Fig. 20. University building,—gray stone and tile roof.
In the schools, the people of the rural districts have had no instruction which would lead them to carefully observe and compare buildings of any kind; and hence, with but rare exceptions, they are ill-qualified to make an intelligent study of them. They are totally unprepared to grasp the fundamental principles which should govern the erection of structures on the farm, and totally ignorant of the principles to be observed when large public buildings are planned and erected. Fortunately or unfortunately, some farmers will be called upon to judge of the plans for school and other public buildings. The plans for a president’s house and an expensive college building were submitted to a board of thirteen trustees of a flourishing agricultural college. Ten of these trustees were farmers of more than local reputation. I forbear giving illustrations of the results: suffice it to say, that happily the house fell down before it was roofed in.
Fig. 21. University building,—red brick and slate roof.
A school building for the higher education should be light and airy; but light does not enter a building freely through narrow windows placed in thick stone or brick walls. [Fig. 22] shows the effect of narrow and wide windows in the lighting of a building. Observe the shadow cast by the wall between the two narrow windows. The sun is directly in front of the windows for but a small part of the day. Usually it enters at a more or less acute angle, in which case a window three feet wide may be more than twice as efficient in lighting a room as one two feet wide, and a four-foot window three or four times as efficient as one half its width.
Fig. 22. Showing the greater proportionate amount of light admitted by one broad window, as compared with two narrow ones of equal combined opening.
Fig. 23. University laboratories,—red brick and slate roof.