Evening star., 1938-05-21
GARDEN SUBURBS
AFFECT HOUSING
Has Become Big Factor in
Improving Conditions,
Says Librarian.

mare maps, drawings, photographs
and books showing the development
OF garden cities from the fifteenth
century to the present are on view
IA Avery Library. Columbia Universe
~. New York. The collection illus
Tates the ideals and influences which
have brought about the modern garden
city type OF housing in the United
States. England and Western Europe,
Talbot F. Hamlin, librarian, declares.
Although real garden cities, pro-
viding facilities for industry. agricul-
Sure, residence, commerce, education
and recreation, are actually very rare,
the ideals behind this movement have
Influenced ell suburban housing" Mr..
Hamlin points out. The garden sub
urb, for example, has become one Of
provement of living conditions in the
Western world.
Strictly speaking. Kingsport, Tenn,
Is the only true garden city In the
United States. Included in the Co.
umbia exhibition are blue print plans
well adapted to industrial develop
ment."
Traffic Is Aided.
The greatest contribution Of the
United States to the planning of
garden cities and garden suburbs has
been an attempt to solve the traffic
problem, Mr.. Hamlin says. A map
Of Radburn, N. j., shows the results
Of this effort. BY enlarging the blocks
the number Of roads has been dimin-
tshed and all pedestrian traffic is
taken through q central park area in
the center of each block. Under
passes beneath the roads connect the
park paths of adjacent blocks and
enable one to walk anywhere within
the town without crossing automobile
thoroughfares.
Sketches from Leonardo da Vinci's
notebooks reveal his interest in the
ideal city," Mr.. Hamlin explains.
This fifteenth century artist pos
sessed a deep and prophetic insight
into problems of city design, such as
traffic, drainage and air.
Many of the eighteenth century
plan books disclose concern with the
housing Of farmers and agricultural
workers. Although the designs are
innocent of any plumbing. they have
q basic decency Of conception with
cross ventilation and some study of
convenience. The simplicity of the
small house became even more en-
phasized in the early nineteenth CEN
tury, and Joseph Gaudy's designs for
group housing and for a circular vii
lage show the beginning Of the effort
to combine small houses with workers
towns.
Ambitious Attempts.
''The rapid settlement Of the Mid
die Western part of the United States
at the start of the ninteenth century
produced many ambitious attempts
to develop ideal communities. In
1927 John Buonarotti Papworth, an
English architect, designed for w.
Bullock . plan for the proposed town
Of 'Hygeia,' to be located across the
Ohio River from Cincinnati. A copy
of this plan, Of which there are fewer
than five in existence. was presented
to Avery Library by the Royal 1nsti-
: tute Of British Architects. Hygeia it.
self was never built, but its plan has
many of the characteristics Of the
garden city.
The only really successful Utopias
of the period were founded by religious
groups. The Report of the Oneida
Association testif1es to the amazing
success of an experiment at Oneida,
N. Y, founded on absolute communism
Of property, perfectionism, group mar
riage, eugenics and communal educa-
ton OF children. The Oneida COM
munity enjoyed nearly 40 years Of
agricultural and industrial prosperity.
Unique Volume.
"rhe Columbia collection features
4 unique volume specially prepared
for the Paris Exposition of 1867,
which describes the M. M. Staub 81
Co.'S spinning works near Geislingen.
Wurtemberg, Germany. Hand-colored
illustrations show that living quar-
ters for the employees were built around
. central garden. Model apartments
resembled those of 1898, with an out
side balcony, a water closet, kitchen,
living room and two bedrooms for each
dwelling. The community was sup
piled with many Of the most up-to-
date social services, such as bath
house, Laundry, swimming pool, library
and infirmary.
The work of Robert Owen In Great
Britain and Of Fourier in France dur
ing the first half Of the nineteenth
century was pre-eminent In the revo-
luton against poverty and exploita-
ton. Both attempted the construc-
ton of model communities. In New
LAnark, Scotland, Owen tried to light
en- the hardships Of the contemporary
Industrial town. In an address de-
Mvered at the City Of London Tavern
in 1917 he discussed . plan to re-
lieve the country from its present
distress, to remoralize the lowest or
ders and to gradually abolish pauper-
Ism, with all its degrading and in
furious conseqences.' Many Of these
Utopian IDEAS were gathered together
BY Ebenezer Howard. father of the
modern garden city, in \ treatise on
Garden Cities Of Tomorrow pub
hshed in England in 1902"