Evening star., 1939-02-04
Craftsman Shortage
Seen Il Building 9
Boom Develops
Architectural Schools
Enrolment at Stundsti!I
Until This Year

Until This Year
A shortage of skilled architectural
craftsmen in the event of a build
ing boom in the near future is
foreseen by c. c. Zantzinger of
Philadelphia chairman of the Com
mittee on Education of the Ameri-
can Institute of Architects. Oppor-
tunities for graduates of arcllitec-
tural schools lie in the possibility
of greater building activity, he
points out.
Since 1886, Mr.. zantzinger reports,
enrolment in architectural schools
appears to have been at standstill,
although the consensus is that the
current year will show an increase.
In 1856 there was an increment of
about $50 students over the previous
period
The Government in its many diff
ferent agencies employees a great
number of craftsmen who have been
attracted to Washington from all
over the country" Mr.. Zantzinger
says. The question is, Will they
stay there and consequently create
a shortage of men at home. or will
they, with recovery in business
activity, be glad to leave their pres
ent employment? The permanence
of low salaries in Government en-
ploy my have its charm"
Schools Don't Produce Styles.
Architectural styles have never
been and should never be a product
of schools Of architecture. accord
Ing to Mr.. Zantzinger. IF schools
are doing their chief job, they are
not exerting an emphatic influence
upon architectural styles he de-
clares. While in a few cases recent
graduates of architectural schools
are veering toward modernism, in
more cases they, having once been
attracted by modernism, are now
veering away from it. depending
upon how modernism is defined.
Happily, schools of architecture
have only in rare instances followed
the extreme expression of con-
temporary tendencies. Schools re-
feet the changing trend in design,
but the fundamentals of architec-
tural training remain unchanged
For the greater part there has been
a highly desirable, in many instances
very necessary. departure from the
stereotyped procedure of Is years
ago. Architectural education at its
best is constantly responsive to the
changing conditions of professional
practice.
Educational policy is in state
of evolution. The breadth of the
field covered today in the school
curriculum is so infinitely richer and
more varied than ever before that
Its relation to the past is apparent
only through the adherence to the
fundamentals of architectural edu-
cation-deSign, construction, history
and drawing-that are the very bone
and sinew of the structure
Pressure on Schools.
"One of the chief problems in
every school is to keep a clear head
In the face of pressure groups. Not
all problems that face a nation
can be solved by erecting courses.
When it comes to imposing RESPONSE
bilities, the chief responsibility
some sort of education-is apt to be
lost sight of. Housing, for example,
will take care of itself if every school
is doing its best to turn out graduates
who can think on any subject and
who have proper traditions of their
craft.
Some schools will feel that such
a situation as housing does impose
special onsibility-others not.
Probably the majority would see in
1t worthwhile subject for a
minor course, provided the given
faculty contained some one COM
petent to handle the question. More
perhaps would see it as a seminar
subject, or the subject for an occa-
sional lecture by some one not on the
regular. staff"
The solution of the mass housing
problem is one of the major respon-
sibilities of the architectural pro-
fession, Mr.. Zantzinger continues.
ITO avoid too great Standardization,
to keep some variety, is essential in
these great undertakings. Where
the solution has been carried to eX-
tremes in Europe, the result has
been in the direction of creating
what has been called the machine
vivre.'
"If houses can be made as are
automobiles, they will doubtless be
cheaper, and it is anybodys guess
what effect such Standardization
might have on character. The
tailor made house will always be de-
sired. - Mass production of houses
is matter that has been studied
for years without arriving at sue
cesSful solution"