An enquiry into certain principles of architectural physiology / by D.O. Edwards.

  • Edwards, David Owen, 1801-1878.
Date:
[1866]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An enquiry into certain principles of architectural physiology / by D.O. Edwards. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    but this function cannot, under all circumstances, be sustained without the aid of art. The aboriginal man, whatever may have been his social condition, could not have maintained his existence without procuring shelter against the chilling radiation of the atmosphere, the pungency of the solar rays, or the sudden precipitation of aerial moisture. In the primitive devices resorted to in such emergencies, is shadowed forth the first duty of the architect as the helper of nature, the primary essential work of producing a covering which shall be durable, opaque to heat, water-proof, and shall insure the prevalence of such a range of temperature and degree of dryness, in the abode of man, as may be consistent with the easy maintenance of the vital functions. In the fulfilment of this first purpose, he is limited in his efforts by certain indispensable conditions. Taking into account these several desiderata, I propose to arrange all the observations I have to make under six heads, some of which I shall very lightly dwell upon: 1. The nature of architectural covering. 2. The admission of air for respiration, and as an agent for the extrusion of gaseous impurities. 3. The admission of light. 4. The auxiliary use of clothing. 5. The uses of artificial heat. 6. The removal of liquid and solid exuvias. I here omit what I had intended to say on the modified nature of the architect’s duty in hot climates, merely remarking that the same leading principle prevails, that of interposing a screen which shall intercept the passage of heat too rapidly, either from or towards the surface of the human Irame, but in a manner consistent with the provisions which I have just pointed out. Omitting any review of the exigencies which the architect may have to meet in his cosmopolitan character, I turn to that part of my subject, which I have most at heart, the sanitary state of our dwelling-houses in the great towns of this kingdom. Ever since the severe animadversions of Erasmus, delivered three centuries ago, our habitations in England have maintained a bad repirtation; but more especially the abodes of the poor, are notoriously deficient in the qualities becoming the home of a decent family. I shall now proceed to consider these deficiencies seriatim, under the several heads already indicated. 1st. With regard to. architectural covering, it is well known that nine-tenths of our Loudon houses are neither water-proof, nor sufficiently opaque to heat, to protect the inmates against the vicissitudes of heat and cold; porous unvitrified brick walls, of nine inch or less thickness, with thin slate roofs, are the best means used to keep the inhabitants dry and warm in winter, and dry and cool in summer. That this shortcoming is not due to want of constructive skill, but to the diversion of capital in other directions is evident, if we attend to the comparatively well built houses of the opulent and comfortable classes; but especially to the admirably designed and well finished store houses and other structures devoted to meet the exigencies of commerce. Those commanding piles, as seen in that handsome thoroughfare. Cannon Street, in some degree, redeem the character of London for street architecture. I have here a table, formed by selections from the Eegistrar-General’s returns, and which shows the deleterious effect upon life of the ill-built egg-shell habitations of the poor. The duration of life among the comfortable classes, is here contrasted with that of the mass of the other inhabitants in each of the parishes named. The average age at death, of the inmates of the better houses, reaches forty-five years, whilst that of the mass is only thirty-six, being a difference of nine years in the mean age of the two classes; a difference due, in a great degree, but not entirely, to the defects of the habitations. ’ In erecting a dwelling-house, I imagine, an architect should regard himself as founding a domestic fortress to endure for centuries, and to be an asylum suited for the accommodation of a family, or of a knot of families, under all the circumstances of life, for the contingencies, of sickness or health, leizure or occupation, the rearing of children and the repose of old age. In the majority of cases, it should be perfected at such a cost that shelter within it should be within the means of the journeyman and petty-chapraan class*