GEORGE NELSON

HENRY WRIGHT

CONSULTANT EDITOR ARCHITECTURAL FORUM

MANAGING EDITOR ARCHITECTURAL FORUM

OMORROW'S
HOUS
A COMPLETE GUIDE
FOR THE HOME-BUILDER

SIMON AND SCHUSTER

NEW YORK

1945

SECOND PR
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF REPRODUCTION
IN

WHOLE OR

IN PART IN

SIMON AND SCHUSTER,

INC.,

ANY FORM. COPYRIGHT,

1945,

BY GEORGE NELSON AND HENRY WRIGHT. PUBLISHED BY

ROCKEFELLER CENTER, 1230 SIXTH AVENUE,

NEW YORK

20, N. Y.

MANUFACTURED

IN THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE HADDON CRAFTSMEN, SCRANTON, PA. AND WESTCOTT AND THOMSON, PHILA., PA.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One. THE GREAT TRADITION
Chapter Two. HOME Is WHERE You HANG

YOUR

ARCHITECT
How TO PLAN A LIVING-ROOM

10

Chapter Three.

16

PICTURE SECTION: LIVING-ROOMS

Chapter Four. WHERE SHALL
Chapter Five. LIGHTING

23-38

WE EAT?

39

44

PICTURE SECTION: DINING

AND ENTER-

TAINMENT

55-70

Chapter Six. THE WORK CENTER

Chapter Seven. THE ROOM WITHOUT A
Chapter Eight. HEATING

PICTURE SECTION: KITCHENS

71

NAME

76
81

AND BATHS

87-102

Chapter Nine. BATHROOMS ARE OUT OF DATE

Chapter Ten. MANUFACTURING CLIMATE
Chapter Eleven. SLEEPING

PICTURE SECTION: BEDROOMS

CLOSETS

103
1

10

14

AND
119-134

Chapter Twelve. ORGANIZED STORAGE

Chapter Thirteen. SOUND CONDITIONING

135
143

PICTURE SECTION: WINDOWS

151-166

Chapter Fourteen. WINDOWS

Chapter Fifteen. SOLAR HEATING
Chapter Sixteen. PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

PICTURE SECTION: EXTERIORS

167
176

180

183-198

How TO GET YOUR HOUSE

Remodel the One You Have)

Chapter Seventeen.
(or

199
205

Chapter Eighteen. PROJECTIONS

Architects

This

and Designers Whose Work Appears in

Book

Photographers

211

Whose

Pictures

Appear

in This

Book

214

FORE W O R D

HOWARD MYERS

BY

PUBLISHER OF

ARCHITECTURAL FORUM
THIS
it

NOT

is

be the

the

last.

first

But

book about tomorrow's house. Nor

This book challenges not most, but

nostalgia on the domestic
ner,

it is

most

likely to be the

it is

going to disturb

of the sweet-scented

all

scene. Despite

many

its

persuasive

who keep

readers

in the latest refrigerator, drive to business in the

but persist in thinking that a Cape

Cod

will

influential.

man-

their

milk

newest car,

cottage remains the

snappiest idea in a home.

The

advanced

thesis here

going great changes and that

here. If

we

is

that our

many

accept that statement,

way of

life is

under-

of the changes are already

and

it

would seem

difficult

follows that

we should not

let

the past stand in the

way of getting

the best house present-

not

to,

it

sentimental

day technology and design can produce. The notion

contemporary approach to design involves

flat

ties

with

that the

roofs

corner windows and the exclusion of rambler roses

is

and
one

kind of nonsense this book aims to expose. Perhaps the

greatest virtue of

tomorrow's house

and therefore the family

is

that

it

frees the plan

from the arbitrary concepts which

have gotten in the way of gracious living these many years.

Whether the talk is about windows or solar heat (of which

you are hearing a

lot now) or the living room, the authors

have simplified their problems and yours by starting clean.

