The Course of Architecture
European Architecture in the Twentieth Century. Volume II. By Arnold Whittick. (Crosby Lockwood. £2 2s.) Tars book is the second of a series of three volumes which will together form Mr. Whittick's complete survey of architecture in the first half of this century. It forms, therefore, part of a really major work and, moreover, one that has not been attempted elsewhere. Although such a book cannot deal in any technical way with plan- ning, structure or the use of materials, it will be a useful summary or album for the architect, to haire upon his shelves ; for the layman— for whom presumably it is intended—it will be a valuable guide ; it will remind him of the variety and quantity of building in this century, and of the multiplicity of problems that have had to be solved. It may also tell the layman that European and American architecture has, in a confused and disturbed epoch, been trying to follow a charted course ; in the event the course has proved erratic, but it has at least had an objective. This, in brief terms, has been to exploit the poten- tialities of the age, new techniques of building, new materials,. etc., to meet adequately new social requirements—domestic, educational, medical, industrial and so on.
That, of course, is more or less what architecture has been trying to do since primitive man made his first hut, but today the problems and the potential solutions rain upon us in such a bewildering way that architecture—like many other things—has assumed a different order of complexity. It is hardly surprising that the architect has done little more than hope that a correct technical answer would, somehvw or other, throw up an aesthetic answer too. All this may explain the layman's bewilderment in the face of the Modern Move- ment ; it may also show why Mr. Whittick's task is such a hard one. I suspect that it is even harder than he has yet realised. To understand the architecture of an age one has to understand so much besides the architecture.
In his first volume—covering the earlier part of the century—the author felt able to consider architecture qua architecture, analysing together groups of buildings designed for diverse purposes. This was, even then, a questionable method and in the period now under review, 1924-33, it has been abandoned, the author recognising that each type—house, school, factory, theatre, etc.—is a separate and indeed highly specialised problem. Even now, one wonders whether the author has quite grasped the full implications of the technical and social revolution in the dawn of which we live. He still seems to regard architecture as a series of exercises in style by a series of individuals, to see modern structure as just one more style that the architect may or may not elect to use. One might as well analyse the motor industry on the basis of a series of isolated works by master coach-builders.
In the present period of transition Mr. Whittick might justify him- self; but he has failed, I think, to emphasise fully the inevitability of the Modern Movement as a product of social and technical factors outside the architect's control. To take two examples : the gentle- man in a closed profession—on the analogy of law or medicine—is something that no longer works in an industrialised and socialised society ; Mr. Whittick must deal with this in his next volume. Again, he is surprised because office buildings are more traditional in their design than churches, which deal with ancient ritual ; any architecture can provide in its own way spaces for ritual ; bankers and insurance brokers have a bigger stake in the old order than the clergy. It is in failing to link his architectural philosophy with such facts that the author becomes naive. He see% modern techniques as something architects can use if they like, whereas in fact they produce a new kind of architect. All this is perhaps because the author h rn- self is a man of compromise,lacking conviction and passion, wel- coming such impossibilities as " a very happy wedding of modern with traditional " or the " just balance as the true secret." He would, one gathers, advocate dignity in elevations and logic in plan- ning ; I wonder if he understands me when I say that what is needed is dignity in planning and logic in elevations and yet it is some- where in that difference between us that there lies the dynamic of a new architecture.
The omission of the more architectural aspects of town-planning is, I feel, an error, but otherwise the author has done a thorough job. His facts are well Ordered and his writing clear and graceful. There are almost enough plans ; contrary to a common view these are always fascinating to a layman—even if sections are sometimes difficult for him—and are, of course, essential to the understanding of a building. There are many hundreds of excellent photographs. For what the book provides it is not expensive.
R. FURNEAUX JORDAN.
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