Beautiful Building Research Articles

Reforma y modernización del Hotel Alfonso XIII de Sevilla, España

This article describes the careful remodeling work of this hotel — a part of the city's history since it was opened in 1926 — a general improvement aimed at making this facility a model in its class, a beautiful building fitted with all the amenities becoming its high luxury classification, a category shared with very few hotels in the country. Special attention has been given to the repair of roofs and walls, renewal of exterior fenestration, grills, artistic glazed tiling, dadoes, coffered ceilings, lamps, floor construction in the banquet hall, plumbing, electric system, air conditioned and providing adequate services. A new magnificent, roomy suite has been incorporated, as well as new classy bathrooms, gardens, roofed car park, and 800 m 3 water tank, a bar, a breakfast coffee room, a restaurant in the half-basement with accesses from the inside and the outside, fountains, etc. The refined taste of the architect, the highly specialized work of the contractor and the participation of the qualified Sevillian craftsmen, have all contributed to the neat detailing of the facility and to the highly successful final result.

Robert Weir Schultz (1860-1951): An Arts and Crafts Architect

. . . I must say quite frankly that in my opinion this theoretic training is not going to make for good building. In fact to be quite candid, I am not hopeful that a good general type of modern building will be seen until all we architects are abolished, swept away, root and branch: until the crafts connected with building are reorganized on an efficient educational basis. These uncompromising sentiments occur in a paper entitled ‘Architecture or Building’ read before the Birmingham Architectural Association on 3 December 1909. They were made by a tall, red-haired Scotsman in his fiftieth year at the height of his architectural career. It was this firm belief, founded in Pugin and promoted by Morris and Webb, that architecture must be based in reasonable building and the straight-forward use of materials and construction — art taking care of itself — which caused Robert Weir Schultz to speak so scathingly about the architecture of his time, most of which he dismissed as mere ‘architectonics’. His own buildings may lack the individuality of contemporaries such as Voysey, Mackintosh and Prior, or the serenity and urbanity of Newton and Macartney. Nevertheless it was the very suppression of a personal style in the furtherance of a common cause, sustained throughout a practice lasting almost fifty years, that made his work so diverse in range and manner, and indeed at times original. In attempting to grow out of the particular needs of each building and its site it approaches that of Philip Webb and especially of his acknowledged mentor, W. R. Lethaby, whose writings and few, but significant, buildings were the central inspiration of Schultz’s career. Lethaby’s definition of architecture had been set down in the volume edited by Norman Shaw and T. G. Jackson, Architecture A Profession or An Art published in 1892. Those essays were written just when Schultz was commencing practice and must have shaped his own views. But Schultz’s abiding philosophy was summed up in the first paragraph of Lethaby’s essay, ‘The Builder’s Art and the Craftsman’: ‘The art of architecture is thus the co-ordination of the several crafts in the achievement of right or beautiful building; and this not only in the outer form and adornment, but in the very structure and anatomy. Architecture is the easy and expressive handling of materials in masterly experimental building — it is the craftsmen’s Drama.’

Special Education Centres of Interest: Pallister Young People’s Unit and Special School

Pallister Young People’s Unit is an adolescent treatment and special education unit attached to Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich, New South Wales.The Unit, originally a girl’s home, changed its terms of reference in early 1977 to incorporate and develop a professionally orientated treatment and education programme so that it could more effectively meet the needs of many adolescents, both boys and girls, experiencing socio-emotional disturbance.The Unit is housed in a rather beautiful building built in 1892 and overlooks the upper reaches of the harbour. Although not purpose built, Pallister retains the atmosphere of a family home. This aspect of the Unit the professional staff are eager to maintain because, although they see the Unit as a special service delivery, it is also a therapeutic community where young people can experience emotional growth, through community living.

The President's Page: Building for the future [Guest Editorial

Penrose, Day, and Horton are names familiar to many earth scientists. Although they contributed actively to the earth sciences during their lifetimes, they are today perhaps better known for the work done in their names and through funds set aside by them. Penrose Place in Boulder, Colorado, is the site of the beautiful building housing the Geological Society of America; administered by the National Academy of Sciences the Arthur L. Day Fund provides for grants to individuals who are working for the advancement of study of the physics of the earth; the Horton Fund of AGU's section of Hydrology was first used to provide capital for starting Water Resources Research and is now used principally for small grants in support of research.Nonprofit organizations rely on gifts and bequests for acquiring capital to free them from a hand‐tomouth existence and to permit the establishment of innovative programs. Some programs, such as scholarships and research grants, require continuing funds; other programs, such as buildings, require substantial initial support, since they will not begin to pay back their costs for many years. A nonprofit scientific society may never build the financial reserves for such undertakings.

