DOI issue:
Werbung
DOI article:Watson, W. R.: Some recent Scottish domestic fittings and decorations
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26228#0141
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by the lavish use of ornament but by its reticcnt
and judicious employment in contrast with broad,
piain surfaces to act as a foil and setting.
These architects frequentiy use old motives in
new combinations, taking the old truth and adapt-
ing it to suit modern nceds. No doubt in this field
the genius of eccentricity may always hope to flnd
fresh opportunity for the extravagance that excites
ridicule, but it is not an unworthy aim for a builder
of houses to honestly attempt to see only what he
believes to be the best of the past, and to make it
live again with the expression of to-day, so that it
may become the best of the present. For the art
of our houses should speak the language of our
own time, and not be a mechanical reproduction
or imitation of the art of other days, in which the
conditions of life were totally different; it ought to
be the practical rendering in good taste and
pleasant guise of all the absolute necessities and
requirements of modern life, and in the work of
the architects under consideration we can trace the
inHuence of those who, in Germany and Austria,
are fighting for the new art, and whose manifest
endeavour is to educate the public taste by the
daily use of artistic household furniture and
utensils, and to stamp perceptibly upon the
exterior of each object a plain relation to its
purpose. To give people pleasure in the things they
must use is one noble ofhce of decoration, and it is
architects like James Salmon and J. Gaff Gillespie
who are proving in their work that practical common
sense in the requirements of our houses need not
interfere in any way with good and fresh artistic treat-
ment; and that simplicity and appropriateness of
design, judicious contrast of textures,
and harmony of colour necd not of
necessity invoive costliness and lavish
expenditure.
The views of interiors, such as are
illustrated herewith, are liable to mis-
representation in black and white,
because, apart from the absence of
carefully studied colour effects,
scarcely evident details assume undue
prominence, and others more essen-
tial to the completeness of the scheme
are hardly seen at all. But the indi-
viduality of the architect displays itself
in many ways through the house in
Glasgow, as well as in the treatment of
the various apartments in the Marine
Hotel, Troon, illustrations of which will
appear in a future number of THE
SiUDio. Every room has its own
special note, and many of the trifling
fittings, often overlooked by archi-
tects, are ingenious and suggestive;
the colour schemes are, as a rule,
very sober and subdued: the wall
hangings and carpets display quiet
tones, the whole impression being
that of reposefulness, with a com-
plete absence of disturbing glitter or
ostentation.
Externally Mr. James Salmon's
houses have but little ornamentation,
and this gives them the charm of
simplicity, though in certain struc-
tural details due regard is not paid to
the appearance of stability, and there
is occasionally an absence of that
107
RNTRANCE TO HBRARY DESIGKED BY J. GAFF GILLESIPE
WOOD CARVING BY JOHN CRAWFORD
PLASTER WORK BY W. J. TONNER
by the lavish use of ornament but by its reticcnt
and judicious employment in contrast with broad,
piain surfaces to act as a foil and setting.
These architects frequentiy use old motives in
new combinations, taking the old truth and adapt-
ing it to suit modern nceds. No doubt in this field
the genius of eccentricity may always hope to flnd
fresh opportunity for the extravagance that excites
ridicule, but it is not an unworthy aim for a builder
of houses to honestly attempt to see only what he
believes to be the best of the past, and to make it
live again with the expression of to-day, so that it
may become the best of the present. For the art
of our houses should speak the language of our
own time, and not be a mechanical reproduction
or imitation of the art of other days, in which the
conditions of life were totally different; it ought to
be the practical rendering in good taste and
pleasant guise of all the absolute necessities and
requirements of modern life, and in the work of
the architects under consideration we can trace the
inHuence of those who, in Germany and Austria,
are fighting for the new art, and whose manifest
endeavour is to educate the public taste by the
daily use of artistic household furniture and
utensils, and to stamp perceptibly upon the
exterior of each object a plain relation to its
purpose. To give people pleasure in the things they
must use is one noble ofhce of decoration, and it is
architects like James Salmon and J. Gaff Gillespie
who are proving in their work that practical common
sense in the requirements of our houses need not
interfere in any way with good and fresh artistic treat-
ment; and that simplicity and appropriateness of
design, judicious contrast of textures,
and harmony of colour necd not of
necessity invoive costliness and lavish
expenditure.
The views of interiors, such as are
illustrated herewith, are liable to mis-
representation in black and white,
because, apart from the absence of
carefully studied colour effects,
scarcely evident details assume undue
prominence, and others more essen-
tial to the completeness of the scheme
are hardly seen at all. But the indi-
viduality of the architect displays itself
in many ways through the house in
Glasgow, as well as in the treatment of
the various apartments in the Marine
Hotel, Troon, illustrations of which will
appear in a future number of THE
SiUDio. Every room has its own
special note, and many of the trifling
fittings, often overlooked by archi-
tects, are ingenious and suggestive;
the colour schemes are, as a rule,
very sober and subdued: the wall
hangings and carpets display quiet
tones, the whole impression being
that of reposefulness, with a com-
plete absence of disturbing glitter or
ostentation.
Externally Mr. James Salmon's
houses have but little ornamentation,
and this gives them the charm of
simplicity, though in certain struc-
tural details due regard is not paid to
the appearance of stability, and there
is occasionally an absence of that
107
RNTRANCE TO HBRARY DESIGKED BY J. GAFF GILLESIPE
WOOD CARVING BY JOHN CRAWFORD
PLASTER WORK BY W. J. TONNER