Administration building

“ As a means to secure the completest success in the reconstruction of the building, I would recommend that the Secretary of the Interior be authorized to invite competition in the submission of plans for the new structure, and to appoint a commission of three practical men skilled in the art of building to determine upon the best plan submitted. ”

“ The inconveniences suffered on account of the insufficiency of room are a constant source of complaint. Only four of the eight bureaus of the Interior Department are accommodated in the building, namely, the Patent Office, the Land Office, the Indian Bureau, and the Bureau of Railroad Accounts. ”

“ In our public buildings we still suffer from the method of appropriation, which has been so much criticized in connection with our rivers and harbors. Some method should be devised for controlling the supply of public buildings, so that they will harmonize with the actual needs of the Government. Then, when it comes to the actual construction, there has been in the past too little study of the building plans and sites with a view to the actual needs of the Government. ”

“ I should like further, to ask you to publish to the New York City public, the fact that the "Department", the "Health Department", with its Bureau of Plumbing and Light and Ventilation, and the Building Bureau of the Fire Department, are unable to protect property owners and purchasers from errors in sanitation and construction as they are supposed by too many to do. Owners frequently think that unless they want "fancy" drawings and fronts, an architect is superfluous. ”

“ The Department of Building not only had charge of all buildings, and was responsible for their healthfulness and security, but was the manufacturer of all building material, except lumber, and quarried all stone employed by it or shipped to another state. ”

“ Each end has an elaborate Ionic portico, while the western front, facing the White House, has a grand central entrance. This was the first great building constructed for a Government department, and is the headquarters of the Secretary of the Treasury. Upon the western side of the White House is the most splendid of all the department buildings, accommodating three of them, the State, War and Navy Departments. ”

“ Soon plans and specifications were drawn and laid before the Council which were fully considered and finally adopted, and the committee was instructed to advertise for bids, let the contract and have the building completed as soon as possible. Work is now progressing on the building, which is to be quite a commodious one, with twelve rooms, with all the modern improvements as to heating, fire protection, &c. ”

“ The annals of our cities are full of the creation of appointive state boards composed of men of the highest local standing and intrusted with the carrying out of some great single project,—the erection of a city hall building, the construction of a water works and filtration plant, or of a park system. ”

“ There should be at least four out-buildings, detached from the main edifice and from each other, and in such positions as shall at once answer the purposes of the institution, and be consistent with the symmetry of the whole establishment: each building should be, as far as practicable, devoted to a distinct purpose ”

“ It is equally possible to expect a reasonably high standard of design in the other buildings erected under a local authority: its schools, libraries, and so on. Nor ought one to find unworthy architecture produced by any Government Department, whether it be a post-office, a telephone-exchange, a military barracks, or a coastguard station on a lonely cliff. ”

“ Suggestions have been made to the Commissioners that the nature of the thoroughfares, and the structure and internal arrangement of the buildings in districts inhabited by the working classes in large towns would be greatly improved if subject to the regulations of a Building Act enforced by the municipal authorities, or by a local board of health; they invite you to reflect on the provisions of such a law, and to state under what circumstances and to what extent you conceive such interference desirable. ”

“ The suggestion, already made in this paper, that some local representative body, such as the County Council, should be the body authorized to initiate reforms in the use of the building, would naturally lead to the same body becoming responsible for its proper care. It is not hard to conceive of such a growing interest as would lead to a ready expenditure under the direction of the best advisers. ”

“ From inquiries made since the meeting last May, it is found that it will be utterly and entirely impracticable for a permanent building to be erected by local efforts, or to maintain the necessary staff if a building were otherwise provided ”

“ These by-laws are an expense to ratepayers, and they increase the cost of buildings. Elaborate plans and descriptions have to be furnished, and the buildings have to be inspected at various periods of their construction, and, of course, all variations of plan which may appear necessary in the course of construction must also be submitted and 'passed' by the local authority. It may happen that there are members of the local council who understand the technicalities of the building trade ”

“ Many great buildings and beautiful buildings will be created by private effort; but many of the greatest buildings must necessarily be erected by the Government, national, State, or municipal. Those in control of any branch of that Government necessarily have but an ephemeral lease of power. Administration succeeds administration; Congress succeeds Congress; Legislature succeeds Legislature ”

“ When the first important step in the public-buildings program was taken in 1926 the Commission urged the purchase of all of the land necessary for a plan of the group as a whole instead of undertaking individual building projects as separate units in the scheme. The problems of parking and transit facilities in relation to the public-buildings groups have caused the Commission great concern, and efforts have been made to secure the cooperation of the architects in charge of the building program in order to solve these problems. ”

“ But the structural lines of the old Executive office building will remain. The artistic lines of the White House buildings were the creation of master builders when our Republic was young. The simplicity and the strength of the structure remain in the face of every modern test. ”

“ The Search House is as safe from any danger of loss by fire as the buildings which were vacated when it was leased, but it is not fire-proof, nor can any fire-proof buildings be obtained in the city.
A due regard for the safety of the public records would dictate the pressing need for the construction of suitable buildings for the comfortable and safe occupancy of the Bureaus. I therefore renew the recommendation made by several of my predecessors, that early action be taken by Congress looking to the erection of a suitable building for this Department. ”

