Chapter IV: Paul’s Ideas Respecting Art, and How They Were Modified

“Before resuming our pencil,” said Eugène, as soon as they were seated once more in his study, “you must know how you are going to proceed. We have sketched the ground plans. We know that they can be realized, that the construction will present no special difficulties; that the partition walls of the upper stories stand vertically on those of the lower ones; that the bearings of the floors are reasonable, and that the openings are conveniently placed. That is satisfactory so far.... But now, do you realize these plans in elevation? That is, can you fancy the house as standing, with its stories, its roofing, its windows, &c.?”

“Well, I can’t say I do.”

“You must then first picture the building to yourself as if it actually existed.... I know that this is hardly possible for you, since there are many architects who are as far off as you from being able to do so when they have drawn horizontal plans on paper, and who in drawing these plans do not see the building for which they are designed. Reflect a little; examine their outlines well, and endeavour to give them in elevation some definite form in your mind’s eye before making use of the pencil.... Take your time. I have a letter to write, and some accounts to attend to; so while I am engaged, try to give me the elevation of one of the fronts of the house,—the entrance-front, for example, on the north side,—and we will discuss your design. I only give you one piece of advice,—that is, to put nothing upon paper without having previously considered whether your design is appropriate and useful.

“Come, try your best; and don’t forget the scale of proportions.”

Paul was much embarrassed, and found the work by no means easy. The ideas which had suggested themselves in abundance at his first attempt were not forthcoming now. However, at the end of a good hour and a half he presented a sketch to his cousin.

“It might be worse,” said Eugène. “You have given the ground floor 15 feet from floor to floor,—that was about what we said; but why the same height for the first floor? The rooms are smaller, and more airy; there is therefore no need to give an equal height to this story, and 13 feet 6 inches would be quite enough. And why put round arched windows on the ground floor? Arched windows are difficult to fit with casements, and there is a difficulty with shutters, jalousies, or outside blinds. Again, the windows of your principal staircase do not ramp with the stairs, and would be cut in the middle by it; which would prevent their being opened, and expose them to danger from the feet in ascending or descending. In the next place, your stair turret does not rise above the cornice, and would not enable you to enter the attics. And so with the servants’ staircase. Your roofs are double pitched; that is, with two angles of inclination. That is not quite the thing for this district. The roofs should be simply triangular, and without hips, which are difficult to keep in repair. Gables are preferable. You have marked quoins of stone at the angles. I see no harm in that; but how would you form your window reveals thus enframed by a kind of pilaster? None of your chimney-stacks rise above your roof; yet you are aware that they usually show. Your attic windows are too low, and you would run your head against the top in looking out of them. The lintels of these dormer windows must be at least 6 feet 6 inches above the floor. And why make your dormer windows oval? It is a very inconvenient shape, and they are difficult to open and shut. You have drawn the entrance flight of steps in perspective, as the Chinese do ... but that is a trifle. What will you build your walls with? Masonry, rubble-work, masonry and rubble mingled, or stone and bricks?

“Let us study this together. When you draw a horizontal or ground plan, independently of the arrangements, you have to consider how your buildings shall be covered in. For the most important question in a building is that of the manner of roofing it, as every building intended for internal use is a shelter. That is unquestionable, is it not? Well, then, in your building, the plans of which you have now before you, what is observable in the general form of the main block? Two parallelograms intersecting—so (Fig. 3). One parallelogram, _a b c d_, intersected by another, _e f g h_. We do not now take into account the bay windows and staircases. If then we raise gables upon the walls, _a c_, _b d_, with a length of slope equal to the line _a c_, we shall have two equilateral triangles whose bases will be _a c_ and _b d_, and the angles of inclination 60°, which is the most suitable pitch for slating, inasmuch as it gives no hold to the snow or opportunity for mischief to the wind. If in like manner we erect upon the walls _e f g h_ two gables having a similar inclination, these walls being less in length than those marked _a b c d_, the triangles will be smaller and their summits less elevated than the first. Consequently the roof raised upon the smaller parallelogram will penetrate that raised upon the larger, and will form by its penetration internal angles which we call _valleys_; I draw these valleys _i k_, _k l_, _m n_, _m o_. The inclination of the two roofs being equal, these valleys will, in plan, divide the right angle into two equal angles: you know enough of geometry to understand that.

“Here, then, we see the simplest way of roofing our building; and when roofing is in question, the simplest methods are always the best. Now, in order that our two stairs may give access to the third story, it is necessary that their walls should rise above the cornice of the building and form for them alone an additional story. We will then raise these stair-walls and will give them roofs of their own. One—that of the principal stairs—shall be pyramidal; and the other—that of the small stairs—conical.

“There is no reason why we should not erect upon the two walls _g z_, _s t_, of the bay windows, small gables, always with the same inclination of 60°, and cover these projections with two small roofs abutting against the great gables _a c_, _b d_. As to the building appropriated on the ground floor to the kitchen and on the first floor to the linen-room, we will follow the same method, and, erecting a gable on the wall _u v_, we shall have upon this wing a triangular roof, which will also abut against the great gable _b d_. We shall then have a meeting of two slopes at the bottom of the roof of the bay window _s t_, and of that of the linen-room wing. We shall form a lean-to (so as to do without inner gutters,) which will penetrate these two roofs and discharge the water at _t_. The horizontal projection, therefore, of this assemblage of roofs, will be as the drawing shows in Fig. 3. The chimney-stacks will pass through these roofs, as I indicate to you; and in order to prevent the chimneys from smoking, these stacks should rise at least to the level of the ridge, that is, a little above the topmost crest of the highest roof. With regard to the roofs of the outbuildings, as they are lower—being only one story in height—we need not trouble ourselves about them just now.

