DOI issue:
No. 393 (December 1925)
DOI article:[Studio-talk]
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21403#0382
LIVERPOOL
"a gateway to a town." design for pre-
liminary round of rome scholarship
1925. by f. n. astbury. (5th year student
Liverpool University School of Architecture)
LIVERPOOL—The Mersey port has
quite the average quota of art insti-
tutions for a city of her size ; indeed, it is
wonderful how some of them, especially
those dependent upon local interest, keep
death at bay. A few of them are suc-
cessful, if not interesting, a few others
are interesting if not successful, 0 0
One, combining the interesting and the
successful, stands in a peculiar position
of its own, as something much more than
a Liverpool phenomenon. The School
of Architecture of the University of Liver-
pool owes less to Liverpool than Liverpool
owes to the school, which has brought the
city consideration from the farthest
quarters. 0 0 a 0 a
Twenty-one years ago Professor C. H.
Reilly took charge of the little school
which then existed ; that he has created
from that nucleus the astonishing hot-bed
of architectural ability now in being shows
the nature of his influence, and the power
of personality. 0000
The school is the oldest in the kingdom
and its two-year course of early years was
extended to the present five-year course.
It was, in this, the first school in the
country to be recognised by the R.I.B.A.
It is also the only school in the kingdom
which gives its own degrees. To that of
Bachelor of Architecture has recently
been added that of Master of Architecture,
the latter to be conferred only on those
Bachelors who have distinguished them-
selves by the erection of fine and outstand-
376
ing buildings. The advent of students from
all over the world is one outcome of the
Liverpool school's fame, and the future
architecture of New Zealand or South
Africa is being inspired in Liverpool. It
is even believed that some inspiration
may have been conveyed to Liverpool,
though this, in the prophet's own country,
is naturally more difficult, and the sug-
gestion that it might have been attempted
is purely personal to the writer. 0
Not only do students come from far,
they also go far, not only when their course
is ended but whilst it is in progress.
American architects delight to receive the
Liverpool fourth-year man as a visitor, in
the most practical way, by making the
visit profitable to the guest. Professor
Reilly, in his writings and elsewhere, has
accentuated his faith in this American
friendship, which he has fostered con-
stantly so far as his school is concerned,
and also in other ways. To those who see
in the West the portent of the next great
phase of art, this enthusiasm from a mind
as forceful and informed as the Professor's
is significant. 0000
The reasons for the Liverpool archi-
tectural successes are many, but it seems
that the basis is energy. The broad out-
look is present, and so is hard, unremitting
work, the solid grounding of the student
in the classical forms as a preliminary to
the exercise of his imagination. Unfledged
excursions into the tenuous if exhilarating
empyrean of architectural Bolshevism are
"a gateway to a town." design for pre-
liminary round of rome scholarship
1925. by f. n. astbury. (5th year student
Liverpool University School of Architecture)
LIVERPOOL—The Mersey port has
quite the average quota of art insti-
tutions for a city of her size ; indeed, it is
wonderful how some of them, especially
those dependent upon local interest, keep
death at bay. A few of them are suc-
cessful, if not interesting, a few others
are interesting if not successful, 0 0
One, combining the interesting and the
successful, stands in a peculiar position
of its own, as something much more than
a Liverpool phenomenon. The School
of Architecture of the University of Liver-
pool owes less to Liverpool than Liverpool
owes to the school, which has brought the
city consideration from the farthest
quarters. 0 0 a 0 a
Twenty-one years ago Professor C. H.
Reilly took charge of the little school
which then existed ; that he has created
from that nucleus the astonishing hot-bed
of architectural ability now in being shows
the nature of his influence, and the power
of personality. 0000
The school is the oldest in the kingdom
and its two-year course of early years was
extended to the present five-year course.
It was, in this, the first school in the
country to be recognised by the R.I.B.A.
It is also the only school in the kingdom
which gives its own degrees. To that of
Bachelor of Architecture has recently
been added that of Master of Architecture,
the latter to be conferred only on those
Bachelors who have distinguished them-
selves by the erection of fine and outstand-
376
ing buildings. The advent of students from
all over the world is one outcome of the
Liverpool school's fame, and the future
architecture of New Zealand or South
Africa is being inspired in Liverpool. It
is even believed that some inspiration
may have been conveyed to Liverpool,
though this, in the prophet's own country,
is naturally more difficult, and the sug-
gestion that it might have been attempted
is purely personal to the writer. 0
Not only do students come from far,
they also go far, not only when their course
is ended but whilst it is in progress.
American architects delight to receive the
Liverpool fourth-year man as a visitor, in
the most practical way, by making the
visit profitable to the guest. Professor
Reilly, in his writings and elsewhere, has
accentuated his faith in this American
friendship, which he has fostered con-
stantly so far as his school is concerned,
and also in other ways. To those who see
in the West the portent of the next great
phase of art, this enthusiasm from a mind
as forceful and informed as the Professor's
is significant. 0000
The reasons for the Liverpool archi-
tectural successes are many, but it seems
that the basis is energy. The broad out-
look is present, and so is hard, unremitting
work, the solid grounding of the student
in the classical forms as a preliminary to
the exercise of his imagination. Unfledged
excursions into the tenuous if exhilarating
empyrean of architectural Bolshevism are