The labor world., 1922-12-30
TIL Member. the Board o
ah tet

THE ARCHITECT
In the discussions centeng around the employment by
the Board of Education of architect for it's building
gram very deal of publicity has been given to the
of the Builders Exchange and the minority members
of the Board he majority members OF the Board whose
attached this statement desire to present to
the public of the problems involved in the
lection of the architect and the which brought them
the decision they have made They therefore, submit
the following statements
The Board has confronting it the Immediate task of erect
ing two large budinss One senio high school in Wet Ne:
mate capacity of about 1000 pups the second junior
high school for the East End of about 500 pupils
y This task is peculiarly difcut first because of the
fact that similar buildings of these types and sizes have
been built in Duluth; second, because the modern
senior high school, with class library. laboratories
shops gymnasium, rooms for domestic SCIENCE cafeteria
auditorium, study rooms, heating plant, etc., all housed
practically under roof demands careful study and the
most expert planning coordinate all of these departments
building; third the junior high school addition
school organization and presents practically all OF the
problems of the senior high school and others peculiar to
this form of school organization.
Coupled with this problem, practically in Duluth,
is the necessity Of securing these rather large buildings with
in rather limited financial For these reasons the
Board felt the necessity of securing the most expert advice
possible.
Past Experience and Present Program Demand Expert
The need of expert advice greatly emphasized by
the survey of the existing elementary and high school
buildings in Duluth That survey made by DR.. M G. Neale
of the University of Minnesota disclosed that Duluth has
single school building that is than fairly sats
planning and construction. Out of thrythree elementary
school buildings including portables) only eleven
rated fairly satisfactory although the problem Of the ee~
ena1y school building much simpler than that Of the
junior senior high school building No of the exist
ing high school or junior high school buildings rated
fairly satisfactory Half of these buildings were erect
u What Is School Specialist?
Until years all the country school buildings
have been built with little regard for the educational
gram that be carried them. The usual practice
has been building and to make the school fit
rather than design the building fit the school, In the
last few years attempts have been made this
practice and require the architect produce building
that will the needs of the specific educational
few architects located in centers where they have had
many opportunities produce such buildings have deve
oped into school specialists An architect is school
specialist simply because he has designed and built great
number of school houses The school specialist the
who in conjunction with school officials and drawing upon
his knowledge of architecture and his study of modern
education has built buildings which meet specific
educational needs.
school specialist is his ability, gained through frequent
practice, adequately house educational program
building built within the financial limitations. Board of
Education impose This is very real condition in Du
luh and architects experience acquired where unm
tied funds available that would be helpful
the Duluth Board Of Education pfesent situation
To concsely. specialist school architecture
architect of high ability his profession who has had
the opportunity many times work the problem of de-
tional requirements within reasonable appropriation. The
Board of Education desiring to for the children of
Duluth the efficient buildings possible and for the
sake of the taxpayer of Duluth these buildings
economically possible. believed desirable to the
assistance Of architects who had already performed these
services successfully.
Same Problem in Larger Cities.
The fact that the Board Of Education found
go outside the city such services reec-
ton the architect. Of Duluth The facts are that men who
have had the opportunities develop specialists
school architecture to be found only in few large
such Chicago, St. Louis Cincinnati Detroit New
York and Boston, Other cities, larger than Duluth
confronted with the problem, have reached the
solution and called in the outoftown specialist This is
notably of Buffalo. Columbus Washington, D. c.. and
others The largest high school Minneapolis designed
by ST. Louis architect The State of Michigan employed
Chicago architects design and superintend the
ton of its model high school the State University Ann
Arbor. '.< - II. ..
The Board of Education has been considering this prob
lem for than year and the matter has been under
almost constant consideration for several months past The
undersigned members reluctant the con-
clsion that the of the public would be better