The Testament of a Master

The Master has ended his narration to Ivan Bezdomny. The chapters are behind us in which the valorous Margarita serves as queen of Satan's Grand Ball and then departs with the Master, who has been returned to her, to the little basement in the Arbat. The novel is approaching its end, and the time comes when Matthew the Levite appears before Woland, who is thoughtfully observing, from the high terrace of one of the most beautiful buildings in Moscow, the city lying before him. Matthew transmits to him Yeshua's request that Woland take the Master with him and reward him with peace.

The Testament of a Master

The Master has ended his narration to Ivan Bezdomny. The chapters are behind us in which the valorous Margarita serves as queen of Satan's Grand Ball and then departs with the Master, who has been returned to her, to the little basement in the Arbat. The novel is approaching its end, and the time comes when Matthew the Levite appears before Woland, who is thoughtfully observing, from the high terrace of one of the most beautiful buildings in Moscow, the city lying before him. Matthew transmits to him Yeshua's request that Woland take the Master with him and reward him with peace.

Edificio para oficinas de Assicurazioni Generali

This building is on the Generalisimo Avenue, in Madrid. It is an office block made up of two wings and a central nucleus for vertical communications. The two bay floor levels have been planned to achieve the utmost flexibility in distribution, since there is no precise preconceived program of floor space distribution and future developments. The project is based on a 1.20 x 1.50 m modulus, which has been arrived at after detailed study. It has been obtained from a minimum space working unit, i. e., the surface that an employee will need. Each bay comprises nine 1.20 m modular units, and each floor level contains four service units, including ladies' and gentlemen's room and a cleaner's cubicle, fitted with waste disposal device. The building structure is reinforced concrete. The main facade has a striped steel facing, roll up aluminium Venetian blinds, with controllable elements, which provide good solar protection. This is a beautiful and well-coordinated building, which is worth a detailed study.

IEEE support of the UEC fund campaign

Summary form only given, as follows. On behalf of the IEEE Board of Directors, I wish to recommend that all IEEE members support the campaign to complete the United Engineering Center. IEEE occupies two and one-half floors of this beautiful building, which houses our editorial operations, the secretariats of the Professional Technical Groups and the Technical Operations Committee and the office of the General Manager. The Center also provides excellent air-conditioned facilities for our committee meetings, with convenient food service. Many of our members contributed in the initial campaign, and we urge them to make a supplementary contribution. The majority of the membership have not previously had the opportunity to contribute to this cause, and we are sure that these members will welcome the opportunity to take part. An average contribution in excess of US$1.00 per member is necessary to meet the campaign objectives. Since about 40 per cent of the membership participated in the previous campaign, individual contributions of $5.00, or more, are indicated as a guide to those members who wish to participate. A message from Dr, Kelly, who heads the campaign, will be sent to each member when he receives his bill for next year's dues, and contributions to the fund can be made at that time. The success of the campaign depends in large part on our response. Your contributions, which are tax deductible, will help complete a most important facility for the use of our profession.

IEEE support of the UEC fund campaign

Summary form only given, as follows. On behalf of the IEEE Board of Directors, I wish to recommend that all IEEE members support the campaign to complete the United Engineering Center. IEEE occupies two and one-half floors of this beautiful building, which houses our editorial operations, the secretariats of the Professional Technical Groups and the Technical Operations Committee and the office of the General Manager. The Center also provides excellent air-conditioned facilities for our committee meetings, with convenient food service. Many of our members contributed in the initial campaign, and we urge them to make a supplementary contribution. The majority of the membership have not previously had the opportunity to contribute to this cause, and we are sure that these members will welcome the opportunity to take part. An average contribution in excess of US$1.00 per member is necessary to meet the campaign objectives. Since about 40 per cent of the membership participated in the previous campaign, individual contributions of $5.00, or more, are indicated as a guide to those members who wish to participate. A message from Dr, Kelly, who heads the campaign, will be sent to each member when he receives his bill for next year's dues, and contributions to the fund can be made at that time. The success of the campaign depends in large part on our response. Your contributions, which are tax deductible, will help complete a most important facility for the use of our profession.

