How Homes Develop

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1020, 10 July 1930, Page 29

How Homes Develop

ART AND SCIENCE COMBINE

Improving House-Wife’s Lot

SUCH simple yet ingenious ideas as the dent in the bootpolish tin and the twist in hairpins made fortunes for the men clever enough to exploit them, we are told. In wordly standards there is a far greater reward for the invention of labour-saving devices for the home than for the discovery of a new star or a freak genus of moth. All the forces of science are being brought to the aid of the modern housewife and the result of the application of great minds to mundane matters, such as the washing of clothes, for instance, lias been that the lot of the housewife within 20 years has become a very much more happy one.

Cooking, washing, heating, cleaning —every household activity has been explored and the time is rapidly approaching when a woman will do her housework by reaching languidly forward and pressing certain of serried rows of buttons as she reclines gracefully on a divan, possibly nibbling at a chocolate or idly watching the blue smoke from her cigarette mounting in lazy spirals to the ceiling. Art id allied with science in making these important changes and the modern home, as well as being at the highest pitch of efficiency, is also much more attractive than the smug dwellings of half a century ago. The designer has searched through the ages and taken the best of every period. With the best of the moderns, the result has been an harmonious and attractive whole. Mass production

tioneer’s showroom, are happily gone. Rooms are no longer cluttered with occasional tables loaded with china and an agglomeration of goods that can best bo described as “nicknacks.” The interior decorator of today puts the minimum of furniture into a room,' thus giving an impression of freedom and space. FOR SHINGLED MODERNS The furniture is changing in design very rapidly. Last year, manufacturers were searching back for'ideas from the period designers, and some attractive suites were the result. The shingled moderns, however —or some of them, at least—are calling for something enl rely new, and there have been sor ie extraordinary pieces produced. A Parisian manufacturer experimented with suites made of steel, but none of his work has found its way to Auckland. The most striking pieces the writer lias seen were designed by the Australian, Branchflower. and it is possible that the influence of his worjk will he apparent in' the i

has brought the best to the reach of most people and one can confidently assert that the day of the ugly home Is past. Taking the departments of the home, one by one, it is possible to see what art and science have done for the housewife. First there is the house itself. Architecture demands the application of both art and science. The stamp of good architecture is not as well defined as it might be in New Zealand; that is, as far as houses are concerned. That is not the fault of the architects, but it is a natural result of a man wanting to build his house for the absolute minimum of cost. He sketches out some idea of what he wants and leaves the elaboration to the builder. It does not occur to him that, in many cases, an architect can save his client more than his fee. In England and the United States, architectural services have been established to cater for the home builder and the result is most satisfactory. BUILDING MATERIAL The house may bo built of hollow bricks, a reinforced plaster board, kiln-dried timber or some other mate rial for which the builder must return thanks to scientists. The walls are sprayed with a patent paint, and incorporated in the construction, are a thousand and one ideas that were unthought of a few years ago. The shell of the house being built, science stocks it with the laboursaving devices that mean so much to t-he modern housewife. In the washhouse, there may be an electric washing machine —no more furious rubbing of clothes on a corrugated board. The copper may be heated by gas or electricity. An incinerator disposes of the family rubbish and provides a cheap hot-water system which may or may not be supplemented by a further service. Electric or gas ovens, many of them self-regulating, have replaced the black-leaded stove and the kitchen is a cool room in white tiles and a floor of prepared rubber or some other similar material that never requires scrubbing. The refrigerator stands in a corner while electric toasters and even a dish and glass washing machine help to make the kitchen efficient. Changes in other rooms in the house show clearly the part played by art although the hand of science is seen in entertainment by radio and gramophone. Development in wallpaper designs are particularly striking. Qone are the steretotyped designs of tlxe intricate geometrical type and the flowers wound stiffly round lattice. It is the wallpaper now that decides the character of a room. Whole sets of designs may be the chief factor in an Arab room, a Chinese room, and many other unusual effects. Panels in rich colours are popular, and. for light chintzy bedrooms, floral sprays superimposed on a pastel-shaded base are most attractive. The history of the growth of the wallpaper industry from the pre-Christian era to the present day is intensely interesting, but never have there been more original and charming effects than the English designers are now producing. The days of the best parlour, crammed with furniture like an auc-

latest designs here. Branch flower's furniture is austere, yet comfortable. Although the householder may well consider himself fortunate in the arvantages art and science have brought him, there are many more domestic improvements to be made, and in half a century the homes of today will be very much out of date. One of the most striking ideas that may yet be introduced to New Zealand is the "sun house,” that rotates on a pivot so that the rooms iu use by the occu piers are always facing the sun, or. in particularly hot weather, can always be in the shade. As we visit this house of the future, eacli door will swing open as we place our feet on the mat outside it. Inside the front door two whirring brushes will whisk the mud from our shoes. A robot will relieve us of our hat and. coat, at the same time making some pleasant speech of welcome. Of course, there may be disadvantages. We may find our hostess in tears because the mechanical cook robot has a choked feed, and there can be no dinner. No state of domestic organisation can be guaranteed as free from defect, but it is quite certain that the next few decades will see even greater strides made in the invention of labour-saving devices for the home. Art is always at the householder’s hand. Changes in house design and interior decoration are frequent, but as the housewife’s duties run more smoothly, so, we may safely assume, the home will be made more attfactive in all ways.