Architectoral Review Of The Year.

also entered upon the same course , and , under the guidance of the Metropolitan Board of Works , of the Corporation of London , and of the various railway companies , very great changes are in progress , or at least are in contemplation , under such conditions as to justify the belief that they will soon pass into the class of facts . The most important of the questions thus referred to is , unquestionably , the embankment of the north side of the Thames , and most earnestly do I hope that this work may be carried to

its conclusion in such a manner as to add to the monumental character of our metropolis . Differences of opinion have occurred -with respect to the manner and to the extent in which this work should be carried out ; and , unfortunately , hard words have been bandied about by men who ought to have had better tastethan to abuse those who happened to differ from them on matters of detail . The legislature has , however , passed a law which settles these dispuses , and all parties must now labour to carry out

successfully the measure so adopted ; it is but a small instalment of what is required to be done to the Thames , in the interest of the navigation , quite as much as in the interest of the embellishment of the city . Unfortunately we , as a nation , priding ourselves as we do on our practical character , are indisposed to treat general subjects in a comprehensive manner ; and thus it is to be feared that we shall continue to deal with the embankment of the Thames in the same piecemeal spirit which has produced

the partial embankments at the Isle of Dogs , at the Houses of Parliament , and at Pimlico and Chelsea , whilst it opposes the establishment of stable conditions of the bed and of the currents of the river . It is a great thing , however , to have resolutely entered upon the embankment of the north side of the river , and to have sought there the means of partially relieving our overcrowded streets : time -will compel the execution of the complete scheme .

And here it may be appropriate to notice the various new bridges erected over the river ; because not only are they amongst the most striking monuments of the day , but also because they seem to me "to point out the moral" of the inconvenience before referred to as resulting from the separation of the profession of architecture and of civil engineering . I do not propose to discuss the methods of construction adopted in these bridges , though much may be said on the subject ; but as an architect I

cannot refrain from the expression of regret that their designers had not studied more carefully the laws of optical effect , or the logical application of archaeological forms . The parallel vertical cylinders and the parallel horizontal girders of the Hungerford bridge produce a combination of lines which must be declared to he very ugly ; the street girder bridges are , if possible , worse . A study of Mr . Penrose ' s researches upon the Parthenon would have saved the author of the Hungerford bridge from the tical

op mistakes , if I may use that phrase , into which he has fallen ; and a careful study of the effects produced by the various forms of elliptical arches , in combination with long qimsi horizontal lines , would have taught the able engineer of Westminster bridge , that very flat ellipses under such circumstances always appear to deflect over the crown . Eor my own part , I may add , that it seems difficult to carry out , with any pretension to

archaeological correctness , a design for an iron bridge with flat elliptical arches in the later mediaeval style , as practised in England ; because the material employed is not susceptible of the deep splaying of the outline of tbe arches , which is the essential characteristic of all good mediajval arched work , The style adopted in the new Westminster bridge is , in fact , a mistake , into which a properly educated architect could not have fallen , and the great engineering merits of the work must render our

regret for this artistic defect the more poignant ; for , on the whole , this bridge is one of the noblest monuments on the Thames . The bridge ' leading to the Victoria Station is , as a work of art , in my opinion more consistent than the Westminster one , and it is infinitely more elegant than the Lambeth Suspension Bridge ; the latter , indeed , is so irredeemably ugly , that I am almost tempted to regret that there should not be a Committee of Taste to which the desi for public works should be

gns submitted . Before quitting this subject , I would beg to express my serious apprehensions of the present fashion for the use of wrought iron bridges connecting leading thoroughfares in such a town as London . Our experience in the use of that material is not sufficient to justify its introduction hi such positions , however justifiable it may be iu railway bridges , or of similarly speculative undertakings *

Street improvements have not kept pace in London with those in course of execution in Paris ; but the changes of this description recently made here have been of themselves sufficiently remarkable , and they furnish many valuable lessons to . those who know how to read the signs of the times in the various phases of architecture . When I had the honour of addressing you last year , I ventured to express-my feelings of satisfaction and pride for the high character of the art

displayed in the new streets of the City ; and on this occasion I can but repeat my congratulations to our professional brethren who have so successfully laboured to adorn the metropolis . No doubt a severe critic might find many reasons for objecting to details of the new and gorgeous piles of warehouses and offices lately erected in the great streets of the City ; but I contend that , considered comprehensively , those buildings display sound taste , keen perception , of architectural beauty , fine feeling for

art allied to common sense , and a sufficient amount of originality to justify us in entsrtaining confident hopes for the future prospects of our profession , in spite even of the defects previously alluded to in our publicly recognised art teaching . Possibly the superior character of the buildings lately erected hi the City may be attributable to the fact that they have escaped , to some extent , the influence of fashion and of official pedantry ; at any rate , the contrast between the architecture of the new Cit y streets and that of the buildings erected under

the influence of the Science and Art Department of our Government is so marked , that the question of the necessity for tbe existence of the latter expensive organisation is almost forced upon our attention . Again , we learn that public opinion is a better guide , a surer fosterer of genius , than State patronage can ever be ; and the street architecture of the principal English provincial towns fully confirms this opinion . I dwell a little upon this branch of the review of our recent

progress , because it seems to me that we have done , and are doing , more in domestic architecture , so to speak , than in our public buildings , in which the influence of fashionable art theories have been allowed to override the individuality of the artists themselves . The influence of these external conditions on the development of architectural taste is , however , a subject so vast , that I only allude to it now in passing , hut with the hope that of

some my hearers may return to its consideration hereafter . In the meantime it may be remarked that , in the provinces , the last year has witnessed the commencement of some town halls and some reproductions of the mediaeval ecclesiastical buildings of singular merit , and which prove that at least the labours of the departed Prince , we began by regretting , have not been fruitless amongst us . Pardon , gentlemen , this return

to the sad theme of the commencement of my lecture . As we grow older , it becomes more difficult to replace those whom we have lost , and insensibly we find that the frame of mind the poet so well describes comes over us—for then

Onr hearts have one unceasing theme , One . strain that still comes o'er , Their breathing chords as 'twere a dream . Of j ° y > that ' s felt no more !" And thus I am brought to the record of our losses in the course of tbe last twelve months . We find the list of Death ' s doings headed by the decease of M . Jean Baptiste Biot , who passed from this life on the 27 th of January lastat the

ad-, vanced period of nearly S 3 years . He was a sincere lover of science . His labours connected with the Egyptian chronology were nearly crowned with success , and he attained merited distinction for his identifying the dates of the Egyptian and the Hindoo astronomies of that period . Ail architects must be obliged for the light thus thrown upon the most abstruse branch of their studies . Matthew Cotes Wyatfc

passed away about the same time as the preceding , for he died on the 24 th of January . Mr . Wyatt was a son of the late James Wyatt , Surveyor Genera ] , and for a short time President of the Royal Academy , in which institution the son was educated . A series of works was entrusted to his care in Windsor Palace by George the Third , but his appearance in public was a statue to Lord Nelson , at Liverpool . Since that time he executed the cenotaph of the Princese Charlotte at Windsor ; the monument to the late Duchess of Rutland , at

elegance and beauty . In the competition which has raged for some months past as to the designs for its successor , I cannot say I see much to admire in the result j for , unfortunately , the very worst design of the whole has been chosen . Mr . Page's three-arched bridge was a grand idea , though defective in detail . Tho bridge about to be erected is in five segmental arches of iron with stone piers , and the architectural features of those piers , and other adornments , are highly objectionable .