Historic Town Keeping

Research Article| December 01 1956 Historic Town Keeping Carl Feiss Carl Feiss Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (1956) 15 (4): 2–6. https://doi.org/10.2307/987794 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Carl Feiss; Historic Town Keeping. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 1 December 1956; 15 (4): 2–6. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/987794 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of the Society of Architectural Historians Search This content is only available via PDF. Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The Royal Presidio Chapel of San Carlos, Monterey, Capital of Colonial California

It is rare that one finds, in the form of drawings and documents, a study of the architectural evolution of a church in the Spanish borderlands of the United States. Most of the churches were Indian missions, built at first of adobe in a simple, crude form, with thatched roofs. More beautiful buildings arose in a later period of development when Indian converts had increased and after skilled workmen were available to raise them as monuments of beauty on a cheerless frontier.

The Berzelius centenary celebrations

ON 20 to 22 September 1948 forty representatives of foreign learned societies and universities were in Stockholm at the invitation of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science, the Royal Academy of Agriculture, the Caroline Institute and the Swedish Medical Association to join with them in their Commemoration of Jons Jakob Berzelius, who died on 7 August 1848. The opening meeting on 20 September was in the Town Hall, one of Stockholm’s most beautiful buildings, standing on the water’s edge, recalling in its outline the Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s at Venice. The ceremony began in the Blue Hall with a symphony by Lindblad played by the Stockholm Academic Orchestral Society, followed by a speech of welcome by the President of the Academy, Professor Gunnar Holim gren. Sweden was in mourning for the tragic death of Count Bernadotte, and the company stood in solemn silence for two minutes in his memory

A Notable Group of Memorials

AROUND that square in Washington occupied by three beautiful white marble buildings of the Red Cross, two of which are memorials, much in connection with the Biennial will revolve. The memorial trees, flowering shrubs, boxwood, evergreens, and stretches of lawn, has been erected the exquisite monument by Dr. R. Tait MacKenzie to Jane A. D lano and the 296 nurses who died in service. This quiet and lovely

The American Antiquarian Society

Founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas, Worcester's first printer and the first historian of American printing, the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester has grown steadily until it is today one of the greatest of all American history libraries. When the present beautiful and modern library building was erected, the museum feature of the Society's collections was discontinued and all efforts were concentrated on the building of a great library for the free use of scholars. Today historians, professors, graduate students, biographers, and bibliographers come from all parts of the country, many of them spending happy weeks or months in our quiet reading room. Hundreds of others write to us each year and are supplied through correspondence with the information they cannot come to Worcester to search out for themselves.

CORRECTION OF INTERVIEW BY DR. BETHEL SOLOMONS

<h3>To the Editor:</h3> —I have lately returned from a tour in Canada and the United States of America, where I had the honor of addressing the American Association of Obstetricians, Gynecologists and Abdominal Surgeons, and other learned societies. I was tremendously impressed with your hospitals and with the amount of scientific and practical work which is being carried out. I have brought back with me many ideas which I hope to get started here. Unfortunately, in an interview, a member of the lay press got an entirely wrong idea of what I intended to convey. I did not bother to contradict this, until it was published in the British medical press and now in your valuable journal. What I meant to convey was that I admired your beautiful buildings. I stated that I also admired the great amount of research carried on in the institutions, but that it was possible

Platinum

A FEW months ago we noticed (vol. c, p. 486, February 21) the chapter on “Platinum in 1916” which Dr. G. F. Kunz contributed to the current volume of “The Mineral Industry,” and now we have before us in pamphlet form the illustrated article on the same subject, though studied from a somewhat different point of view, which the same writer penned for the issue of the Bulletin of the Pan-American Union for November, 1917. On the last page—and, therefore, there being no cover, the back of the pamphlet—we are told that this union is an international organisation, which is housed at Washington in a beautiful building provided by the munificence of Mr. Andrew Carnegie, and is maintained by the republics, twenty-one in number, in both the Americas, the necessary funds being provided by the several countries in proportion to their population. The administration is in the hands of two executive officers—Director-General and Assistant-Director—who are appointed by, and are responsible to, the Board of Governors, which comprises the United States Secretary of State and the diplomatic representatives at Washington of the other American Governments, and they have the assistance of an ample staff of experts in various subjects, statisticians, translators, librarians, clerks, etc. The purpose of the union is to develop commerce and to promote friendly intercourse and good understanding between the several, States—an admirable object that might with advantage be extended when opportunity occurs at the close of this tragic war.