They toss out completely the little partitioned cubicles called

rooms and examine what goes on in a typical household
in short,

how we

live

and how we want to

tablished the ground rules, the

exactly

how

live. Having esbook then proceeds to explain

which

will

permit us

And

this

seems the

to get the kind of house

to live the kind of

life

ago said: "We

our lives!"

we wish

to live.

Mr. Winston Churchill who not long

shape our buildings, then our buildings shape

right place to quote

build or
greatest
it

seeing

book

this

hope

will

be read by

all

those

who

will

buy a postwar house. Obviously, they

beneficiaries. But also, I have a special
read by those

who make

plan to

be

its

interest in

building their business.

Every mortgage banker should read it to make certain the

houses he finances will retain high resale value ten, fifteen,
twenty years from now. Every house builder should read it
if he aspires to greater success than his smug competitor.

Every

new

real estate

man

should read

it

because

note of conviction to his plea for

the right house.

stiffen his

And

every architect should read

backbone when he

tells

can add a

it

home ownership

the client,

it if

of

only to

"You cannot

walk backwards into the future!"

must confess to a prejudice in favor of the auAs one of their co-workers for nearly a decade. I have

Finally,
thors.

had abundant opportunity to observe how they think. Not

only do they think regularly, but as a rule they think straight.
Also, they have a persistent curiosity supported by professional training

Add to

and

skill

which gives a basis to

their opinions.

these personal qualities the job of conducting a build-

ing journal

more house plans than

and Messrs. Nelson and Wright ap-

they have bored into

any termites on earth

pear well equipped to handle the pages which follow.

In the

first

paragraph the opinion was ventured that

book on postwar houses. In

book attempts to do is convince you that

would be the most

essence what this

instead of "keeping
fying

and

this

influential

up with the Joneses,"

it is

more

profitable to be the "Joneses" under

roof. If that prospect tempts you, here

is

the key.

your

satis-

own

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FEW

BOOKS, and certainly no books of this type, appear

without the silent but indispensable collaboration of many

To

people.

we

these

gratefully

acknowledge our consider-

able debt.

The

fact that

most of the words are

spelled correctly is

due to Eleanor Bittermann, Joanna Hadala and Rosamond

Temple, who typed and retyped what seems in retrospect to
have been an endlessly revised series of manuscripts.
The task of assembling photographs was carried through

by Miss Henry Martin, who may also be held responsible

for any errors in the lists of architects and photographers.

That the pictures have been organized into a coherent group

of illustrations is due to Paul Grotz, who designed the picture sections. It probably

would have been impossible to

have included even a fraction of the photographs if not for

the pioneering work of The Architectural Forum in seeking
out and publishing the best modern houses in America. The
authors are grateful to both The Forum and Life for permission to

show houses and

projects previously published in

these magazines.

To

the rapidly expanding group of

modern U.S.

architects

should go the bulk of the credit, since without their work

there might have been theories to

demonstrate their

The

expound but no houses

to

validity.

institution of

matrimony exerted a very potent

influ-

ence on the thinking of both authors in addition to the specific

contributions

Wright,

who

made by Frances Nelson and Dorothy

carried through

most of the research, deflated

exaggerated ideas, corrected certain masculine misconceptions about the business of running a house,

and edited the

manuscript.

We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the photographers whose

are listed

work appears

on page

photographs.

in this volume. Their

214, together with the

names

numbers of

their

TOMORROW'S HOUSE

THE GREAT TRADITION

which was

in a tradition

full

of meaning for the

architects

and manufacturers, and by our own

people of the time. They didn't play games and pre-

ability to think for ourselves, that

tend they were living in some entirely different

come would be a minor miracle.

Suppose the men who built the cathedral

Chartres had tried to pretend it was a Greek

temple?

over the

We suspect they wouldn't. Why is

viduality against regimentation. Individuality in

Would people come from

world to see it?

all

charming and the current

"Colonial" subdivision so boring? Could it be be-

an old Colonial

cause one

Dam

village so

honest and the other a fake? Boulder

is

aroused more genuine esthetic emotion than

the churches in America put together.

all

And

yet

church buildings are designed specifically to arouse

emotion and Boulder

back a

lot

Dam

hold

whether at the present or

tradition in architecture

is

is

the same.

