HOUSE PLANNING

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21512, 29 June 1935, Page 9

HOUSE PLANNING

♦ ADDRESS BY MR HUGH HAMILTON The modern styles of domestic architecture which have been evolved to meet modern ideas and requirements were explained and illustrated in an address given by Mr Hugh Hamilton at the meeting of the Home Economics Association, held in the Navy League Hall last night. The world, said Mr Hamilton, was entering an era of revolutionary changes in styles of house planning, owing largely to the irire or less new desire to have sunshine admitted right into the interior of the home, together with the increasing need for economy of space and the need for rearrangement owing to the increasing use of labour-saving devices. Architects had in recent years made a break from what for more than a quarter of a century had been regarded as fundamental ideas in house planning. It was no longer considered essential to have the main entrance to the house facing the street. The main entrance and the more important rooms, (hose which in the old house were called the "front" rooms, were now arranged according to aspect, and not according to convention. In modern houses the windows were no longer small and heavily curUyned. In fact, many glassed-in verandahs and balconies to-day had windows reaching from ceiling to floor. On the Continent, to a lesser extent in Britain, and even in New Zealand, horizontal lines were becoming popular in windows, doors, and balconies, while flat roofs were becoming almost the rule rather than the exception. The depression had forced many people into becoming flat-dwellers, a mode of living which did not appeal to Mr Hamilton, chiefly because of lack of privacy and of real home life. The speaker was confident, however, that the craze for flats would be shortlived. It was the work of the architect to make practical so far as possible the idealistic wishes of the housewife, who often asked impossibilities of the builder. The keen co-operation among the women, architects, builders and manufacturers had produced the modern house, which, although perhaps not perfect, suited modern requirements. Changes were being made so rapidly, however, that the ideal home could not be said to exist. The distinct styles of domestic architecture which had been evolved to meet the peculiar requirements of the climatic conditions and the national characteristics of New Zealand, Australia, England, America and Europe were illustrated by means of lantern slides.