Our View: Courthouse's beauty must be preserved
In the waning years of the 19th century, the great American architect Louis Sullivan famously asserted that form follows function, meaning that a building's design should be based primarily on its intended use.
The function reform did not really take hold in architectural circles until the Modernist movement of the 1930s. So when the DeKalb County Courthouse was opened less than a decade after Sullivan penned his now-famous credo, ornamentation was still all the rage.
Now, more than a century later, DeKalb County officials are on the brink of building an addition to what is arguably the county's grandest landmark. To some, it's like putting arms on the Venus de Milo, while others feel it's a simple matter of needing more space to perform county business. In 2009, function still trumps form.
In January, a committee will begin designing an addition, which might be built onto the back of the courthouse, or perhaps would be added as wings on either side. The addition will be 20,000 square feet, doubling the usable space of the current building.
"Everyone is absolutely adamant about preserving the appearance and the historical aspects of the building," County Administrator Ray Bockman said. "That's a given."
What's also a given is that no matter how well they do, any addition of that size will be disruptive to the appearance and historical aspects of the building. Given that understanding, doing the least harm to the building's historic beauty and integrity should be given high priority as county officials move forward.
A report issued by a committee looking at courthouse operations stated that any addition should "insofar as possible, match the external features of the current building with similar types of colors and building materials..."
That's a good starting point, but using the right color of limestone is not enough to blend a historic courthouse with its 21st-century offspring. Take the public safety building, which was intended to match the color scheme of its historic neighbors – the courthouse and Sycamore Public Library – but hardly joins those two magnificent buildings in a triumvirate of architectural grandeur. The colors match, but the building resembles a giant limestone vacuum belt wrapped around a terra cotta brush roll.
On the other hand, the Sycamore Library is still a beautiful building that remains fully functional thanks to well-executed additions. But the courthouse is considerably larger and more prominent. Its changes – and its flaws – will be more apparent.
DeKalb County residents have looked upon its lovely courthouse with pride for more than a century. We can accept some changes for the sake of function. We cannot accept spending the next century looking upon a regrettable eyesore. Function, yes. But don't ignore form.
Comments
