Abstract
THOUGH a nation may not be judged wholly by its architecture, this at least forms an outward and visible sign of its mentality, and since many buildings outlive a number of generations, it is our duty to posterity to see that the structures we erect are not only fitted for their purposes, but also are outwardly gracious and in harmony with their surroundings. Great developments in building are in progress, municipal, institutional, commercial and most of all domestic owing to the programmes of slum clearance. These developments merit the employment of only qualified architects, to ensure the greatest economy in the expenditure of money and the most suitable results in design which proper training can alone give. The Royal Institute of British Architects sent last January to the Minister of Health a memorial expressing the readiness of the architectural profession to give assistance in the matter of slum clearance schemes, and pointing out that many of the local authority staffs have neither the time nor the experience to deal adequately with these large problems. Most people will admit the wisdom of employing a properly qualified professional man for any service, be it medical, legal or architectural, and the suggestion that public money should only be spent under competent professional advice appears to be sound reasoning. A great deal of time is given gratuitously by architects in serving on panels to assist in the improvement of designs submitted to local authorities, and through a very complete system of professional education the advice and service of competent men is now obtainable in all parts of the country.
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Control of Architecture. Nature 135, 920 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135920b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135920b0