecture--nor        
fifty--but only two3 ,arranged and      
,organic4 ,these correspond to the  two 
terms of that inevitable duality which  
bisects life4 ,talent and  genius1      
reason and intuition1 bromide and       
sulphite are some of the  names we know 
them by4    ,arranged architecture is   
reasoned and artificial2 produced by    
talent1  governed by taste4 ,organic    
architecture1 on the other hand1 is the 
product of some obscure inner necessity 
for self-expression which  is           
sub-conscious4 ,it is as though ,nature 
herself1 through some human  organ of   
her activity1 had addressed herself to  
the service of the  sons and daughters  
of men4    ,arranged architecture in its
 finest manifestations is the product of

  a pride1 a knowledge1 a competence1 a 
confidence staggering to behold4  ,it   
seems to say of the works of ,nature1   
,i'll show you a trick worth  two of    
that4 ,for the subtlety of ,nature's    
geometry1 and for her  infinite variety 
and unexpectedness1 ,arranged           
architecture substitutes  a ,euclidian  
system of straight lines and 7for the   
most part7 circular  curves1 assembled  
and arranged according to a definite    
logic of  its own4 ,it is created but   
not creative2 it is imagined but not    
imaginative4 ,organic architecture is   
both creative and imaginative4 ,it  is  
non-,euclidian in the sense that it is  
higher-dimensional--that is1  it        
suggests extension in directions and    
into regions where the spirit  finds    
itself at home1 but of which the senses 
give no report to the  brain4           
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,viii4          
,,imaginative ,,sketch ,,by ,,henry ,p4 
,,kirby    ,to make the whole thing     
clearer it may be said that ,arranged   

and  ,organic architecture bear much the
 same relation to one another that  a   
piano bears to a violin4 ,a piano is an 
instrument that does not give  forth    
discords if one follows the rules4 ,a   
violin requires absolutely  an ear--an  
inner rectitude4 ,it has a way of       
betraying the man of  talent and        
glorifying the genius1 becoming one with
 his body and his  soul4    ,of course  
it stands to reason that there is not   
always a hard and fast  differentiation 
between these two orders of             
architecture1 but there  is one sure way
 by which each may be recognized and    
known4 ,if the  function appears to have
 created the form1 and if everywhere the
  form follows the function1 changing as
 that changes1 the building is          
,organic2 if on the contrary1 the house 
confines the spirit1 if the  building   
presents not a face but however         
beautiful a mask1 it is an  example of  
,arranged architecture4    ,the ,gothic 
cathedrals of the ,heart of ,europe--now

 the place of  ,armageddon--represent   
the most perfect and powerful           
incarnation of  the ,organic spirit in  
architecture4 ,after the decadence of   
mediaeval  feudalism--synchronous with  
that of monasticism--the ,arranged      
architecture of the ,renaissance        
acquired the ascendant2 this was        
coincident with the rise of humanism1   
when life became increasingly  secular4 
,during the post-,renaissance1 or       
scientific period1 of which  the war    
probably marks the close1 there has been
 a confusion of  tongues2 architecture  
has spoken only alien or dead languages1
 learned  by rote4    ,but in so far as 
it is anything at all1 sthetically1 our 
architecture  is ,arranged1 so if only  
by the operation of the law of          
opposites1 or  alternation1 we might    
reasonably expect the next manifestation
 to  be ,organic4 ,there are other and  
better reasons1 however1 for such       
expectancy4    ,organic architecture is 
ever a flower of the religious spirit4  

,when  the soul draws near to the       
surface of life1 as it did in the two   
mystic centuries of the ,middle ,ages1  
it organizes life2 and  architecture1   
along1 with the other arts becomes truly
 creative4 ,the  informing force comes  
not so much from man as through him4    
,after  the war that spirit of          
brotherhood1 born in the camps--as      
,christ was  born in a manger--and bred 
on the battlefields and in the trenches 
of  ,europe1 is likely to take on all   
the attributes of a new religion of     
humanity1 prompting men to such heroisms
 and renunciations1 exciting  in them   
such psychic sublimations1 as have      
characterized the great  religious      
renewals of time past4    ,if this      
happens it is bound to write itself on  
space in an  architecture beautiful and 
new2 one which takes its shape and      
sun-color not from the niggardly mind1  
but from the opulent heart4  ,this      
architecture will of necessity be       
organic1 the product not of             

self-assertive personalities1 but the   
work of the ,patient ,daemon  organizing
 the nation into a spiritual democracy4 
,the author is aware that in this point 
of view there is little of  the         
scientific spirit2 but science fails to 
reckon with the soul4  ,science advances
 facing backward1 so what prevision can 
it have of a  miraculous and divinely   
inspired future--or for the matter of   
that1  of any future at all8 ,the old   
methods and categories will no longer   
answer2 the orderly course of evolution 
has been violently interrupted  by the  
earthquake of the war2 igneous action   
has superseded aqueous  action4 ,the    
casements of the human mind look out no 
longer upon  familiar hills and valleys1
 but on a stark1 strange1 devastated    
landscape1 the ploughed land of some    
future harvest of the years4  ,it is the
 end of the ,age1 the ,kali ,yuga--the  
completion of a major  cycle2 but all   
cycles follow the same sequence3 after  
winter1 ,spring2  and after the ,iron   

,age1 the ,golden4    ,the specific     
features of this organic1 divinely      
inspired architecture  of the ,golden   
,age cannot of course be discerned by   
any one1 any more  than the manner in   
which the ,great ,mystery will present  
itself anew to  consciousness4 ,the most
 imaginative artist can imagine only in 
terms of the already-existent2 he can   
speak only the language he has  learned4
 ,if that language has been derived from
 mediaevalism1 he  will let his fancy   
soar after the manner of ,henry ,kirby1 
in his  ,imaginative ,sketches2 if on   
the contrary he has learned to think in 
terms of the classic vernacular1 ,otto  
,rieth's ,architectur-,skizzen  will    
suggest the sort of thing that he is    
likely to produce4 ,both  results will  
be as remote as possible from future    
reality1 for the  reason that they are  
so near to present reality4 ,and yet    
some germs of  the future must be       
enfolded even in the present moment4    
,the course  of wisdom is to seek them  

neither in the old romance nor in the   
new  rationalism1 but in the subtle and 
ever-changing spirit of the times4      
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,ix4            
,,architectural ,,sketch ,,by ,,otto    
,,rieth    ,the most modern note yet    
sounded in business1 in diplomacy1 in   
social  life1 is expressed by the       
phrase1 ,live openly6 ,from every       
quarter1  in regard to every manner of  
human activity1 has come the cry1 ,let  
in the light6 ,by a physical            
correspondence not the result of        
coincidence1 but of the operation of an 
occult law1 we have1 in a very  real    
sense1 let in the light4 ,in buildings  
of the latest type devoted  to large    
uses1 there has been a general          
abandonment of that cellular  system of 
many partitions which produced the      
pepper-box exterior1 in  favour of great
 rooms serving diverse functions lit by 
vast areas of  glass4 ,although an      
increase of efficiency has dictated and 
determined  these changes1 this breaking

 down of barriers between human beings  
and their common sharing of the light of
 day in fuller measure1 is a  symbol of 
the growth of brotherhood1 and the      
search1 by the soul1 for  spiritual     
light4    ,now if this fellowship and   
this quest gain volume and intensity1   
its  physical symbols are bound to      
multiply and find ever more perfect     
forms of manifestation4 ,so both as a   
practical necessity and as a  symbol the
 most pregnant and profound1 we are     
likely to witness in  architecture the  
development of the ,house of ,light1    
particularly as  human ingenuity has    
made this increasingly practicable4     
,glass is a product still undergoing    
development1 as are also those  devices 
of metal for holding it in position and 
making the joints  weather tight4 ,the  
accident and fire hazard has been       
largely overcome  by protecting the     
structural parts1 by the use of wire    
glass1 and  by other ingenious devices4 
,the author has been informed on good   

authority that shortly before the       
outbreak of the war a glass had been    
invented abroad1 and made commercially  
practicable1 which shut out  the heat   
rays1 but admitted the light4 ,the use  
of this glass would  overcome the last  
difficulty--the equalization of         
temperatures--and  might easily result  
in buildings of an entirely novel type1 
the  approach to which is seen in the   
pier and grill style of exterior4  ,this
 is being adopted not only for          
commercial buildings1 but for  others of
 widely different function1 on account  
of its manifest  advantages4 ,cass      
,gilbert's admirable studio apartment at
 #bjj ,west  ,fifty-,seventh ,street1   
,new ,york1 is a building of this type4 
,in this seeking for sunlight in our    
cities1 we will come to live on  the    
roofs more and more--in summer in the   
free air1 in winter under  variformed   
shelters of glass4 ,this tendency is    
already manifesting  itself in those    
newest hotels whose roofs are gardens1  

convertible  into skating ponds1 with   
glazed belvideres for eating in all     
weathers4  ,nothing but ignorance and   
inanition stand in the way of           
utilization of  waste roof spaces4      
,people have lived on the roofs in the  
past1 often  enough1 and will again4    
,illustration3 ,,plate ,x4 ,,rodin      
,,studios1 #bjj ,,west #eg,,th ,,street1
 ,,new ,,york    ,by shouldering ever   
upward for air and light1 we have too   
often  made of the downtown districts   
cliff-bound canyons--granite deeps      
opening into granite deeps4 ,this has   
been the result of no inherent          
necessity1 but of that competitive greed
 whose nemesis is ever to  miss the very
 thing it seeks4 ,by intelligent        
co-operation1 backed  by legislation1   
the roads and sidewalks might be made to
 share the  sunlight with the roofs4    
,this could be achieved in two ways3 by 
stepping back the faades  in successive 
stages--giving top lighting1 terraces1  
and wonderful  incidental effects of    

light and shade--or by adjusting the    
height of  the buildings to the width of
 their interspaces1 making rows of tall 
buildings alternate with rows of low    
ones1 with occasional fully  isolated   
skyscrapers giving variety to the       
sky-line4    ,these and similar problems
 of city planning have been worked out  
theoretically with much minuteness of   
detail1 and are known to every  student 
of the science of cities1 but very      
little of it all has been  realized in a
 practical way--certainly not on this   
side of the water1  where individual    
rights are held so sacred that a        
property owner may  commit any kind of  
an architectural nuisance so long as he 
confines  it to his own front yard4 ,the
 strength of ,,is1 the weakness of      
should  be1 conflicting interests and   
legislative cowardice are responsible   
for the highly irrational manner in     
which our cities have grown great4      
,the search for spiritual light in the  
midst of materialism finds  unconscious 

symbolization in a way other than this  
seeking for the  sun4 ,it is in the     
amazing development of artificial       
illumination4 ,from  a purely           
utilitarian standpoint there is almost  
nothing that cannot  now be accomplished
 with light1 short of making the ether  
itself  luminiferous4 ,the sthetic      
development of this field1 however1 can 
be  said to have scarcely begun4 ,the so
 recent ,san ,francisco ,exposition     
witnessed the first successful effort of
 any importance to enhance the  effect  
of architecture by artificial           
illumination1 and to use colored  light 
with a view to its purely pictorial     
value4 ,though certain  buildings have  
since been illuminated with excellent   
effect1 it  remains true that the       
corset1 chewing-gum1 beer and automobile
  sky signs of our ,great ,white ,ways  
indicate the height to which our        
imagination has risen in utilizing this 
,promethean gift in any but  necessary  
ways4 ,interior lighting1 except        

negatively1 has not been  dealt with    
from the standpoint of beauty1 but of   
efficiency2 the  engineer has preempted 
this field to the exclusion of the      
artist4    ,all this is the result of   
the atrophy of that faculty to worship  
and  wonder which alone induces the mood
 from which the creation of beauty      
springs4 ,light we regard only as a     
convenience to see things by  instead of
 as the power and glory that it         
inherently is4 ,its intense  and potent 
vibrations and the rainbow glory of its 
colour beat at the  door of             
consciousness in vain4 ,when we awaken  
to these things we shall  organize light
 into a language of spontaneous emotion1
 just as from  sound music was          
organized4    ,it is beside the purpose 
of this essay to attempt to trace the   
evolution of this new art form1 made    
possible by modern invention1 to        
indicate what phases it is likely to    
pass through on the way to what         
perfections1 but that it is bound to add

 a new glory to architecture  is sure4  
,this will come about in two ways3      
directly1 by giving color1  quality1    
subtlety to outdoor and indoor lighting1
 and indirectly by  educating the eye to
 color values1 as the ear has been      
educated by  music2 thus creating a need
 for more color everywhere4    ,as light
 is the visible symbol of an inner      
radiance1 so is color the  sign manual  
of happiness1 of joy4 ,our cities are so
 dun and drab in  their outward aspects1
 by reason of the weight of care that   
burdens  us down4 ,we decry the happy   
irresponsibility of the savage1 and the 
patient contentment of the ,oriental    
with his lot1 but both are able  to     
achieve marvels of color in their       
environment beyond the compass  of      
civilized man4 ,the glory of mediaeval  
cathedral windows is a still  living    
confutation of the belief that in those 
far-off times the human  heart was sad4 
,architecture is the index of the inner 
life of those  who produced it1 and     

whenever it is colorful that inner life 
contains  an inner joy4    ,in the      
coming ,golden ,age life will be joyous1
 and if it is joyous1  colour will come 
into architecture again4 ,our           
psychological state even  now1 alone    
prevents it1 for we are rich in         
materials and methods to  make such     
polychromy possible4 ,in an article in a
 recent number  of ,the ,architectural  
,record1 ,mr4 ,leon ,v4 ,solon1 writing 
from an  entirely different point of    
view1 divines this tendency1 and        
expresses  the opinion that color is    
again renascent4 ,this tendency is so   
marked1  and this opinion is so shared  
that we may look with confidence toward 
a color-evolution in architectural art4 
,the question of the character of what  
may be called the ornamental  mode of   
the architecture of the ,new ,age is of 
all questions the most  obscure4        
,evolution along the lines of the       
already existent does not  help us here1
 for we are utterly without any         

ornamental mode from  which a new and   
better might conceivably evolve4        
,nothing so betrays  the spiritual      
bankruptcy of the end of the ,iron ,age 
as this4    ,the only light on this     
problem which we shall find1 dwells in  
the  realm of metaphysics rather than in
 the world of material reality4         
,ornament1 more than any other element  
of architecture1 is deeply              
psychological1 it is an externalization 
of an inner life4 ,this is  so true that
 any time-worn fragment out of the past 
when art was  a language can usually be 
assigned to its place and its period1 so
  eloquent is it of a particular people 
and a particular time4 ,could we        
therefore detect and understand the     
obscure movement of consciousness  in   
the modern world1 we might gain some    
clue to the language it would  later    
find4    ,it is clear that consciousness
 is moving away from its absorption in  
materiality because it is losing faith  
in materialism4 ,clairvoyance1          

psychism1 the recrudescence of          
mysticism1 of occultism--these signs  of
 the times are straws which show which  
way the wind now sets1 and  indicate    
that the modern mind is beginning to    
find itself at home in  what is called  
the fourth dimension4 ,the phrase is    
used here in  a different sense from    
that in which the mathematician uses it1
 but  oddly enough four-dimensional     
geometry provides the symbols by  which 
some of these occult and mystical ideas 
may be realized by the  rational mind4  
,one of the most engaging and inspiring 
of these  ideas is that the personal    
self is a projection on the plane of    
materiality of a metaphysical self1 or  
soul1 to which the personal  self is    
related as is the shadow of an object to
 the object  itself4 ,now this coincides
 remarkably with the idea implicit in   
all  higher-space speculation1 that the 
figures of solid geometry  are          
projections on a space of three         
dimensions1 of corresponding            

four-dimensional forms4    ,all ornament
 is in its last analysis                
geometrical--sometimes directly  so1 as 
in the system developed by the ,moors4  
,will the psychology  of the new        
dispensation find expression through    
some adaptation of  four-dimensional    
geometry8 ,the idea is far from absurd1 
by reason of  the decorative quality    
inherent in many of the regular         
hypersolids of  four-dimensional space  
when projected upon solid and plane     
space4    ,if this suggestion seems too 
fanciful1 there is still recourse to the
  law of analogy in finding the thing we
 seek4 ,every fresh religious  impulse  
has always developed a symbology through
 which its truths are  expressed and    
handed down4 ,these symbols1 woven into 
the very texture  of the life of the    
people1 are embodied by them in their   
ornamental  mode4 ,the sculpture of a   
,greek temple is a picture-book of      
,greek  religion2 the ornamentation of a
 ,gothic cathedral is a veritable bible 

of the ,christian faith4 ,almost all of 
the most beautiful and enduring         
ornaments have first been sacred        
symbols2 the swastika1 the ,eye of      
,buddha1 the ,shield of ,david1 the     
wheel1 the lotus1 and the cross4    ,now
 that twilight of the world following   
the war perhaps will  witness an        
,avatara--the coming of a               
,world-,teacher who will rebuild  on the
 one broad and ancient foundation that  
temple of ,truth which  the folly and   
ignorance of man is ever tearing down4  
,a material  counterpart of that temple 
will in that case afterward arise4 ,thus
  will be born the architecture of the  
future2 and the ornament of that        
architecture will tell1 in a new set of 
symbols1 the story of the  rejuvenation 
of the world4    ,in this previsioning  
of architecture after the war1 the      
author  must not be understood to mean  
that these things will be realized      
directly after4 ,architecture1 from its 
very nature1 is the most  sluggish of   

all the arts to respond to the natural  
magic of the  quick-moving mind--it is  
,caliban1 not ,ariel4 ,following the war
 the  nation will be for a time depleted
 of man-power1 burdened with  debt1     
prostrate1 exhausted4 ,but in that time 
of reckoning will come  reflection1     
penitence4                ,and ,i'll be 
wise hereafter1    ,and seek for grace4 
,what a thrice-double ass    ,was ,i1 to
 take this drunkard for a god1    ,and  
worship this dull fool4    ,with some   
such epilogue the curtain will descend  
on the great drama  now approaching a   
close4 ,it will be for the younger      
generations1 the  reincarnate souls of  
those who fell in battle1 to inaugurate 
the work  of giving expression1 in      
deathless forms of art1 to the vision of
 that  fairer world glimpsed now only as
 by lightning1 in a dream4              
,illustration          ,,essays         
,,ornament ,,from ,,mathematics    ,i   
,,the ,,world ,,order      ,no fact is  
better established than that we live in 

an orderly  universe4 ,the truth of this
 the world-war may for the moment1 and  
to  the near and narrow view appear to  
contradict1 but the sweep of human      
history1 and the stars in their courses1
 show an orderliness which  cannot be   
gainsaid4    ,now of that order1        
number--that is1 mathematics--is the    
more than  symbol1 it is the very thing 
itself4 ,whence this weltering tide of  
life arose1 and whither it flows1 we    
know not2 but that it is governed  by   
mathematical law all of our knowledge in
 every field confirms4 ,were  it not so1
 knowledge itself would be impossible4  
,it is because man is  a counting animal
 that he is master over all the beasts  
of the earth4    ,number is the tune to 
which all things move1 and as it were   
make  music2 it is in the pulses of the 
blood no less than in the starred       
curtain of the sky4 ,it is a necessary  
concomitant alike of the sharp  bargain1
 the chemical experiment1 and the fine  
frenzy of the poet4  ,music is number   

made audible2 architecture is number    
made visible2  nature geometrizes not   
alone in her crystals1 but in her most  
intricate arabesques4    ,if number be  
indeed the universal solvent of all     
forms1 sounds1  motions1 may we not make
 of it the basis of a new sthetic--a    
loom on  which to weave patterns the    
like of which the world has never seen8 
,to  attempt such a thing--to base art  
on mathematics--argues 7some one  is    
sure to say7 an entire misconception of 
the nature and function of  art4 ,art is
 a fountain of spontaneous              
emotion--what1 therefore1  can it have  
in common with the proverbially driest1 
least spontaneous  preoccupation of the 
human mind8 ,but the above definition   
concludes  with the assertion that this 
emotion reaches the soul through various
  channels4 ,the transit can be effected
 only through some sensuous  element1   
some language 7in the largest sense71   
and into this the  element of number and
 form must inevitably enter--mathematics

