great arts of Europe, and yet eluding classification. The court shows
that the designer was master of the styles of the past, but refused to
be a slave to them; at the same time he had an original conception but
did not let it run into the blatant and bizarre. It is from such fusions
of individual genius with the traditions of the past that a distinctive
American architecture is most likely to flower.

The tower is a magnificent bit of architectural design. It is massive
and yet delicate. It dominates the court, and yet it fits perfectly into
the cloister. The rich sculpture is so much a part of the decorative
scheme that there is no impression of the structure having been
"ornamented." One must search long in the histories of architecture to
find a tower more satisfying.

The architect who designed the Court of Abundance is Louis Christian
Mullgardt, one of the two most original geniuses among California's
architects.

It is well to enjoy this court at first for its beauty alone, without
regard to its rich symbolism. One who has thus considered it, merely as
a delight to the eye, usually is surprised to find that it has a deeper
underlying meaning than any of the other courts. The present name,
"Court of Abundance," is not the original one. The architect conceived
it as "The Court of The Ages." It is said that the Exposition directors,
for the rather foolish reason that a Court of the Ages would not fit
into the scheme of a strictly contemporaneous exposition, re-christened
it "The Court of Abundance." But it is the former name that sums up the
thought behind the decorative features.

The underlying idea is that of evolution. The tower sculptures, which