DOI Heft:
Nr. 236 (October, 1916)
DOI Artikel:Lay, Charles D.: Co-operation in art
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43462#0103
Co-operation in Art
SHERIDAN PARK, ALBANY, N. Y.
CHARLES D. LAY, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
ARNOLD W. BRUNNER, ARCHITECT
O-OPERATION IN ART
BY CHARLES D. LAY
Leonardo da Vinci was architect,
engineer, painter and sculptor among
other things, and seems indeed to have been a
universal genius, but those were the days of great
ambitions greatly fulfilled, and since his time
there have been few men, however versatile, with
the opportunity and the ability to practise several
of the arts at a time.
To-day it is even more difficult than in the
past to become proficient in many arts, or at
least it is more difficult to practise several of
them simultaneously and successfully. All art
is one, to be sure, and the person skilled in any
of its forms is never unintelligent in his attitude
toward the others; but, since such great tech-
nical skill is demanded of any artist to-day, he
is usually content to stick to his last and win his
laurels in the form of art in which his technical
proficiency is greatest. Co-operation between
artists on one piece of work is, therefore, becom-
ing common, and as time goes on will be of
greater importance.
An architect, perhaps, has a bridge to design.
His feeling for the problem is keen and his intui-
tion sure. He knows that given carte blanche he
can build it to last for centuries, but that is not
all that is necessary; it should be also a skilful
piece of engineering built quickly and cheaply,
and with no more material than is absolutely
needed; for the highest skill in engineering is to
build sufficiently strong for all emergencies, but
with not a pound over. Any intelligent person
who has also common sense and unlimited means
can build a bridge or a dam or possibly a sky-
scraper which will stand forever, but to build
such structures with no excess material above
actual requirements takes all the skill of an en-
gineering genius, fortified by thorough knowledge
of materials and methods. The architect with a
bridge to build, thinking of these things and
wishing to be judged by the beautiful utility of
XCVII
SHERIDAN PARK, ALBANY, N. Y.
CHARLES D. LAY, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
ARNOLD W. BRUNNER, ARCHITECT
O-OPERATION IN ART
BY CHARLES D. LAY
Leonardo da Vinci was architect,
engineer, painter and sculptor among
other things, and seems indeed to have been a
universal genius, but those were the days of great
ambitions greatly fulfilled, and since his time
there have been few men, however versatile, with
the opportunity and the ability to practise several
of the arts at a time.
To-day it is even more difficult than in the
past to become proficient in many arts, or at
least it is more difficult to practise several of
them simultaneously and successfully. All art
is one, to be sure, and the person skilled in any
of its forms is never unintelligent in his attitude
toward the others; but, since such great tech-
nical skill is demanded of any artist to-day, he
is usually content to stick to his last and win his
laurels in the form of art in which his technical
proficiency is greatest. Co-operation between
artists on one piece of work is, therefore, becom-
ing common, and as time goes on will be of
greater importance.
An architect, perhaps, has a bridge to design.
His feeling for the problem is keen and his intui-
tion sure. He knows that given carte blanche he
can build it to last for centuries, but that is not
all that is necessary; it should be also a skilful
piece of engineering built quickly and cheaply,
and with no more material than is absolutely
needed; for the highest skill in engineering is to
build sufficiently strong for all emergencies, but
with not a pound over. Any intelligent person
who has also common sense and unlimited means
can build a bridge or a dam or possibly a sky-
scraper which will stand forever, but to build
such structures with no excess material above
actual requirements takes all the skill of an en-
gineering genius, fortified by thorough knowledge
of materials and methods. The architect with a
bridge to build, thinking of these things and
wishing to be judged by the beautiful utility of
XCVII