 is  there and cannot be thought or     
argued away4    ,illustration3 ,,plate  
,,xi4 ,,imaginary ,,composition3 ,,the  
,,portal    ,but to make mathematics1   
and not the emotion which it expresses1 
the  important thing1 is not this to    
fall into the time-worn heresy of  art  
for art's sake1 that is1 art for form's 
sake--art for the sake of  mathematics8 
,to this objection there is an answer1  
and as this answer  contains the crux of
 the whole matter1 embraces the         
proposition by  which this thesis must  
stand or fall1 it must be full and      
clear4    ,what is it1 in the last      
analysis1 that all art which is not     
purely personal and episodical strives  
to express8 ,is it not the              
world-order8--the very thing that       
religion1 philosophy1 science1  strive  
according to their different natures and
 methods to express8  ,the perception of
 the world-order by the artist arouses  
an emotion to  which he can give vent   
only in terms of number2 but number is  

itself  the most abstract expression of 
the world order4 ,the form and content  
of art are therefore not different1 but 
the same4 ,a deep sense of this         
probably inspired ,pater's famous saying
 that all art aspires toward  the       
condition of music2 for music1 from its 
very nature1 is the  world-order uttered
 in terms of number1 in a sense and to a
 degree not  attained by any other art4 
,this is not mere verbal juggling4 ,we  
have suffered so long from an  art-phase
 which exalts the personal1 as opposed  
to the cosmic1 that  we have lost sight 
of the fact that the great arts of      
antiquity1  preceding the ,renaissance1 
insisted on the cosmic1 or impersonal   
aspect1 and on this alone1 just as does 
,oriental art1 even today4  ,the secret 
essence1 the archetypal idea of the     
subject is the  preoccupation of the    
,oriental artist1 as it was of the      
,egyptian1  and of the ,greek4 ,we of   
the ,west today seek as eagerly to fix  
the  accidental and ephemeral           

aspect--the shadow of a particular cloud
 upon  a particular landscape2 the smile
 on the face of a specific person1 in  a
 recognizable room1 at a particular     
moment of time4 ,of symbolic art1  of   
universal emotion expressing itself in  
terms which are universal1  we have very
 little to show4    ,the reason for this
 is first1 our love for1 and            
understanding of1  the concrete and     
personal3 it is the world-aspect and not
 the  world-order which interests us2   
and second1 the inadequacies of  current
 forms of art expression to render our  
sense of the eternal  secret heart of   
things as it presents itself to our     
young eyes4  ,confronted with this      
difficulty1 we have shirked it1 and our 
ambition  has shrunk to the portrayal of
 those aspects which shuffle our poverty
  out of sight4 ,it is not a poverty of 
technique--we are dexterous  enough2 nor
 is it a poverty of invention--we are   
clever enough2 it is  the poverty of the
 spiritual bankrupt trying to divert    

attention by a  prodigal display of the 
smallest of small change4    ,reference 
is made here only to the arts of space2 
the arts of  time--music1 poetry1 and   
the 7written7 drama--employing vehicles 
more  flexible1 have been more          
fortunate1 though they too suffer in    
some  degree from worshipping1 instead  
of the god of order1 the god of  chance4
    ,the corrective of this is a return 
to first principles3 principles so      
fundamental that they suffer no change1 
however new and various their           
illustrations4 ,these principles are    
embodied in number1 and one might       
almost say nowhere else in such         
perfection4 ,mathematics is not the  dry
 and deadly thing that our teaching of  
it and the uses we put it  to have made 
it seem4 ,mathematics is the handwriting
 on the human  consciousness of the very
 ,spirit of ,life itself4 ,others before
  ,pythagoras discovered this1 and it is
 the discovery which awaits us  too4    
,to indicate the way in which           

mathematics might be made to yield the  
elements of a new sthetic is beyond the 
province of this essay1 being  beyond   
the compass of its author1 but he makes 
bold to take a single  phase3 ornament1 
and to deal with it from this point of  
view4    ,the ornament now in common use
 has been gathered from the dust-bin  of
 the ages4 ,what ornamental motif of any
 universality1 worth1 or  importance is 
less than a hundred years old8 ,we      
continue to use the  honeysuckle1 the   
acanthus1 the fret1 the egg and dart1   
not because  they are appropriate to any
 use we put them to1 but because they   
are  beautiful per se4 ,why are they    
beautiful8 ,it is not because they  are 
highly conventionalized representations 
of natural forms which  are themselves  
beautiful1 but because they express     
cosmic truths4 ,the  honeysuckle and the
 acanthus leaf1 for example1 express the
 idea  of successive impulses1 mounting1
 attaining a maximum1 and               
descending--expanding from some focus of

 force in the manner universal          
throughout nature4 ,science recognizes  
in the spiral an archetypal  form1      
whether found in a whirlpool or in a    
nebula4 ,a fret is a series  of highly  
conventionalized spirals3 translate it  
from angular to  curved and we have the 
wave-band2 isolate it and we have the   
volute4  ,egg and dart are phallic      
emblems1 female and male2 or1 if you    
prefer1  as ellipse and straight line1  
they are symbols of finite existence    
contrasted with infinity4 ,figure #a4   
,illustration3 ,figure #a4    ,suppose  
that we determine to divest ourselves of
 these and other  precious inheritances1
 not because they have lost their beauty
 and  meaning1 but rather on account of 
their manifold associations with a  past
 which the war makes suddenly more      
remote than slow centuries have  done2  
suppose that we determine to supplant   
these symbols with others  no less      
charged with beauty and meaning1 but    
more directly drawn from  the           

inexhaustible well of mathematical      
truth--how shall we set to  work8    ,we
 need not set to work1 because we have  
done that already1 we are  always doing 
it1 unknowingly1 and without knowing the
 reason why4 ,all  ornamentalists are   
subjective mathematicians--an amazing   
statement1  perhaps1 but one susceptible
 of confirmation in countless amusing   
ways1 of which two will be shown4       
,illustration3 ,figure #b4    ,consider 
first your calendar--your calendar whose
 commonplace face1  having yielded you  
information as to pay day1 due day1 and 
holiday1  you obliterate at the end of  
each month without a qualm1 oblivious to
  the fact that were your interests less
 sordid and personal it would  speak to 
you of that order which pervades the    
universe2 would make you  realize       
something of the music of the spheres4  
,for on that familiar  checkerboard of  
the days are numerical arrangements     
which are  mysterious1 magical2 each    
separate number is as a spider at the   

center of an amazing mathematical web4  
,that is to say1 every number  is       
discovered to be half of the sum of the 
pairs of numbers which  surround it1    
vertically1 horizontally1 and           
diagonally3 all of the  pairs add to the
 same sum1 and the central number       
divides this sum by  two4 ,a graphic    
indication of this fact on the calendar 
face by means  of a system of           
intersecting lines yields that form of  
classic grille  dear to the heart of    
every tyro draughtsman4 ,figure #b4     
,here is  an evident relation between   
mathematical fact and ornamental mode1  
whether the result of accident1 or by   
reason of some subconscious  connection 
between the creative and the reasoning  
part of the mind4    ,to show1 by means 
of an example other than this acrostic  
of the days1  how the pattern-making    
instinct follows unconsciously in the   
groove  traced out for it by            
mathematics1 the attention of the reader
 is  directed to the design of the old  

,colonial bed-spread shown in ,figure   
#c4 ,adjacent to this1 in the upper     
right hand corner1 is a magic  square of
 four4 ,that is1 all of the columns of  
figures of which it is  composed3       
vertical1 horizontal and diagonal add to
 the same sum3 #cd4  ,an analysis of    
this square reveals the fact that it is 
made up of  the figures of two different
 orders of counting3 the ordinary order1
  beginning at the left hand upper      
corner and reading across and down in   
the usual way1 and the reverse-ordinary1
 beginning at the lower right  hand     
corner and reading across and up4 ,the  
figures in the four central  cells and  
in the four outside corner cells are    
discovered to belong  in the first      
category1 and the remaining figures in  
the second4 ,now  if the ordinary order 
cells be represented by white1 and the  
reverse  ordinary by black1 just such a 
pattern has been created as forms the   
decorative motif of the quilt4    ,it   
may be claimed that these two examples  

of a relation between  ornament and     
mathematics are accidental and therefore
 prove nothing1  but they at least      
furnish a clue which the artist would be
 foolish not  to follow up4 ,let him    
attack his problem this time directly1  
and  see if number may not be made to   
yield the thing he seeks3 namely1       
space-rhythms which are beautiful and   
new4    ,we know that there is a beauty 
inherent in order1 that necessity of    
one sort or another is the parent of    
beauty4 ,beauty in architecture  is     
largely the result of structural        
necessity2 beauty in ornament  may      
spring from a necessity which is        
numerical4 ,it is clear that the        
arrangement of numbers in a magic square
 is necessitous--they must be  placed in
 a certain way in order that the        
summation of every column  shall be the 
same4 ,the problem then becomes to make 
that necessity  reveal itself to the    
eye4 ,now most magic squares contain a  
magic  path1 discovered by following the

 numbers from cell to cell in  their    
natural order4 ,because this is a       
necessitous line it should not  surprise
 us that it is frequently beautiful as  
well4    ,illustration3 ,figure #c4     
,the left hand drawing in ,figure #d    
represents the smallest aggregation  of 
numbers that is capable of magic square 
arrangement4 ,each vertical1            
horizontal1 and corner diagonal column  
adds up to #ae1 and the sum of  any two 
opposite numbers is #aj1 which is twice 
the center number4 ,the  magic path is  
the endless line developed by following1
 free hand1 the  numbers in their       
natural order1 from #a to #i and back to
 #a again4 ,the  drawing at the right of
 ,figure #d is this same line translated
 into  ornament by making an interlace  
of it1 and filling in the larger        
interstices with simple floral forms4   
,this has been executed in white        
plaster and made to perform the function
 of a ventilating grille4    ,now the   
number of magic squares is practically  

limitless1 and while  all of them do not
 yield magic lines of the beauty of this
 one1 some  contain even richer         
decorative possibilities4 ,but there are
 also other  ways of deriving ornament  
from magic squares1 already hinted at in
 the  discussion of the ,colonial quilt4
    ,illustration3 ,figure #d4          
,illustration3 ,figure #e4    ,magic    
squares of an even number of cells are  
found sometimes to  consist of numbers  
arranged not only in combinations of the
 ordinary  and the reverse ordinary     
orders of counting1 but involving two   
others  as well3 the reverse of the     
ordinary 7beginning at the upper right  
hand1 across1 and down7 and the reversed
 inverse1 7beginning at the  lower left 
hand1 across1 and up74 ,if1 in such a   
magic square1 a simple  graphic symbol  
be substituted for the numbers belonging
 to each order1  pattern spontaneously  
springs to life4 ,figures #e and #f     
exemplify the  method1 and ,figures #g  
and #h the translation of some of these 

squares  into richer patterns by        
elaborating the symbols while respecting
 their  arrangement4 ,by only a slight  
stretch of the imagination the beautiful
  pierced stone screen from ,ravenna    
shown in ,figure #i might be conceived  
of as having been developed according to
 this method1 although of  course it was
 not so in fact4 ,some of the           
arrangements shown in ,figure  #f are   
closely paralleled in the acoustic      
figures made by means of  musical tones 
with sand1 on a sheet of metal or glass4
    ,illustration3 ,figure #f4          
,illustration3 ,figure #g4    ,the      
celebrated ,franklin square of #af cells
 can be made to yield a  beautiful      
pattern by designating some of the lines
 which give the  summation of #bjef by  
different symbols1 as shown in ,figure  
#aj4 ,a free  translation of this design
 into pattern brickwork is indicated in 
,figure #aa4    ,if these processes seem
 unduly involved and elaborate for the  
achievement of a simple result--like    

burning the house down in  order to get 
roast pig--there are other more simple  
ways of deriving  ornament from         
mathematics1 for the truths of number   
find direct and  perfect expression in  
the figures of geometry4 ,the squaring  
of  a number--the raising of it to its  
second power--finds graphic  expression 
in the plane figure of the square2 and  
the cubing of a  number--the raising of 
it to its third power--in the solid     
figure  of the cube4 ,now squares and   
cubes have been recognized from time    
immemorial as useful ornamental motifs4 
,other elementary geometrical  figures1 
making concrete to the eye the truths of
 abstract number1 may  be dealt with by 
the designer in such a manner as to     
produce ornament  the most varied and   
profuse4 ,moorish ceilings1 ,gothic     
window tracery1  ,grolier bindings1 all 
indicate the richness of the field4     
,illustration3 ,figure #h4              
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xii4           
,,imaginary ,,composition4 ,,the        

,,balcony    ,illustration3 ,figure #i4 
,suppose1 for example1 that we attempt  
to deal decoratively which such  simple 
figures as the three lowest ,platonic   
solids--the tetrahedron1  the           
hexahedron1 and the octahedron4 ,figure 
#ab4 ,their projection on a  plane      
yields a rhythmical division of space1  
because of their inherent  symmetry4    
,these projections would correspond to  
the network of lines  seen in looking   
through a glass paperweight of the given
 shape1 the  lines being formed by the  
joining of the several faces4 ,figure   
#ac  represents ornamental bands        
developed in this manner4 ,the          
dodecahedron  and icosahedron1 having   
more faces1 yield more intricate        
patterns1 and  there is no limit to the 
variety of interesting designs          
obtainable by  these direct and simple  
means4    ,illustration3 ,figure #aj4   
,if the author has been successful thus 
far in his exposition1 it  should be    
sufficiently plain that from the        

inexhaustible well of  mathematics fresh
 beauty may be drawn4 ,but what of its  
significance8  ,ornament must mean      
something2 it must have some relation to
 the  dominant ideation of the day2 it  
must express the psychological mood4    
,what is the psychological mood8 ,ours  
is an age of transition2 we live  in a  
changing world4 ,on the one hand we     
witness the breaking up of  many an old 
thought crystal1 on the other we feel   
the pressure of  those forces which     
shall create the new4 ,what is nature's 
first  visible creative act8 ,the       
formation of a geometrical crystal4 ,the
  artist should take this hint1 and     
organize geometry into a new  ornamental
 mode2 by so doing he will prove himself
 to be in relation  to the anima mundi4 
,it is only by the establishment of such
 a  relation that new beauty comes to   
birth in the world4    ,illustration3   
,figure #aa4    ,ornament in its        
primitive manifestations is geometrical 
rather than  naturalistic4 ,this is in a

 manner strange1 that the abstract and  
metaphysical thing should precede the   
concrete and sensuous4 ,it would  be    
natural to suppose that man would first 
imitate the things which  surround him1 
but the most cursory acquaintance with  
primitive art  shows that he is much    
more apt to crudely geometrize4 ,now it 
is  not necessary to assume that we are 
to revert to the conditions of  savagery
 in order to believe that in this matter
 of a sound sthetic  we must begin where
 art has always begun--with number and  
geometry4  ,nevertheless there is a     
subtly ironic view which one is         
justified in  holding in regard to quite
 obvious aspects of ,american life1 in  
the  light of which that life appears to
 have rather more in common with        
savagery than with culture4             
,illustration3 ,figure #ab4             
,illustration3 ,figure #ac4    ,the     
submersion of scholarship by athletics  
in our colleges is a case  in point1 the
 contest of muscles exciting much more  

interest and  enthusiasm than any       
contest of wits4 ,we persist in the     
savage habit of  devouring the corpses  
of slain animals long after the         
necessity for it  is past1 and some even
 murder innocent wild creatures1 giving 
to their  ferocity the name of sport4   
,our women bedeck themselves with furs  
and  feathers1 the fruit of mercenary   
and systematic slaughter2 we perform    
orgiastic dances to the music of horns  
and drums and cymbals--in  short1 we    
have the savage psychology without its  
vital religious  instinct and its sure  
decorative sense for color and form4    
,but this is of course true only of the 
surface and sunlit shadows of  the great
 democratic tide4 ,its depths conceal   
every kind of subtlety  and             
sophistication1 high endeavour1 and a   
response to beauty and  wisdom of a sort
 far removed from the amoeba stage of   
development  above sketched4 ,of this   
latter stage the simple figures of      
,euclidian  plane and solid             

geometry--figures which any child can   
understand--are  the appropriate        
symbols1 but for that other more        
developed state of  consciousness--less 
apparent but more important--these will 
not do4  ,something more sophisticated  
and recondite must be sought for if we  
are to have an ornamental mode capable  
of expressing not only the  simplicity  
but the complexity of present-day       
psychology4 ,this need not  be sought   
for outside the field of geometry1 but  
within it1 and by  an extension of the  
methods already described4 ,there is an 
altogether  modern development of the   
science of mathematics3 the geometry of 
four dimensions4 ,this represents the   
emancipation of the mind from  the      
tyranny of mere appearances2 the turning
 of consciousness in a  new direction4  
,it has therefore a high symbolical     
significance as  typifying that movement
 away from materialism which is so      
marked a  phenomenon of the times4      
,of course to those whose notion of the 

fourth dimension is akin to  that of a  
friend of the author who described it as
 a wagon-load  of bung-holes1 the idea  
of getting from it any practical        
advantage  cannot seem anything but     
absurd4 ,there is something about this  
form  of words the fourth dimension     
which seems to produce a sort of        
mental-phobia in certain minds1         
rendering them incapable of perception  
or reason4 ,such people1 because they   
cannot stick their cane into it  contend
 that the fourth dimension has no       
mathematical or philosophical  validity4
 ,as ignorance on this subject is very  
general1 the following  essay will be   
devoted to a consideration of the fourth
 dimension and  its relation to a new   
ornamental mode4    ,illustration       
,,ii    ,,the ,,fourth ,,dimension      
,the subject of the fourth dimension is 
not an easy one to understand4          
,fortunately the artist in design does  
not need to penetrate far into  these   
fascinating halls of thought in order to

 reap the advantage  which he seeks4    
,nevertheless an intention of mind upon 
this  fairy-tale of mathematics cannot  
fail to enlarge his intellectual  and   
spiritual horizons1 and develop his     
imagination--that finest  instrument in 
all his chest of tools4    ,by way of   
introduction to the subject ,prof4      
,james ,byrnie ,shaw1 in an  article in 
the ,scientific ,monthly1 has this to   
say3        ,up to the period of the    
,reformation algebraic equations of     
more than the third degree were frowned 
upon as having no      real meaning1    
since there is no fourth power or       
dimension4      ,but about one hundred  
years ago this chimera became an actual 
existence1 and today it is furnishing a 
new world to physics1      in which     
mechanics may become geometry1 time be  
co-ordinated      with space1 and every 
geometric theorem in the world is a     
physical theorem in the experimental    
world in study in the      laboratory4  
,startling indeed it is to the scientist

 to be told      that an artificial     
dream-world of the mathematician is     
more real than that he sees with his    
galvanometers1      ultra-microscopes1  
and spectroscopes4 ,it matters little   
that      he replies1 ,your             
four-dimensional world is only an       
analytic      explanation of my         
phenomena1 for the fact remains a fact1 
that in the mathematician's             
four-dimensional space there is      a  
space not derived in any sense of the   
term as a residue of      experience1   
however powerful a distillation of      
sensations or      perceptions be       
resorted to1 for it is not contained at 
all in      the fluid that experience   
furnishes4 ,it is a product of the      
creative power of the mathematical mind1
 and its objects are      real in       
exactly the same way that the cube1 the 
square1 the      circle1 the sphere or  
the straight line4 ,we are enabled to   
see      with the penetrating vision of 
the mathematical insight that      no   

