132 SATA08 mi morat a il nat a pacng the new duct that in the the it the wi me cer as the sud building as show: Alga trung the nan srama pubic trafic to the east SÉ The Dev Swang road at Kareliad and made the spala seven the two bulding enray Fist CSce smevy a arte cadag-gué or as with in ambientioral won a fun an It as an abstinte aber day to leave the *ws Post Office poäng with a stream or pub trafic running between them wont would be pertently easy to bring them into drest reatuce with each othe Tas aterabic of the wte of the new buldig, actere would bring it into axis with the centre the of the widesed road from the proposed St Pulls Brige, and a coined portion on the south end of the bulling world firmish an architectural centre to the wita up that road The whole properly treated, should result in a very fine architectural effect. Such is the opportunity afforded for dealing in a really effective manner with the Post Office site; no better one, we believe, can be suggested; and the official authorities will be responsible for another lost opportunity if they neglect it. Turning to the subject of bridges, three new bridges are now in contemplation: Southwark, Lambeth, and the proposed new St. Paul's Bridge. Southwark Bridge, a remarkable erection of Rennie's, being a cast-iron bridge treated as an arched construction, is to be demolished, more on account of its unsatisfactory gradients than from structural defect; an eminent architect has, we believe, been appointed to superintend its architectural detail, which is so far satisfactory. In regard to Lambeth Bridge, there seems to have been a difference of opinion in the County Council as to the design placed before them, some members considering it to be too large and important for the situation, others that it was inadequate; and the matter has been for the present deferred. But there ought to have been no difference of opinion as to the importance of Lambeth Bridge, if it had been realised that it is on the line of the shortest and most direct route between Victoria Station and the linking up by two stretches of new street (See Fig. 3). This will almost certainly be done some day, with the result that there than half of this street route already exists, and only requires Tower Bridge and London Docks; and that considerably more FIG. 3. Existing streets on the line of route from Victoria to Tower Bridge and Docks. D. Blackfriars Bridge. C. Waterloo Bridge. E. Southwark Bridge. F. London Bridge. G. Tower Bridge. 2. Charing Cross Station. 3. Cannon Street Station. 4. London Bridge Station, will be a great stream of traffic along that route, which forms the chord of the great arc swept by the Thames between those two points; and Lambeth Bridge will then be one of the most important on the river, and should be designed and constructed accordingly. The case of the St. Paul's Bridge is in one sense less simple, for it seems rather open to question whether the bridge is really required, or will ever be carried out. But if it ever is made, and the proposed road leading up to it, there can be no question, on architectural grounds, that the road and bridge ought to be laid out so that the dome of St. Paul's should form a central object at the end of the vista. There is at present no axial approach to St. Paul's at all; in every view from any important street it is only seen, as it were, sideways. In the proposed new road and bridge there is an opportunity for a grand architectural effect, showing the dome as the crowning object at the end of a long central vista; and it is perfectly certain that in no continental city would such an opportunity in connexion with a great building be allowed to be thrown away. But, in accordance with our traditional English indifference to considerations of axiality in town-planning, it is proposed to carry the line of the road and bridge diagonally to pass the east end of St. Paul's, thereby sacrificing a grand effect, on the score of economy and a straighter route. When we look at the congeries of buildings just south of St. Paul's, some of which will have to be destroyed to get the new street through, one can of course see that to those whose eyes are blind to architectural effect the question of economy must in this instance bulk very large. But when the educated section of the public come to understand that in neglecting this great opportunity we are doing what would make us a laughingstock to the architectural authorities of all continental cities, they will perhaps come to the conclusion that economy may be purchased at too dear a rate, and there will be a demand that the scheme should be reconsidered. *The fact that the bridge would be slightly skew to the riverline is an objection hardly worth considering; an eminent engineer, indeed, expressed the opinion that it might add to the picturesque effect of the bridge, and the dominating effect of St. Paul's dome would sufficiently justify the treatment. Official bodies, both municipal and national, have to learn that there is something more in street planning than mere convenience of traffic lines; it is a matter of architectural effect as well. Good street planning and good architecture re-act on each other, and mutually enhance each other's effect. The War Office, for instance, though it can hardly be called great architecture, would have had a far better effect if it had been planned symmetrically in a space laid out for its reception. This was urged by more than one architectural witness (the present writer among them) before the Special Committee on Government Office Sites; but economy prevailed, and the War Office was left to follow the line of the street curbs, as if it had been an hotel or a speculative block of flats. This is what is called 'practical planning.' The word practical' has much to answer for; it is the practical people (so called) who have had much to do with the spoiling of London. Nothing great will ever be done until it is recognised that practical and economic considerations are not everything, and that it is no real gain to the community to sacrifice architectural effect in order to shorten a traffic route by half a minute or so. In connexion with bridges, moreover, let it be remembered that a bridge in a capital city ought to be something more than a mere means of crossing the river. It should have monumental character, which can only be attained by the solid masonry erection of which London, Waterloo, and Putney Bridges are types. An arched bridge of stone or granite is so fine an object in itself that is very difficult to spoil it. Such a bridge adds dignity to a city; it carries the architecture, as it were, across the water; and if it costs more to build at first than a steel bridge, it is cheaper in the long run, for it will last many centuries longer, and does not require continual painting. But every time a new Thames bridge is proposed, the engineers seem fighting to destroy all this monumental effect by making it a steel bridge, and the Conservators of the Thames play into their hands by continually demanding wider spans, in order not to interfere with the 'river traffic.' The argument is perfectly futile. Below London Bridge, of course, the Thames is a great highway of shipping. But above London Bridge, what does this much-talked-of river traffic' amount to? An occasional river steamer, or a small tug with two or three barges in tow. It is surely not worth while spoiling our bridges for this. One consideration which needs to be strongly emphasised is the importance of planning comprehensive street schemes in advance, of which each local street improvement should form a part, and should be a step towards the realisation of the whole. Much irreparable mischief has been done by the neglect of this kind of foresight. A new street which at the time seems to be of only secondary importance is laid out and built as such; subsequently a new main route is proposed, of which this local street might have formed part had the whole scheme been set out in advance; now it is lined with buildings which cannot be bought up and the street widened without great, perhaps prohibitive, cost. This consideration is of special importance in connexion with the town-planning schemes of outlying boroughs around London. A comprehensive plan for new roads out of London has been drawn up by the Traffic Branch of the Board of Trade, though not yet sanctioned by Parliament; some of these roads will pass through borough townships, which are making their own street improvements quite independent of, perhaps in ignorance of, the Board of Trade scheme. If this scheme were once formally passed and adopted, the outlying boroughs could be compelled to make their street schemes in conformity with it, so that any street on the line of the main road which is to pass through their township could be set out of the necessary width, ready to be linked up to the main road when it is carried out. Unless this is done, in every borough through which a main road is to pass there will recur the same trouble, delay, and expenditure in buying up property and setting back street lines, all which might be avoided by having a general scheme accepted and acted upon without further delay. To ignore this principle, and allow road schemes to drift piecemeal, is an absolute want of common forethought, for which the public in the end will have to pay. One can hardly quit the subject of London architectural improvements without commenting on the absurdity of the system under which the important post of First Commissioner of Works is treated as a political appointment, a means of finding a place for someone who has a claim on his party, and who may or may not have some special qualifications |