Evening star., 1933-08-12
UNIFIED BUILDING
SEEN FOR FUTURE
Architect Says Coordination
Will Dominate in Town and
City Development.

New methods will rule the building of
to Clarance S. Stein of the New York
Chapter of the American Institute of
Architects. The era Of antiquated mass
production, loose planning, unsound
financing and disregard for social con-
sequences has passed, declares Mr..
Stein.
Not houses but communities" will
be given a governing principle in fu-
ture operations. Mr.. Stein predicts.
The old method Of building cities
and homes consisted of q series of un-
related processes" he explains. The
master street plan Of main thorough
fares was fixed by the city engineer.
The subdivider then divided the re-
naming land into a rectangular pat
tern of blocks and lots.
Ultimate Use Ignored.
Neither street layout nor lot divi-
sions was conceived to fit the ultimate
use In fact, the ultimate use was
never known in advance. The same
sites were set for free standing houses
or apartments, or for stores, factories,
or even monumental community build
ings. The best use Of the land for
housing was the last thing to be given
consideration.
Sale. not use, was the basic purpose
of plan and subdivision. Land was
generally taken out of productive farm
ing use generations before it was need
ed for housing. The ballyhoo OF auc-
tioneer or high-pressure statesmen mar
keted it. Before it could be used, in
terest on investment, taxes and assess
ments snowballed its costs.
Ultimately, the owner. the archi-
tect, or the builder attempted to fit
to a narrow lot a house generally con-
ceived in the terms of broad spaces OF
the farm or at least the acres Of the
country seat or suburban estate.
Mass Production Hit.
During the last decade We have had
mass production of housing. but with
none of the technical advantages Of
large scale planning or construction.
The antiquated methods when homes
were built one by one for individual
owners persisted.
The builders trick was to buy
cheaply; to beat down the price OF the
carpenter, plumber, plasterer. TO point
where they could not afford to 90
good job. Their game was speculative,
but often they risked nothing and oullt
WITHOUT any uScStuicH9 AZ,
THE individuanstic haphazard meth
DDS Of the past produce an unstable en-
vironment. Good residential sections
are ruined by changed use OF a small
percentage Of buildings. Zoning regu-
lations in themselves are insufficient TO
save them from blight.
According to the old methods OF
city building. good living, beauty and
convenience made the best Of plan OF
land subdivision and streets arranged to
facilitate trade in real estate. That Is
why there Is no relation between the
plan of our cities and the fundamental
requirements of the life most people
want to live.
Integration Advocated.
"All Of the waste land-subdivision
sale of lots, individual construction OF
separate dwellings be replaced
by single large-scale operation. Every
house must be built as an integrated
and related part of the plan Of the
whole town, or the neighborhood COM
munity, or the group of houses.
I'm a town created in this manner,
every road can be built economically
for the exact use it is to serve instead
of being wastefully planned. so that 1t
may fit all possible changes. open
spaces can be planned SO that they Will
be adequate to serve the recreational
needs of children and adults Good
planning and large-scale construction
can make saving enough, through the
elimination Of unnecessary roads alone,
to pay for parks and play spaces"