HOUSING TRENDS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 162, 8 June 1940, Page 10

HOUSING TRENDS

MODERN REQUIREMENTS. ARCHITECTURAL CHANGES. The Alanawatu branch of the Royal Society -was treated to an address ot topical interest, last evening, when Mr C. Firth, of Wellington, a member ol the staff of the, Stare Housing Department, ■ delivered a on “Architecture of the Future.” Using film slides, Mr Firth illustrated the present trends overseas and ,in the Dominion. ’ ./•. Declaring that a house was, in effect, a biological institution, Mr Firth claimed that there were certain irreducible standards aimed at. These included a residence . for each family, givrng a. living room, a laundry, a > bedroom for each person, windows , opening to gardens and . lawns, the] locality within easy access of shops j and schools and within 20 minutes]., of work. There should be a bath, and, there must be sufficient playing rooms. , In New 'Zealand there were large j areas covered / with flimsy, squalid shacks, with an insufficiency of air and not enough playing space for children, inadequate sun for each room, and in | too close proximity to other buildings, i Such an example was to be found on Te Aro Flats, Wellington. It was re-, markable how few of. these houses had the ordinary suburban conveniences. 1 One in twenty had a bath, and some of the buildings must be 70 or 80 ( years old. In our ordinary suburban development privacy was more imaginary than real, windows of neighbouring dwellings frequently being within Bft of eacli other. It was not uncommon for houses on 50ft sections to be jambed against each other, and located on main traffic streets, with their accompaniments of noise and dirt. EUROPEAN METHODS.

In Europe, said Air Firth, progress had been established after the Great War. Over a period of ten years Vienna had built 60,000 apartments, the rent torxa three-roomed dwelling being in the vicinity of Is 6d a week, including housing tax. One building had a streetfrontage of over half a mile and housed 5000 persons in 1400 flats. Baths were not provided, hut! there were large central bathing facilities and a laundry. There would probably be a dental clinic, maternity clinic, and post office, and, of course, there were lawns and gardens. The average floor space was only about 300 or 400 square feet, as against an average of 850 square feet in New Zealand. German housing was not particularly cheap," hut a rational attitude had been adapted to the problem. Between 1926 and 1932 an amount of £250.000 was lent at 1 per centfor building purposes; rents were high —about a third of the worker’s income. Dwellings were usually arranged in long rows of four storeys each, balconies being common. Every flat had the sun all day, and windows provided a view in two directions.

The basis of English rehousing was the small house, resting on the belief (for which there was much to be said) that the- detached house was the most satisfactory type. However, typical plans did not disclose any particular attention to orientation with respect to main road traffic. Generally provision was made for twelve houses to the acre, as against eight in New Zealand. English standards of space and persons per room were superior to the Continental, hut generally inferior in regard to outlook. DOMINION SITUATION. The primary problem in New Zealand was an adequate supply of good houses, remarked Air Firth, who pointed out the fact that there was a shortage of good tradesmen. If men were imported, the eventual difficulty of employment arose. Were rationalisation to be attempted, this would mean reorganising the whole industry and subdividing various branches. Another avenue remained (and was being followed up)—that of building more houses each year than were actually needed; however, conditions had now caused this to be changed. The chief Palmerston North unit constituted a considerable advance in design so far as the Dominion was concerned, though, admittedly, there were grounds for criticism. However, stress had been laid on the neighbourhood unit principle. Criticism that the houses were too small should he accepted with reserve, for the average floor space was 1050 square feet, as against 550 at Home. The internal provisions on the whole were good. Fifteen per cent, had four bedrooms, though admittedly some were small. FUTURE DESIGNS. Air Firth said' it could be assumed that Government houses would set the standard for the future, .and this would probably be conservative. The timber supply would not last for ever and it was likely that a change would be made to concrete, while the chief designs would probably lie between flats and cottages. It was very doubtful whether families with small children should have to live in flats, and it was likely they would be accommodated in the other (and complementary) type of residence. All houses should, in the speaker’s opinion, be erected off main traffic streets. Alodern architecture was not a style in the sense that Gothic and Romanesque were styles; it was, in. effect, an attitude of mind, and whether it was intrinsically new did not really matter. Future architecture should he governed by human needs and approached with a' free and open mind. At the conclusion of Afr Firth’s address a brief discussion followed. The president (Air S. J. Bennett) introduced Mr Firth, and at the. conclusion of .the address conveyed the branch’s thanks to him.