Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-10-12
HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS
Matter of Official Regulation In
This City.
PUBLIC HAS SOME RIGHTS
Modern Skyscraper Not in Favor
With Uncle Sam.
SHOWN IN LATE CONSTRUCTION
The influence Upon Adjoining Prop
erty as Well as Upon the Appear
ance of a Town.

II is a source of satisfaction at the pres
ent time said a property owner. when
other cities are beginning TO realize the
Disadvantages OF this sort of construc-
ton that the foresight exercised here has
proved in experience to be SO wise and
effective
1T is quite evident to those who have
studied the situation that all of the large /
cities of the country will be obliged !
sooner or later TO make some such provi- |
sion a part of their building reguationsN |
Some have already done so. and IL 10
only matter of time when this practice |
Will be made general. The principle upon |
which property is improved with that !
style of building is recognized essen /
TALLY wrong, for the very obvious reasons !
that such structures depend largely upon :,
taking from the neighbours light and air '
II they are to be generally constructed.
In the event the owners OF the abutting
lots take a notion to put UP similar inn
provement. then, of course, the first build
ing is shut in and the use of the portions
dependent upon the neighborS light and
air is made impossible.
In New York city, where. just now
some remedy to prevent the increase in
the number of such structures Is under
consideration, the situation Is steadily
getting worse, owing to the additions
that are being made and the prospect
that there Is likely to continue to be .
demand for just such structures or,
rather. to put 1t more accurately, a mar.
ket for accommodations OF that character.
Menace to Health.
ut is this latter feature. Of course. that
makes the skyscraper a menace not
alone to real estate values. but also TO
public health. The vicinity OF one OF
those huge buildings is not regarded as
desirable. because the lower floors OF
nearby buildings become practically base
ment apartments in many cases as far a.
hight and air are concerned
ut can readily be perceived that q
whole city block built up in large part
with these great structures and in the
vicinity Of other groups OF such giants
would turn the streets not only into trails
| through canyons, but would also give to
such thoroughfares sort of twilight
effect, which would be something like liv-
| ing In the midst of a perpetual fog. Some
| sections of streets in New York city are
| already beginning to have a canyon like
| effect, II is said. and as the building Of
these structures in the lower portion OF
| the city Is going with no apparent
let-up it is easily within the bounds Of q
| reasonable prediction that 1t will not DO
| very long before the conditions will be-
| come unbearable.
Effect on the Big Fellows.
What has happened to structures a
four and five stories In height that are
overshadowed by one of these modern
neighoors is likely to become in turn the
experience OF the big fellow. especially
as far as the lower floors are concerned
Very few of them have any easement
that is, any right to the light and air
that comes from the area owned by their
neighbors, and go when big building ID
run up alongside another the tables are
| turned. perhaps more effectually as the
entire supply of these borrowed requisites
can be shut Off
ut is evident that all that IL needed to
reduce this practice to an absurdity ID to
continue to multiply them In restricted
area, as Is being done so 1t Is claimed,
in New York at the present time Tho
rather graphic statement that after q
while a large portion of the business n
the financial district of New York will DO
done underground has other reasons be-
hind 1t than that which inspires q mere
maker Of epigrams.
AS to Fire Risks.
There is, Of course, the consideration OF
the increased fire risks from the multiplt.-
cation of these great buildings, but, after
all. the main thing Is whether II is to be !
tolerated that owners of property should
be allowed to continue to make use Of
what belongs to their neigirbors without !
having their consent, and also at tho
same time allowed to depreciate the valus
of property in the vicinity.
Then comes the further consideration |
of the effect upon the health Of the people |
who occupy these shut-in apartments, and |
altogether 1t appears there Is good |
deal that can be said in opposition not to |
the building of such structures. but 1
to the unregulated right to put them up!
where the individual owner may desire !
and as high as he desires.
There are people in this city who ara
Of the opinion that the regulation on the
subject of tall buildings in force here il
inadequate, especially as to the maximum
height. Nine and ten stories. or a height i
Of something over 100 feet, is, from their
point of view, too great an altitude to be {
allowed in the case Of buildings to adorn !
the streets of the Capital city. However
that may be, there is no question that the
conditions here would have been pretty
bad without municipal regulation on the
subject.
Want Uncle Sam to Build.
while there are those who would do
away with buildings beyond, perhaps,
five or six stories in height and have the
sky line on our city streets uniform and
of moderate height. there are also those
who favor tall buildings, and even advo-
Gates have appeared for the government
entering into this field and providing for
the use of the executive departments
structures that tower toward the sky In
the most approved style OF the skyscrap-
er art.
With the exception of the addition to
the government printing office and the
structure on Pennsylvania avenue that IS
occupied by the Post Office Department,
government architecture in this city does
not afford any examples OF this typo CT
building The new structures now going
up, and that will prove to be notable sdI.-
tions to the group of public buildings
located here, are not designed on sich
lines. Three-story and four-story struc-
lures limit the upward course, but they
cover a good deal of ground and provide
the accommodations which the modern
building should have in perpendicular
direction.
Saving of Money.
THE result is a dlgnifed structure ana
one that comes within the meaning of
that term more readily than a building
that towers into the sky. No one claims
that the skyscraper is ornamental. 1t is
useful, however, and. what is more, 1t In
economical To a large degree such
structures are the result of the econo-
mics necessary in the modern world OF
active business competition. 1t is not
claimed that the government IN one OF
the ways by which 1t expresses itself in
visible form Is obliged to resort 10 such
a device in order to effect saving Of
dollars
AT any rate. II has not been done, with
the exceptions above noted and there
does not seem to be any disposition on the
part of the government to go into the
o., eli ;t.