New-York tribune., 1922-06-18
By Andrew J. Thomas
i..si,ect Of Metropoliton's Housing
Project

- apartments az a rental not TO
...,s an average Of 50 room "a
..L 20 be built on four blocks
-. ,hs Bliss Street suway station In
-. leland City, will mark the begin
a. a rev era in the architecture
n A~erican housing. Il creates an
-..,siv rev standard In multi-family
t.l.irz What this means 20 the
s,slefs Of our crowded cities may be
.,,'i.ed by comparing II with the
,srdsrds which have been estaoashcd
~. housing Of individual dwellings
I. srsll towns and suburbs.
~, last thirty years have seen Won
s,riul progress IN this small housing
.-.T .o-8ay the American who lives IN
-, srail house Of the best type OF
-, or six rooms, situated on a ittc
~. n land. enjoys in comfort and
...rsrience. hy far the highest stand
a. q living m the world.
D., his city brother has not ben
,,,-'v 50 well OF Hasty speculative
-,.s58s Of building. characterized hy
Il. u-eriightoned copying OF out-of-
s.., models. have blocked any real im-
.-,vsnent up 20 q few years ago. Since
=, war progress has ben more rapid,
~ row the Metropolitan Life lnsur-
80 Comrarv has taken advantage of
,..s-. imArovcmorts % bring out this
~ ro9oi housing. which is far ahead.
~ ,-v-ht-y o. the kind ever attempted
More.
Fifty Buildings As Starter
There aye necessarily many sides 90
r.h vast project with its counties.
.ttrical ram.fcations, but the appeal
hr tae public as we'll as the proies-
,,rsl housing experts. viii lay IN tac
--,r,i.,l sides. The vastness o. The
s.,s q thc orcration is shown By the
fse. that E. comprises ifty building.
stes housing thirty-nine families, p
,o.ai o. 1850 families occupying $3.50
rooms
Tie economies which have been
worked out ir the design are cXtrao~-
l..ary. extending as they do from tho
main essentials down 10 the sma.ics.
details q architecture. More than any
.hrg else. 10 is the vast scale Of the
ortra.ion which creates the bigge
savings The benefits of large scaif
oreraror and organization arc just a.
sils. Ia housing as in any other form
q prediction They extend 20 desigr
a-d obstruction, the buying OF mate
ra.s the systematizing Of erection, and
equally impOrtant-tO maintenance
and operation Of the houses after they
are completed. The design Of these
splF;ment hosses has been worked out
20 establish the maximum economy IN
al respects.
In these economies, the repetition or
sHr ngrrIIfW the
design Of that unit 10 be perfected with
Infinite pains. in a manner which would
l0t De possible because too expensive
Z single unit only were 20 be oui!t
Every possible saving. large or sma.i
has been made through intensive stloy
q the design on the part OF u. bVeret'
Waid. associate architect, ana myse.i
With the help OF expert building 'ech'
ricians and housing experts whom We
have consulted and viii be repeatee
ffty times and It's cost distributed over
fifty buildings Concentration OF space
compactness Of details, the sp!endie
oponness Of the plan, the careful con
sidcration Of every brick and every
piece OF timber and trim. the use OF
stock details, and the careful working
out Of the mechanical features OF heat
ing. plumbing and electricity, where
every foot Of piping and each valve
has been calculated as 20 cost and eis
tency these are only a few OF the
atyantages created. As examples, the
excavation work has been almost elm
mated by placing the heating plant
along the fronts Of the building. re-
curing only one long trench on each
street which is made by q steam shovel.
Windows are generally on one side.
Grea, as these benefits are. they are
20; 50 important as those advantages
gained By big scale planning Of the
city block as a whole-the highest
fe.nt which housing economics can
Nseh.
Space Used to Advantage
Because Of this concentration Of
i1tce. with It's absolute elimination Of
r0n-rent paving space in the form OF
public corridors, in the apartments
themselves. the plan of the buildings
has been opened up 20 give maximum
70 sunshine. Of circulation Of AR ana
q eheerful outlook. Each unit stands
rec. as the picture shows, dividing
&c usual solid street wall into twelve
t-ildings. housing thirty-nine families
H~NHf 4NENAMfA NAANg N~~~f-
rileiy only so per cent OF the area
q the block. This type Of design
iogciher with the ~" shaped plan
q each unit. makes possible three
g'est features.
The first Of these is the interior gar
,sn. 90 feet wide and coo feet long, eX-
itid.ne through the center Of the bloeH'
s!'ording beautiful outlook over
green lawns and planting. TINS garaen
Infinitely preferable TO the noT
elfty and noisy street. Second Is lAe
series Of twelve L shaped courts, open
hg into this great garden and theIeDy
creating cross gardens, so 10 speSH'
t1sh about l5i feet by 40 feet al 'he
sidesi point. And Thirdly, there ave
.Ls passageways between buildings az
h'efvs.s OF 100 feet into the interior
sNcen. These passageways have seN-
Nal advantages. Together with tne
sesfis, they bring outside light into
ne buildings and they add a large
a-moer Of corner bedrooms and create
p'encid cross ventilation, in the IN
ssNaual apartments. They permit the
.ie eseapes-those disfiguring features
.llen eneroaeh on the soidewalks ana
I'm the appearance Of New York City
,ases-to be placed in them, almost
u, o. sight. Furthermore, they are
pofiant from fire risk standpoint,
sesse they cut down the risk by
siAAng up the solid building mass
1g the street with open passages.
me openness Of this arrangement
Isolated buildings, with interior
ssieen, rear courts and side passage
,l's, develops 70 the full the princi-
(" d block circulation, an idea when
lfst introduced in two blocks Of
,.Ha,ngs, one az Jackson Heights FOR
-. Vseensboro Corporation and the
s,sf IN Brooklyn. for the City and
''roan Homes Company.
What II Means 10 Mean
NE me value Of this plan 20 the indi-
Ia tenant Is easily seen. To begin