Evening star., 1938-07-23
PRE-FAbR|CAT|0N
TO AID BUILDING
Architect Sees 'Uneconomic
Aspects Taken From
Rehousinq.'

when industry ana. Cr1e IndCnlne
produce pre-fabricated houses 1.-THE
uneconomic aspects of Americas re-
housing program will be definitely
eliminated" Harvey Wiley Corbett,
Radio City architect. said at the Co.
lumbia University summer session.
IF We attempted ito build a car
today the way we build a house it
would cost sl5o,oOO and would not
rum" Mr.. Corbett declared in lee
ture on contemporary architecture.
''The problem being encountered in
rehabilitating the slum areas is the
existence of differential between
the cost of rehousing and the rent
the former occupants of the dwell
ings can afford to pay The present
method necessitates the payment of
a subsidy by the rest Of the COM
munity"
House materials today cost 40 per
cent. and the labor of putting them
together amounts to so per cent of
the total cost, Mr. Corbett pointed
out. Because of mass production
and co-ordinated manufacture in as
sembling all the parts of the automo-
bile at the factory, the labor cost of
putting together all the parts is $3,40
for each car" he went on.
Will Cheaper Costs.
''Pre-fabrication will cheaper \, the
labor costs of house building. The
site of the home will resemble the
automobile factory, for there the parts
of the house will be fitted together
perfectly. A pre-fabricated house
could be erected in two days and
would surpass any home that can
be built today at any price in pro-
visions for health and comfort.
When the decision is made to build
a home. the prospective buyers will
receive a set of little blocks. from
which they will construct their own
toy home. Once satisfied with this
model, they will add up the figures
on each block representing the prices
of each unit of the actual building,
and the sum will be the total cost OF
their future home.
THE design of these pre-fabricated
homes will not be standardized, as
there will be great freedom of ar
rangement-such as a child achieves
when playing with his blocks. The
designers will be the most competent
artists who can be hired by factories
engaged in mass production of the
pre-fabricated units"
EoorS IL VIII ID. E,.L;o-
Mr.. Corbett expressed the fear that
modern design in building will be-
come fashion and go out of style,
causing the loss of much of the value
derived from late changes. He de-
plored the growing tendency to classify
modern architecture as a set pattern.
The move toward modern design
IS almost universally accepted today,
and it has become classified as a
STYLE" Mr. Corbett explained This
is dangerous. because it just takes its
place with other styles. When speed
comes in building changes come in
rapidly. People cannot digest them
and consequently do not understand
them. This is rapid age, making
for more rapid changes in styles. The
largest buildings today can be built
10 times as fast as the great cathedrals
Of the past we're erected.
1.-THE architect who adheres to mod
ern designs is not modernist but the
only real fundamentals. because he
builds to suit circumstances and re-
quirements. He does not build ac-
cording to style The client always
asks the last question first. He in
quires Immediately, What style are
you going to use?' When 1 was chair
man of the Board of Design for the
Chicago Worlds Fair the first oues-
ton put to me by the Board of Trlls-
tees was: What style are you going
to follow?'
Europeans First to Rebel.
Architectural schools have pro-
NOTED this stylistic idea. European
students were the first to rebel against
this academic ritual The American
architect in the last 40 years has
had his nose to the grindstone of
production and has naturally turned
to examples of the old country, fail
ing to consider practical functional
needs.
When modern architecture came to
America it struck like thunder bolt.
Americans were shocked and really
misunderstood it significance. They
do not understand it fully yet. In
Colonial days only did Americans go
after the building problem nationally.
Colonial architecture was modern in
Its time, because it was an adoption
of living conditions that existed and
an adoption of materials available.
1t was not governed by standardized
styles.
Architecture is the oldest art in
the world 1t serves as a frame for
the arts of sculpture and painting
Some call it the mother of all arts
but mother has bobbed her gray hair.
She is even doing a bit. of the big
ample"