Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-08-26
Cite,
end People
Town Houses
For Cities?
BY ROBERT J. LEWIS

" "N 44N W
w stir up any fight-cat
intellectuals Cor anybody
else, for that NATTER, we
think it's about time for
more agreement on what city
houses should look like.
They shouldn't all look the
same, by any means. But an
acceptable standard Of d.
versity might be a help.
Pick up any home maya
zine, these days, and you're
apt to find there aren't Just
81 varieties Of homes to
choose from, but something
like 5,700-all different.
They come in many zany
shapes, sizes and degrees Of
way-outiSm. Each design
seems to insist ON shoulder
ing out all the others.
Read on in these maya
zines and you discover the
same no-Standard theme in
articles on remodeling, re-
storing and making addi-
tons to houses. Everything
goes. Nothing is too crazy,
off-beat, or undiSciplined.
Minor changes can make
a major difference" the cap
tionS tell you.
And then you are shown a
fantastic connection of ma
terials, textures, appliances
and equipment joined to-
gether in a fearsome archi-
tectural hodgepodge that
you know must have cost at
least $4,000 to put together.
Considering all this, it's
understandable that so many
people are willing to settle
for a simple development
house, and a flight to the
suburbs, as one way out of
the confusion.
And it's no wonder that
critics like Henry Hope Reed,
jr., are beginning to escape
being labeled hopelessly re-
dictionary when they pin
down the current trend as
chaos"
MR.. REED, AN AVOWED
enemy Of modern architec-
ture in all its forms, pulls no
punches.
For some time, he has been
not only at war with con-
temporary architecture but
even with the prevailing de-
sire to be original" "cre-
ative" and imaginative"
Such aims, he implies, are
catchword will-o'-the-wisps
that we'd all do better with
out. Less originality and q
more comprehensive order
in the city landscape appears
to be what he wants.
In architecture and in art.
he says, there's a lack of
discipline. The paintings in
galleries and the appearance
Of cities would seem to bear
him out.
Both in art and architec-
ture the past Is taboo, he
says, and that is the root of
the trouble. Writing in the
August Journal of the Amer
lean Institute Of Architects,
Mr.. Reed makes this COM
ment:
an the world of painting,
dominated by the Abstract,
or what Frank Getlein has
h apply termed 'Schmeer-
kunst,' literally anyone can
turn artist.
Paul Valery, the French
poet, noted this abSurdity
when he compared the train
ing of the painter today with
that Of today's athlete.
The solidly reasoned ex-
ercise of the athlete, his Sc
we're discipline, and his power
and freedom which come
only after long self-contror
contrasted strangely for him
with the little that is needed
to pass as an artist in our
time. The same breakdown
is found in the contradic-
lions in the world Of archi-
lecture"
THE BREAKDOWN" Mr..
Reed refers to concerns the
past. Artists and architects
have departed from the ira
ditional ways Of doing things
and are now engaged in an
anarchic, individualistic eff
fort to come up with new
forms and images to take the
place Of the idols they have
helped to destroy.
The resulting confusion
has made things particularly
tough for cities, where visual
order is just as necessary as
is social order. Good-looking
streets to live on are needed
just as clearly as safe streets
to walk on.
Reaching a little more
agreement on an acceptable
standard Of diversity for city |
houses could well be a first |
step to solve the cities prob