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PENCIL POINTS Volume; XIV June, 1933 Number 6

Chicago and Tomorrow's House? By Frank Chouteau Brown

I n the year 1893 a vVorld's Fair was held, in the city of Chicago, that marked a turning point in the development of art in America. The Renais-

sance inspired architecture shown in the principal build- ings of that Fair, reflected in the for mal lagoons and harmonious landscaping treatment of the ample grounds, impressed all beholders with a distinct vision of beauty that was one of the most permanent and im- portant recollections remaining from their visit of that year. It therefore n aturally resulted that much of the architecture of immediately following years was dis- tinctly influenced by the Classical style so impressively employed a t Chicago in the Columbian Exposition. It everafter remains as an indissoluble part of the mem- ory-vision of that summer in the minds of thousands and millions of Americans.

And n ow, again, in the summer of this year of 1933, the city of Chicago is setting up another "Fair," and again " inviting the vVorld"- just at the momen t a somewhat groggy and dizzy vVorld- to come, look, and wonder. Another ideal of artistic character is to be set before the visitors, including many Americans. Another generation- in fact, some three or four of them-are looking forward to attending and being impressed by a new and more "advanced" idea of beauty . A strangely different meaning is being given the same old sylla bles; even the older generations may return again to consider the two contrasting standards ~and, perhaps, to ponder!

For the strongest effect of that previous picture had been to give the nation an ideal of beauty best and most directly expressed in structures of a type nearly analo- gous to the "public building"-and America was at ·that very mom ent entering upon an era of the con- struction of such buildings.

vVhat is to be the influence of this current "Fair" upon those who will attend it? They will see more and newer beauties of lighting and of developed and applied electricity; less static and old-world Classical architecture, for which has been substituted a new and probably transitory architectural ideal; less permanency of appearance; perhaps more economical and direct expression of material and purpose . They w ill prob- ably see better "Fair buildings," as such, better adapted to and more expressive of their intended purpose, but still largely European in their derivation and still often substituting the merely bizarre and unusual for the intended modern and direct expression .

And what is that problem. in' .architecture that most concerns the greatest number of people in America- or possibly in "all the \Vorld"-at the present time? Undoubt~dly, it is that concerned with th e building of a home that will be permanent

1 convenient, and at-

tractive; and at a price that the less well-paid majority of the people can afford to pay l vV e"commonly use the word "Housing" to represent this problem, al- though that term is employed far too vaguely, and often without any too exact definition of what we mean by its use, or even any certitude that we fully compre-' hend the idea that it presents.

But that, at the present time, even greater nu mbers of the American people than usual are becoming absorbed by the . problem of securing homes at prices they can afford to pay, there can be no doubt. That a proper and widely available solution is funda mentally essential at this time, especially as a~ underlying or basic ideal of American "standards of living,'' is also readily granted. That a large ma jority of the Chicago visitors will be extremely sensitive to ideas dealin g with economically successful types of single-family dwellings is a foregone conclusion . Therefore, if the " sample houses" now being completed at the Fair are properly presented by the several manufacturers concerned and ma de sufficiently attractive to reach and intrigue the visitors, this exhibit may become important in m arking a point from which the· fu t ure treatment of the de- tached single-fa mily American home m ay take on a different type of d evelopment that may become trace- able far into the future. Whereas the former «world's Fair" gave to America a better and more impressive type of public building design, will it turn out to be a fact that the Fair of this year will establish any new standard of a dvanced house design?-at the moment undoubtedly one of our most eagerly awaited products! I s it possible that ·we are actually developing new building materials more cheaply and better adapted ·to meeting the r equirements of our varied climate, as well as the n eeds of the home builder and owner of the present and fu ture generations? If so, that fact will be welcomed by a large proportion of our present population, and it should be a ma tter of in- tense and vital in terest to the architect, as well as to all others included within the many t rades associated with the building industry.

