STATE HOUSING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23146, 19 September 1938, Page 14

STATE HOUSING

Sir, —Is it not time that the Government instituted some Garden City ideal into the housing schemes? There is a unique opportunity for bringing into being some approach to the harmonious unit which is the fundamental underlying this form of development. Observing the scattered groups ot dwellings springing lip all" over thf place and the conventional and unimaginative type of design, I cannot help deploring the perpetuation of mediocre conceptions.

Twenty years ago or more, the Garden City was an established fact in England and anyone wLo grasped the cultural value and the charm of this form of development would deplore the stolid conventionality of our schemes. A chosen group of architect 1 could plan delightful suburbs where beauty of lay-out in trees and shrubs, variety in design and unity in conception were the fundamental notes Blocks of two-storev flats could be erect-ed round a square; semi-detached dwellings also grouped in appropriate lay-outs, for the. economy needed tr supply accommodation at low rental The idea of adding a small charge pei tenant, in the rent, for the general up keep and protection is a good plan too. No such suburb looks what it mighi if the gardens are neglected. Such Garden City development has a cultural value and it also recognises the place of the artist in the community. We send our artists abroad instead ol utilising them to bring joy and beauty into our midst. We are not all artists nor can we all conceive the infinite possibilities that their ta!int» could bring into being, but at least we should realise that life is drab enough without conforming our homes to a drab mono tonv. Beauty Lover.