Art: The Maturing Modern

(See Cover)

Well-building hath three conditions:

Commodity, Firmness and Delight.

—Vitruvius

Ever since man settled down under roof, he has been at the mercy of his buildings. What he sees, how he lives, looks, thinks—even how he dies—are overwhelmingly affected by the structures he designs and builds. Through the generations, good builders have tried to measure up to the formula of Roman Architect Vitruvius Pollio, contemporary of Julius Caesar, but they have often thought more of the structure than of its inhabitants, and have at times produced more monstrosity than delight, more discomfort than...