“Observe that, as these gables rise perpendicularly, we are enabled to get in the roof a third story, affording some very convenient bedrooms for guests, besides the servants’ rooms (in the attics), which we must provide, and light by means of dormer windows; while we shall be able to provide for the bedrooms in the gables handsome windows with balconies, if we wish.

“That settled, in principle, it will be as well to arrange the divisions of this story in the roof. Lay a piece of tracing-paper upon the plan of the first floor. Good: now trace all the thick walls which must of necessity be carried up under the roof, since they contain fireplaces. Draw 3 feet 3 inches within the eave walls—_i.e._ those which do not carry gables—a line that indicates the space rendered useless by the slope of the roof; thus you will get the space of which you are able to make use. The principal stairs reach to this floor, as well as the servants’ stairs. To the left of the thick division wall, which, from the principal staircase, goes to join the angle of the main building towards the south-east—the desirable aspect—we are going to dispose the bedrooms for guests, which will thus form a separate quarter communicating with the chief apartments by the principal stairs. We can in this part get two good bedrooms, A and B, with their dressing-rooms _a_ and _b_; and two smaller bedrooms C and D, all having fireplaces. We must not forget the water-closet for these rooms, at W. On the other side, in immediate communication with the servants’ stairs, we can easily get four servants’ bedrooms, E, F, G, H, a lumber-room I, and a water-closet L, for the servants. (Fig. 4.)

“In the upper part of the coach-house and stable building and over the wash-house, we shall also be able in the roofs to arrange three or four bedrooms for the coachman, groom, &c.

“And now for the elevations.

“We will raise the ground floor 4 feet above the exterior ground level, in order to give air to our cellars, and to preserve the ground floor from the moisture of the earth. We will give the lower rooms a height of 14 feet to the ceiling. Draw at this level a horizontal string course 12 inches deep, which will be the thickness of the floor. To the rooms of the first floor, which are smaller than those of the ground floor, we will give a height of 12 feet in the clear. Now, mark the thickness of the cornice, with its tabling, 1 foot 9 inches. Then will begin the roofs, whose height will be fixed by that of the gables. Taking the entrance front we project the angles of the building, the doors and the windows from the plan. Here, then, we have the outline of the façade arranged.”

Eugène then took the board and sketched the façade. (Fig. 5).

A fair copy on a small scale of all this was soon made, to be sent to Madame Marie N——, that they might know what she thought of it, and might proceed to execute the plan as soon as her reply was received.

Paul was beginning to perceive some of the difficulties accompanying even the most modest architectural undertaking, and to ask himself how Master Branchu, who could but just manage to write and cipher, had been able to build the Mayor’s house, which was not such a bad one to look at.

His cousin, to whom he referred the question, replied as follows:—

“Branchu has a practical knowledge of his business; he is a good country mason, who began by carrying the hod: he is the son of a mason, and does what he has seen his father do before him. Besides this, he is intelligent, laborious, and honest. By practice alone he has succeeded in building as well as is usual in the country—perhaps a little better, because he sets himself to work to reason about what he is doing. He observes; he is no simpleton, nor is he vain; he avoids faults, and copies excellences wherever he sees them. You shall see him at work, and you will sometimes be surprised at the justness of his observations, the persistency with which he defends his opinions, and the practical methods of which he is master. If you give him instructions, and he does not quite understand them, he says nothing, but comes again next day to explain to you what he supposes was intended; thus obliging you to repeat one by one all the doubtful points, and to complete what seemed to him incomplete or vague in your statements. I like Branchu because of his persistent determination to understand the orders given him; and what makes him seem troublesome to some appears to me a virtue; for if you have to do with him, you must have foreseen everything, have an answer to every objection, and know exactly what you wish in every particular. He gave up working for Count ——, your neighbour, because he had to undo next day what he had been ordered to do the day before. Ask him about it—the story is worth hearing. This good man, who has had only the most elementary experience in his business, but is thoroughly master of it so far, who knows the materials of the district well, and how to make use of them, will tell you that the architect of that interminable _château_ is an ignoramus, and will prove it to you, after his fashion. Yet it is evident that the architect in question is a much more learned man than Master Branchu.

“As a general rule, in giving an order, you should have thought seven times of the objections to which it is liable, otherwise some Master Branchu may start up who, with a single word will demonstrate your thoughtlessness. An architect may, indeed, if he chooses, stop the mouth of objectors when placed under his authority; but to impose silence on people is not to prove that they are wrong, especially if a few days afterwards the director of the works gives contrary orders. Every one has his share of _amour-propre_, which must not be disregarded. As a subordinate takes kindly and is flattered by the attention you give to his observations when they are well founded, so, on the other hand, he is disposed to doubt your capability if you reject them without examination; especially if, a short time afterwards, facts seem to prove that he might have been right. There is only one means of establishing discipline among a body of workmen; and that is proving to all that you know more about matters than they do, and that you have duly taken account of difficulties.”