There is a good deal of architecture in the world which is in
fact of this kind--an ornamental screen unconnected with the
constructional arrangement of the building. Nor is such architecture to
be entirely scouted. It may be a very charming piece of scenery in
itself, and you may even make a very good theoretical defense for it,
from a certain point of view. But on the whole, architecture on that
principle becomes uninteresting. You very soon tire of it. It is a mask
rather than a countenance, and tends to the production of a dull
uniformity of conventional design.
For we must remember that architecture, although a form of artistic
expression, is not, like painting and sculpture, unfettered by practical
considerations. It is an art inextricably bound up with structural
conditions and practical requirements. A building is erected first for
convenience and shelter; secondly only for appearance, except in the
case of such works as monuments, triumphal arches, etc., which represent
architectural effect pure and simple, uncontrolled by practical
requirements. With such exceptions, therefore, a building ought to
express in its external design its internal planning and arrangement; in
other words, the architectural design should arise out of the plan and
disposition of the interior, or be carried on concurrently with it, not
designed as a separate problem.
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