. American architecture . 1 11 GLIMPSE OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE FROM MADISON C. Haight, Architect. by the strain in the minds of incompetent designersafter originality and aboriginality—a purpose essen-tially vulgar, which would vitiate the work even of acompetent designer wherever it could be detected. Foralthough the pursuit of excellence is sure to result innovelty, the pursuit of novelty is sure not to result inexcellence. The extreme instance we have cited is still 36 AMERICAN ARCHITFXTURE an instance of a tendency to which all the youngergeneration of architects, of whom so much was


. American architecture . 1 11 GLIMPSE OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE FROM MADISON C. Haight, Architect. by the strain in the minds of incompetent designersafter originality and aboriginality—a purpose essen-tially vulgar, which would vitiate the work even of acompetent designer wherever it could be detected. Foralthough the pursuit of excellence is sure to result innovelty, the pursuit of novelty is sure not to result inexcellence. The extreme instance we have cited is still 36 AMERICAN ARCHITFXTURE an instance of a tendency to which all the youngergeneration of architects, of whom so much was hoped,and of whom, considering their opportunities, so littleof value has come, have more or less yielded—the ten-dency to take themselves too seriously and their art notseriously enough, and to imagine that anything thatoccurs to them is for that reason good enough to build,without asking it any questions. Such caricatures ofarchitecture as these houses would not occur to themind of an educated architect; but when a


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectarchitecture, bookyea