That the possibilities are as completely revolutionary as those that affected t he amusement "business" of this

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PENCIL POINT S FOR JUNE, 1933

country w hen the change from the silent to the vocal movie became an accepted fact, should be evident to all who have been cognizant of the conditions still exist- ing to affect our entire building industry. At this particular moment, everyone concerned is "waiting to be shown" any amo ng th e many experimental new building products that will be cheaper, as well adapted, as easily distributed, and as flexible as those building materials to which everyone has hitherto been accus- tomed . Once any such n ew materials have been ac- cepted as meeting these essentials-have been proved as being as adaptable to m eet requirements of weather re- sistan ce, wearing qualities, permanence, and ease of handling, along with cheapness of manufacture and distribution-the architects of the country will soon discover ways and means of using them that will be economic, simple, a nd beautiful. Of that, there can be no reasonable question or doubt. But it is these in- ventions t hat, at the moment, are still being awaited!

No builder considers presen t labor-wasting mate- rials as ideal. They require th e application of too ma ny individual pieces to be economical-no matter how cheaply manufactured each unit may be. No architect r egar ds the resulting surfaces- full of lapping edges, or crevices, or joints-as id eal in appearance. L ong usage has accustomed the human eye and mind ~o their defects and incongruities. They have proved m practice to be flexible and adaptable, as well as suffi- ciently permanent a nd artistic in effect. As a matter of fact, t he perman ence is only achieved by m eans of cont inued expense for painting or pointing the sur- faces a nd crevices w hich are accepted as sufficiently a rtistic in eff cct only through long custom, and by making essential defects in th e materials the means of securing pleasing minor variations, a long w ith the in- herent harmonious effect of human scale and relation to the human beings w ho inhabit these man-made dwellings !

Most e>..-isting ma terials have fi nally come to possess historic associations of style not essentially inherent in them originally but gradually acquired-"unearned in- crement," as it were-through generations and cen - t uries of use in ma ny lands and widely diffe rent climates . But it should also be plainly realized that these long established "style associations" a re not in them selves really inherent, but m erely those that we have come to associate with t hem. M ost certainly it does not mean that .these famili ar materials are n ot sus- cep,t;ible of bein g used in new w ays, nor that it is n ot possible to adapt them to m eet new conditions. In fact, history furnishes us with many instances in w hich they have been very successfully so adapted.

M or e definitely it should be stated that a so-called "modern" or "new" style does not require the inven- tion of new materials. According to history, at least, it never has in the past. Therefore, in all probability it need not be a requisite essential fo r the present nor the futur e, t hough we have been rather prone so to regard the matter. It does, howenr, r equire a certain fresh- ness of outlook; an ability to break away from estab- lished or conventional lines or directions of thought; a n originality of approach upon the part of its design er.

It might also be that the invent:on of a new build- ing ma terial might j ust conceivably (possibly because of some essential newness of principle or application involved) be the basis of suggesting some new m ethod of applying th at material to the mor.e pressing problems confronting architecture of today and tomorrow, from which we might develop some new suggestion of appro- priate "style" as an almost inevitable by-product. On the other hand, it is more than likely that a new style evolved from the invention of a single new material would not be broad enough in its application to the problems involved in the art of building to cause it to be suita ble to meet all the r equirements of modern architectural desigil.

R ather it would appear more consisten t and desirable that a ny new style of design-if it evolved-should arise naturally from new and more logical methods of thinking, or in confronting new problems of economic construction, without being trammelled by existing historic architectural preceden t--or limited by the pos- sibility of realizing it exclusively in a single ne\\' mate- rial!

As a matter of fact, in the construction of modern buildings we have for some time been cognizant of the economic logic of a preferred use of larger units of factory-made ma terial, capable of being set in place more simply and quickly- and at an economy of labor - because they would cover a larger surface per oper- ation upon the structure's fac;;ade. Y et we have not so far- even after several years of confrontation of this fa ct- been inspired to produce ·a new and logically in- evitable " style-solution" such as would be generally ac- cepted as wid e in its applicability and satisfactory in its economic and artistic possibilities.

