New-York tribune., 1896-05-31

mond in the middle. Every apartment in the
Whoie structure goes through its particular sec
tioh OF the building, the living room being on
the outside and the bedrooms on the inside with
closets between just as in the typical private
nouse that Is two rooms deep. Every apart
nent IN the diagonay set interior ma vilions has
an outlook between the parts of the outer square
upon the street. and the draughts are direct in
iour directions through the block, as the space,
Eetween the parts of the inner and outer SQUARES
are are OPP oslte one another. The staircases and
Hfts in this plan are external Iron galleries run
around the interior Of both squares with two
passages connecting the interior and exterior
galleries Ten outside starcases six for the
outer and four for the inner buildings go from
the ground to the roof. Any stairway can be
Ieached from any apartment, so that there is no
Genger or tenants being cut off in case of fire.
but each stair is intended for the exclusive use
Oh only small section of the building The ex-
posed stalrways have advantages in that they
leave one outdoors until he comes 70 his own
door and avoid all the moral and sanitary evils
or interior tenement-house passages but they
carry disadvantage. There Is no vest!bue 10
the tenement, and to open the living room door
to the outer one Is to sacrifice heat and com
fort In winter At the same time. however, in a
terement house 1t dlssipates odors
The plans Of Samuelson & Brody show eight na-
Vilions connected TO form a centre court without
opening to the street Their work is noticeable
lor the economical plumbing arrangements sinks
and closets being placed in pairs, two of each for
one line Of piping.
l. ~ Phelps Stokes and Louis Herbert Lucas
submit plans for two long buildings along the
streets. and with four small structures two on the
avenues and two in the interior of the block.
they are all only two rooms deep, separated into
sections or two apartments to a floor by fireproOf
walls. The staircdses square and in the mid
die OF the section. The closets are in projections
irom the straight wall at the rear OF the build
ings.
Mary y. Cannon and Alice J. Hands show plane
well arranged IA to living rooms. but lacking in
light and outlook They divide the block trans
vensely by three fifteen-foot alleys. and build
blocks on each section so made with a space
down the middle, which is filled at each floor with
open balconies connected by stalrcases. On these
balconies the living-rooms open, and projections
on this inside wall, as in the Stokes and Lucas
plan, make places for plumbing which though
badly situated in this respect are we'll cut off
from the rooms. The bedrooms look on the open
alleys, and the windows opposite other win
dows. Few apartments have any views. except of
neighboring walls
Henry Z. Doering,s plan consists, of much
more elaborate fret than that of Mr.. Ross. and
provides for large central square. The rooms
are pleasant but the closets are too often separate
from the suites on the public halls. and the COM
plicated turning Of the exterior walls would add
greatly to the expense. HIS work s noticeable
because of his attractive elevation in simple
classic style. Francis S Ellingwood makes five
distinct buildings separated b. four aleyways
and penetrated by deep courts. This plan has
been adopted by several other architects. some ap
preaching dangerously near to making arshafts
in their desire to get windows wherever possible
and fill all available ground.
AN ENCOURAGING PROSPECT
Taken whole the designs give promise OF
great Improvement in tenement-house construc-
ton. 1t canno: be possible for owners TO go on
erecting the old dark and unsantary structures
in face Of so general a conception among archi
tects of the needs Of tenement-house population
Nor can II be possible tha, architects who solve
the tenement-house problem should not also do
better than they have done with the more am
bilious fiat. The questions presented are not
sentay different In the tenement house all
that Is wanted cannot. Of course. be had for the
money that can be expended and still yield
reasonable return. The best tenement plan is
compromise. One architect gives one thing and
another another. Each plan may be criticised
for soma lack, but with the criticism the conces-
sion must be made that In each Of the better
plans the lack makes room for some desirable
feature that IL taxed ingenuity to provide