DOI Artikel:
Scott, Mackay H. Baillie: The cheap cottage
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43455#0151
The Cheap Cottage
this cannot be, the designer of the cottage should
take at least as much care and thought over the
plans as if he were going to live with his family in
the cottage himself. Let him imagine he is living
under the rule of some wise and humane Mikado
who, making the punishment to fit the crime, may
condemn him to inhabit the dwellings he creates
for other people. The possibility of such a con-
tingency will make him consider the comfort of the
occupants as the dominant factor in cottage plan-
ning and he will discern the primal necessity of a
family living room of reasonable size, with some of
those qualities of inviting homeliness which are
now so much appreciated in the old cottages that
their original occupants are being dispossessed of
them by the well-to-do, just as they are also being
despoiled of their old furniture and ornaments.
The cottage which consists of a series of isolated
little plastered boxes and which has no central
dominating house-place can never be anything but
pokey and uncomfortable. It fails to express the
fact that the family require one room for their
common occupation as well as isolated apartments
for individual members. If a parlour is included
in the plan it may well be formed as a recess in
the main living room, so contributing to the
spaciousness of the interior. In this way an interior
is obtained which is similar to the old “butt and
ben ” cottage of the North. In the consideration
of “ the housing of the working classes ” the phrase
itself seems to suggest that we are providing
shelters for creatures with nothing more than
material needs. The study of the artistic aspect of
the question, especially with reference to the
interior, is generally considered unnecessary. But
since man does not live by bread alone, and since
there are none so humble that they are not capable
of taking pride and pleasure in their dwelling, it
may be urged that the cottage should be planned
with all that affectionate care which makes the old
cottage so attractive. And such beauty as it may
possess in its outward aspect can only satisfy us if
it is the outward expression of inward comeliness
and comfort. It must be designed from within
outwards. In reversing this process and in imitat-
ing externals instead of creating an outward aspect
as the resultant of planning, the modern picturesque
cottage inevitably appears affected and unreal.
The beauty of the old work was the result of right
methods of building which we have forgotten and
neglected and which in many cases we are for-
bidden by law to practise. If we want to be
healthy and happy it is not enough to imitate
sedulously the outward aspect of healthy persons.
We must study the methods of life which lead to
such results naturally and inevitably. In the
whole field of modern architecture the imitation of
external form has been our bane. In our Gothic
M. H. BAILLIE SCOTT, ARCHITECT
this cannot be, the designer of the cottage should
take at least as much care and thought over the
plans as if he were going to live with his family in
the cottage himself. Let him imagine he is living
under the rule of some wise and humane Mikado
who, making the punishment to fit the crime, may
condemn him to inhabit the dwellings he creates
for other people. The possibility of such a con-
tingency will make him consider the comfort of the
occupants as the dominant factor in cottage plan-
ning and he will discern the primal necessity of a
family living room of reasonable size, with some of
those qualities of inviting homeliness which are
now so much appreciated in the old cottages that
their original occupants are being dispossessed of
them by the well-to-do, just as they are also being
despoiled of their old furniture and ornaments.
The cottage which consists of a series of isolated
little plastered boxes and which has no central
dominating house-place can never be anything but
pokey and uncomfortable. It fails to express the
fact that the family require one room for their
common occupation as well as isolated apartments
for individual members. If a parlour is included
in the plan it may well be formed as a recess in
the main living room, so contributing to the
spaciousness of the interior. In this way an interior
is obtained which is similar to the old “butt and
ben ” cottage of the North. In the consideration
of “ the housing of the working classes ” the phrase
itself seems to suggest that we are providing
shelters for creatures with nothing more than
material needs. The study of the artistic aspect of
the question, especially with reference to the
interior, is generally considered unnecessary. But
since man does not live by bread alone, and since
there are none so humble that they are not capable
of taking pride and pleasure in their dwelling, it
may be urged that the cottage should be planned
with all that affectionate care which makes the old
cottage so attractive. And such beauty as it may
possess in its outward aspect can only satisfy us if
it is the outward expression of inward comeliness
and comfort. It must be designed from within
outwards. In reversing this process and in imitat-
ing externals instead of creating an outward aspect
as the resultant of planning, the modern picturesque
cottage inevitably appears affected and unreal.
The beauty of the old work was the result of right
methods of building which we have forgotten and
neglected and which in many cases we are for-
bidden by law to practise. If we want to be
healthy and happy it is not enough to imitate
sedulously the outward aspect of healthy persons.
We must study the methods of life which lead to
such results naturally and inevitably. In the
whole field of modern architecture the imitation of
external form has been our bane. In our Gothic
M. H. BAILLIE SCOTT, ARCHITECT