If pre-fabricated products can be devised for machine-shaping in units capable of being econ omically t ransported to a site, and rapidly erected with inex- pensive labor, in a few uncomplicated operation s, into a house that is satisfactory in appeara nce, durable, prac- tical, a nd flexible in material a nd arrangem ent, there is no doubt that it would meet a long expressed demand and prove a much desired boon to families, factories, and communities scattered all over this, as well as many other countries.

It is toward this end that many material manufac- turers have been working, a nd so at Chicago an area upon the lake front has been placed at the disposal of these interests. A limited number have each actually erected and decorated a demonstration h ouse, showing the possibilities of their materials in a form that can be readily seen and realized by a ll visitors who m ay be interested in that problem. And so ten or a dozen houses, some of which are here shown or described, are n ow built and their furnishin g and decor ation is being complete~!.

Already it appears ob\'ious that, artistically, still far too muc h is left to be desired. P robably few w ill be willing to accept even a single one of these house de- signs as being altogether. satisfying and beautiful in this regard. Others are too n ovel in shape or form or ma terial to be generally acceptable to the normal h ome owner. Everyone could w ish that t he number had

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CHICA G O A ND TOMORROW'S H OUSE?

MASONITE HOUSE

Frazier & Raftery , Architect1

been larger and that more m aterials and different types of design, now lacking, had also been in cluded in the group. It is probably obvious tha t more architects- and some accepted architectural organization-should have been invited to undertake the whole matter- a nd upon a broader basis than has actually been done.

Almost one's first reaction, after glancing over these designs, is to fe el that more thought and better minds a r e yet needed before we can achieve the best realiza- tion of the possibilities lying dormant in these va rious m aterials. No matter how well justified experience m ay prove these inventions to have been, a great oppor- tun ity to have caused thousands of people to have real -

. .,. - ized t ha t fact, within a very limited time, h as been partly lost because of the failure to have t hese same ideas presented in the most effectively art istic and dra- matic m anner, this summer, a t this F air.

T oo many spectators will be likely m er ely to jump to the conclusion that what is h ere being shown is repre- senta tive; that if tha t is the best that can be done in the fi eld of new ideas in economic home building, back to the old love for theirs l A conclusion tha t must be re- gard ed . as based upon unfortuna tely false premises. A n d one that can h ardly redound to the immediate benefit of the industry of the building of homes-a matter at the moment of vital import to all N orth A merica, far exceeding the interests of the few manu- facture rs here involved!

For it is a definite and certain fact that on e of the

AM ERICAN FOR EST PRO DUCTS HOUSE

Ernest A. G m mfeU, 11'., A rchit ect

DESI G N FOR LIVING

By John C. B. Moo1·e and HoJ"Jley & Wood

very first expressions of a retu rn of business to better times in this country will be noted in the start of build- ing of small houses.

It is perhaps n atural that most of the houses built at the "Fair" have been expressed in a style that w e have mistakenly come to call "modern"-an appeal- ing but often meaningless word. It is supposed to represent that appearance that results naturally from a more direct and logical use of materials. As a matter of fact, it seldom accomplishes anything of the kin d! It is no more representative of th e methods, materials, or manners of the present day than wer e the Renais- sance palaces shown in Chicago in the Fair of forty years ago r epresentative of t he A merica--o r even the Europe-of that time! They were interesting a nd romantically appealing to t he visitor from t he fact t hat their beauty was of a type that was rare a nd n ew to him . . They represented, however, nothing of the pur- pose of the structure, nor of its methods of construction.

