Volltext Seite (XML)
PART I. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. The materials used in building and architectural decoration are divisible into two classes, the artificial and the natural ; and, as the latter is incomparably superior to the former, artificial materials are only admissible when those offered by nature are beyond the reach of the architect, or the means at his disposal. The general use of artificial materials has stamped with an aspect of comparative meanness the street architecture of many large cities and towns, such as London itself, together with Dublin, Birming ham, and Manchester; while, on the other hand, the employment of stone in the construction of the dwelling-houses, as well as the public buildings, has imparted to the cities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Brussels, Paris, and Rome a character of solidity and beauty which forces itself on the at tention of the most careless observers.