The beautiful necessity; seven essays on theosophy and architecture . bythe necessity of resisting the thrustof the interior vaulting without en-croaching upon the nave; the mainlines of a buttress conform to thedirection of the thrust, and the pin-nacle with which it terminates is alogical shape for the masonry neces-sary to hold the top in position (Il-lustration 9). Research along theselines is very interesting and fruitfulof result, but there remains a certainnumber of architectural forms whoseorigin cannot be explained in anysuch manner. The secret of theirundying charm lies in the fact t
The beautiful necessity; seven essays on theosophy and architecture . bythe necessity of resisting the thrustof the interior vaulting without en-croaching upon the nave; the mainlines of a buttress conform to thedirection of the thrust, and the pin-nacle with which it terminates is alogical shape for the masonry neces-sary to hold the top in position (Il-lustration 9). Research along theselines is very interesting and fruitfulof result, but there remains a certainnumber of architectural forms whoseorigin cannot be explained in anysuch manner. The secret of theirundying charm lies in the fact thatin them In and Yo stand symbolizedand contrasted. They no longerobey a law of utility, but an abstractlaw of beauty, for in becoming sexu-ally expressive, as it were, the con-struction itself is sometimes weak-ened or falsified. The familiar classic console or modillion is an 8 example: although in general con-tour it is well adapted to its function as a supporting bracket, embedded in,and projecting from a wall, yet the scroll-like ornament with which its sides. CLEOPATRA THEPEARL, .5V TIEPOLO II UNITY AND POLARITY 27 ^ p w T»- w p I 1 \ ^L. are embellished gives it the appearance of not enteringthe wall at all, but of being stuck against it in somemiraculous manner. This defect in functional expressive-ness is more than compensated for by the perfectionwith which feminine and masculine characteristics areexpressed and contrasted in the exquisite double spiral,opposed to the straight lines of the moulding which itsubtends (Illustration 10). Again, by fluting the shaftof a column its area of cross-section is diminished butthe appearance of strength is enhanced, because its mascu-line character—as a supporting member resisting the forceof gravity—is emphasized. The importance of the so-called orders lies in the® fact that they are architecture epitomized, as it were. A building consists of a wall upholding a roof: support and weight; the typeof the first is the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksub, booksubjectarchitecture
