DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29898#0057
Sect. YII.
IXTEODUCTION.
21
to the material employecl, our judgment may be reversed if the bricks
are so beautifully moulded, or made of suc-h precious clay, or so carefully
laid, that the brick edifice costs twice as much as the other; in that
case we should look with more respect and admiration on the artificial
than on the natural material. From the same reason many elaborately
carved wooden buildings, not-withstanding the smallness of their parts
ancl their perishable nature, are more to be admired than larger and
more monumental structures, and this merely in consequence of the
evidence of labour ancl consequent cost that have been bestowecl upon
them.
Irrespective of these consiclerations, many building materials are
invaluable from their own intrinsic merits. Granite is one of the best
known, from its hardness and durability, marble from the exquisite
polish it takes, and for its colour, which for internal decoration is a
property that c-an hardly be over-estimated. Stone is valuable on
account of the largeness of the blocks that can be obtained and because
it easily receives a polish sufficient for external purposes. Bricks are
excellent for their cheapness and the facility with which they can be
used,' and they may also be moulded into forms of great elegance, so
that beauty may be easily attained; but sublimity is nearly impossible
in brickwork, without at least such dhnensions as have rarely been
accomplished by man. The smallness of the material is such a manifest
incongruity with largeness of the parts, that even the Romans, though
they tried hard, could never quite overcome the diificulty.
Plaster is another artificial material. Exc-ept in monumental erec-
tions it is superior to stone for internal purposes, ancl always better
than brick from the uniformity and smoothness of its surface, the
facility with which it is moulded, and its capability of receiving
painted or other decorations to any extent.
Wood should be used externally only on the smallest and least
monumental class of buildings, and even internally is generally in-
ferior to plaster. It is dark in colour, liable to warp and split, and
combustible, which are all serious objections to its use, except for
flooring, doors, and such purposes as it is now generally applied to.
Cast iron is another material rarely brought into use, though more
precious than any of those above enumerated, and possessing more
strength, though probably less durability. Where lightness combined
with strength is required, it is invaluable, but though it can be
moulded into any form of beauty that may be designed, it has hardly
yet ever been so used as to allow of its architectural qualities being
appreciated.
All these materials are nearly equally good when usecl honestly
each for the purpose for which it is best adapted ; they all become
bad either when employed for a purpose for which they are not appro-
priate, or when one material is substituted in the place of or to imitate
IXTEODUCTION.
21
to the material employecl, our judgment may be reversed if the bricks
are so beautifully moulded, or made of suc-h precious clay, or so carefully
laid, that the brick edifice costs twice as much as the other; in that
case we should look with more respect and admiration on the artificial
than on the natural material. From the same reason many elaborately
carved wooden buildings, not-withstanding the smallness of their parts
ancl their perishable nature, are more to be admired than larger and
more monumental structures, and this merely in consequence of the
evidence of labour ancl consequent cost that have been bestowecl upon
them.
Irrespective of these consiclerations, many building materials are
invaluable from their own intrinsic merits. Granite is one of the best
known, from its hardness and durability, marble from the exquisite
polish it takes, and for its colour, which for internal decoration is a
property that c-an hardly be over-estimated. Stone is valuable on
account of the largeness of the blocks that can be obtained and because
it easily receives a polish sufficient for external purposes. Bricks are
excellent for their cheapness and the facility with which they can be
used,' and they may also be moulded into forms of great elegance, so
that beauty may be easily attained; but sublimity is nearly impossible
in brickwork, without at least such dhnensions as have rarely been
accomplished by man. The smallness of the material is such a manifest
incongruity with largeness of the parts, that even the Romans, though
they tried hard, could never quite overcome the diificulty.
Plaster is another artificial material. Exc-ept in monumental erec-
tions it is superior to stone for internal purposes, ancl always better
than brick from the uniformity and smoothness of its surface, the
facility with which it is moulded, and its capability of receiving
painted or other decorations to any extent.
Wood should be used externally only on the smallest and least
monumental class of buildings, and even internally is generally in-
ferior to plaster. It is dark in colour, liable to warp and split, and
combustible, which are all serious objections to its use, except for
flooring, doors, and such purposes as it is now generally applied to.
Cast iron is another material rarely brought into use, though more
precious than any of those above enumerated, and possessing more
strength, though probably less durability. Where lightness combined
with strength is required, it is invaluable, but though it can be
moulded into any form of beauty that may be designed, it has hardly
yet ever been so used as to allow of its architectural qualities being
appreciated.
All these materials are nearly equally good when usecl honestly
each for the purpose for which it is best adapted ; they all become
bad either when employed for a purpose for which they are not appro-
priate, or when one material is substituted in the place of or to imitate