Here the designer may indulge his fancy
as he pleases, as far as the nature of the design is concerned, but not,
if you please, as far as its position and distribution are concerned.
There the logic of architecture still pursues us.
We may not place ornament anywhere at haphazard on a building simply
because it looks pretty. At least, to do so is to throw away great part
of its value. For everything in architectural design is relative; it is
to be considered in relation to the expression and design of the whole,
and ornament is to be placed where it will emphasize certain points or
certain features of the building. It must form a part of the grouping of
the whole, and be all referable to a central and predominating idea. A
building so planned, built, and decorated becomes, in fact, what all
architecture--what every artistic design in fact should be--an organized
whole, of which every part has its relation to the rest, and from which
no feature can be removed without impairing the unity and consistency of
the design. You may have a very good, even an expressive, building with
no ornament at all if you like, but you may not have misplaced ornament.
That is only an excrescence on the design, not an organic portion of it.
I have thought that it would be of use to those who are unacquainted
with architectural procedure in delineating architecture by geometrical
drawings if I took the opportunity of illustrating very briefly the
philosophy of elevations, plans, and sections, which many
non-professional people certainly do not understand.
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