Evening star., 1938-11-19
u. 5. Living Standard
Declared Myth
By Architect
Good House a Relative
Natter, He Warns
In Statement

The American standard of living
Is . myth. according to George H
Gray Of New Haven, Conn.,, chair.
man Of = subcommittee Of thu
American Institute of Architects
which is studying basic principle!
for the national housing movement
1t means one thing for one income
and other things for every other in
come, Mr.. Gray says.
The housing problem is 50 exten.
sive that 1t is of the utmost i'm.
portance that the standards which
We establish shall be sound-neithel
so costly rs to slow up the program
nor so skimped rs to miss the funda-
mental purpose. The crux Of the
problem lies in the determination OF
what are reasonable standards OF
living.
Let us concede that healthy liv.
ing is the criterion and that aside
from merely biologically sanitary
housing we must have housing max
ing for efficiency and cheerfulness
with facilities for recreation for
all ages. But where draw the line:
Thrift and frugality are still virtues
not to be lost in exchange for in
dulgence and luxury. Rehousine
so large a proportion of our popu-
lation is a program so extensive that
in order to reach all those needing
better housing there must be no
over-reaching for unwarranted high
standards of living"
Certain Matters Feared.
During the coming year the A. I. A.
group headed by Mr.. Gray will make
an intensive study of certain fea-
lures which originated in the P. w. A.
program for subsidized housing, and
which If not modified by early action
may, it is held, become chrystalized
as q standard. to the detriment of
the future U. S. H. A. work. Organ
lied investigation and action in the
great no mans land of incipient
slum areas" is said to be needed.
Ways to bring into greater activity
non-subsidized housing as under
taken by private enterprise must be
found, it is pointed out.
THE p. w. A." Mr.. Gray con-
tinues, made an admirable start
in analyzing the national housing
problem, in establishing standards
and procedures, and in establishing
a point of departure for future work,
but it was only a start. That work
was done by highly centralized
Federal organization, with local tai
ent cooperating. The current and
the future work under U. S. H. A.
will be highly localized, with the
u. S. H. A. at Washington co-operat-
ing. That is a distinction of fun
damental significance.
The development of good public
housing from now on rests very
largely with the local housing au-
thorities and the local architects. It
is challenge to the communities
to put their most enlightened citi-
Hens on their housing authorities
and to the architectural profession
to make their ablest contribution in
solving an immense and fascinating
problem.
Housing Must Be Enduring.
ITO accomplish its end the new
housing must be enduring. Only
such design and construction as is
of proven value must go into the
houses: yet without losing these
there is good reason to believe that
there can be a very appreciable
scaling down from the high initial
standards wisely set by the P. w. A..
Those standards made the housing
projects available only to the very
best financial risks in the slum areas,
the marginal families, and they are
not the ones whose need is great
est.
"As the experinece of P. w. A.
projects have demonstrated and as
is demonstrated by the experience
of other countries, there is need for
a more careful analysis of the types
OF families and of individuals need
ing housing and of their varying
scales of income-so we'll achieved
in Holland"