The F air of 1933 will show some exposed m ethods of structural support, it is true- though hardly in w ays that will be universally accepted as inher ently beautiful. Some of these houses may be r ecognizable as human habitations, though usually of a for m that will be st range to m ost visitors. O t hers will not at f1rst so suggest themsel ves to th e observer. But at least it would seem a lit tle unfortunate fo r the man ufacturer tha t, in some cases, his mat edal--often quite capable of well merited u se in co-mtruction of the day- should

RO STONE H OUSE

Walter Sc/10/er, Architect

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PENCIL POINTS FOR JUNE, 1933

FLORIDA TROPICAL HOUSE

Robert LauJ Jf' eed, Architect

have been thus first presented to a possible buying pub- lic in a manner that must confuse the issue for many observers and leave them with a confused notion that the strangeness of the house forms in which they are being shown is something essential to the materials em- ployed, rather than as merely incidental to them, In this way their adoption may be unduly, and unfortu- nately, restricted.

For one_ thing, no apology need be made. Outdoor life is coming more and more to form an important. part of present-day living. That fact is apparent in many of these d~signs. It appears generally in the fiat roofs; and the substitution of "roof gardens" for older fashioned "porches" is a mere reversal to oriental and even pre-Biblical times and manners. It is even older than it is "new"! It goes back to the architecture of Egypt, Persia, the "hanging gardens" of Babylon! As so often :happens, it is historically so ancient that it has once more become "new."

Of the houses illustrated, two comply with most of the recognized peculiarities of the Continental "Archi- tecture l\1oderne" in their design. These are the "l\1asonite House," by Frazier & Raftery and the "De- sign for Living," by John C. B. Moore, with Horsley & Wood, Associated.

The first-named design places four rooms upon one floor, with a hall of seemingly unnecessarily large area to serve any useful purpose. A considerable econ- omy easily might be effected by reducing its size, open-

ARMCO-FERRO ENAMEL HOUSE

Robe1·t Smith, Jr., A rc!titect

STRAN-STEEL HOUSE

O'Dell & Rowland, Architects

ing it more out into the Living Room, and so making a considerable reduction in the area, and accordingly the cost, of this design. A serving pantry between Kitchen and Dining Bay would also seem authorized in so ample a plan. The Living Room, 21x25x12 feet high, is not especially well proportioned. What appears in the perspective as a second story is merely a roofed terrace, with enclosed staircase hall carried up to that level, leaving a considerable area of open house- top for the use of the occupants. The garage is given space upon what is shown as the west (front) of the house. It would appear that the entire usefulness of the house would be bettered by orienting the front to the north. Along with most of the other houses illus- trated, no cellar is contemplated. The construction is not startlingly novel, being of wood studs covered with Masonite and plywood panels; and the exterior sug- gests the excellent possibilities of variety obtained by the use of differently toned areas on the wall surface.

The "Design for Living" house plan is rather crmvded upon the first floor and unexpectedly spa- cious upon the second. The kitchen appears too much condensed--especially as no separate china closet is provided~while the dining space is also too constricted. Upon the other hand, the irregular arrangement of the Living-Library-Dining Room possesses distinct and in- teresting possibilities.

From the model, the exterior appears to be too con- ventionally "modern" in its stylistic expression to be

BRICK HOUSE

Andrew Rebor-i, Architect

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PLANS OF NINE OF THE HOUSES SHOWN AT THE FA IR

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PENCIL POINTS FOR JUNE, 1933

very interesting as such, The plan is based upon a four-room unit, with attached garage, and the frame is of wood stud surfaced ·with large "Homasote" sheets.

"The Armco-Ferro Enamel House," designed by Robert Smith, Jr., has seven rooms of rather ordi- nary and inflexible proportions. No frame is used, but the 3 Yz" -thick walls are compounded of long box-like steel units, filled with rock wool, their Armco iron sur- faces finished with vitreous enamel. The roof is fiat, partly roofed over, and color is introduced into a few decorative panels.

