. American architecture . What we have called the balconies at the level of theroadway are not practical balconies, since they openfrom the driveways, and not from the walk, and are notaccessible as points of view. The purpose of a projec-tion at this point is to secure as great a breadth as pos-sible for the system of wind-braces under the floor of thebridge. This purpose is attained by the projection, butis only masked by the imitations of balconies, instead ofbeing architecturally expressed, as it might have been THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE AS A MONUMENT gl unmistakably expressed, by the bold proje
. American architecture . What we have called the balconies at the level of theroadway are not practical balconies, since they openfrom the driveways, and not from the walk, and are notaccessible as points of view. The purpose of a projec-tion at this point is to secure as great a breadth as pos-sible for the system of wind-braces under the floor of thebridge. This purpose is attained by the projection, butis only masked by the imitations of balconies, instead ofbeing architecturally expressed, as it might have been THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE AS A MONUMENT gl unmistakably expressed, by the bold projection of a gran-ite spur from the angle of the pier. There are, probably, few arches in the world — cer-tainly there can be none outside of works of modernengineering—of anything like the span, height, thick-ness, and conspicuousness of those in the bridge towerswhich are so little effective. Like the brute mass ofwall above them, they are impressive only by magni-tude. The great depth of the archway is only seen as. a matter of mensuration,not felt as a poetical im-pression, as it would havebeen if the labors of theconstructor had been sup-plemented by the labors ofan artist; if the shallowstrips of pier had becomereal buttresses, and thejamb and arch had beennarrowed by emphatic suc-cessions of withdrawal, in-stead of being merely tun-nelled through the mass;if the intrados of the architself had been accentuated by modelling, instead of be-ing weakened by the actual recession of its voussoirsbehind the plane of the wall. The approaches themselves are greatly impressive, asI I section of top and back of anchorage,(side view.) 82 AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE indeed the towers are also, by magnitude and massive-ness. The street bridges are uniforml}- imposing bysize and span, and especially attractive also by reasonof the fact that through them we get what is to be gotnowhere else in our rectangular city, glimpses and bitsof buildings. The most successful of them all, and themost s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectarchitecture, bookyea