less real and no more real are these    
fantastic forms of the      world of    
relativity than those supposed to be    
uncreatable or      indestructible in   
the play of the forces of nature4       
,these fantastic forms alone need       
concern the artist4 ,if by some  potent 
magic he can precipitate them into the  
world of sensuous images  so that they  
make music to the eye1 he need not even 
enter into the  question of their       
reality1 but in order to achieve this   
transmutation  he should know something1
 at least1 of the strange laws of their 
being1 should lend ear to a fairy-tale  
in which each theorem is a  paradox1 and
 each paradox a mathematical fact4      
,he must conceive of a space of four    
mutually independent directions2 a      
space1 that is1 having a direction at   
right angles to every direction  that we
 know4 ,we cannot point to this1 we     
cannot picture it1 but we  can reason   
about it with a precision that is all   
but absolute4 ,in such  a space it would

 of course be possible to establish four
 axial lines1  all intersecting at a    
point1 and all mutually at right angles 
with one  another4 ,every hyper-solid of
 four-dimensional space has these four  
axes4    ,the regular hyper-solids      
7analogous to the ,platonic solids of   
three-dimensional space7 are the        
fantastic forms which will prove  useful
 to the artist4 ,he should learn to lure
 them forth along them  axis lines4     
,that is1 let him build up his figures1 
space by space1  developing them from   
lower spaces to higher4 ,but since he   
cannot enter  the fourth dimension1 and 
build them there1 nor even the third--if
 he  confines himself to a sheet of     
paper--he must seek out some form of    
representation of the higher in the     
lower4 ,this is a process with  which he
 is already acquainted1 for he employs  
it every time he makes  a perspective   
drawing1 which is the representation of 
a solid on  a plane4 ,all that is       
required is an extension of the method3 

a  hyper-solid can be represented in a  
figure of three dimensions1 and  this in
 turn can be projected on a plane4 ,the 
achieved result will  constitute a      
perspective of a perspective--the       
representation of a  representation4    
,this may sound obscure to the          
uninitiated1 and it is true that the    
plane projection of some of the regular 
hyper-solids are staggeringly  intricate
 affairs1 but the author is so sure that
 this matter lies so  well within the   
compass of the average non-mathematical 
mind that he  is willing to put his     
confidence to a practical test4    ,it  
is proposed to develop a representation 
of the tesseract or  hyper-cube on the  
paper of this page1 that is1 on a space 
of two  dimensions4 ,let us start as far
 back as we can3 with a point4  ,this   
point1 a1 ,figure #ad is conceived to   
move in a direction w1  developing the  
line a b4 ,this line next moves in a    
direction at right  angles to w1 namely1
 x1 a distance equal to its length1     

forming  the square a b c d4 ,now for   
the square to develop into a cube by a  
movement into the third dimension it    
would have to move in a direction  at   
right angles to both w and x1 that is1  
out of the plane of the  paper--away    
from it altogether1 either up or down4  
,this is not  possible1 of course1 but  
the third direction can be represented  
on  the plane of the paper4             
,illustration3 ,figure #ad4 ,,two       
,,projections ,,of ,,the ,,hypercube    
,,or  ,,tesseract1 ,,and ,,their        
,,translation ,,into ,,ornament4        
,let us represent it as diagonally      
downward toward the right1 namely1  y4  
,in the y direction1 then1 and at a     
distance equal to the length  of one of 
the sides of the square1 another square 
is drawn1 a'b'c'd'1  representing the   
original square at the end of its       
movement into the  third dimension2 and 
because in that movement the bounding   
points of  the square have traced out   
lines 7edges71 it is necessary to       

connect  the corresponding corners of   
the two squares by means of lines4 ,this
  completes the figure and achieves the 
representation of a cube on a  plane by 
a perfectly simple and familiar process4
 ,its six faces  are easily identified  
by the eye1 though only two of them     
appear as  squares owing to the         
exigencies of representation4    ,now   
for a leap into the abyss1 which won't  
be so terrifying1 since  it involves no 
change of method4 ,the cube must move   
into the fourth  dimension1 developing  
there a hyper-cube4 ,this is impossible1
 for  the reason the cube would have to 
move out of our space                   
altogether--three-dimensional space will
 not contain a hyper-cube4 ,but  neither
 is the cube itself contained within the
 plane of the paper2  it is only there  
represented4 ,the y direction had to be 
imagined and  then arbitrarily          
established2 we can arbitrarily         
establish the fourth  direction in the  
same way4 ,as this is at right angles to

 y1 its  indication may be diagonally   
downward and to the left--the direction 
z4 ,as y is known to be at right angles 
both to w and to x1 z is at  right      
angles to all three1 and we have thus   
established the four  mutually          
perpendicular axes necessary to complete
 the figure4    ,the cube must now move 
in the z direction 7the fourth          
dimension7  a distance equal to the     
length of one of its sides4 ,just as we 
did  previously in the case of the      
square1 we draw the cube in its new     
position 7,,abb',d',c',c7 and also as   
before we connect each apex of the      
first cube with the corresponding apex  
of the other1 because each of  these    
points generates a line 7an edge71 each 
line a plane1 and  each plane a solid4  
,this is the tesseract or hyper-cube in 
plane  projection4 ,it has the #af      
points1 #cb lines1 and #h cubes known to
  compose the figure4 ,these cubes occur
 in pairs1 and may be readily           
identified4#a    ,the tesseract as      

portrayed in ,a1 ,figure #ad1 is shown  
according to the  conventions of        
oblique1 or two-point perspective2 it   
can equally be  represented in a manner 
correspondent to parallel perspective4  
,the  parallel perspective of a cube    
appears as a square inside another      
square1 with lines connecting the four  
vertices of the one with those  of the  
other4 ,the third dimension 7the one    
beyond the plane of the  paper7 is here 
conceived of as being not beyond the    
boundaries of the  first square1 but    
within them4 ,we may with equal         
propriety conceive  of the fourth       
dimension as a beyond which is within4  
,in that case  we would have a rendering
 of the tesseract as shown in ,b1       
,figure #ad3  a cube within a cube1 the 
space between the two being occupied by 
six  truncated pyramids1 each           
representing a cube4 ,the large outside 
cube  represents the original generating
 cube at the beginning of its motion    
into the fourth dimension1 and the small

 inside cube represents it at  the end  
of that motion4    ,illustration3       
,,plate ,,xiii4 ,,imaginary             
,,composition3 ,,the ,,audience         
,,chamber    ,these two projections of  
the tesseract upon plane space are not  
the  only ones possible1 but they are   
typical4 ,some idea of the variety of   
aspects may be gained by imagining how a
 nest of inter-related cubes  7made of  
wire1 so as to interpenetrate71 combined
 into a single  symmetrical figure of   
three-dimensional space1 would appear   
from several different directions4 ,each
 view would yield new                   
space-subdivisions1 and all would be    
rhythmical--susceptible1  therefore1 of 
translation into ornament4 ,c and ,d    
represent such  translations of ,a and  
,b4    ,in order to fix these unfamiliar
 ideas more firmly in the reader's      
mind1 let him submit himself to one more
 exercise of the creative  imagination1 
and construct1 by a slightly different  
method1 a  representation of a          

hexadecahedroid1 or #af-;hedroid1 on a  
plane4 ,this  regular solid of          
four-dimensional space consists of      
sixteen cells1  each a regular          
tetrahedron1 thirty-two triangular      
faces1 twenty-four  edges and eight     
vertices4 ,it is the correlative of the 
octahedron of  three-dimensional space4 
,first it is necessary to establish our 
four axes1 all mutually  at right       
angles4 ,if we draw three lines         
intersecting at a point1  subtending    
angles of #fj degrees each1 it is not   
difficult to  conceive of these lines as
 being at right angles with one another 
in three-dimensional space4 ,the fourth 
axis we will assume to pass  vertically 
through the point of intersection of the
 three lines1  so that we see it only in
 cross-section1 that is1 as a point4 ,it
 is  important to remember that all of  
the angles made by the four axes  are   
right angles--a thing possible only in a
 space of four dimensions4  ,because the
 #af-;hedroid is a symmetrical          

hyper-solid all of its  eight apexes    
will be equidistant from the centre of a
 containing  hyper-sphere1 whose surface
 these will intersect at symmetrically  
disposed points4 ,these apexes are      
established in our representation by    
describing a circle--the plane          
projection of the hyper-sphere--about   
the central point of intersection of the
 axes4 7,figure #ae1 left47  ,where each
 of these intersects the circle an apex 
of the #af-;hedroid  will be            
established4 ,from each apex it is now  
necessary to draw  straight lines to    
every other1 each line representing one 
edge of the  sixteen tetrahedral cells4 
,but because the two ends of the fourth 
axis  are directly opposite one another1
 and opposite the point of sight1  all  
of these lines fail to appear in the    
left hand diagram4 ,it  therefore       
becomes necessary to tilt the figure    
slightly1 bringing  into view the fourth
 axis1 much foreshortened1 and with it1 
all of the  lines which make up the     

figure4 ,the result is that projection  
of the  #af-;hedroid shown at the right 
of ,figure #ae4b ,here is no fortuitous 
arrangement of lines and areas1 but the 
shadow cast by an  archetypal1 figure of
 higher space upon the plane of our     
materiality4  ,it is a wonder1 a        
mystery1 staggering to the imagination1 
contradictory to experience1 but as well
 entitled to a place at the  high court 
of reason as are any of the more        
familiar figures with  which geometry   
deals4 ,translated into ornament it     
produces such an  all-over pattern as is
 shown in ,figure #af and the design    
which adorns  the curtains at right and 
left of pl4 ,,xiii4 ,there are also     
other  interesting projections of the   
#af-;hedroid which need not be gone into
  here4    ,illustration3 ,figure #ae4  
,,direct ,,view ,,axes ,,shown ,,by     
,,heavy ,,lines ,,tilted  ,,view        
,,apexes ,,shown ,,by ,,circles ,,the   
#af-;,,hedroid ,,in ,,plane ,,projection
    ,for if the author has been         

successful in his exposition up to  this
 point1 it should be sufficiently plain 
that the geometry  of four-dimensions is
 capable of yielding fresh and          
interesting  ornamental motifs4 ,in     
carrying his demonstration farther1 and 
in  multiplying illustrations1 he would 
only be going over ground already       
covered in his book ,projective         
,ornament and in his second ,scammon    
lecture4    ,of course this elaborate   
mechanism for producing quite obvious   
and  even ordinary decorative motifs may
 appear to some readers like            
,goldberg's nightmare mechanics1 wherein
 the most absurd and intricate  devices 
are made to accomplish the most simple  
ends4 ,the author is  undisturbed by    
such criticisms4 ,if the designs dealt  
with in this  chapter are obvious and   
even ordinary they are so for the reason
  that they were chosen less with an eye
 to their interest and beauty  than as  
lending themselves to development and   
demonstration by an  orderly process    

which should not put too great a tax    
upon the patience  and intelligence of  
the reader4 ,four-dimensional geometry  
yields  numberless other patterns whose 
beauty and interest could not possibly  
be impeached--patterns beyond the       
compass of the cleverest designer       
unacquainted with projective geometry4  
,illustration3 ,figure #af4    ,the     
great need of the ornamentalist is this 
or some other solid  foundation4        
,lacking it1 he has been forced to build
 either on the  shifting sands of his   
own fancy1 or on the wrecks and sediment
 of the  past4 ,geometry provides this  
sure foundation4 ,we may have to work   
hard  and dig deep1 but the results will
 be worth the effort1 for only on  such 
a foundation can arise a temple which is
 beautiful and strong4    ,in           
confirmation of his general contention  
that the basis of all  effective        
decoration is geometry and number1 the  
author1 in closing1  desires to direct  
the reader's attention to ,figure #ag a 

slightly  modified rendering of the     
famous zodiacal ceiling of the ,temple  
of  ,denderah1 in ,egypt4 ,a sun and its
 corona have been substituted for the   
zodiacal signs and symbols which fill   
the centre of the original1 for  except 
to an ,egyptologist these are           
meaningless4 ,in all essentials the     
drawing faithfully follows the          
original--was traced1 indeed1 from a    
measured drawing4    ,illustration3     
,figure #ag4 ,,ceiling ,,decoration     
,,from ,,the ,,temple ,,of  ,,denderah  
,here is one of the most magnificent    
decorative schemes in the whole  world1 
arranged with a feeling for balance and 
rhythm exceeding the  power of the      
modern artist1 and executed with a      
mastery beyond the  compass of a modern 
craftsman4 ,the fact that first forces  
itself upon  the beholder is that the   
thing is so obviously mathematical in   
its  rhythms1 that to reduce it to terms
 of geometry and number is a matter  of 
small difficulty4 ,compare the frozen   

music of these rhymed and  linked       
figures with the herded1 confused1 and  
cluttered compositions  of even our best
 decorative artists1 and argument       
becomes  unnecessary--the fact stands   
forth that we have lost something       
precious and vital out of art of which  
the ancients possessed the  secret4     
,it is for the restoration of these     
ancient verities and the discovery  of  
new spatial rhythms--made possible by   
the advance of mathematical             
science--that the author pleads4        
,artists1 architects1 designers1        
instead of chewing the cud of current   
fashion1 come into these  pastures new6 
,illustration    ,footnote #a3 ,the     
eight cubes in ,a1 ,figure #ad1 are as  
follows3  abb'd'c'c2 ,,abb',d',c',c2    
abd,d,c,a2 a'b'd',d',c',a'2             
abb',b',a',a2 cdd',d',c',c2             
bb'd',d',,db2 aa'c',c',,ca4    ,footnote
 #b3 ,the sixteen cells of the          
hexadehahedroid are as follows3  ,,abcd3
 ,a',b',c',d'3 ,,ab',c',d'3 ,a',,bcd3   

,,ab',,cd3 ,a',,bc',d3 ,,abc',d3        
,a',b',,cd'3 ,,abcd'3  ,a',b',c',d3     
,,abc',d'3 ,a',b',,cd3 ,a',,bc',d3      
,,ab',,cd'3 ,a',,bcd'3 ,,ab',c',d4      
,,harnessing ,,the ,,rainbow            
,reference was made in an antecedent    
essay to an art of light--of  mobile    
color--an abstract language of thought  
and emotion which should  speak to      
consciousness through the eye1 as music 
speaks through the  ear4 ,this is an art
 unborn1 though quickening in the womb  
of the  future4 ,the things that reflect
 light have been organized sthetically  
into the arts of architecture1 painting1
 and sculpture1 but light  itself has   
never been thus organized4    ,and yet  
the scientific development and control  
of light has reached a  stage which     
makes this new art possible4 ,it awaits 
only the advent of  the creative artist4
 ,the manipulation of light is now in   
the hands  of the illuminating engineers
 and its exploitation 7in other than    
necessary ways7 in the hands of the     

advertisers4    ,some results of their  
collaboration are seen in the sky signs 
of upper  ,broadway1 in ,new ,york1 and 
of the lake front1 in ,chicago4 ,a      
carnival  of contending vulgarities1    
showing no artistry other than the most 
puerile1 these displays nevertheless    
yield an effect of amazing  beauty4     
,this is on account of an occult        
property inherent in the  nature of     
light--it cannot be vulgarized4 ,if the 
manipulation of  light were delivered   
into the hands of the artist1 and       
dedicated  to noble ends1 it is         
impossible to overestimate the          
augmentation of  beauty that would      
ensue4    ,for light is a far more      
potent medium than sound4 ,the sphere of
 sound  is the earth-sphere2 the little 
limits of our atmosphere mark the       
uttermost boundaries to which sound1    
even the most strident can  possibly    
prevail4 ,but the medium of light is the
 ether1 which links  us with the most   
distant stars4 ,may not this serve as a 

symbol of the  potency of light to usher
 the human spirit into realms of being  
at the  doors of which music itself     
shall beat in vain8 ,or if we compare   
the  universe accessible to sight with  
that accessible to sound--the  plight of
 the blind in contrast to that of the   
deaf--there is the same  discrepancy2   
the field of the eye is immensely       
richer1 more various  and more          
interesting than that of the ear4       
,the difficulty appears to consist in   
the inferior impressionability  of the  
eye to its particular order of beauty4  
,to the average man  color--as          
color--has nothing significant to say3  
to him grass is  green1 snow is white1  
the sky blue2 and to have his attention 
drawn to  the fact that sometimes grass 
is yellow1 snow blue1 and the sky green1
  is disconcerting rather than          
illuminating4 ,it is only when his      
retina  is assaulted by some splendid   
sunset or sky-encircling rainbow that   
he is able to disassociate the idea of  

color from that of form and  substance4 
,even the artist is at a disadvantage in
 this respect1 when  compared with the  
musician4 ,nothing in color knowledge   
and analysis  analogous to the          
established laws of musical harmony is  
part of the  equipment of the average   
artist2 he plays1 as it were1 by ear4   
,the  scientist1 on the other hand1     
though he may know the spectrum from    
end to end1 and its innumerable         
modifications1 values this rainbow      
promise of the ,lord not for its own    
beautiful sake but as a means  to other 
ends than those of beauty4 ,but just as 
the art of music  has developed the ear 
into a fine and sensitive instrument of 
appreciation1 so an analogous art of    
light would educate the eye to  nuances 
of color to which it is now blind4      
,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xiv4 ,,song    
,,and ,,light3 ,,an ,,approach ,,toward 
,,color  ,,music    ,it is interesting  
to speculate as to the particular form  
in which this  new art will manifest    

itself4 ,the question is perhaps already
 answered  in the color organ1 the      
earliest of which was ,bambridge        
,bishop's1  exhibited at the old        
,barnum's ,museum--before the days of   
electric  light--and the latest ,a4,w4  
,rimington's4 ,both of these instruments
 were  built upon a supposed            
correspondence between a given scale of 
colors1  and the musical chromatic      
scale2 they were played from a musical  
score  upon an organ keyboard4 ,this is 
sufficiently easy and sufficiently      
obvious1 and has been done1 with varying
 success in one way or  another1 time   
and again1 but its very ease and        
obviousness should give  us pause4      
,it may well be questioned whether any  
arbitrary and literal  translation1 even
 though practicable1 of a highly        
complex1 intensely  mobile art1         
unfolding in time1 as does music1 into a
 correspondent  light and color         
expression1 is the best approach to a   
new art of  mobile color4 ,there is a   

deep and abiding conviction1 justified  
by the  history of sthetics1 that each  
art-form must progress from its  own    
beginnings and unfold in its own unique 
and characteristic way4                 
,correspondences between the arts--such 
a correspondence1 for  example1 as      
inspired the famous saying that         
architecture is frozen  music--reveal   
themselves usually only after the sister
 arts have  attained an independent     
maturity4 ,they owe their origin to that
  underlying unity upon which our       
various modes of sensuous perception    
act as a refracting medium1 and must    
therefore be taken for granted4  ,each  
art1 like each individual1 is unique and
 singular2 in this  singularity dwells  
its most thrilling appeal4 ,we are      
likely to miss  light's crowning glory1 
and the rainbow's most moving message to
 the  soul if we preoccupy ourselves too
 exclusively with the identities        
existing between music and color2 it is 
rather their points of  difference which

 should first be dwelt upon4    ,let us 
accordingly consider the characteristic 
differences between  the two            
sense-categories to which sound and     
light--music and  color--respectively   
belong4 ,this resolves itself into a    
comparison  between time and space4 ,the
 characteristic thing about time is     
succession--hence the very idea of      
music1 which is in time1 involves       
perpetual change4 ,the characteristic of
 space1 on the other hand1 is           
simultaneousness--in space alone        
perpetual immobility would reign4  ,that
 is why architecture1 which is          
pre-eminently the art of space1 is  of  
all the arts the most static4 ,light and
 color are essentially  of space1 and   
therefore an art of mobile colour should
 never lack a  certain serenity and     
repose4 ,a tune played on a color organ 
is only  distressing4 ,if there is a    
workable correspondence between the     
musical  art and an art of mobile color1
 it will be found in the domain of      

