DUTCH AND SWEDISH HOMES

Evening Star, Issue 21092, 3 May 1932, Page 2

DUTCH AND SWEDISH HOMES

SIMILAR DESIGNS FOR NEW ZEALAND OPINIONS OF EXPERIENCED ARCHITECT Tlio view that the domestic architecture of Holland and Sweden might well be adapted to the needs of New Zealand was advanced by Mr Keith Cook, A.N.Z.1.A., of Lower Hutt, who returned recently from a visit to the Old Country and to the Continent. While in London Mr Cook studied architectural design under Mr Hector Corfiats at the University of London,' and also passed the final examination of the lloyal Institute of British Arehi-

tects. Ho spent some time travelling on the Continent, and the architecture of Holland and Sweden greatly impressed him. In Holland, ho stated, middle class people arc living to a groat extent in two, three, and four-family houses designed ns one large house rather than several houses joined together, each entrance having a certain individual character. The small onefamily house as wo know it in New Zealand seldom was seen on the Continent, he remarked, except out in the country or in some of the wealthier suburbs, such as Wasscnaar, near The Hague, -where Mr Cook saw many beautiful homes. “It was in Gothonberg, Sweden, no said, “ that I first noticed any extensive use of timber facing, and hero whole rows of bouses were very attractively treated with two upper stories boarded vertically over a ground floor of brick or stone. This is a treatment which might well form an interesting variation to the weather boards generally used in New Zealand. Northern Europe is far from being backward in architectural development. Stockholm possesses fine housing schemes and much very beautiful brickwork. Indeed, the famous City Hall is a perfect marvel of craftsmanship, and to mo the most fascinating modern building in Europe. Copenhagen is about to present the world with something

quiet novel in the use of building material. An enormous commercial block is now being constructed in reinforced concrete, the exterior of which will be entirely faced with sheet copper without any ornament whatever. Fortunately, copper quickly weathers there to a beautiful green, so that a pleasant natural colour effect will bo ol mined as a foil to the almost stark plainness of the design. The treatment of shop fronts lias lately been given much study by Continental architects, and many fine examples have been produced. Paris, I think, loads the way, though very attractive shops also appear in The Hague, Amsterdam, and Nice, while even in Home one sometimes stumbles unexpectedly on a very modern shop front, perhaps cut into the ground floor of a fine old Renaissance town house. More and more metal work is being used, the tendency being to reduce rather than increase the proportion of plate glass. One very attractive design, a Parisian shoo store, is treated

very simply with polished copper and aluminium sheets heavily studded, a single long, narrow opening giving all tho required display space. Great care is given to the placing of advertise- , meats and tho shopkeepers’ names so that they form an integral part of tho scheme, and do not seem thrown on as an after-thought. The letters used are often in metal, thin and very deep, generally brightly painted, while wonderful ingenuity has beeen displayed in the actual signwriting and in the disposition of Neon signs, which are greatly favoured.” Mr Cook was greatly struck with the enormous amount of work that has been done in Germany since tho war. Great housing colonies have sprung up everywhere, particularly in and near Berlin, where they form almost a complete chain round the outskirts of tho city. No half-measures have been tolerated in the removal of slum areas. “ The style of architecture used,” he said, “ is the simplest possible, plain white plaster surfaces predominating, with ample glass area to admit the sunlight, which the Germans worship. There is practically no ornament, but relief is obtained by tho extensive use of balconies and flower boxes. Very Often these apartment buildings are cleverly grouped round one or more largo garden courtyards, screened firm the road and used as playgrounds ter tho children. Workmen and their families have been similarly housed in Vienna, and to some extent in Holland, Hough hero brickwork is preferred to concrete, giving greater scope for Hie Dutch craftsman to display Ids genius. Amsterdam boasts what is practically a new city, almost entirely in brick, relieved here and there with stonework.”