The

honest building.

great

It is

as

now as it was in the days of the Pyramids.

have included only modern houses

book because
carry

built only to

on the

in our time they are the only

great tradition. There

is

no

in this

way

to

possible

is

houses, as in people,

something

is

a fundamental expression of

has nothing to do with fashion.

real. It

Surface differences (clapboards

on mine)

shingles

on your house

are of no importance.

dress like all other

men and

still

be very

A man can
much of an

individual.

So with houses. Where families are

alike, their

houses will be alike

be.

the answer

the remote past

We

was

of water.

Wherever we look

true right

any other out-

an argument for the traditional approach to house design, for an expression in homes
of modern life as we live it. It is also a plea for indi-

period.
at

This book

in-

Where they

this, too, is

as

differ,

it

and they should

the houses will show it and

should be. Individuality

is

to building expresses

as

life

no

expression there can be

it is

today.

And without

individuality.

The proc-

not easy. Having

of achieving individuality
designed many houses, we have learned
ess

it is

possible

a modern house because no other approach

only in

is

worth working

that.

But

for.

chance to turn the clock back. In designing houses

today

we have

to be ourselves

people with our

own problems and our own

nical facilities. There is

house.

No

other

twentieth century

way

at

no other way

a good

to get

few years people start building this

new kind of house because they know what they
If in the next

will

probably do

well.

"modern" because they have

been persuaded it is the thing to do the way to be

But

like

if

they turn to

everybody

else

then inevitably the results will

be as bad as what went before. The unsightly rash

of

earlier "styles"

will

have in the

last

we continue

better, of

it is

Our

Its exterior

and

covering

ceilings are

is

sheet steel; inside,

is

walls

padded with acres of fluffy, white,

glass wool. This plant manufactures its

mate, which

its

excellent;

artificial light to

work

it

own

cli-

provides wonderful

by, for there are

no win-

dows; the padded walls keep noises down to a

level which is not unduly disturbing. Viewed from

"mod-

seen on this earth before. Its design has no "style."

we

a safe

guess that the "modernistic" will greatly outnum-

ber the honestly designed houses.

is

is

inside or out, this plant looks like nothing ever

to function as

twenty or thirty years,

an airplane factory
almost a mile long and a city block wide.

in the Southwest there

cities

which has deformed our

be succeeded by another, no

ernistic" houses. If

Out

which

all.

need and want and why, they

THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH

tech-

tastes

have

been so degraded by builders and incompetent

Anyone who looks

expert,

is

lost in

it,

whether layman or

admiration of

beautifully efficient

its

appearance.

great size

The

and

designers,

worry about the factory's looks;

it with an honest concern for what

however, didn't
they just built

at

THE GREAT TRADITION

it

was supposed to do. This was the

traditional

approach applied to factory building. This

we have to design our houses.

"What!" someone

says.

is

"Do you mean

is

bomber plant

exactly

That

steel

consumer product in this country has always

moved from handicraft production to industrial

what we do not mean. The

exciting architecture because

is

looks like a factory.

it

How exciting do

you suppose
a house would be if it were faked to look like a factory?

And why should

living in factory-produced houses.

how

houses without windows, padded inside with glass

wool?" That

some day be

houses be windowless?

As

true. It

is

has to be true, because every other

production, and there

is

no

technical reason

why

houses should be the exception. There are social

and psychological reasons against

it,

as

we have

seen, chiefly the fear of losing the illusion of se-

and

curity

respectability attached to the older

But

models.

attitude

this

is

already changing.

long as people want to enjoy views and have the

Many people fear that machine production

sun pour

in,

houses are going to have windows.

move from the house some quality we should try to

And

we

are inclined to believe,

going to be

Maybe. Maybe there were values in the custom-made suit which do not exist in the readymade article, but it would be hard to persuade the

that,

is

for a long, long time.