harmony which involves the idea of      
simultaneity1 rather than in  melody1   
which is pure succession4 ,this         
fundamental difference between  time and
 space cannot be over-emphasized4 ,a    
musical note prolonged1  becomes at last
 scarcely tolerable2 while a beautiful  
color1 like the  blue of the sky1 we can
 enjoy all day and every day4 ,the      
changing hues  of a sunset1 are andante 
if referred to a musical standard1 but  
to  the eye they are allegretto--we     
would have them pass less swiftly  than 
they do4 ,the winking1 chasing1 changing
 lights of illuminated  sky-signs are   
only annoying1 and for the same reason4 
,the eye longs  for repose in some      
serene radiance or stately sequence1    
while the ear  delights in contrast and 
continual change4 ,it may be that as the
 eye  becomes more educated it will     
demand more movement and complexity1 but
  a certain stillness and serenity are  
of the very nature of light1  as        
movement and passion are of the very    

nature of sound4 ,music is a            
seeking--love in search of a word2 light
 is a finding--a divine  covenant4      
,with attention still focussed on the   
differences rather than the             
similarities between the musical art and
 a new art of mobile color1  we come    
next to the consideration of the matter 
of form4 ,now form  is essentially of   
space3 we speak about the form of a     
musical  composition1 but it is in a    
more or less figurative and metaphysical
  sense1 not as a thing concrete and    
palpable1 like the forms of space4  ,it 
would be foolish to forego the advantage
 of linking up form with  colour1 as    
there is opportunity to do4 ,here is    
another golden ball to  juggle with1 one
 which no art purely in time affords4   
,of course it is  known that musical    
sounds weave invisible patterns in the  
air1 and to  render these patterns      
perceptible to the eye may be one of the
 more  remote and recondite achievements
 of our uncreated art4 ,meantime1       

though we have the whole treasury of    
natural forms to draw from1 of  these we
 can only properly employ such as are   
abstract4 ,the reason  for this is clear
 to any one who conceives of an art of  
mobile color1  not as a moving picture  
show--a thing of quick-passing concrete 
images1 to shock1 to startle1 or to     
charm--but as a rich and various        
language in which light1 proverbially   
the symbol of the spirit1 is  made to   
speak1 through the senses1 some healing 
message to the soul4  ,for such a       
consummation1 devoutly to be wished1    
natural forms--forms  abounding in every
 kind of association with that world of 
materiality  from which we would        
escape--are out of place2 recourse must 
be had  rather to abstract forms1 that  
is1 geometrical figures4 ,and because   
the more remote these are from the      
things of sense1 from knowledge and     
experience1 the projected figures of    
four-dimensional geometry would  lend   
themselves to these uses with an        

especial grace4 ,color without  form is 
as a soul without a body2 yet the body  
of light must be  without any taint of  
materiality4 ,four-dimensional forms are
 as  immaterial as anything that could  
be imagined and they could be made  to  
serve the useful purpose of separating  
colors one from another1  as lead lines 
do in old cathedral windows1 than which 
nothing more  beautiful has ever been   
devised4    ,coming now to the          
consideration1 not of differences1 but  
similarities1  it is clear that a       
correspondence can be established       
between the  colors of the spectrum and 
the notes of a musical scale4 ,that is1 
the spectrum1 considered as the analogue
 of a musical octave can  be subdivided 
into twelve colors which may be         
representative of  the musical chromatic
 scale of twelve semi-tones3 the very   
word1  chromatic1 being suggestive of   
such a correspondence between sound  and
 light4 ,the red end of the spectrum    
would naturally relate to the  low notes

 of the musical scale1 and the violet   
end to the high1 by  reason of the      
relative rapidity of vibration in each  
case2 for the  octave of a musical note 
sets the air vibrating twice as rapidly 
as  does the note itself1 and roughly   
speaking1 the same is true of the  end  
colors of the spectrum with relation to 
the ether4    ,but assuming that a color
 scale can be established which would   
yield  a color correlative to any       
musical note or chord1 there still      
remains  the matter of values to be     
dealt with4 ,in the musical scale there 
is  a practical equality of values3 one 
note is as potent as another4 ,in  a    
color scale1 on the other hand1 each    
note 7taken at its greatest  intensity7 
has a positive value of its own1 and    
they are all  different4 ,these values  
have no musical correlatives1 they      
belong to  color per se4 ,every colorist
 knows that the whole secret of beauty  
and brilliance dwells in a proper       
understanding and adjustment of  values1

 and music is powerless to help him     
here4 ,let us therefore  defer the      
discussion of this musical parallel1    
which is full of  pitfalls1 until we    
have made some examination into such    
simple  emotional reactions as color can
 be discovered to yield4 ,the musical   
art began from the emotional response to
 certain simple tones and  combinations1
 and the delight of the ear in their    
repetition and  variation4    ,on       
account of our undeveloped sensitivity1 
the emotional reactions  to color are   
found to be largely personal and        
whimsical3 one person  loves pink1      
another purple1 or green4 ,color        
therapeutics is too  new a thing to be  
relied upon for data1 for even though   
colors  are susceptible of              
classification as sedative1 recuperative
 and  stimulating1 no two               
classifications arrived at independently
 would be  likely to correspond4 ,most  
people appear to prefer bright1 pure    
colors when presented to them in small  

areas1 red and blue being  the          
favourites4 ,certain data have been     
accumulated regarding the  physiological
 effect and psychological value of      
different colors1 but  this order of    
research is in its infancy1 and we shall
 have recourse1  therefore1 to theory1  
in the absence of any safer guide4      
,one of the theories which may be said  
to have justified itself in  practice in
 a different field is that upon which is
 based ,delsarte's  famous art of       
expression4 ,it has schooled some of the
 finest actors  in the world1 and raised
 others from mediocrity to distinction4 
,the  ,delsarte system is founded upon  
the idea that man is a triplicity of    
physical1 emotional1 and intellectual   
qualities or attributes1 and  that the  
entire body and every part thereof      
conforms to1 and expresses  this        
triplicity4 ,the generative and         
digestive region corresponds with  the  
physical nature1 the breast with the    
emotional1 and the head  with the       

intellectual2 below represents the nadir
 of ignorance and  dejection1 above the 
zenith of wisdom and spiritual power4   
,this seems a natural1 and not an       
arbitrary classification1 having        
interesting confirmations and           
correspondencies1 both in the outer     
world of form1 and in the inner world of
 consciousness4 ,moreover1 it  is in    
accord with that theosophic scheme      
derived from the ancient and  august    
wisdom of the ,east1 which longer and   
better than any other  has withstood the
 obliterating action of slow time1 and  
is even now  renascent4 ,let us         
therefore attempt to classify the colors
 of the  spectrum according to this     
theory1 and discover if we can how      
nearly  such a classification is        
conformable to reason and experience4   
,the red end of the spectrum1 being     
lowest in vibratory rate1 would         
correspond to the physical nature1      
proverbially more sluggish than the     
emotional and mental4 ,the phrase like a

 red rag to a bull1 suggests  a relation
 between the color red and the animal   
consciousness  established by           
observation4 ,the low-brow is the dear  
lover of the  red necktie2 the high-brow
 is he who sees violet shadows on the   
snow4 ,we see red when we are dominated 
by ignoble passion4 ,though  the color  
green is associated with the idea of    
jealousy1 it is  associated also with   
the idea of sympathy1 and jealousy in   
the last  analysis is the fear of the   
loss of sympathy2 it belongs1 at all    
events to the mediant1 or emotional     
group of colors2 while blue and  violet 
are proverbially intellectual and       
spiritual colors1 and  their place in   
the spectrum therefore conforms to the  
demands of our  theoretical division4   
,here1 then1 is something reasonably    
certain1  certainly reasonable1 and may 
serve as an hypothesis to be confirmed  
or confuted by subsequent research4     
,coming now finally to the              
consideration of the musical parallel1  

let us divide a color scale of  twelve  
steps or semi-tones into three groups2  
each group1 graphically  portrayed1     
subtending one-third of the arc of a    
circle4 ,the first or  red group will be
 related to the physical nature1 and    
will consist of  purple-red1 red1       
red-orange1 and orange4 ,the second1 or 
green group  will be related to the     
emotional nature1 and will consist of   
yellow1  yellow-green1 green1 and       
green-blue4 ,the third1 or blue group   
will be  related to the intellectual and
 spiritual nature1 and will consist  of 
blue1 blue-violet1 violet and purple4   
,the merging of purple into  purple-red 
will then correspond to the meeting     
place of the  highest with the lowest1  
spirit and matter4 ,we conceive of this 
meeting-place symbolically as the       
heart--the vital centre4 ,now  sanguine 
is the appropriate name associated with 
the color of  the blood--a color between
 purple and purple-red4 ,it is logical1 
therefore1 to regard this point in our  

color-scale as its  tonic--middle       
,c--though each color1 just as in music 
each note1 is  itself the tonic of a    
scale of its own4    ,mr4 ,louis        
,wilson--the author of the above        
ophthalmic color scale  makes the same  
affiliation between sanguine1 or blood  
color1 and  middle ,c1 led thereto by   
scientific reasons entirely unassociated
 with  symbolism4 ,he has omitted       
orange-yellow and violet-purple2 this   
makes the scale conform more exactly    
with the diatonic scale of  two         
tetra-chords2 it also gives a greater   
range of purples1 a color  indispensable
 to the artist4 ,moreover1 in the scale 
as it stands1 each  color is exactly    
opposite its true spectral              
complementary4    ,the color scale being
 thus established and broadly divided1  
the next  step is to find how well it   
justifies itself in practice4 ,the most 
direct way would be to translate the    
musical chords recognized and  dealt    
with in the science of harmony into     

their corresponding color  combinations4
    ,for the benefit of such readers as 
have no knowledge of musical  harmony it
 should be said that the entire science 
of harmony is based  upon the triad1 or 
chord of three notes1 and that there are
 various  kinds of triads3 the major1   
the minor1 the augmented1 the           
diminished1  and the altered4 ,the major
 triad consists of the first note of the
  diatonic scale1 or tonic2 its third1  
and its fifth4 ,the minor triad  differs
 from the major only in that the second 
member is lowered a  semi-tone4 ,the    
augmented triad differs from the major  
only in that the  third member is raised
 a semi-tone4 ,the diminished triad     
differs from  the minor only in that the
 third member is lowered a semi-tone4   
,the  altered triad is a chord different
 by a semi-tone from any of the  above4 
,the major triad in color is formed by  
taking any one of the twelve            
color-centers of the ophthalmic color   
scale as the first member of  the triad2

 and1 reading up the scale1 the fifth   
step 7each step  representing a         
semi-tone7 determines the second member1
 while the  third member is found in the
 eighth step4 ,the minor triad in color 
is  formed by lowering the second member
 of the major triad one step2 the       
augmented triad by raising the third    
member of the major triad one  step1 and
 the diminished triad by lowering the   
third member of the  minor triad one    
step4    ,illustration3 ,figure #ah4    
,,major ,,triad1 ,,minor ,,triad1       
,,augmented ,,triad1  ,,diminished      
,,triad    ,these various triads are    
shown graphically in ,figure #ah as     
triangles within a circle divided into  
twelve equal parts1 each part           
representing a semi-tone of the         
chromatic scale4 ,it is seen at a       
glance that in every case each triad has
 one of its notes 7an apex7 in  or      
immediately adjacent to a different one 
of the grand divisions of  the colour   
scale hereinbefore established and      

described1 and that the  same thing     
would be true in any key3 that is1 by   
any variation of  the point of          
departure4    ,this certainly satisfies 
the mind in that it suggests variety in 
unity1 balance1 completeness1 and in the
 actual portrayal1 in color1  of these  
chords in any key this judgment is      
confirmed by the eye1  provided that the
 colors have been thrown into proper    
harmonic  suppression4 ,by this is meant
 such an adjustment of relative values1 
or such an establishment of relative    
proportions as will produce the  maximum
 of beauty of which any given           
combination is capable4 ,this  matter   
imperatively demands an sthetic sense   
the most sensitive4    ,so this musical 
parallel1 interesting and reasonable as 
it is1 will  not carry the color        
harmonist very far1 and if followed too 
literally  it is even likely to hamper  
him in the higher reaches of his art1   
for some of the musical dissonances are 
of great beauty in color  translation4  

,all that can safely be said in regard  
to the musical  parallel in its present 
stage of development is that it         
simplifies and  systematizes color      
knowledge and experiment and to a       
beginner it is  highly educational4     
,if we are to have color symphonies1 the
 best are not likely to be  those based 
on a literal translation of some musical
 masterpiece into  color according to   
this or any theory1 but those created by
 persons  who are emotionally reactive  
to this medium1 able to imagine in      
color1  and to treat it imaginatively4  
,the most beautiful mobile color effects
  yet witnessed by the author were      
produced on a field only five inches    
square1 by an eminent painter quite     
ignorant of music2 while some of  the   
most unimpressive have been the result  
of a rigid adherence to the  musical    
parallel by persons intent on cutting1  
with this sword1 this  ,gordian knot4   
,into the subject of means and methods  
it is not proposed to enter1 nor  to    

attempt to answer such questions as to  
whether the light shall be  direct or   
projected2 whether the spectator1       
wrapped in darkness1 shall  watch the   
music unfold at the end of some         
mysterious vista1 or  whether his whole 
organism shall be played upon by        
powerful waves  of multi-coloured light4
 ,these coupled alternatives are not    
mutually  exclusive1 any more than the  
idea of an orchestra is exclusive of    
that  of a single human voice4    ,in   
imagining an art of mobile color        
unconditioned by considerations  of     
mechanical difficulty or of expense1    
ideas multiply in truly  bewildering    
profusion4 ,sunsets1 solar coronas1 star
 spectra1 auroras  such as were never   
seen on sea or land2 rainbows1 bubbles1 
rippling  water2 flaming volcanoes1 lava
 streams of living light--these and a   
hundred other enthralling and perfectly 
realizable effects suggest  themselves4 
,what ,israfil of the future will pour  
on mortals this new  music of the       

spheres8          ,,louis ,,sullivan    
,,prophet ,,of ,,democracy      ,due    
tribute has been paid to ,mr4 ,louis    
,sullivan as an architect in  the first 
essay of this volume4 ,that aspect of   
his genius has been  critically dealt   
with by many1 but as an author he is    
scarcely  known4 ,yet there are         
,sibylline leaves of his1 still let us  
hope in  circulation1 which have wielded
 a potent influence on the minds of a   
generation of men now passing to        
maturity4 ,it is in the hope that his   
message may not be lost to the youth of 
today and of tomorrow that the  present 
author now undertakes to summarize and  
interpret that message  to a public to  
which ,mr4 ,sullivan is indeed a name1  
but not a voice4    ,that he is not a   
voice can be attributed neither to his  
lack of  eloquence--for he is           
eloquent--nor to the indifference of the
 younger  generation of architects which
 has grown up since he has ceased1  in  
any public way1 to speak4 ,it is due    

rather to a curious fatality  whereby   
his memorabilia have been confined to   
sheets which the  winds of time have    
scattered--pamphlets1 ephemeral         
magazines1 trade  journals--never the   
bound volume which alone guards the     
sacred flame  from the gusts of evil    
chance4    ,and ,mr4 ,sullivan's is a   
sacred flame1 because it was kindled    
solely  with the idea of service--a     
beacon to keep young men from  shipwreck
 traversing those straits made dangerous
 by the ,scylla of  ,conventionality1   
and the ,charybdis of ,license4 ,the    
labour his writing  cost him was        
enormous4 ,i shall never again make so  
great a sacrifice  for the younger      
generation1 he says in a letter1 ,i am  
amazed to  note how insignificant1 how  
almost nil is the effect produced1 in   
comparison to the cost1 in vitality to  
me4 ,or perhaps it is ,i who  am in     
error4 ,perhaps one must have reached   
middle age1 or the ,indian  ,summer of  
life1 must have seen much1 heard much1  

felt and produced  much and been much in
 solitude to receive in reading what ,i 
gave in  writing 'with hands overfull4' 
,this was written with reference to     
,kindergarten ,chats4 ,a sketch         
,analysis of ,contemporaneous ,american 
,architecture1 which constitutes  ,mr4  
,sullivan's most extended and           
characteristic preachment to the  young 
men of his day4 ,it appeared in #aija1  
in fifty-two consecutive  numbers of    
,the ,interstate ,architect and         
,builder1 a magazine now  no longer     
published4 ,in it the author1 as mentor1
 leads an imaginary  disciple up and    
down the land1 pointing out to him the  
bold1  upholsterrific blunders to be    
found in the architecture of the day1   
and commenting on them in a caustic1    
colloquial style--large1 loose1         
discursive--a blend of ,ruskin1 ,carlyle
 and ,whitman1 yet all ,mr4  ,sullivan's
 own4 ,he descends1 at times1 almost to 
ribaldry1 at others  he rises to poetic 
and prophetic heights4 ,this is all a   

part of his  method alternately to shame
 and inspire his pupil to some sort of  
creative activity4 ,the syllabus of ,mr4
 ,sullivan's scheme1 as it  existed in  
his mind during the writing of          
,kindergarten ,chats1  and outlined by  
him in a letter to the author is such a 
torch of  illumination that it is quoted
 here entire4        ,a young man who   
has finished his education at the       
architectural schools comes to me for a 
post-graduate      course--hence a free 
form of dialogue4        ,i proceed with
 his education rather by indirection and
      suggestion than by direct precept4
 ,i subject him to certain              
experiences and allow the impressions   
they make on him to      infiltrate1    
and1 as ,i note the effect1 ,i gradually
 use a      guiding hand4 ,i supply the 
yeast1 so to speak1 and allow the       
ferment to work in him4        ,this is 
the gist of the whole scheme4 ,it       
remains then to      determine1         
carefully1 the kind of experiences to   

which ,i shall      subject the lad1 and
 in what order1 or logical 7and         
especially      psychological7 sequence4
 ,i begin1 then1 with aspects that      
are literal1 objective1 more or less    
cynical1 and brutal1 and                
philistine4 ,a little at a time ,i      
introduce the subjective1      the      
refined1 the altruistic2 and1 by a      
to-and-fro increasingly      intense    
rhythm of these two opposing themes1    
worked so to      speak in counterpoint1
 ,i reach a preliminary climax3 of      
brutality tempered by a longing for     
nobler1 purer things4        ,hence     
arise a purblind revulsion and yearning 
in the lad's      soul2 the             
psychological moment has arrived1 and ,i
 take him      at once into the         
country--7,summer3 ,the ,storm74 ,this  
is the      first of the four           
out-of-door scenes1 and the lad's first 
real experience with nature4 ,it        
impresses him crudely but               
violently2 and in the tense excitement  

of the tempest he is      inspired to   
temporary eloquence2 and at the close is
 much      softened4 ,he feels in a way 
but does not know that he has been      
a participant in one of ,nature's superb
 dramas4 7,thus do      ,i insidiously  
prepare the way for the notion that     
creative      architecture is in essence
 a dramatic art1 and an art of          
eloquence2 of subtle rhythmic beauty1   
power1 and tenderness74        ,left    
alone in the country the lad becomes    
maudlin--a callow      lover of         
nature--and makes feeble attempts at    
verse4 ,returning      to the city he   
melts and unbosoms--the tender shaft of 
the      unknowable ,eros has penetrated
 to his heart--,nature's subtle         
spell is on him1 to disappear and       
reappear4 ,then follow      discussions1
 more or less didactic1 leading to the  
second      out-of-door scene 7,autumn  
,glory74 ,here the lad does most of     
the talking and shows a certain lucidity
 and calm of mind4 ,the      discussion 

