Evening star., 1936-07-18
MACHINE METHODS
FOR HOMES SEEN
Quantity Production OF
Building Material Units
Is Predicted.

Quantity production of building ma
terial units which will make it pos
sible to erect 10 square feet OF wall
In the time it now takes to lay two
bricks will soon be achieved, accord
ing to Prof John F. Harbeson OF the
University of Pennsylvania, who Is
lecturing on contemporary art in the
Columbia University Summer session.
Better building without additional cost
will result, he declares.
Pointing out that construction must
either adopt the methods employed by
automobile manufacturers or become
q luxury out of reach Of the ordinary
man, Prof. Harbeson, a fellow OF
the American Institute of Architects,
says that technicians at work on new
f1oorings. wall surfaces and other
building parts are beginning to report
satisfactory results.
Brick walls are built now as they
were in the time of Pharaoh" Prof.
Harbeson says, land wooden floors are
being laid as they were several hun
dred years ago in England. The cost
of labor has SO increased that, using
our present methods. good buildings
can be erected only at prohibitive
prices
Auto Industry's Problem.
The automobile industry faced the
same predicament years ago. Its so.
luton was to make car parts by ma.
chine rather than by hand. The en-
tire side of a car, for example, is made
at one time. In this way. while labor
costs increased. the actual cost of the
car either remained the same or de-
creased. while the car was more per-
feet mechanically as well as more at
tractive looking
The same must be done in build
ing Designs for the new stream
lined trains are leading the way. In
these trains a three inch wall, insu-
lated, does the work of the average
17-lnch wall of house. Floors are
made of thin metal plates, over which
a layer of cork and another surface
covering is laid.
Screens to Be Used.
Modern architecture, by utilizing
steel, glass and concrete, eliminates
the necessity of brick and stone walls
for structural purposes. All that is
necessary now is a screen. Future
homes will have their screens buckleo
on in sheets. Floors Will be laid in
sheets, with significant saving OF
time which will make it possible tc
cut building costs"
Asserting that modern and tradi-
tlonal forms of architecture must be
combined, Harbeson says that no mat
ter how different or original an ar
chitect tries to be, he must fall back
on tradition
We are inheritors of a tradition
We cannot be original. Building
methods and materials have changed
to some degree, but there are still
many things which havesnot changed
Evolution has been fast due to scien-
tif1c change, but nevertheless, we are
part of great tradition. Many usual
features of homes and buildings may
at some later time be replaced, but
this process will naturally be gradual
Ch1nges In Prospect.
THE development of modern archi,
lecture has not yet reached its peak
Probably all the aspects of the archi
lecture Of the next 25 or so years art
evident here and there today, but they
have not yet been carried to theil
kNt solutions.
Architecture is the product of the
times 1t shows the quality of the
human beings who build it, and the
unsettled quality of our times is
clearly indicated in our buildings
Their fundamental plan character
ties them irrespective of their dress
ing.
The architecture of today is a
temporary thing, but this is not a
fault Office buildings, their me-
chanical equipment and design out
dated in as little as 10 years. are