The "Stran-Steel House," O'Dell and Rowland, Architects, has a fabricated steel frame, the members being made of two channels back to back. It is sur- faced by enamel finished sheet steel plates, insulated upon the outer face, and with Celotex and Sheetrock upon the interior, all nailed into place. "The estimated cost is $7900" (sic), and the house has five rooms upon one (the first) floor, with a covered and enclosed "Recreation Room" opening on the. roof terraces at the second floor level. Again the orientation of the house would seem capable of being much improved by placing it with the entrance front facing the south. Its principal rooms suggest interesting decorative treat- ments as being possible.

The "Rost~ne" House, designed by Walter Scholer, is architecturally more interesting and is also of steel frame, surfaced with a thin manufactured slab material made of limestone and shale, with bolts cast into posi- tion for attachme'nt to the steel frame. The surfaces of these slabs may be polished .-and given different colors and textures. The same material is used for parts of the walls, and for the floors on the roof ter- race and hall, Six rooms are arranged on one floor, with sun-room and hall continued to the roof story. The plan-which can hardly be regarded as an eco- nomical one-would probably work out better if re- versed and faced to the north, A much better planned Rostone house, designed by the same architect, has been built at \Vest Lafayette, Indiana.

The "General House, Inc.," Howard T. Fisher, Architect, is another design to be built of steel units, without frame, at about $3500 for a four-room, and $4000 for a five-room plan, all on one floor, with flat roof deck. The structural scheme for this house is based upon a steel chassis bolted over cement piers,

HOUSE OF TOMORROW

George Fred Keck, Architect

GENERAL HOUSE, INC.

Howm·d T. Fisher, Architect

with sectional wall portions bolted to them, as well as to the roof, with interior surfaces of finished insula- tion panels, decorated to meet the owner's desires- and tQ.e exterior wall face of pressed steel panels with interior partitions of sound-deadened insulation panels showing upon· both faces. This expresses the most mechanical of all the designs shown, both in exterior and in plan, with no pretense to or recognition of elements of either design or attractive appearance. And its plan expresses only the most ordinary pretenses toward commonplace "efficiency" to rec.ommend it.

"The American Forest Products Industries, Inc.," is one of the two houses in the group to show a sloping roof, It has five rooms, all on one floor, and why so much space is used up in interior wall thick- ness does not appear-unless wall cupboard space is thus to be provided) Otherwise the plan might be im- proved by opening into one area the space now appar- ently wasted at the right of the entrance. This plan also would seem better oriented if faced to the north. The usual wood frame is employed, surfaced outside with wide redwood boarding, and all the interior wall surfaces are made up of panels of differently selected and treated woods. Its cost is estimated at $4500 and it was designed by Ernest A. Grunsfeld, Jr.

The house erected by the Southern Cypress Manu- facturers Association, "Hetherington, Architects," is not much different-in anything except possibly the kind of wood employed-than most "log cabins," in its architectural design. The type is already weH established and known, and is both appropriate and adaptable to certain locations-usually limited to those in which the logs to be employed may be cut rno~t logically and economically from the site itself. It .1s also usual that when the log material-because of its bulk and weight in transportation-has to be brought to the site over considerable distances, both the increase in cost is considerable and the house less adapted to being appropriate upon its "site. ln such a case, the material~ypress-would undoubtedly be better adapted to its location, if used in the form of the old handsplit cypress shingle. or southern "shake," than which no other material weathers as beautifully or lasts as long, and upon which the transportation cost would be reduced to minimum weight and bulk.

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CHICAGO AND TOMORROW'S HOUSE?

SOUTHERN CYPRESS HOUSE

Hetherington, Architects

The advantages of cypress, as a material, should be familiar already to every architect. It is adapted to expression in many types of pleasing and informal architectural design, whereas the "log cabin" is much more restricted in its applicability to use as a dwelling, except as a "hunting lodge," and it can hardly appear to great advantage upon the open and treeless spaces of the "Lake 'Front" at Chicago.