of ,responsibility1 ,democracy1         
,education1 etc41 has      inevitably   
detached the lurking spirit of          
pessimism4 ,it has      to be3--,into   
the depths and darkness we descend1 and 
the      work reaches the tragic climax 
in the third out-of-door                
scene--,winter4        ,now that the    
forces have been gathered and marshalled
 the      true1 sane movement of the    
work is entered upon and pushed      at 
high tension1 and with swift1 copious   
modulations to its      foreordained    
climax and optimistic peroration in the 
fourth      and last out-of-door scene  
as portrayed in the ,spring ,song4      
,the locale of this closing number is   
the beautiful spot in      the woods1 on
 the shore of ,biloxi ,bay3--where ,i am
 writing      this4        ,i would     
suggest in passing that a considerable  
part of the      ,k4,c4 is in rhythmic  
prose--some of it declamatory4 ,i have  
endeavoured throughout this work to     
represent1 or reproduce      to the mind

 and heart of the reader the spoken word
 and      intonation--not written       
language4 ,it really should be read     
aloud1 especially the descriptive and   
exalted passages4    ,there was a       
movement once on the part of ,mr4       
,sullivan's admirers to  issue          
,kindergarten ,chats in book form1 but  
he was asked to tone it  down and       
expurgate it1 a thing which he very     
naturally refused to do4  ,mr4 ,sullivan
 has always been completely alive to our
 cowardice when  it comes to hearing the
 truth about ourselves1 and alive to the
 danger  which this cowardice entails1  
for to his imaginary pupil he says1     
,if you wish to read the current        
architecture of your country1      you  
must go at it courageously1 and not pick
 out merely the      little bits that   
please you4 ,i am going to soak you with
 it      until you are absolutely       
nauseated1 and your faculties turn      
in rebellion4 ,i may be a hard          
taskmaster1 but ,i strive to be      a  

good one4 ,when ,i am through with you1 
you will know      architecture from the
 ground up4 ,you will know its virtuous 
reality and you will know the fake and  
the fraud and the      humbug4 ,i will  
spare nothing--for your sake4 ,i will   
stir up      the cesspool to its utmost 
depths of stench1 and also the          
pious1 hypocritical virtues of our      
so-called architecture--the      nice1  
good1 mealy-mouthed1 suave1 dexterous1  
diplomatic      architecture1 ,i will   
show you also the kind of architecture  
our cultured people believe in4 ,and why
 do they believe in      it8 ,because   
they do not believe in themselves4      
,kindergarten ,chats is even more       
pertinent and pointed today than it  was
 some twenty years ago1 when it was     
written4 ,speech that is full of  truth 
is timeless1 and therefore prophetic4   
,mr4 ,sullivan forecast some  of the    
very evils by which we have been        
overtaken4 ,he was able to do  this on  
account of the fundamental soundness of 

his point of view1  which finds         
expression in the following words3 ,once
 you learn to look  upon architecture   
not merely as an art more or less well1 
or more or  less badly done1 but as a   
social manifestation1 the critical eye  
becomes clairvoyant1 and obscure1       
unnoted phenomena become illumined4     
,looking1 from this point of view1 at   
the office buildings that the  then     
newly-realized possibilities of steel   
construction were sending  skyward along
 lower ,broadway1 in ,new ,york1 ,mr4   
,sullivan reads in them  a denial of    
democracy4 ,to him they signify much    
more than they seem  to1 or mean to2    
they are more than the betrayal of      
architectural  ignorance and mendacity1 
they are symptomatic of forces          
undermining  ,american life4            
,these buildings1 as they increase in   
number1 make this city      poorer1     
morally and spiritually2 they drag it   
down and down      into the mire4 ,this 
is not ,american civilization2 it is the

      rottenness of ,gomorrah4 ,this is 
not ,democracy--it is savagery4      ,it
 shows the glutton hunt for the ,dollar 
with no thought for      aught else     
under the sun or over the earth4 ,it is 
decadence of      the spirit in its most
 revolting form2 it is rottenness of    
the heart and corruption of the mind4   
,so truly does this      architecture   
reflect the causes which have brought it
 into      being4 ,such structures are  
profoundly anti-social1 and as          
such1 they must be reckoned with4 ,these
 buildings are not      architecture1   
but outlawry1 and their authors         
criminals in the      true sense of the 
word4 ,and such is the architecture of  
lower      ,new ,york--hopeless1        
degraded1 and putrid in its pessimistic 
denial of our art1 and of our growing   
civilization--its      cynical contempt 
for all those qualities that real humans
      value4    ,we have always been    
very glib about democracy2 we have      
assumed that  this country was a        

democracy because we named it so4 ,but  
now that  we are called upon to die for 
the idea1 we find that we have never    
realized it anywhere except perhaps in  
our secret hearts4 ,in the life  of     
,abraham ,lincoln1 in the poetry of     
,walt ,whitman1 in the architecture  of 
,louis ,sullivan1 the spirit of         
democracy found utterance1 and to  the  
extent that we ourselves partake of that
 spirit1 it will find  utterance also in
 us4 ,mr4 ,sullivan is a prophet of     
democracy not  alone in his buildings   
but in his writings1 and the prophetic  
note is  sounded even more clearly in   
his ,what is ,architecture8 ,a ,study in
 the  ,american ,people of ,today1 than 
in ,kindergarten ,chats4    ,this essay 
was first printed in ,the ,american     
,contractor of ,january  #f1 #aijf1 and 
afterwards issued in brochure form4 ,the
 author starts  by tracing architecture 
to its root in the human mind3 this     
physical  thing is the manifestation of 
a psychological state4 ,as a man thinks1

  so he is2 he acts according to his    
thought1 and if that act takes the  form
 of a building it is an emanation of his
 inmost life1 and reveals  it4          
,everything is there for us to read1 to 
interpret2 and this      we may do at   
our leisure4 ,the building has not means
 of      locomotion1 it cannot hide     
itself1 it cannot get away4 ,there      
it is1 and there it will stay--telling  
more truths about him      who made it1 
than he in his fatuity imagines2        
revealing his      mind and his heart   
exactly for what they are worth1 not a  
whit      more1 not a whit less2 telling
 plainly the lies he thinks2            
telling with almost cruel truthfulness  
his bad faith1 his      feeble1 wabbly  
mind1 his impudence1 his selfish egoism1
 his      mental irresponsibility1 his  
apathy1 his disdain for real            
things--until at last the building says 
to us3 ,i am no more a      real        
building than the thing that made me is 
a real man6    ,language like this      

stings and burns1 but it is just such as
 is  needful to shame us out of our     
comfortable apathy1 to arouse us to  new
 responsibilities1 new opportunities4   
,mr4 ,sullivan1 awake among  the        
sleepers1 drenches us with bucketfuls of
 cold1 tonic1 energizing  truth4 ,the   
poppy and mandragora of the past1 of    
,europe1 poisons us1  but in this1 our  
hour of battle1 we must not be permitted
 to dream on4  ,he saw1 from far back1  
that we1 as a people1 not only have     
betrayed  each other1 but have failed in
 that trust which the world spirit of   
democracy placed in our hands1 as we1 a 
new people1 emerged to fill  a new and  
spacious land4 ,it has taken a world war
 to make us see the  situation as he saw
 it1 and it is to us1 a militant nation1
 and not  to the slothful civilians a   
decade ago1 that ,mr4 ,sullivan's       
stirring  message seems to be addressed4
    ,the following quotation is his     
first crack of the whip at the          
architectural schools4 ,the problem of  

education is to him of all  things the  
most vital2 in this essay he returns to 
it again and again1  while of           
,kindergarten ,chats it is the very     
raison d'tre4        ,i trust that a    
long disquisition is not necessary in   
order to      show that the attempt at  
imitation1 by us1 of this day1 of the   
by-gone forms of building1 is a         
procedure unworthy of a free            
people2 and that the dictum of the      
schools1 that ,architecture      is     
finished and done1 is a suggestion      
humiliating to every      active brain1 
and therefore1 in fact1 a puerility and 
a      falsehood when weighed in the    
scales of truly democratic      thought4
 ,such dictum gives the lie in arrogant 
fashion1 to      healthful human        
experience4 ,it says1 in a word3 the    
,american      people are not fit for   
democracy4    ,he finds the schools     
saturated with superstitions which are  
the  survivals of the scholasticism of  
past centuries--feudal institutions1  in

 effect1 inimical to his idea of the    
true spirit of democratic  education4   
,this he conceives of as a              
searching-out1 liberating1 and          
developing the splendid but obscured    
powers of the average man1 and          
particularly those of children4 ,it is  
disquieting to note1 he says1  that the 
system of education on which we lavish  
funds with such  generous1 even         
prodigal1 hand1 falls short of          
fulfilling its true  democratic         
function2 and that particularly in the  
so-called higher  branches its tendency 
appears daily more reactionary1 more    
feudal4  ,it is not an agreeable        
reflection that so many of our          
university  graduates lack the trained  
ability to see clearly1 and to think    
clearly1 concisely1 constructively2 that
 there is perhaps more showing  of      
cynicism than good faith1 seemingly more
 distrust of men than  confidence in    
them1 and1 withal1 no consummate ability
 to interpret  things4    ,in contrast  

to the schoolman he sketches the        
psychology of the  active-minded but    
uneducated man1 with sympathy and       
understanding1  the man who is          
courageously seeking a way with little  
to guide and  help him4        ,is it   
not the part of wisdom to cheer1 to     
encourage such a      mind1 rather than 
dishearten it with ridicule8 ,to say to 
it3      ,learn that the mind works best
 when allowed to work naturally2        
learn to do what your problem suggests  
when you have reduced      it to its    
simplest terms2 you will thus find that 
all      problems1 however complex1 take
 on a simplicity you had      not       
dreamed of2 accept this simplicity      
boldly1 and with      confidence1 do not
 lose your nerve and run away from it1  
or      you are lost1 for you are here  
at the point men so heedlessly      call
 genius--as though it were necessarily  
rare2 for you are      here at the point
 no living brain can surpass in essence1
      the point all truly great minds   

seek--the point of vital                
simplicity--the point of view which so  
illuminates the mind      that the art  
of expression becomes spontaneous1      
powerful1 and      unerring1 and        
achievement a certainty4 ,so1 if you    
seek and      express the best that is  
in yourself1 you must search out the    
best that is in your people2 for they   
are your problem1 and      you are      
indissolubly a part of them4 ,it is for 
you to affirm      that which they      
really wish to affirm1 namely1 the best 
that      is in them1 and they as truly 
wish you to express the best      that  
is in yourself4 ,if the people seem to  
have but little      faith it is because
 they have been tricked so long2 they   
are      weary of dishonesty1 more weary
 than they know1 much more      weary   
than you know1 and in their hearts they 
seek honest and      fearless men1 men  
simple and clear in mind1 loyal to their
 own      manhood and to the people4    
,the ,american people are now in a      

stupor2 be on hand at the awakening4    
,next he pays his respects to current   
architectural criticism--a  straining at
 gnats and a swallowing of camels1 by   
minds benumbed  by culture1 and hearts  
made faint by the tyranny of precedent4 
,he  complains that they make no        
distinction between was and is1  too    
readily assuming that all that is left  
us moderns is the humble  privilege to  
select1 copy and adapt4        ,the     
current mannerisms of ,architectural    
criticism must often      seem trivial4 
,for of what avail is it to say that    
this is too      small1 that too large1 
this too thick1 and that too thin1 or   
to quote this1 that1 or the other       
precedent1 when the real      question  
may be3 ,is not the entire design a mean
 evasion8 ,why      magnify this1 that1 
or the other little thing1 if the entire
      scheme of thinking that the       
building stands for is false1 and       
puts a mask upon the people1 who want   
true buildings1 but do      not know how

 to get them so long as ,architects     
betray them      with ,architectural    
phrases8    ,and so he goes on with his 
,jeremiad3 a prophet of despair1 do you 
say8 ,no1 he seeks to destroy only that 
falsity which would confine  the living 
spirit4 ,earlier and more clearly than  
we1 he discerned the  menace to our     
civilization of the unrestricted play of
 the masculine  forces--powerful1       
ruthless1 disintegrating--the head      
dominating the  heart4 ,it has taken the
 surgery of war to open our eyes1 and   
behold  the spectacle of the entire     
,german nation which by an intellectual 
process appears to have killed out      
compassion1 enthroning                  
,schrecklichkeit4 ,in the heart alone   
dwells hope of salvation4 ,for  he who  
knows even a genuinely little of        
,mankind knows this truth3 the  heart is
 greater than the head4 ,for in the     
heart is ,desire2 and from  it come     
forth ,courage and ,magnanimity4        
,you have not thought deeply enough to  

know that the heart in      you is the  
woman in man4 ,you have derided your    
femininity1      where you have         
suspected it2 whereas1 you should have  
known      its power1 cherished and     
utilized it1 for it is the hidden       
well-spring of ,intuition and           
,imagination4 ,what can the brain       
accomplish without these two8 ,they are 
the man's two inner      eyes2 without  
them he is stone blind4 ,for the mind   
sets forth      their powers both       
together4 ,one carries the light1 the   
other      searches2 and between them   
they find treasures4 ,these they        
bring to the brain1 which first         
elaborates them1 then says to      the  
will1 ,do--and ,action follows4         
,poetically considered1      as far as  
the huge1 disordered resultant mass of  
your      ,architecture is concerned1   
,intuition and ,imagination have not    
gone forth to illuminate and search the 
hearts of the people4      ,thus are its
 works stone blind4    ,it is the       

absence of poetry and beauty which makes
 our architecture  so depressing to the 
spirits4 ,poetry as a living thing1 says
 ,mr4  ,sullivan1 stands for the most   
telling quality that a man can impart   
to his thoughts4 ,judged by this test   
your buildings are dreary1 empty        
places4 ,artists in words1 like         
,lafcadio ,hearn and ,henry ,james1 are 
able to make articulate the sadness     
which our cities inspire1 but  it is a  
blight which lies heavy on us all4      
,theodore ,dreiser says1 in  ,sister    
,carrie--a book with so much bitter     
truth in it that it was  suppressed by  
the original publishers3        ,once   
the bright days of summer pass by1 a    
city takes on the      sombre garb of   
grey1 wrapped in which it goes about its
 labors      during the long winter4    
,its endless buildings look grey1       
its sky and its streets assume a sombre 
hue2 the scattered1      leafless trees 
and wind-blown dust and paper but add to
 the      general solemnity of color4   

,there seems to be something in      the
 chill breezes which scurry through the 
long1 narrow      thoroughfares         
productive of rueful thoughts4 ,not     
poets alone1      nor artists1 nor that 
superior order of mind which arrogates  
to itself all refinement1 feel this1 but
 dogs and all men4    ,the excuse that  
we are too young a people to have       
developed an  architecture instinct with
 that natural poetry which so charms us 
in  the art of other countries and other
 times1 ,mr4 ,sullivan disposes  of in  
characteristic fashion4 ,to the plea    
that ,we are too young to  consider     
these accomplishments4 ,we have been so 
busy with our material  development that
 we have not found time to consider     
them1 he makes  answer as follows3      
,know1 then1 to begin with1 they are not
 accomplishments but      necessaries4  
,and1 to end with1 you are old enough1  
and      have found the time to succeed 
in nearly making a fine art             
of--,betrayal1 and a science of--,graft4

 ,know that you are      as old as the  
race4 ,that each man among you had in   
him the      accumulated power of the   
race1 ready at hand for use1 in the     
right way1 when he shall conclude it    
better to think straight      and hence 
act straight rather than1 as now1 to act
 crooked      and pretend to be         
straight4 ,know that the test1 plain1   
simple      honesty 7and you all know1  
every man of you knows1 exactly         
what that means7 is always at your hand4
        ,know that as all complex       
manifestations have a simple basis      
of origin1 so the vast complexity of    
your national unrest1 ill      health1  
inability to think clearly and          
accurately concerning      simple       
things1 really vital things1 is easily  
traceable to the      single1 actual1   
active cause--,dishonesty2 and that this
 points      with unescapable logic and 
in just measure to each individual      
man6        ,the remedy2--individual    
honesty4    ,to the objection that this 

is too simple a solution1 ,mr4 ,sullivan
  retorts that all great solutions are  
simple1 that the basic things of  the   
universe are those which the heart of a 
child might comprehend4  ,honesty stands
 in the universe of ,human ,thought and 
,action1 as its  very ,centre of        
,gravity1 and is our human mask-word    
behind which abides  all the power of   
,nature's ,integrity1 the profoundest   
fact which  modern thinking has         
persuaded ,life to reveal4    ,if1 on   
the other hand1 the reader complains1   
,all this is above our  heads1 ,mr4     
,sullivan is equally ready with an      
answer3        ,no1 it is not4 ,it is   
close beside your hand6 and therein     
lies its power4        ,again you say1  
,how can honesty be enforced8        ,it
 cannot be enforced6        ,then how   
will the remedy go into effect8         
,it cannot go into effect4 ,it can only 
come into effect4        ,then how can  
it come8        ,ask ,nature4           
,and what will ,nature say8             

,nature is always saying3 ,i centre at  
each man1 woman and      child4 ,i knock
 at the door of each heart1 and ,i wait4
 ,i wait      in patience--ready to     
enter with my gifts4        ,and is that
 all that ,nature says8        ,that is 
all4        ,then how shall we receive  
,nature8        ,by opening wide your   
minds6 ,for your greatest crime against 
yourselves is that you have locked the  
door and thrown away      the key6      
,thus1 by a long detour1 ,mr4 ,sullivan 
returns to his initial  proposition1    
that the falsity of our architecture can
 be corrected  only by integrity of     
thought4 ,thought is the fine and       
powerful  instrument4 ,therefore1 have  
thought for the integrity of your own   
thought4        ,naturally1 then1 as    
your thoughts thus change1 your growing 
architecture will change4 ,its falsity  
will depart2 its reality      will      
gradually appear4 ,for the integrity of 
your thought as      a ,people1 will    
then have penetrated the minds of your  

architects4        ,then1 too1 as your  
basic thought changes1 will emerge a    
philosophy1 a poetry1 and an art of     
expression in all things2      for you  
will have learned that a characteristic 
philosophy1      poetry and art of      
expression are vital to the healthful   
growth      and development of a        
democratic people4    ,some readers may 
complain that these are after all only  
glittering  generalities1 of no         
practical use in solving the specific   
problems  with which every architect is 
confronted4 ,on the contrary they are   
fundamental verities of incalculable    
benefit to every sincere artist4        
,shallowness is the great vice of       
democracy2 it is surface without  depth1
 a welter of concrete detail in which   
the mind easily loses  those great1     
underlying abstractions from which alone
 great art can  spring4 ,these1 in this 
essay1 ,mr4 ,sullivan helps us to       
recapture1 and  inspires us to employ4  
,he would win us from our insincerities1

 our  trivialities1 and awaken our      
enormous latent1 unused power4 ,he says3
        ,awaken it4        ,use it4     
,use it for the common good4            
,begin now6        ,for it is as true   
today as when one of your wise men said 
it3--        ,the way to resume is to   
resume6          ,,color ,,and          
,,ceramics      ,the production of      
ceramics--perhaps the oldest of all the 
useful  arts practised by man2 an art   
with a magnificent history--seems to be 
entering upon a new era of development4 
,it is more alive today1 more           
generally1 more skilfully1 though not   
more artfully practised than  ever      
before4 ,it should therefore be of      
interest to all lovers of  architecture1
 in view of the increasing importance of
 ceramics in  building1 to consider the 
ways in which these materials may best  
be  used4    ,looking at the matter in  
the broadest possible way1 it may be    
said  that the building impulse         
throughout the ages has expressed itself

  in two fundamentally different types  
of structure3 that in which the         
architecture--and even the ornament--is 
one with the engineering2 and  that in  
which the two elements are separable1   
not in thought alone1  but in fact4 ,for
 brevity let us name that manner of     
building in which  the architecture is  
the construction1 ,inherent             
architecture1 and  that manner in which 
the two are separable ,incrusted        
architecture4    ,to the first class    
belong the architectures of ,egypt1     
,greece1 and  ,gothic architecture as   
practised in the north of ,europe2 to   
the  second belong ,roman architecture  
of the splendid period1 ,moorish        
architecture1 and ,italian ,gothic1 so  
called4 ,in the first class the  bones  
of the building were also its flesh2 in 
the second bones and  flesh were in a   
manner separable1 as is proven by the   
fact that they  were separately         
considered1 separately fashioned4       
,ruined ,karnak1 the  ruined ,parthenon1