A house designed on the basis of the traditional

will re-

keep.

man to go back to the custom tailor. There

approach will look exactly like a house, in fact it

will look so much like a house that many people

average

be surprised when they see it. True, it will lack

many of the earmarks of the conventional dwell-

house should be inferior to the hand-made house.

will

ing,

but what of

holders any

it?

more

Automobiles don't have whip

is

no moral or

A tool

is

esthetic reason

tool,

and whether

it is

worked out of

doors by hand or in a large plant by

does not change

either.

why the factory-built

its

function. It

is

electric

power

as unreasonable

to fear the prospect of the factory-built house as

it is

TOMORROW'S HOUSE

to resent the replacement of the stone knife

by the cross-cut saw.

unattractive, inefficient build-

We are not seriously concerned in this book with

ing. Anyone can understand this by looking around

and asking why people designed their houses the

such factory-made houses because at this time their

Today's house

is

an

way they did. We believe that people want better

homes than they have today, and we believe, too,

many of them are learning how to get them.

That is why we named this book Tomorrow's
that

House. But a

title like this

can be misleading.

We are not interested in houses of non-

existent materials, houses that

can be flown from

here to there, houses that substitute fancy electronic

gadgetry for sensible planning.

We are interested in

houses that people can build and

live in

now

not

in the year 2000.

A
8

while back

and we

said that

in

Having spent a number of years watching the

development of modern houses in this country and
abroad, and having had the opportunity to ex-

modern

most people would

we have

up the thesis that

provides the underlying framework of this book.
It is
ties

architects,

built

a simple idea, but it has interesting possibilione were to take the best planning ideas, the

if

best structural schemes,

and the

best

equipment
that have gone into the best modern houses, and
combine them appropriately in a single house, the
result

we

all

is still

change ideas with most of America's outstanding

For years the crystal-gazers have been telling us

what tomorrow's house will be like. We have no
crystal ball.

an extremely primitive state,

want our better homes right now.

manufacture

after

would look

like

something out of the day

tomorrow. In other words, we have at hand

THE GREAT TRADITION

now

right

the

means

to create

homes of designs so

advanced that they would be able to meet every

quirement of contemporary

re-

of tossing

all

the best things into a hat

and pulling out the perfect house. Things don't

happen that way. Tomorrow's house as we see
it is

not a potpourri but an integrated, highly indi-

vidual expression of

And

ily lives.

knows what
victions.

to get that

twentieth-century fam-

you need a family

that

The statement of our

worth

his salt.

no oversupply of

thesis

BOOK

should help to explain

the organization of the material in the book.

You

no stock plans here, no catalogues of

no orations on good taste. You will run

many detailed solutions for general probbut much more about how to solve your own.

across

The photographs and drawings were not put

be copied, although

find a

good idea suitable

requirements, by all means take it.
be far more useful, however, if they are
if

you

will

studied for what they achieve,

how

in to

own

for your

and analyzed

to find

they got that way.

Anyone who

terest in

this

come

materials

and gadgets, things which

make tomorrow's house a revolutionary

many

book

conscious of the tremendous in-

is

new

promise to
affair in

immediate future holds

way of epoch-

in the

little

making developments that will have any significant

influence on home design. This does not mean that
important changes are not in the offing

in the

ways. If this

detailed

is

what you expect of

specifications

of things to

be sadly disappointed. There is

you
very little here about miraculous things to come,
will

vitally affect to-

morrow's house; they are for the day

And

at the earliest.

as trends today,

it

will

after to-

interesting as they are

be years before they have

home builder.
any practical meaning
Wherever possible, the "functional" approach
has been used, not because this is the be-all and
for the

end-all of house design, but because

way

to begin.