<eThe 'Tropical Home," by Robert Law Weed, Archit~ct, is an exhibit prepared by the State of Florida, using: Florida materials so far as possible in its con- struction and decoration, and is so placed upon a some- what different basis than the other dwellings that have been reproduced, It is also intended to appeal to people of means, the cost being "approximated at $25,000." The plan is not available for consideration, but it is obvious that the dwelling is ample in area, the Living Room is two stories in height and .much use is made of Travertine stone, the local coral rock, colored Spanish tilework, and ironwork on stairs and balconies. The Dining Room is even partly lighted through an aquarium along one wall, and other un- usual tropical and attractive features are to be ex- hibited by the State. by_ means of this dwelling that is intended to place before wealthy visitors some of the advantages of wintering in the Florida climate,

The next two plans are intended to display the uses of one of the oldest and most usual, as against perhaps the most unconventional, of all the materials and wall treatments advocated. "The Brick House," designed by Andrew Rebori, is "estimated" at $4-500. "The House of Tomorrow," perhaps wisely, docs not under- take to enter into the realm of conjecture so far. The unnecessary height and unusual irregularity of angles indulged in by this "Brick House" plan seem especially unnecessary and undesirable in an example supposedly intended to show the place that so historic and old a material as brick may still maintain in a "modern" type of house. Both its extreme height and the many odd angles and irregularities indulged in cannot help but increase the cost of construction of this example far above the amount given, "Reinforced brick" construction-the name given to a recently re- vived treatment, involving the introduction of small steel rods in the joints between the bricks to stiffen the construction against load or pressure-is susceptible of

much merited and advantageous use once its principles have become more widely known to the profession, but it appears extremely doubtful if this example is a well advised way to display it to architect or home builder.

Tt is the intention to expose the brick construction on walls, floors and ceilings, inside and outside the structure. It has what is the equivalent of a four- room plan, with a laundry and basement upon the ground floor, and two additional stories placed above that. vVhether any possible exposure could be suited or adapted to the peculiar arrangement of the windows and blank wall spaces shown upon these plans ma~ be doubtful, but most certainly the experiment here tned, that of "facing" it to the west, is hardly successful.

"The House of Tomorrow,'' by George Fred Keck, obviously breaks so entirely with precedent, both as to form and material, that we have at least no compli- cations-such as of "adaptation to site,'' or anything of that sort, to trouble us. As in the case of the "General House," all you have to do is to look at your catalog, order House No. 13, and let it go at that, It can look no better, whichever way you face it, and in this particular example it makes no particular difference on which of its twelve "faces" you approach it.

The second-floor plan seems a trifle old-fashioned and incompatible with modern ideas. Or perhaps this is merely another good old custom that has come around to be used again. Upon this floor all traffic is apparently routed from the hall and stairway through the Living and Dining Rooms, then the Kitchen (and we have known some housewives who would object to this!) and next Bedroom (A) to_ the Bathroom. Well, . that may be the regular and accepted thing when living in glass houses-and is probably all right, so far as our own somewhat limited experience goes in the matter, we are unable to contradict it. But there is the occasional house guest also to be considered! He--or she-has also to follow the same circulatory route, and after traversing the inner, or more shadowed, end of the bathroom, he-or she-is at last able to enter his---or her-own habitat, Bed- room (B) ! And the entire process would appear also to be followed naturally, not to say inevitably, reversed, before breakfast! This economy or sim- plification of plan, we seem to remember, has also its European precedent, being very popular indeed in the times of the later Louis', as still exemplified in the plans of Versailles, the Luxembourg, and other grands maisons of the period, when-to reach some more remote bedroom its oecupant had to stroll through all the bedrooms in between-and we had ourselves al- ways regarded it as having had something to do with the rather promiscuous habits that history tells us were indulged in by these same monarchs, along with some of their Court. But perhaps we are wrong, and overly suspicious. ·It may have been that the inhabitants of these princely precincts were merely going through a course of preliminary training for their reincarnation in these coming "tomorrows"-when we may all have to reconcile ourselves to the inconveniences (or con- veniences-depending altogether upon how you may regard the matter!) of living in this kind of house.

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