 wrecked ,rheims1 show ornament so      
integral a part  of the fabric--etched  
so deep--that what has survived of the  
one has  survived also of the other2    
while the ruined ,baths of ,caracalla   
the  uncompleted church of ,s4 ,petronio
 in ,bologna1 and many a stark mosque   
on many a sandy desert show only bare   
skeletons of whose completed  glory we  
can only guess4 ,in them the fabric was 
a framework for the  display of the     
lapidary or the ceramic art--a garment  
destroyed1 rent1  or tattered by time   
and chance1 leaving the bones still     
strong1 but  bare4    ,this             
classification of architecture into     
,inherent and ,incrusted is not  to be  
confused with the discrimination between
 architecture that is  ,arranged1 and   
architecture that is ,organic1 a        
classification which  is based on       
psychology--like the difference between 
the business man  and the poet3 talent  
and genius--whereas the classification  
which  the reader is asked now to       

consider is based rather on the matter  
of expediency in the use of materials4  
,let us draw no invidious  comparisons  
between ,inherent and ,incrusted        
architecture1 but regard  each as the   
adequate expression of an ideal type of 
beauty2 the one  masculine1 since in the
 male figure the osseous framework is   
more  easily discernible2 the other     
feminine1 because more concealed and    
overlaid with a cellular tissue of      
shining1 precious materials1 on  which  
the disruptive forces in man and nature 
are more free to act4    ,it is scarcely
 necessary to state that it is with     
,incrusted  architecture that we are    
alone concerned in this discussion1 for 
to  this class almost all modern        
buildings perforce belong4 ,this is by  
reason of a necessity dictated by the   
materials that we employ1 and by  our   
methods of construction4 ,all modern    
buildings follow practically  one method
 of construction3 a bony framework of   
steel--or of concrete  reinforced by    

steel--filled in and subdivided by      
concrete1 brick1  hollow fire-clay1 or  
some of its substitutes4 ,to a          
construction of  this kind some sort of 
an outer encasement is not only         
sthetically  desirable1 but practically 
necessary4 ,it usually takes the form of
  stone1 face-brick1 terra-cotta1 tile1 
stucco1 or some combination of  two or  
more of these materials4 ,of the two    
types of architecture the  ,incrusted   
type is therefore imposed by structural 
necessity4    ,the enormous importance  
of ceramics in its relation to          
architecture  thus becomes apparent4    
,they minister to an architectural need 
instead  of gratifying an architectural 
whim4 ,ours is a period of ,incrusted   
architecture--one which demands the     
encasement1 rather than the  exposure of
 structure1 and therefore logically     
admits of the  enrichment of surfaces by
 means of veneers of materials more     
precious and beautiful than those       
employed in the structure1 which        

becomes1 as it were1 the canvas of the  
picture1 and not the picture  itself4   
,for these purposes there are no        
materials more apt1 more  adaptable1    
more enduring1 richer in potentialities 
of beauty than the  products of ceramic 
art4 ,they are easily and inexpensively 
produced of  any desired shape1 color1  
texture2 their hard1 dense surface      
resists  the action of the elements1 is 
not easily soiled1 and is readily       
cleaned2 being fashioned by fire they   
are fire resistant4    ,so much then for
 the practical demands1 in modern       
architecture1 met by  the products of   
ceramic art4 ,the sthetic demand is not 
less admirably  met--or rather might be4
    ,when1 in the sixteenth century1 the
 ,renaissance spread from south  to     
north1 color was practically eliminated 
from architecture4 ,the  ,egyptians had 
had it1 hot and bright as the sun on the
 desert2 we  know that the ,greeks made 
their ,parian marble glow in rainbow    
tints2  ,moorish architecture was       

nothing if not colorful1 and the ,venice
  ,ruskin loved was fairly iridescent--a
 thing of fire-opal and pearl4  ,in     
,italian ,renaissance architecture up to
 its latest phase1 the color  element   
was always present2 but it was snuffed  
out under the leaden  colored northern  
skies4 ,paris is grey1 ,london is brown1
 ,new ,york is  white1 and ,chicago the 
color of cinders4 ,we have only to      
compare them  to yellow ,rome1 red      
,siena1 and pearl-tinted ,venice1 to    
realize how  much we have lost in the   
elimination of color from architecture4 
,we are coming to realize it4 ,color    
played an important part in the         
,pan-,american ,exposition1 and again in
 the ,san ,francisco ,exposition1       
where1 wedded to light1 it became the   
dominant note of the whole              
architectural concert4 ,now these great 
expositions in which the  architects and
 artists are given a free hand1 are in  
the nature of  preliminary studies in   
which these functionaries sketch in     

transitory  form the things they desire 
to do in more permanent form4 ,they are 
forecasts of the future1 a future which 
in certain quarters is  already         
beginning to realize itself4 ,it is     
therefore probable that  architectural  
art will become increasingly colorful4  
,the author remembers the day and the   
hour when this became his  personal     
conviction--his personal desire4 ,it    
happened years ago in  the ,albright    
,gallery in ,buffalo--a building then   
newly completed1 of a  severely classic 
type4 ,in the central hall was a single 
doorway1  whose white marble architrave 
had been stained with different colored 
pigments by ,francis ,bacon2 after the  
manner of the ,greeks4 ,the effect  was 
so charming1 and made the rest of the   
place seem by contrast so  cold and dun1
 that the author came then and there to 
the conclusion  that architecture       
without polychromy was architecture     
incomplete4 ,mr4  ,bacon spent three    
years in ,asia ,minor1 and elsewhere1   

studying  the remains of ,greek         
architecture1 and he found and brought  
home a  fragment of an antefix from the 
temple of ,assos1 in which the applied  
color was still pure and strong4 ,the   
,greeks were a joyous people4 ,when  joy
 comes back into life1 color will come  
back into architecture4    ,ceramic     
products are ideal as a means to this   
end4 ,the ,greeks  themselves recognized
 their value for they used them widely  
and  wisely3 it has been discovered that
 they even attached bands of  colored   
terra-cotta to the marble mouldings of  
their temples4 ,how  different must have
 been such a temple's real appearance   
from  that imagined by the ,classical   
,revivalists1 whose tradition of the    
inviolable cold ,parian purity of ,greek
 architecture has persisted1  even      
against archological evidence to the    
contrary1 up to the present  day4    ,in
 one way we have an advantage over the  
,greek1 if we only had the wit  to      
profit by it4 ,his palette1 like his    

musical scale1 was more limited  than   
ours4 ,nearly the whole gamut of the    
spectrum is now available to  the       
architect who wishes to employ ceramics4
 ,the colors do not  change or fade1 and
 possess a beautiful quality4 ,our      
craftsmen and  manufacturers of         
face-brick1 terra-cotta1 and colored    
tile1 after much  costly                
experimentation1 have succeeded in      
producing ceramics of a  high order of  
excellence and intrinsic beauty2 they   
can do practically  anything demanded of
 them2 but from that quarter where they 
should reap the greatest commercial     
advantage--the field of                 
architecture--there is all too little   
demand4 ,the architect who should  lead1
 teach and dictate in this field1 is    
often through ignorance  obliged to     
learn and follow instead4 ,this has led 
to an ignominious                       
situation--ignominious1 that is1 to the 
architect4 ,he has come  to require of  
the manufacturer--when he requires      

anything at  all--assistance in the very
 matter in which he should assist3 the  
determination of color design4 ,it is no
 wonder that the results are  often bad1
 and therefore discouraging4 ,the       
manufacturers of ceramics  welcome      
co-operation and assistance on the part 
of the architect with  an eagerness     
which is almost pathetic1 on those rare 
occasions when  assistance is offered4  
,but the architect is not really to     
blame3 the reason for his failure  lies 
deep in his general predicament of      
having to know a little of  everything1 
and do a great deal more than he can    
possibly do well4 ,to  cope with this1  
if his practice warrants the            
expenditure1 he surrounds  himself with 
specialists in various fields1 and      
assigns various  departments of his work
 to them4 ,he cannot be expected to have
 on  his staff a specialist in ceramics1
 nor can he1 with all his manifold      
activities1 be expected to become such a
 specialist himself4 ,as a  result1 he  

is usually content to let color problems
 alone1 for they  are just another      
complication of his already too         
complicated life2  or he refers them to 
some one whom he thinks ought to know--a
  manufacturer's designer--and approves 
almost anything submitted4 ,of  course  
the ideal architect would have time for 
every problem1 and  solve it supremely  
well2 but the real architect is all too 
human3  there are depressions on his    
cranium where bumps ought to be2        
moreover1 he wants a little time left to
 energize in other  directions than in  
the practice of his craft4 ,one of the  
functions  of architecture is to reveal 
the inherent qualities and beauties of  
different materials1 by their           
appropriate use and tasteful display4   
,an onyx staircase on the one hand1 and 
a portland cement high altar  on the    
other1 alike violate this function of   
architecture2 they  transgress that     
beautiful necessity which decrees that  
precious  materials should serve        

precious uses and common materials      
should  serve utilitarian ends4 ,now    
color is a precious thing1 and its      
highest  beauties can be brought out    
only by contrast with broad neutral     
tinted  spaces4 ,the interior walls of a
 mediaeval cathedral never competed     
with its windows1 and by the same token1
 a riot of polychromy all  over the side
 of a building is not as effective1 even
 from a chromatic  point of view1 as    
though it were confined1 say1 to an     
entrance and a  frieze4 ,gilbert's witty
 phrase is applicable here3      ,where 
everybody's somebody1 nobody's anybody4 
,let us build our walls1 then1 of stone1
 or brick1 or stucco1--for  their flat  
surfaces and neutral tints conduce to   
that repose so  essential to good       
architectural effect3 but let us not    
rest content  with this1 but grant to   
the eye the delight and contentment     
which it  craves1 by color and pattern  
placed at those points to which it is   
desirable to attract attention1 for they

 serve the same sthetic  purpose as a   
tiara on the brow of beauty1 or a ring  
on a delicate  white hand4 ,but just as 
jewelry is best when it is most         
individual1  so the ornament of a       
building should be in keeping with its  
general  character and complexion4 ,a   
color scheme should not be chosen at    
random1 but dictated by the prevailing  
tone and texture of the wall  surfaces1 
with which it should harmonize as       
inevitably as the blossom  of a bush    
with its prevailing tone of stems and   
foliage4 ,in a building  this prevailing
 tone will inevitably be either cold or 
warm1 and the  color scheme just as     
inevitably should be either cold or     
warm2 that  is1 there should be a       
preponderance of cold colors over warm1 
or vice  versa4 ,otherwise the eye will 
suffer just that order of uneasiness    
which comes from the contemplation of   
two equal masses1 whereas it            
experiences satisfaction in             
proportionate unequals4    ,nothing will

 take the place of an instinctive       
colour-sense1 but even  that needs the  
training of experience1 if the field be 
new1 and a few  general principles of   
all but universal application will not  
be amiss4    ,first of all it should be 
remembered that the intensity of color  
should be carefully adjusted to its     
area4 ,it is dangerous to try to  use   
high1 pure colors1 unrelieved and       
uncontrasted1 in large masses1  but the 
brightest1 strongest colors may be used 
with safety in units  of sufficiently   
restricted size4 ,for harmony1 as well  
as for richness1  the law of            
complementaries1 in its most general    
application1 is  the safest of all      
guides1 but it must be followed with    
fine  discrimination4 ,complementary    
colors are like married pairs1 if they  
find the right adjustment with one      
another they are happy--that is1  there 
is an effect of beauty--but lacking such
 adjustment they are  worse off together
 than apart4 ,every artist who          

experiments in color  soon finds out for
 himself that instead of using two      
colors directly  complementary1 it is   
better to split one of them1 that is1   
use  instead of one of them two others1 
which combined will yield the  color in 
question4 ,for example1 the color       
complementary to red is  green-blue4    
,now green-blue is equidistant between  
yellow-green and  blue-violet1 so if for
 red and blue-green2 red1 yellow-green  
and  blue-violet be substituted the     
combination loses its obviousness and  a
 certain harshness without losing       
anything of its brilliance1 or  without 
departing from the optical law involved4
 ,such a combination  corresponds to a  
diminished triad in music4    ,another  
important consideration with regard to  
color as employed by  the architect     
dwells in those optical changes effected
 by distance and  position3 the relative
 visibility of different colors and     
combinations  of colors as the spectator
 recedes from them1 and the             

environmental  changes which colors     
undergo--in bright sunlight1 in shadow1 
against  the sky1 and with relation to  
backgrounds of different sorts4    ,the 
effect of distance is to make colors    
merge into one another1 to  lower the   
values1 but not all equally4 ,yellow    
loses itself first1  tending toward     
white4 ,the effect of distance1 in      
general1 is to  disintegrate and        
decompose1 thus giving vibration as it  
is called4 ,a  knowledge of these and   
kindred facts will save the architect   
from many  disappointments and enable   
him to obtain wonderful chromatic       
effects  by simple means4    ,many      
architects unused to color problems     
design their ornament with  very little 
thought about the colors which they     
propose to employ1  making it an        
after-consideration2 but the two things 
should be  considered synchronously for 
the best final effect4 ,there is a      
cryptic  saying that color is at right  
angles to form1 that is1 color is       

capable of making surfaces advance      
toward or recede from the eye1 just  as 
modelling does2 and for this reason1 if 
color is used1 a great deal  of         
modelling may be dispensed with4 ,if a  
receding color is used on a  recessed   
plane1 it deepens that plane unduly2    
while on the other hand  if a color     
which refuses to recede--like yellow for
 example--is used  where depth is       
wanted1 the receding plane and the      
approaching color  neutralize one       
another1 resulting in an effect of      
flatness not  intended4 ,the tyro should
 not complicate his problem by combining
  color with high relief modelling1     
bringing inevitably in the element  of  
light and shade4 ,he should leave that  
for older hands and concern  himself    
rather with flat or nearly flat         
surfaces1 using his modelling  much as  
the worker in cloisonn uses his little  
rims of brass--to  confine and define   
each color within its own allotted area4
 ,then1  as he gains experience1 he may 

gradually enrich his pattern by the     
addition of the element of light and    
shade1 should he so decide4    ,now as  
to certain general considerations in    
relation to the  appropriate and logical
 use of ceramics in the construction and
  adornment of buildings1 exterior and  
interior4 ,in our northern  latitudes   
care should be taken that ceramics are  
not used in places  and in ways where   
the accumulation of snow and ice render 
the joints  subject to alternate        
freezing and thawing1 for in such case1 
unless  the joints are protected with   
metal1 the units will work loose in     
time4 ,on vertical surfaces such        
protection is not necessary2 the use  of
 ceramics should therefore be confined  
for the most part to such  surfaces3 for
 friezes1 panels1 door and window       
architraves1 and the  like4 ,when it is 
desirable for sthetic reasons to tie a  
series of  windows together vertically  
by means of some fill of a material     
different from that of the body of the  

wall1 ceramics lend themselves          
admirably to the purpose--better than   
wood1 which rots2 than iron1  which     
rusts2 than bronze1 which turns black2  
and than marble1 which  soon loses its  
color and texture in exposed situations 
of this sort4    ,on the interior of    
buildings1 the most universal use of    
ceramics is1  of course1 for floors1 and
 with the non-slip devices of various   
sorts  which have come into the market1 
they are no less good for stairs4       
,there is nothing better for            
wainscoting1 and in fact for any surface
  whatsoever subject to soil and wear4  
,these materials combine permanent      
protection and permanent decoration4    
,but fired by the zeal of the  convert  
the use of ceramics may be overdone4    
,one easily recalls  entire rooms of    
this material1 floors1 walls1 ceilings1 
which are less  successful than as      
though a variety of materials had been  
employed4 ,it  is just such             
variety--each material treated in a     

characteristic1 and  therefore different
 way--that gives charm to so many       
foreign churches  and cathedrals3 walls 
of stone1 floors of marble1 choir-stalls
 of  carved wood1 and rood-screen of    
metal3 it is the difference between  an 
orchestra of various instruments and a  
mandolin orchestra or a  saxaphone      
sextette4 ,ceramics should never invade 
the domain of the  plasterer1 the mural 
painter1 the cabinet maker4 ,do not let 
us1 in  our zeal for ceramics1 be like  
,bottom the weaver1 eager to play every 
part4    ,ceramics have1 as regards     
architecture1 a distinct and honorable  
function4 ,this function should be      
recognized1 taken advantage of1 but     
never overpassed4 ,they offer           
opportunities large but not limitless4  
,they constitute one instrument of the  
orchestra of which the architect  is the
 conductor1 an instrument beautiful in  
the hands of a master1  and doubly      
beautiful in concert and contrast with  
those other  materials whose harmonious 

ensemble makes that music in three      
dimensions3 architectural art4          
,,symbols ,,and ,,sacraments            
,architecture is the concrete           
presentment in space of the soul of a   
people4 ,if that soul be petty and      
sordid--stirred like a child  by little 
things--no great architecture is        
possible because great  architecture can
 image only greatness4 ,before any      
worthy architecture  can arise in the   
modern world the soul must be aroused4  
,the cannons  of ,europe are bringing   
about this awakening4 ,the world--the   
world of  thought and emotion from      
whence flow acts and events--is no      
longer  decrepit1 but like ,swedenborg's
 angels it is advancing toward the      
springtide of its youth3 down the       
ringing grooves of change we sweep  into
 the younger day4    ,after the war we  
are likely to witness an art evolution  
which will  not be restricted to statues
 and pictures and insincere essays in   
dry-as-dust architectural styles1 but   

one which will permeate the  whole      
social fabric1 and make it palpitate    
with the rhythm of a  younger1 a more   
abundant life4 ,beauty and mystery will 
again make  their dwelling among men2   
the ,voiceless will speak in music1 and 
the  ,formless will spin rhythmic       
patterns on the loom of space4 ,we shall
  seek and find a new language of       
symbols to express the joy of the  soul1
 freed from the thrall of an iron age of
 materialism1 and  fronting the         
unimaginable splendors of the spiritual 
life4    ,illustration3 ,,plate ,,xv4   
,,symbol ,,of ,,resurrection    ,for    
every sthetic awakening is the result of
 a spiritual awakening  of some sort4   
,every great religious movement found an
 art expression  eloquent of it4 ,when  
religion languished1 such things as     
,versailles  and the ,paris ,opera      
,house were possible1 but not such      
things as the  ,parthenon1 or ,notre    
,dame4 ,the temples of ,egypt were built
 for the  celebration of the rites of   

the religion of ,egypt2 so also in the  
case of ,greece4 ,roman architecture was
 more widely secular1 but ,rome's       
noblest monument1 the ,pantheon1 was a  
religious edifice4 ,the ,moors1         
inflamed with religious ardor1 swept    
across ,europe1 blazing their  trail    
with mosques and palaces conceived      
seemingly in some ecstatic  state of    
dream4 ,the ,renaissance1 tainted though
 it was by worldliness1  found still its
 inspiration in sacred themes1 and      
recorded  its beginning and its end in  
two mighty religious monuments3         
,brunelleschi's and ,michael ,angelo's  
domical churches1 wrought in a  sad     
sincerity by deeply religious men4      
,gothic art is a synonym for  mediaeval 
,christianity2 while in the ,orient art 
is scarcely secular at  all1 but a      
symbolical language framed and employed 
for the expression  of spiritual ideas4 
,this law1 that spirituality and not    
materialism distils the precious  attar 
of great art1 is permanently true and   