You

will

it is

a good

not find a chapter on bed-

rooms, for example, but a great deal about sleeping. If

people are going to sleep,

matter whether they do

room

it

it

much

doesn't

on the couch in the living

or on a bed in the bedroom; in both places

the requirements are exactly the same.

as a surprise that certain

It

may come

rooms have been so

dealt

with that they have turned into completely different

kinds of rooms.

has followed articles on houses in

the popular magazines and has watched recent ad-

vertisements

forced to the conclusion that the

of many. These, however, will not

is

THIS

They

we were

dustry,

morrow

"styles,"

utilizing every

possible contact with specialists in the building in-

also need an architect

either.

will find

down

chapter called "Projections" there are indications

Both are to be found, but there

lems,

promising announcements, and by

needs and has the courage of its con-

it

You

how a

change the baby's diapers, is not due

to a lack of interest on our part. But in combing
will

through the technical papers, in tracking

living.

Mind you, we don't expect anyone to go through

this process

ment that

In place of the conventional

ter,"

we

you the "work cenwhich is not merely a new label but a new kind

kitchen, for instance,

give

of interior. Perhaps you won't like

all right

with us.

It is definitely

it.

If so, that is

not the purpose of

book to dictate a new gospel of house planning.

has been enough of a job to explore some of the

this
It

myriad possibilities offered by contemporary living

habits and industrial techniques and to show some
of the ways they can be used to

but a great deal about miraculous things that have

more

been with us for some time. The relative absence of

in this objective

glamorous descriptions of new wonder plastics,

light metals yet to be named, and electronic equip-

will find the

make houses better,

attractive places to live. If

(and

who

is

you are

not?),

we

interested

think you

book provocative and, we hope,

and convincing.

useful

TWO

CHAPTER

HOME IS WHERE YOU

HANG YOUR ARCHITECT
THIS

NOT a true

story, but

might just as well be.

Once upon a time there was a Man who decided
that he would build a house for his family and himself.

is

it

Before calling in the architect he had selected,

he himself started to work out a plan for the house,

because, he reasoned, he knew more about his fam-

and how

ily

it

functioned and what

and what

what

it

what

their friends didn't like,

didn't like

it

it

liked

and

could afford and

than anybody

else.

books, because the

When

"No,"

masculine comforts in-

cluded. There was, for instance, a place for his favorite leather chair,

And

which was well worn and com-

was a good floor lamp with a

bright bulb arranged so that one could read without shifting around in the chair, moving the lamp,

fortable.

there

and otherwise wasting a great deal of time and

comfort.

Within arm's reach on one side was the radio.

On the other there was a smoking stand with room

for magazines, a couple of books, a jar of tobacco,

and four or

One
10

five pipes.

side of the

room was

to be lined with

And

said, "is the

Isn't

it

Man

there

showed

like the extra

it

to

wonderful? Look."

a living-room.

bedroom

it

plan of the living-

said his wife, "it isn't wonderful at

fact, I'd hardly call

"Now,

many

was done, the

he

room in our new house.

the kitchen.

probably, with as

the plan

his wife. "This"

that

His plan for the living-room was really pretty

liked to read.

was even a cabinet which when opened up would

turn into the most ingenious bar imaginable.

He began with the living-room, because, after all,

he only slept in the bedroom and never went into

wonderful. There had been very few living-rooms,

Man

upstairs that

It

all.

In

looks more

you wanted so

you could have a quiet place."

"Why, what do you mean?" sputtered the Man.

"A

look"

living-room," interrupted his wife

icily,

"is

called a living-room because other people in the

HOME
family will have to live in

ratty

come

it

besides you.

When my

what good will that

old leather chair of yours do them? And I'm

friends

not sure

in for bridge,

I will

even allow that in our new house,

IS

WHERE YOU HANG YOUR ARCHITECT

eighteenth century French andirons.
front of the fireplace there
table with a sofa
sofa* there

on each

was a high

And

right in

was an antique
side.

coffee

Then behind one

table with

a pair of very

anyway. Don't forget that I am chairman of two

committees, one of which has sixteen members, and

handsome Chinese lamps on it."