The Education of a Chemist 1

THE education of a chemist (and the word “chemist,” of course, includes the qualification “technical chemist”) must be conceived in the sense that it consists in an effort to produce an attitude of mind, rather than to instil definite knowledge. Of course the latter must not be neglected; the definite knowledge may be likened to the bricks which the architect has at his disposal in erecting a beautiful building; he knows their shapes, their capacity for resisting stresses, and, in short, what can be done with them. But the conception of the design is the result of many attempts to create.; just as the poet has to utilise words, or the architect bricks, so the chemist has to know the materials with which he is dealing. The training of a bricklayer, however, will never make a man an architect; nor will the dry research of a grammarian train a poet. In short, it is the inventive faculty which must be cultivated.

THE TOMB OF THOMAS SAY

I have just noticed Prof. Webster's note an the tomb of Thomas Say, and it may be of interest to your readers to know that I have recently visited New Harmony, Ind., and met Mr. John Crobin, the owner of the old Maclure home, where stands the tomb of the father of American descriptive entomology. Mr. Corbin, as Prof. Webster states, is much interested in the proper preservation of this tomb, and is much interested also in the history of Thomas Say. In fact, I found many people in the little village of New Harmony who knew about Say, and who were distinctly of the opinion that his residence in their village sheds lustre on its history. The village library is an admirable one, housed in a beautiful building, and among the treasures of the library are certain of Say's manuscripts, among others, one written upon the day of his death.

Prof. Ira Remsen on Chemical Laboratories1

ON January 1 the Kent Chemical Laboratory was dedicated with appropriate exercises. The beautiful building was thrown open to inspection, and many passed through its rooms expressing admiration. Its plans were explained and a general account was given of the uses to which it is to be put. Honour, “as is most justly due,” was paid to the generous donor, whose name from this day forth will be intimately associated with progress in chemistry in this country. The exercises of yesterday have led by an easy step to those of today, and a chemist is called upon to give the Convocation address. What theme more natural to him, or more appropriate, than “The Chemical Laboratory?” It is to this theme that I ask your attention. My purpose is to treat the chemical laboratory, not from the material point of view, but in its broader aspects, as far as I may find this possible. I shall attempt to answer briefly three questions, and these are:—

Essays and Addresses

THIS book is due to the natural desire of the teaching staff of the Owens College to have some memorial of an event of the first importance in their own history, and to give expression to the hopes that animate the institution. The Owens College was founded by a single legacy a quarter of a century ago—for the creation of a college in which Lancashire lads might study at home the “branches of learning commonly taught in the English Universities.” It first became known in connection with its first Principal, Scott, a writer who has left nothing which explains the high rank he held among his contemporaries and especially the influence he unquestionably exercised over every young man with whom he was brought into contact. Under him, however, the College did not flourish—the number of the day students sank at one time as low as 25—and it was only after the appointment of the present Principal, Dr. Greenwood, that it began to take root in Manchester. It has now about 350 day students—not including the medical students, who have been added only this session—and nearly 800 evening students. Curiously enough, what happened in Glasgow to the disappointment of many of the well-wishers of the University, happened also in Manchester. When the new buildings, with all their increased convenience for study, were opened, it seemed natural to anticipate a great increase of students. Nothing of the kind took place. Students seem to come and go to college because they want to be taught, not because they are to have beautiful buildings to be taught in. The effect will certainly be considerable, alike on teachers and on taught, of the more commodious buildings recently erected in Glasgow and in Manchester, and it will be felt more and more as time goes on. The fact that it is not felt at first shows, however, that the wants that are satisfied by university teaching lie so deep down that an external event like the inauguration of new buildings scarcely influences them. Essays and Addresses. By Professors and Lecturers of the Owens College, Manchester. (London: Macmillan and Co., 1874.)