perennially applicable1  for laws of    
this order do not change from age to    
age1 however various  their             
manifestation4 ,the inference is plain3 
until we become a  religious people     
great architecture is far from us4 ,we  
are becoming  religious in that broad   
sense in which churches and creeds1     
forms  and ceremonies1 play little part4
 ,ours is the search of the heart  for  
something greater than itself which is  
still itself2 it is the  religion of    
brotherhood1 whose creed is love1 whose 
ritual is service4    ,this transformed 
and transforming religion of the ,west1 
the tardy  fruit of the teachings of    
,christ1 now secretly active in the     
hearts  of men1 will receive enrichment 
from many sources4 ,science will reveal 
the manner in which the spirit weaves   
its seven-fold veil of illusion2        
nature1 freshly sensed1 will yield new  
symbols which art will organize  into a 
language2 out of the experience of the  
soul will grow new  rituals and         

observances4 ,but one precious tincture 
of this new  religion our civilization  
and our past cannot supply2 it is the   
heritage of ,asia1 cherished in her     
brooding bosom for uncounted  centuries1
 until1 by the operation of the law of  
cycles1 the time  should come for the   
giving of it to the ,west4    ,this     
secret is ,yoga1 the method of          
self-development whereby the seeker  for
 union is enabled to perceive the       
shining of the ,inward ,light4 ,this  is
 achieved by daily discipline in        
stilling the mind and directing the     
consciousness inward instead of outward4
 ,the ,self is within1 and  the mind1   
which is normally centrifugal1 must     
first be arrested1  controlled1 and then
 turned back upon itself1 and held with 
perfect  steadiness4 ,all this is       
naively expressed in the ,upanishads in 
the  passage1 ,the ,self-existent       
pierced the openings of the senses so   
that  they turn forward1 not backward   
into himself4 ,some wise man1 however1  

with eyes closed and wishing for        
immortality1 saw the ,self behind4      
,this stilling of the mind1 its         
subjugation and control whereby it may  
be concentrated on anything at will1 is 
particularly hard for persons  of our   
race and training1 a race the natural   
direction of whose  consciousness is    
strongly outward1 a training in which   
the practice of  introspective          
meditation finds no place4              
,yoga--that union which brings inward   
vision1 the contribution of the  ,east  
to the spiritual life of the ,west--will
 bring profound changes  into the art of
 the ,west1 since art springs from      
consciousness4 ,the  consciousness of   
the ,west now concerns itself with the  
visible world  almost exclusively1 and  
,western art is therefore characterized 
by an  almost slavish fidelity to the   
ephemeral appearances of things--the    
record of particular moods and moments4 
,the consciousness of the ,east  on the 
other hand1 is subjective1              

introspective4 ,its art accordingly     
concerns itself with eternal aspects1   
with a world of archetypal  ideas in    
which things exist not for their own    
sake1 but as symbols of  supernal       
things4 ,the ,oriental artist avoids as 
far as possible trivial  and individual 
rhythms1 seeking always the fundamental 
rhythm of the  larger1 deeper life4     
,now this quality so earnestly sought   
and so highly prized in ,oriental  art1 
is the very thing which our art and our 
architecture most  conspicuously lack4  
,to the eye sensitive to rhythm1 our    
essays in  these fields appear awkward  
and unconvincing1 lacking a certain     
inevitability4 ,we must restore to art  
that first great canon of  ,chinese     
sthetics1 ,rhythmic vitality1 or the    
life movement of the  spirit through the
 rhythm of things4 ,it cannot be        
interjected from  the outside1 but must 
be inwardly realized by the stilling of 
the  mind above described4    ,art      
cannot dispense with symbolism2 as the  

letters on this page convey  thoughts to
 the mind1 so do the things of this     
world1 organized into  a language of    
symbols1 speak to the soul through art4 
,but in the  building of our towers of  
,babel1 again mankind is stricken with a
  confusion of tongues4 ,art has no     
common language2 its symbols are  no    
longer valid1 or are no longer          
understood4 ,this is a condition for    
which materialism has no remedy1 for the
 reason that materialism sees  always   
the pattern but never that which the    
pattern represents4 ,we  must become    
spiritually illumined before we can read
 nature truly1  and re-create1 from such
 a reading1 fresh and universal symbols 
for  art4 ,this is a task beyond the    
power of our sad generation1 enchained  
by negative thinking1 overshadowed by   
war1 but we can at least glimpse  the   
nature of the reaction between the      
mystic consciousness and the  things of 
this world which will produce a new     
language of symbols4 ,the  mystic       

consciousness looks upon nature as an   
arras embroidered over  with symbols of 
the things it conceals from view4 ,we   
are ourselves  symbols1 dwelling in a   
world of symbols--a world many times    
removed  from that ultimate reality to  
which all things bear figurative        
witness2 the commonest thing has yet    
some mystic meaning1 and ugliness  and  
vulgarity exist only in the unillumined 
mind4    ,what mystic meaning1 it may be
 asked1 is contained in such things as  
a brick1 a house1 a hat1 a pair of      
shoes8 ,a brick is the ultimate  atom of
 a building2 a house is the larger body 
which man makes for his  uses1 just as  
the ,self has built its habitation of   
flesh and bones2  hat and shoes are felt
 and leather insulators with which we   
seek to  cut ourselves off from the     
currents which flow through earth and   
air  from ,god4 ,it may be objected that
 these answers only substitute  for the 
lesser symbol a greater1 but this is    
inevitable3 if for the  greater symbol  

were named one still more abstract and  
inclusive1 the  ultimate verity would be
 as far from affirmation as before4     
,there is  nothing of which the human   
mind can conceive that is not a symbol  
of  something greater and higher than   
itself4    ,the dictionary defines a    
symbol as something that stands for     
something else and serves to represent  
it1 or to bring to mind one or  more of 
its qualities4 ,now this world is a     
reflection of a higher  world1 and that 
of a higher world still1 and so on4     
,accordingly1  everything is a symbol of
 something higher1 since by reflecting1 
it  stands for1 and serves to represent 
it1 and the thing symbolized1  being    
itself a reflection1 is1 by the same    
token1 itself a symbol4  ,by reiterated 
repetitions of this reflecting process  
throughout the  numberless planes and   
sub-planes of nature1 each thing becomes
 a  symbol1 not of one thing only1 but  
of many things1 all intimately          
correlated1 and this gives rise to those

 underlying analogies1 those  secret    
subterranean passages between matter and
 soul which have ever  been the especial
 preoccupation of the poet and the      
mystic1 but which  may one day become   
the subject of serious examination by   
scientific  men4    ,let us briefly pass
 in review the various terms of such an 
ascending  series of symbols3 members of
 one family1 they might be called1 since
  they follow a single line of descent4 
,take gold3 as a thing in itself1       
without any symbolical significance1  it
 is a metallic element1 having a        
characteristic yellow color1 very       
heavy1 very soft1 the most ductile1     
malleable1 and indestructible of        
metals4 ,in its minted form it is the   
life force of the body economic1  since 
on its abundance and free circulation   
the well-being of that  body depends2 it
 is that for which all men strive and   
contend1 because  without it they cannot
 comfortably live4 ,this1 then1 is gold 
in its  first and lowest symbolical     

aspect3 a life principle1 a motive force
  in human affairs4 ,but it is not gold 
which has gained for man his  lordship  
over nature2 it is fire1 the yellow     
gold1 not of the earth1  but of the     
air1--cities and civilizations1 arts and
 industries1 have  ever followed the    
camp fire of the pioneer4 ,sunlight     
comes next in  sequence--sunlight1 which
 focussed in a burning glass1           
spontaneously  produces flame4 ,the     
world subsists on sunlight2 all animate 
creation  grows by it1 and languishes   
without it1 as the prosperity of cities 
waxes or wanes with the presence or     
absence of a supply of gold4 ,the       
magnetic force of the sun1 specialized  
as prana 7which is not the  breath which
 goes up and the breath which goes down1
 but that other1  in which the two      
repose71 fulfils the same function in   
the human body  as does gold in         
civilization1 sunlight in nature3 its   
abundance makes  for health1 its        
meagreness for enervation4 ,higher than 

prana is the  mind1 that golden sceptre 
of man's dominion1 the ,promethean gift 
of  fire with which he menaces the      
empire of the gods4 ,higher still1 in   
the soul1 love is the motive force1 the 
conqueror3 a heart of gold  is one      
warmed and lighted by love4 ,still other
 is the desire of the  spirit1 which no 
human affection satisfies1 but truth    
only1 the ,golden  ,person1 the ,light  
of the ,world1 the very ,godhead itself4
 ,thus there is  earthy1 airy1 etheric  
gold2 gold as intellect1 gold as love1  
gold as  truth2 from the curse of the   
world1 the cause of a thousand crimes1  
there ascends a ,jacob's ,ladder of     
symbols to divinity itself1 whereby  men
 may learn that ,god works by sacrifice3
 that ,his universe is itself  ,his     
broken body4 ,as gold in the purse1 fire
 on the forge1 sunlight  for the eyes1  
breath in the body1 knowledge in the    
mind1 love in the  heart1 and wisdom in 
the understanding1 ,he draws all men    
unto ,him1  teaching them the wise use  

of wealth1 the mastery over nature1 the 
care of the body1 the cultivation of the
 mind1 the love of wife and  child and  
neighbour1 and1 last lesson of all1 ,he 
teaches them that in  industry1 in      
science1 in art1 in sympathy and        
understanding1 ,he it is  they are all  
the while knowing1 loving1 becoming2 and
 that even when  they flee ,him1 ,his   
are the wings--      ,when me they fly1 
,i am the wings4    ,this attempt to    
define gold as a symbol ends with the   
indication of an  ubiquitous and        
immanent divinity in everything4 ,thus  
it is always3 in  attempting to dislodge
 a single voussoir from the arch of     
truth1 the  temple itself is shaken1 so 
cunningly are the stones fitted         
together4  ,all roads lead to ,rome1 and
 every symbol is a key to the ,great    
,mystery3 for example1 read in the light
 of these correspondences1 the          
alchemist's transmutation of base metals
 into gold1 is seen to be the           
sublimation of man's lower nature into  

that highest golden sheath1  which is   
,brahman4    ,keeping the first sequence
 clearly in mind1 let us now attempt to 
trace another1 parallel to it3 the      
feminine of which the first may  be     
considered the corresponding masculine4 
,silver is a white1 ductile  metallic   
element4 ,in coinage it is the synonym  
for ready cash1--gold  in the bank is   
silver in the pocket2 hence1 in a sense1
 silver is  the reflection1 or the      
second power of gold4 ,just as ruddy    
gold is  correlated with fire1 so is    
pale silver with water2 and as fire is  
affiliated with the sun1 so do the      
waters of the earth follow the  moon in 
her courses4 ,the golden sun1 the silver
 moon3 these commonly  employed         
descriptive adjectives themselves supply
 the correlation we  are seeking2       
another indication of its validity lies 
in the fact that  one of the            
characteristics of water is its power of
 reflecting2 that  moonlight is         
reflected sunlight4 ,if gold is the     

mind1 silver is the  body1 in which the 
mind is imaged1 objectified2 if gold is 
flamelike  love1 silver is brooding     
affection2 and in the highest regions of
  consciousness1 beauty is the feminine 
or form side of truth--its  silver      
mirror4    ,there are two forces in the 
world1 one of projection1 the other  of 
recall2 two states1 activity and rest4  
,nature1 with tireless  ingenuity1      
everywhere publishes this fact3 in      
bursting bud and falling  seed1 in the  
updrawn waters and the descending rain2 
throw a stone  into the air1 and when   
the impulse is exhausted1 gravity brings
 it to  earth again4 ,in civilized      
society these centrifugal and           
centripetal  forces find expression in  
the anarchic and radical spirit which   
breaks  down and re-forms existing      
institutions1 and in the conservative   
spirit which preserves and upbuilds by  
gradual accretion2 they are  analogous  
to igneous and to aqueous action in the 
formation and  upbuilding of the earth  

itself1 and find their prototype again  
in man  and woman3 man1 the warrior1 who
 prevails by the active exercise  of his
 powers1 and woman1 the treasury of the 
continued race1  who conquers by        
continual quietness4 ,man and woman     
symbolize forces  centrifugal and       
centripetal not alone in their inner    
nature1 and  in the social and economic 
functions peculiar to each1 but in their
  physical aspects and peculiarities as 
well1 for man is small of flank  and    
broad of shoulder1 with relatively large
 extremities1 i4e41  centrifugal3 while 
woman is formed with broad hips1 narrow 
shoulders1  and small feet and hands1   
i4e41 centripetal4 ,woman's instinctive 
and unconscious gestures are towards    
herself1 man's are away from  himself4  
,the physiologist might hold that the   
anatomical differences  between the     
sexes result from their difference in   
function in the  reproduction and       
conservation of the race1 and this is a 
true view1  but the lesser truth need   

not necessarily exclude the greater4 ,as
  ,chesterton says1 ,something in the   
evil spirit of our time forces  people  
always to pretend to have found some    
material and mechanical  explanation4   
,such would have us believe1 with       
,schopenhauer and  ,bernard ,shaw1 that 
the lover's delight in the beauty of his
 mistress  dwells solely in his         
instinctive perception of her fitness to
 be the  mother of his child4 ,this is  
undoubtedly a factor in the glamour     
woman casts on man1 but there are other 
factors too1 higher as well as  lower1  
corresponding to different departments  
of our manifold nature4  ,first of all1 
there is mere physical attraction3 to   
the man physical1  woman is a cup of    
delight2 next1 there is emotional love1 
whereby  woman appeals through her need 
of protection1 her power of tenderness2 
on the mental plane she is man's        
intellectual companion1 his masculine   
reason would supplement itself with her 
feminine intuition2 he  recognizes in   

her an objectification1 in some sort1 of
 his own soul1  his spirit's bride1     
predestined throughout the ages2 while  
the god  within him perceives her to be 
that portion of himself which he put    
forth before the world was1 to be the   
mother1 not alone of human  children1   
but of all those myriad forms1 within   
which entering1 as in  a sheath1 a      
knife1 he becomes the ,enjoyer1 and     
realizes1 vividly and  concretely1 his  
bliss1 his wisdom1 and his power4       
,adam and ,eve1 and the tree in the     
midst of the garden6 ,after man and     
woman1 a tree is perhaps the most       
significant symbol in the  world3 every 
tree is the ,tree of ,life in the sense 
that it is a  representation of         
universal becoming4 ,to say that all    
things have for  their mother prakriti1 
undifferentiated substance1 and for     
their  father purusha1 the creative     
fire1 is vague and metaphysical1 and    
conveys little meaning to our           
image-bred1 image-fed minds2 on the     

physical plane we can only learn these  
transcendental truths by means  of      
symbols1 and so to each of us is given a
 human father and a human  mother from  
whose relation to one another and to    
oneself may be  learned our relation to 
nature1 the universal mother1 and to    
that  immortal spirit which is the      
father of us all4 ,we are given1        
moreover1  the symbol of the tree1      
which1 rooted in the earth1 its mother1 
and  nourished by her juices1 strives   
ever upward towards its father1 the     
sun4 ,the mathematician may be able to  
demonstrate1 as a result of a  lifetime 
of hard thinking1 that unity and        
infinity are but two aspects  of one    
thing2 this is not clear to ordinary    
minds1 but made concrete  in the        
tree--unity in the trunk1 infinity in   
the foliage--any one  is able to        
understand it4 ,we perceive that all    
things grow as a tree  grows1 from unity
 to multiplicity1 from simplicity and   
strength to  beauty and fineness4 ,the  

generation of the line from the point1  
the  plane from the line1 and from the  
plane1 the solid1 is a matter1  again1  
which chiefly interests the             
geometrician1 but the inevitable        
sequence stands revealed in seed1 stem1 
leaf1 and fruit3 a point1 a  line1 a    
surface1 and a sphere4 ,there is another
 order of truths1 also1  which a tree   
teaches3 the renewal of its life each   
year is a symbol  of the reincarnation  
of the soul1 teaching that life is      
never-ending  climax1 and that what     
appears to be cessation is merely a     
change  of state4 ,a tree grows great by
 being firmly rooted2 we too1 though    
children of the air1 need the earth1 and
 grow by good deeds1 hidden1  like the  
roots of the tree1 out of sight2 for the
 tree1 rain and  sunshine3 for the soul1
 tears and laughter thrill the          
imprisoned  spirit into conscious life4 
,we love and understand the trees       
because we have ourselves passed        
through their evolution1 and they       

survive in us still1 for the  arterial  
and nervous systems are trees1 the roots
 of one in the heart1  of the other in  
the brain4 ,has not our body its trunk1 
bearing aloft  the head1 like a flower3 
a cup to hold the precious juices of the
  brain8 ,has not that trunk its        
tapering limbs which ramify into hands  
and feet1 and these into fingers and    
toes1 after the manner of the  twigs and
 branches of a tree8    ,closely related
 to symbolism is sacramentalism2 the man
 who sees  nature as a book of symbols  
is likely to regard life as a sacrament4
  ,because this is a point of view      
vitalizing to art let us glance at  the 
sacramental life1 divorced from the     
forms and observances of any  specific  
religion4    ,this life consists in the 
habitual perception of an ulterior      
meaning1  a hidden beauty and           
significance in the objects1 acts1 and  
events  of every day4 ,though binding us
 to a sensuous existence1 these         
nevertheless contain within themselves  

the power of emancipating us  from it3  
over and above their immediate use1     
their pleasure or their  profit1 they   
have a hidden meaning which contains    
some healing message  for the soul4     
,a classic example of a sacrament1 not  
alone in the ordinary meaning  of the   
term1 but in the special sense above    
defined1 is the ,holy  ,communion of the
 ,christian ,church4 ,its origin is a   
matter of common  knowledge4 ,on the    
evening of the night in which ,he was   
betrayed1  ,jesus and ,his disciples    
were gathered together for the feast of 
the  ,passover4 ,aware of ,his impending
 betrayal1 and desirous of impressing   
powerfully upon ,his chosen followers   
the nature and purpose of ,his          
sacrifice1 ,jesus ordained a sacrament  
out of the simple materials of  the     
repast4 ,he took bread and broke it1 and
 gave to each a piece as  the symbol of 
,his broken body2 and to each ,he passed
 a cup of wine1  as a symbol of ,his    
poured-out blood4 ,in this act1 as in   

the washing of  the disciples' feet on  
the same occasion1 ,he made ,his        
ministrations to  the needs of men's    
bodies an allegory of ,his greater      
ministration to  the needs of their     
souls4    ,the sacrament of the ,lord's 
,supper is of such beauty and power that
 it  has persisted even to the present  
day4 ,it lacks1 however1 the element  of
 universality--at least by other than   
,christians its universality  would be  
denied4 ,let us seek1 therefore some    
all-embracing symbol to  illustrate the 
sacramental view of life4    ,perhaps   
marriage is such a symbol4 ,the public  
avowal of love between  a man and woman1
 their mutual assumption of the         
attendant privileges1  duties and       
responsibilities are matters so pregnant
 with consequences  to them and to the  
race that by all right-thinking people  
marriage is  regarded as a high and holy
 thing2 its sacramental character is    
felt  and acknowledged even by those who
 would be puzzled to tell the reason    

why4    ,the reason is involved in the  
answer to the question1 ,of what is     
marriage a symbol8 ,the most obvious    
answer1 and doubtless the best  one1 is 
found in the well known and much abused 
doctrine1 common to  every religion1 of 
the spiritual marriage between ,god and 
the soul4  ,what ,christians call the   
,mystic ,way1 and ,buddhists the ,path  
comprises those changes in consciousness
 through which every soul  passes on its
 way to perfection4 ,when the personal  
life is conceived  of as an allegory of 
this inner1 intense1 super-mundane life1
 it  assumes a sacramental character4   
,with strange unanimity1 followers  of  
the ,mystic ,way have given the name of 
marriage to that memorable  experience  
in the flight of the ,alone to the      
,alone1 when the soul1  after trials and
 purgations1 enters into indissoluble   
union with the  spirit1 that divine1    
creative principle whereby it is made   
fruitful  for this world4 ,marriage1    
then1 however dear and close the union1 

