“STANDARDISED HOUSES”

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 12869, 23 May 1936, Page 4

“STANDARDISED HOUSES”

AN ARCHITECT’S CRITICISM 1 ''* •‘ - • I “Ifouscs. cannot- be built like automobiles’. Essential social and spirit- -’ iial values are hot machine products, but arc those of' the architect,” declares' Mr. Arthur T. North in “The American Architect.” “As a result of mass-production obsession, influenced possibly by the W-'called ‘interntional’ style in architecture, some architects have'strayed from .tho path of common sense; a matter, perhaps to be eXpcctrd during: these ties of great changes, read justmenif and emotional stress.”

In criticism of the attempts to proneed standardised dwelling houses by maohme-rhadq mass-production methods Mr. North remarks that a common" weakness in the. manufeturer’s approach is the natural desire to utilise tho maximum quantity of materials produced by the sponsoring concern, regardless of their fitness. Amv design or scheme promoted for the primary purpose of promoting the maximum use of any one material or proprietary article, regardless of its physical characteristics is doomed to failure. The designer, having no choice-, is handicapped before be starts. Notwithstanding that particular group of cognoscenti that aims to eradicate the “tailor-made” structure and the “architect-tailor,” the production of dwellings is- a job for the experienced and capable architect alone. The engineers’ concept of a .mm-aesthetic shelter manufactured according to diagram and schedule <-,f catalogued products is incomplete.

Any approach to this problem that fails t<» recognise the true functions of 1 the architect, that discards the jealously gu aided prerogatives o: labour and; the natural allocation of work to long cstablshed trades, or that forgets that bankers lend money only on saleable properties (which seldom include radical departures from accustomed forms) is as futile as the hopeful dream of the reformer who seeks to creatcj in a lifetime a Utopia, in this imperfect world. It is generally agreed that the production of the better and. less costly house involves a quite radical departure from the present-day buildings methods, in which the use of new materials' and new uses or old materials may he an important factor. S’milarly it is recognised that- good architectural design should reflect the materials and method of a, construction. This does not signify, however, that a radical departure must he mad:- in the plan arrangement and the appearance of the house.