“ A few thousand dollars were raised,—a site was injudiciously selected a mile beyond the limits of the city—and the basement story of the building erected, but no further progress was made. Within the present year, however, the vacancies in the Board of Trustees have been filled, and there is some prospect of reviving the institution.1
1 We are happy to have it in our power to state, that by the liberality of the City Council, an elegant and costly building has been erected by the trustees, which is now near completion. ”

“ The demand for an increase of building space seems to have been regular and urgent, indicating a healthy growth of the system. In 1740, when the consideration for a new meeting house came up, it was decided to build it large, “with chambers over it commodious [70] for school rooms.” [275] In 1744 the overseers, finding the old school building inconvenient in divers respects, requested the monthly meeting to name a committee to confer with them on a plan, location and dimensions of a new building. ”

“ To the somewhat vague reference to “the nature and description of the work,” he replies by inviting a comparison between the New Palace and any other modern building, to show that in “variety of design, elaboration of details, and difficulties of combination and construction, the labour and responsibility incurred are greater than in any modern edifice,” and by referring to official delays and perplexities, and the control of Parliamentary Committees added to that of the Government. ”

“ An act of 1895 established a Bureau of Building Inspection in the city Department of Public Safety. Officials of this bureau are required to examine buildings in the course of construction or alteration, and houses reported in an insecure or dangerous condition. The superintendent and inspectors, as in other cities, are required to be men of practical experience in work connected with building construction, but must not be engaged in such work while holding office. ”

“ The expediency of providing a fire-proof building for the important books and papers of the Post Office Department is worthy of consideration. In the present condition of our Treasury it is neither necessary nor wise to leave essential public interests exposed to so much danger when they can so readily be made secure. There are weighty considerations in the location of a new building for that Department in favor of placing it near the other executive buildings. ”

“ If the legislature can establish two building districts it certainly can establish three or even four. If its authority to delegate to a commission power to regulate the height of buildings in each district is sustained by the courts on the ground that it is a reasonable way of securing an adequate amount of light and air, it should follow that the power to regulate the amount of space that each building may occupy in a horizontal direction can also be delegated. ”

“ On account of the decrease in the population, by which great numbers of houses are vacant, building has ceased for years past and these once great associations have dwindled down. The Board of Ethical Control has caused public buildings to be constructed in order to give them work and has ordered landlords to make repairs to the same end. ”

“ The location of such a public building, which should provide for the pressing necessities of the present and for the vast increase of the nation's books in the future, is a matter which addresses itself to the discretion of Congress. ”

“ It is probable that some such tenders will be made, and if made they will be impartially considered; but the Commissioners must protest against the supposition that it is necessarily more judicious to construct a temporary building of perishable than of enduring materials. ”

“ To all Councils, Federations, and Organizations of the Building Trades in the United States—Greeting: The time has come in the wisdom of the soundest thinkers and most experienced workers in the ranks of labor when it is not only proper, but necessary, that the journeymen workers of the [Pg 168] building industry in the United States should be thoroughly organized and federated under a national council. ”

“ The Architect recommends that some provision be made by Congress for inclosing, planting and otherwise improving the grounds surrounding the Capitol building which belong to the United States, and also for paving both of the streets and foot-ways around the lower grounds of the building. ”

“ Neither population nor the extent of the public business transacted has always indicated the points where public buildings should first be built or the cost of the structures. It can not be expected that, in the absence of some general law, the committees of Congress having charge of such matters will proceed in their recommendations upon strict or equal lines. ”

“ Such an organization, by the conservative exercise of the control delegated to it by a constitution upon which all local organizations can unite, could do a great work in looking after the interests of the various crafts and callings engaged in the building industry ”

“ Judging from a perusal of The Builder that it is your intention to give to the building world the first information upon all matters connected with its interests, I beg therefore to apprize you that at this moment, a bill is preparing very secretly (at least the ground-work for one) for Parliament, upon which it is presumed, as secretly will be obtained, a New Building Act. ”

“ Increments.—It is hardly to be expected that any very uniform plan of building can be rigidly adhered to; moral as well as physical difficulties may demand departure from regularity in the construction of the future increments of a town, particularly where the field to be occupied is extensive; but so long as the general principles are adhered to, and the new streets proceeded with, upon a general preconceived and authorized plan, all the needful objects may be attained ”

“ So well did this family lay the foundations of a building covering 108,000 square feet, with many accessory buildings of smaller size, and of a business employing 3600 persons with sales amounting to nearly $20,000,000 annually, that every department is still conducted with all its former success in accordance with the instructions of the founders. They are here no longer in their bodily presence, but their spirit, their ideas, still pervade the vast establishment. ”

“ In no way can the Health and Building Department regulations be enforced, nor any general improvement in the condition of these houses be effected, except by a system of periodic inspection, followed by action by the proper city departments. ”

“ We found that nearly every chamber had its own building and that all were handsomely housed, well financed and extremely effective. They have become a most important part of the government, handling with success many problems that are difficult for a government and which, at the same time, require a certain amount of governmental authority if they are to be disposed of in an efficient manner. ”