is  the symbol of a union dearer and    
closer1 for it is the fair prophecy     
that on some higher arc of the          
evolutionary spiral1 the soul will meet 
its immortal lover and be initiated into
 divine mysteries4    ,as an example of 
the power of symbols to induce those    
changes of  consciousness whereby the   
soul is prepared for this union1 it is  
recorded that an eminent scientist was  
moved to alter his entire mode  of life 
on reflecting1 while in his bath one    
morning1 that though each  day he was at
 such pains to make clean his body1 he  
made no similar  purgation of his mind  
and heart4 ,the idea appealed to him so 
profoundly that he began to practise the
 higher cleanliness from that  day      
forth4    ,if it be true1 as has been   
said1 that ordinary life in the world is
 a  training school for a life more real
 and more sublime1 then everything      
pertaining to life in the world must    
possess a sacramental character1  and   
possess it inherently1 and not merely by

 imputation4 ,let us  discover1 then1 if
 we can1 some of the larger meanings    
latent in  little things4    ,when at   
the end of a cloudy day the sun bursts  
forth in splendor and  sets red in the  
west1 it is a sign to the weather-wise  
that the next  day will be fair4 ,to the
 devotee of the sacramental life it     
holds a  richer promise4 ,to him the sun
 is a symbol of the love of ,god2 the   
clouds1 those worldly preoccupations of 
his own which hide its face  from him4  
,this purely physical phenomenon1       
therefore1 which brings  to most men a  
scarcely noticed augmentation of heat   
and light1 and  an indication of fair   
weather on the morrow1 induces in the   
mystic an  ineffable sense of divine    
immanence and beneficence1 and an       
assurance  of their continuance beyond  
the dark night of the death of the body4
    ,when the sacramentalist goes       
swimming in the sea he enjoys to the    
full  the attendant physical            
exhilaration1 but a greater joy flows   

from  the thought that he is back with  
his great ,sea-,mother--that feminine   
principle of which the sea is the       
perfect symbol1 since water brings  all 
things to birth and nurtures them4 ,when
 at the end of a day  he lays aside his 
clothes--that two-dimensional sheath of 
the  three-dimensional body--it is in   
full assurance that his body in turn    
will be abandoned by the inwardly       
retreating consciousness1 and that  he  
will range wherever he wills during the 
hours of sleep1 clothed in  his subtle  
four-dimensional body1 related to the   
physical body as that  is related to the
 clothes it wears4    ,to every sincere 
seeker nature reveals her secrets1 but  
since men  differ in their curiosities  
she reveals different things to         
different  men4 ,all are rewarded for   
their devotion in accordance with their 
interests and desires1 but woman-like1  
nature reveals herself most  fully to   
him who worships not the fair form of   
her1 but her soul4 ,this  favored lover 

is the mystic2 for ever seeking         
instruction in things  spiritual1 he    
perceives in nature an allegory of the  
soul1 and  interprets her symbols in    
terms of the sacramental life4    ,the  
brook1 pursuing its tortuous and stony  
pathway in untiring effort  to reach its
 gravitational centre1 is a symbol of   
the ,pilgrim's  progress1 impelled by   
love to seek ,god within his heart4 ,the
 modest  daisy by the roadside1 and the 
wanton sunflower in the garden alike    
seek to image the sun1 the god of their 
worship1 a core of seeds and  fringe of 
petals representing their best effort to
 mimic the flaming  disc and far-flung  
corona of the sun4 ,man seeks less      
ardently1 and so  more ineffectively in 
his will and imagination to image ,god4 
,in the  reverent study of insect and   
animal life we gain some hint of what we
  have been and what we may             
become--something corresponding to the  
grub1  a burrowing thing2 to the        
caterpillar1 a crawling thing2 and      

finally  to the butterfly1 a radiant    
winged creature4    ,after this fashion 
then does he who has embraced the       
sacramental life  come to perceive in   
the sensuous manifold of nature1 that   
one divine  ,reality which ever seeks to
 instruct him in supermundane wisdom1   
and  to woo him to superhuman           
blessedness and peace4 ,in time1 this   
reading  of earth in terms of heaven1   
becomes a settled habit4 ,then1 in      
,emerson's phrase1 he has hitched his   
wagon to a star1 and changed his        
grocer's cart into a chariot of the sun4
    ,the reader may perhaps fail to     
perceive the bearing of this long       
discussion of symbols and sacraments    
upon the subject of art and             
architecture1 but in the mind of the    
author the correlation is  plain4 ,there
 can be no great art without religion3  
religion begins in  consciousness as a  
mystic experience1 it flows thence into 
symbols  and sacraments1 and these in   
turn are precipitated by the artist into

  ponderable forms of beauty4 ,unless   
the artist himself participates in  this
 mystic experience1 life's deeper       
meanings will escape him1 and  the work 
of his hands will have no special       
significance4 ,until it can  be said of 
every artist      ,himself from ,god he 
could not free1    there will be no art 
worthy of the name4                     
,,self-,,education#a      ,i take great 
pleasure in availing myself of this     
opportunity to speak  to you on certain 
aspects of the art which we practise4 ,i
 cannot  forget1 and ,i hope that you   
sufficiently remember1 that the         
architectural future of this country    
lies in the hands of just such  men as  
you4 ,let me dwell then for a moment on 
your unique opportunity4  ,perhaps some 
of you have taken up architecture as you
 might have gone  into trade1 or        
manufacturing1 or any of the useful     
professions2 in  that case you have     
probably already learned discrimination1
 and now  realize that in the cutting of

 the cake of human occupations you  have
 drawn the piece which contains the ring
 of gold4 ,the cake is  the business and
 utilitarian side of life1 the ring of  
gold is the  sthetic1 the creative side3
 treasure it1 for it is a precious and  
enduring thing4 ,think what your work   
is3 to reassemble materials in  such    
fashion that they become instinct with a
 beauty and eloquent with  a meaning    
which may carry inspiration and delight 
to generations still  unborn4           
,immortality haunts your threshold1 even
 though your hand may  not be strong    
enough to open to the heavenly visitor4 
,though the profession of architecture  
is a noble one in any country  and in   
any age1 it is particularly rich in     
inspiration and in  opportunity here and
 now1 for who can doubt that we are     
about to enter  upon a great building   
period8 ,we have what ,mr4 ,sullivan    
calls the  need and the power to build1 
the spirit of great art alone is        
lacking1 and that is already stirring in

 the secret hearts of men1 and  will    
sooner or later find expression in      
objective and ponderable  forms of new  
beauty4 ,these it is your privilege to  
create4 ,may the  opportunity find you  
ready6 ,there is a saying1 ,to be young1
 to be in  love1 to be in ,italy6 ,i    
would paraphrase it thus3 ,to be young1 
to be  in architecture1 to be in        
,america4    ,it is my purpose tonight  
to outline a scheme of self-education1  
which  if consistently followed out ,i  
am sure will help you1 though ,i am     
aware that to a certain order of mind it
 will seem highly mystical and          
impractical4 ,if it commends itself to  
your favor ,i shall be glad4    ,many of
 you will have had the advantage of a   
thorough technical  training in your    
chosen profession3 be grateful for it4  
,others1 like  ,topsy1 just growed--or  
have just failed to grow4 ,for the      
solace of  all such1 without wishing to 
be understood to disparage architectural
  schooling1 ,i would say that there is 

a kind of education which is  worse than
 none1 for by filling his mind with     
ready-made ideas it  prevents a man from
 ever learning to think for himself2 and
 there is  another kind which teaches   
him to think1 indeed1 but according to  
some  arbitrary method1 so that his mind
 becomes a canal instead of a river1    
flowing in a predetermined and          
artificial channel1 and unreplenished   
by the hidden springs of the spirit4    
,the best education can do no more  than
 to bring into manifestation that which 
is inherent2 it does this  by means of  
some stimulus from without--from books  
and masters--but  the stimulus may      
equally come from within3 each can      
develop his own  mind1 and in the       
following manner4    ,the alternation   
between a state of activity and a state 
of passivity1  which is a law of our    
physical being1 as it is a law of all   
nature1  is characteristic of the action
 of the mind as well3 observation and   
meditation are the two poles of thought4

 ,the tendency of modern life  and of   
our active ,american temperament is     
towards a too exclusive  functioning of 
the mind in its outgoing state1 and this
 results in  a great cleverness and a   
great shallowness4 ,it is only in       
moments of  quiet meditation that the   
great synthetic1 fundamental truths     
reveal  themselves4 ,observe            
ceaselessly1 weigh1 judge1              
criticize--this order  of intellectual  
activity is important and valuable--but 
the mind must  be steadied and          
strengthened by another and a different 
process4 ,the  power of attention1 the  
ability to concentrate1 is the measure  
of  mental efficiency2 and this power   
may be developed by a training  exactly 
analogous to that by which a muscle is  
developed1 for mind  and muscle are     
alike the instruments of the ,silent    
,thinker who sits  behind4 ,the mind an 
instrument of something higher than the 
mind3 here  is a truth so fertile that  
in the language of ,oriental imagery1   

,if  you were to tell this to a dry     
stick1 branches would grow1 and leaves  
sprout from it4    ,there is nothing    
original in the method of mental        
development here  indicated2 it has been
 known and practised for centuries in   
the ,east1  where life is less strenuous
 than it is with us4 ,the method        
consists  in silent meditation every day
 at stated periods1 during which the    
attempt is made to hold the mind to the 
contemplation of a single  image or     
idea1 bringing the attention back       
whenever it wanders1  killing each      
irrelevant thought as it arises1 as one 
might kill a  rat coming out of a hole4 
,this turning of the mind back on itself
 is  difficult1 but ,i know of nothing  
that pays so well1 and ,i have never    
found any one who conscientiously       
practised it who did not confirm  this  
view4 ,the point is1 that if a man      
acquires the ability to  concentrate on 
one thing1 he can concentrate on        
anything2 he increases  his competence  

on the mental plane in the same manner  
that pulling  chest-weights increases   
his competence on the physical4 ,the    
practice  of meditation has moreover an 
ulterior as well as an immediate        
advantage1 and that is the reason it is 
practised by the ,yogis of  ,india4     
,they believe that by stilling the mind1
 which is like a lake  reflecting the   
sky1 the ,higher ,self communicates a   
knowledge of ,itself  to the lower      
consciousness4 ,without the working of  
this ,oversoul in  and through us we can
 never hope to produce an architecture  
which  shall rank with the great        
architectures of the past1 for in       
,egypt1 in  ,greece1 in mediaeval       
,france1 as in ,india1 ,china1 and      
,japan1 mysticism  made for itself a    
language more eloquent than any in which
 the purely  rational consciousness of  
man has ever spoken4    ,we are apt to  
overestimate the importance of books and
 book learning4  ,think how small a part
 books have played in the development of

  architecture2 indeed1 ,palladio and   
,vignola1 with their hard and fast      
formul have done the art more harm than 
good4 ,it is a fallacy that  reading    
strengthens the mind--it enervates it2  
reading sometimes  stimulates the mind  
to original thinking1 and this develops 
it1  but reading itself is a passive    
exercise1 because the thought of the    
reader is for the time being in abeyance
 in order that the thought  of the      
writer may enter4 ,much reading impairs 
the power to think  originally and      
consecutively4 ,few of the great        
creators of the world  have had use for 
books1 and if you aspire to be in their 
class you  will avoid the spawn of the  
press4 ,the best plan is to read only   
great books1 and having read for five   
minutes1 think about what you  have read
 for ten4    ,these exercises1          
faithfully followed out1 will make your 
mind a fit  vehicle for the expression  
of your idea1 but the advice ,i have    
given is as pertinent to any one who    

uses his mind as it is to the           
architect4 ,to what1 specifically1      
should the architectural student  devote
 his attention in order to improve the  
quality of his work8  ,my own answer    
would be that he should devote himself  
to the study of  music1 of the human    
figure1 and to the study of             
,nature--first1 last1  midst1 and       
without end4    ,the correlation between
 music and architecture is no new       
thought2 it  is implied in the famous   
saying that architecture is frozen      
music4  ,vitruvius considered a         
knowledge of music to be a qualification
 of the  architect of his day1 and if it
 was desirable then it is no less so    
now4 ,there is both a metaphysical      
reason and a practical one why  this is 
so4 ,walter ,pater1 in a famous phrase1 
declared that all art  constantly       
aspires to the condition of music1 by   
which he meant to  imply that there is a
 certain rhythm and harmony at the root 
of every  art1 of which music is the    

perfect and pure expression2 that in    
music the means and the end are one and 
the same4 ,this coincides with          
,schopenhauer's theory about music1 that
 it is the most perfect  and            
unconditioned sensuous presentment known
 to us of that undying  will-to-live    
which constitutes life and the world4   
,metaphysics  aside1 the architect ought
 to hear as much good music as he can1  
and  learn the rudiments of harmony1 at 
least to the extent of knowing the      
simple numerical ratios which govern the
 principal consonant intervals  within  
the octave1 so that1 translating these  
ratios into intervals of  space         
expressed in terms of length and        
breadth1 height1 and width1 his  work   
will aspire to the condition of music4  
,there is a metaphysical reason1 too1 as
 well as a practical one1 why  an       
architect should know the human figure4 
,carlyle says1 ,there is but  one temple
 in the world1 and that is the body of  
man4 ,if the body  is1 as he declares1 a

 temple1 it is no less true that a      
temple1 or any  work of architectural   
art is in the nature of an ampler body  
which  man has created for his uses1 and
 which he inhabits1 just as the         
individual consciousness builds and     
inhabits its fleshly stronghold4  ,this 
may seem a highly mystical idea1 but the
 correlation between  the house and its 
inhabitant1 and the body and its        
consciousness is  everywhere close1 and 
is susceptible of infinite elaboration4 
,architectural beauty1 like human       
beauty1 depends upon a proper           
subordination of parts to the whole1 a  
harmonious interrelation  between these 
parts1 the expressiveness of each of its
 functions1 and  when these are many and
 diverse1 their reconcilement one with  
another4  ,this being so1 a study of the
 human figure with a view to analyzing  
the sources of its beauty cannot fail to
 be profitable to the  architectural    
designer4 ,pursued intelligently1 such  
study will  stimulate the mind to a     

perception of those simple yet subtle   
laws  according to which nature         
everywhere works1 and it will educate   
the eye in the finest known school of   
proportion1 training it to  distinguish 
minute differences1 in the same way that
 the hearing of  good music cultivates  
the ear4    ,it is neither necessary nor
 desirable to make elaborate and        
carefully  shaded drawings from a posed 
model2 an equal number of hours spent in
  copying and analyzing the plates of a 
good art anatomy1 supplemented  with a  
certain amount of life drawing1 done    
merely with a view to  catch the pose1  
will be found to be a more profitable   
exercise1 for it  will make you familiar
 with the principal and subsidiary      
proportions  of the bodily temple1 and  
give you sufficient data to enable you  
to  indicate a figure in any position   
with fair accuracy4    ,i recommend the 
study of ,nature because ,i believe that
 such study  will assist you to recover 
that direct and instant perception of   

beauty1 our natural birthright1 of which
 over-sophistication has  so bereft us  
that we no longer know it to be ours by 
right of  inheritance--inheritance from 
that cosmic matter endowed with  motion 
out of which we are fashioned1          
proceeding ever rationally and          
rhythmically to its appointed ends4 ,we 
are all of us participators in  a world 
of concrete music1 geometry and         
number--a world1 that is1 so            
mathematically constituted and          
co-ordinated that our pigmy bodies1     
equally with the farthest star1 throb to
 the music of the spheres4 ,the  blood  
flows rhythmically1 the heart its       
metronome2 the moving limbs  weave      
patterns2 the voice stirs into radiating
 sound-waves that pool  of silence which
 we call the air4      ,thou canst not  
wave thy staff in air1      ,or dip thy 
paddle in the lake1    ,but it carves   
the bow of beauty there1      ,and      
ripples in rhyme the oar forsake4       
,the whole of animate creation labours  

under the beautiful necessity of  being 
beautiful4 ,everywhere it exhibits a    
perfect utility subservient  to         
harmonious laws4 ,nature is the workshop
 in which are built  beautiful          
organisms4 ,this is exactly the aim of  
the architect--to  fashion beautiful    
organisms2 what better school1          
therefore1 could he  have in which to   
learn his trade8    ,to study ,nature it
 is not necessary to go out into the    
fields and  botanize1 nor to attempt to 
make water colours of picturesque       
scenery4  ,these things are very well1  
but not so profitable to your particular
  purpose as observation directed toward
 the discovery of the laws which        
underlie and determine form and         
structure1 such as the tracing of the   
spiral line1 not alone where it is      
obvious1 as in the snail's shell  and in
 the ram's horn1 but where it appears   
obscurely1 as in the  disposition of    
leaves or twigs upon a parent stem4     
,such laws of nature  are equally laws  

of art1 for art is nature carried to a  
higher power  by reason of its passage  
through a human consciousness4 ,thought 
and  emotion tend to crystallize into   
forms of beauty as inevitably1 and      
according to the same laws1 as does the 
frost on the window pane4 ,art1  in one 
of its aspects1 is the weaving of a     
pattern1 the communication  of an order 
and a method to lines1 forms1 colors1   
sounds4 ,all very  poetical1 and        
possibly true1 you may be saying to     
yourselves1 but  what has it to do with 
architecture1 which nowadays1 at least1 
is  pre-eminently a practical and       
utilitarian art whose highest mission   
is to fulfil definite conditions in an  
economical and admirable way2  whose    
supreme excellence is fitness1          
appropriateness1 the perfect  adaptation
 of means to ends1 and the apt          
expression of both means  and ends8     
,yes1 architecture is all of this1 but  
this is not all of  architecture2 else  
the most efficient engineer would be the

 most  admirable architect1 which does  
not happen to be the case4 ,along with  
the expression of the concrete and      
individual must go the expression  of   
the abstract and universal2 the two can 
be combined in a single  building in the
 same way that in every human           
countenance are  combined a racial or   
temperamental type1 which is universal1 
and a  character1 which is individual4  
,the expression of any sort of cosmic   
truth1 of universal harmony and rhythm1 
is the quality which our  architecture  
most conspicuously lacks4 ,failing to   
find the cosmic  truth within ourselves1
 failing to vibrate to the universal    
harmony  and rhythm1 our architecture   
is--well1 what it is1 for only that     
which  is native to our living spirit   
can we show forth in the work of our    
hands4    ,your work will be1 in the    
last analysis1 what you yourselves are4 
,let  no sophistry blind you to the     
truth of that4 ,there are rhythms in the
  world of space which we find only in  

the architecture of the past1 and       
enamoured of their beauty we repeat them
 over and over 7off the key  for the    
most part71 on the principle that all   
the songs have been  sung2 or we just   
make a noise1 on the principle that     
noise is all  there is to architecture  
anyway4 ,it is not so4 ,those systems of
  spatial rhythms which we call         
,egyptian1 ,classic1 ,gothic1           
,renaissance  architecture and the rest1
 are records all of the living human    
spirit  energizing in the stubborn      
matter of the physical plane with joy1  
with  conviction1 with mastery4 ,when   
that undying spirit awakes again in     
you1 stirred into consciousness by      
meditation1 which is its prayer2  by    
music1 which is its praise2 by the      
contemplation of that fair  form which  
is its temple2 and by communion with    
nature1 which is its  looking-glass2 you
 will experience again that ancient joy1
 hold again  that firm conviction1 and  
exercise again that mastery to transfuse

 the  granite and iron heart of the     
hills into patterns unlike any that the 
hand of man has made before4            
,footnote #a3 ,an address delivered     
before the ,boston ,architectural ,club 
in ,april1 #aiji4