Evening star., 1936-12-12
MASS BUILDING
HELD IMPOSSIBLE
Architect Declares Homes
Cannot Be Produced Like
Automobiles.

Houses cannot be produced and
marketed like automobiles, declares
Frederick l.. Ackerman OF New York
City, a member of the Housing Com
mittee of the American Institute OF
Architects. Production and financial
conditions are so dissimilar in the
construction and automotive industries
that common pattern of mass manu- |
facture is impossible according to
Ackerman, discussing Must We Have
Trailers for Houses?"
The turnover of cars involving
transfer from one garage to another
and the shifting of habitations accom-
panying the movements OF income
groups present contrast which, Ack-
erman points out, is an answer to
those who urge architects and build
ers to emulate motor manufacturers
in developing output on a popular
scale.
1T has come about that whenever
the subject of housing is discussed,
particularly when it is proposed that
the Government should take hand
in the matter, reference is made to
the automobile industry" says Acker-
man, designer of notable structures,
including group at Cornell Uni
versity. The automobile is held up
as a shining example of perfect con-
: duct in the industrial field, while con-
struction is referred to as the 'Peck's
Bad Boy of the whole industrial
system.
Building Costs Rise.
According to William j. Cameron
Of the Ford Motor Co. the price per
pound of automobiles has been falling
through the years. Those of us who
are connected with the building of
houses know very well that the price
per cubic foot has been rising. The
general opinion apparently prevails
that if the construction industry would
pattern its program of action after the
automobile industry We could have
all the habitations we need, particu-
larly if we developed a secondhand
market and treated the matter after
the manner of the automobile industry.
1T may be we'll to consider in what
respect these two industries differ and
what radical changes would have to
be made, not only in the production
industry, but in respect to the opera
ton of our economy as we'll, If habi-
tations were to be produced in ample
supply.
What would have happened during
,the last 80 years if the automobile
industry were under the surveillance
of laws governing the building OF au-
tomobiles which imposed the lag. as
do laws covering the erection of build
ings, of quarter of century or more
following the unfolding of an idea
before it could be applied?
Cites Many Handicaps.
what would have been the history
Of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler
had it been necessary for these in
dustries to assemble all cars in in
dividual garages instead of upon the
assembly line? What would have
happened to the rate OF flow on the
assembly line had it been composed
of 4O-odd well-established trades en-
gagged, most of the time. in jurisdic-
tional squabbles over vested interests
In the use of materials and in tech
nioues? So much for the production
problems involved. Let us look now at
the financial.
What would have happened. in the
case of the automobile industry, II
practically every car produced carried
a first mortgage of so per cent Of its
value, which mortgage it was not
customary, until quite recently. to
amortize: every other car 20 per
cent mortgage. and say every third
car a 10 per cent mortgage? What
would have happened if every year
or so the valuation Of every old car
had been marked up by local ap.
praisers and assessors so that the older
1t got the greater became its valua-
ton? What would have been the
course of technical progress in the
automobile industry? will leave that
question for any one to answer.
MY only comment, made from init
mate experience with the building in
dustry, is this: The designers and
the engineers in the construction in
dustry have worked before the same
BACKGROUND of scientific knowledge as
the designers and engineers of the au-
tomobile industry. They have worked
with the same aspirations and with
the same urge to explore and apply.
The reason why they have not made
progress should be obvious from the
contrasts just referred to.
Has Applied Gains.
Another contrast may be drawn
that is equally significant. The auto
mobile industry has. by and large,
sought to apply chronological gains
not only IN the plant which produced
the car, but in the car itself. The de-
signers and the engineers of the pro-
duction industry have sought to ap-
ply such gains as arose out of their
explorations in the technical field, but
they run into a series of stone walls
when they make the attempt.
;"Vested interests in materials and
processes, vested interests of labor in
its technique, make the going difficult;
and by and large, innovations in form
and arrangement as well as the appli-
cation of materials do not meet with
q ready response from leading insti-
tutions, for it is well understood that
too wide discrepancy in respect to
utility between the old and the new
would render investments in the obso-
tete of dubious worth.
ANY one who has attempted to buy
a comparatively new car has very
vivid idea of the rate at which its
value is extinguished by the rules Of
obsolescence which the industry has
been able to put into force. This rapid
extinguishment has the effect of get
ting old cars out of the way so that
new ones may be produced.
This serves to define the nature Of
II -