At this point their daughter, who had walked

when they come to the house, as they will have to

do at least once a month, I must have room for
them. And if we have tea we are going to need

on the discussion a few minutes

tables. Besides,

what

a decent living-room

will

people think

we have this

if

instead of

smoke-filled den

you seem bent on acquiring!"

"Well,

maybe you have a point

there," said the

who always ended up by agreeing his wife

had a point there. "What had we better do? I've
wanted a decent place to read, you know, for quite
a long time, and this seemed like a good chance to
husband,

get

it.

You're not going to spoil

my

corner, are

earlier

denced mounting indignation, burst

and had

evi-

in.

"I never heard anything so ridiculous in

life! Isn't

in

all

my

there going to be any place in this house

where your children can carry on a normal social

life? Why, anybody would think you didn't have
any children or didn't care about them.
you build us a separate house?"

Man

The

and

his wife,

Why don't

having weathered these

outbursts for a good part of the last sixteen years,

regarded their daughter with their usual mixture of

affection

and

perplexity, tacitly dropping their

own

argument to join forces against the forthcoming

you?"
"Certainly not," said the wife,

who was much

attack.

"A

more cheerful now that matters were obviously under control and moving in the right direction. "Of

dignantly, "is a place

course not. After a long, hard day at the office you

isn't it?

need a nice place where you can read in comfort.

rate interior decorator's

But about the living-room. I saw the most attractive picture in House and Home last month. It had

house?

a charming fireplace with some really stunning

living-room," continued their daughter in-

where the family should live,

Why do you have to dress it up like a third-

Do

you have to

dream of
clutter

life

in a pent-

the

room with

up
and those two Chinese lamps? I
know what you're talking about. We saw it in

that heavy table

O~

wra
II

HOME

IS

WHERE YOU HANG YOUR ARCHITECT

Roan's window when we were downtown day before yesterday.

move

Now,

that out of the

ask you

way

if

How

do we ever

we're having a party

and someone wants to dance? And with

those* two

how would

chi-chi sofas so close to the fireplace,

anybody ever get in there to make popcorn or toast

marshmallows? What's more, if a girl wanted to
entertain

somebody

just

one person,

mean

would have about as much privacy as a

she
."

the three suddenly realized that this

difficult factor

of

all

three music-loving

John and

his

was the most

drums and

his

companions who weekly made

the neighborhood air quiver with their uneasy efforts to achieve

something new in contemporary

music.

Late that night the discussion continued in the

privacy of the master bedroom.
"
And you see, my dear," continued the wife,

"Goldfish," suggested her father helpfully.

decisively snapping her hair net into place, "there

In the brief silence that followed,

also has to be at least

many thoughts

were whirling around in the minds of the

room

living-

lose

my

reading corner," thought the

Man.
"I don't suppose

ing-room," thought

I'll

ever have a really nice

his wife,

"and

I've

liv-

wanted one

for so long."

"Why

don't they ever do things right," fretted

the daughter.

"Does a

girl

have to wait

until she's

Habit was strong, however. But with the

move towards compromise,

in

first

walked son John,

age fourteen, whose passion for swing bands

had turned the dinner hour into a silent, recurring
battle over

whether he or his father would get to

first

when

dessert

to run

it's silly

up and down with a sewing basket, and a

good strong light. And we need a desk, because we

have to keep bills and household accounts and
write letters somewhere."

Overwhelmed by the seemingly endless list of requirements, the Man grunted and fell asleep. So,
eventually, did his wife.

And

her consciousness of

the requirements and desires of the rest of her fam-

married to get a nice place to live?"

the radio

all

kind of cabinet in the living-room, because

planners.

"Guess

work. There's

one decent place where I can

the mending, which means some

was cleared away. And

must have penetrated her subconscious, for she

drifted presently into a dream of Bessie, an irate
ily

maid they had had the longest time and

a family member they were most anxious to keep.
"I quit!" Bessie was saying over and over again
Bessie, the

in the dream. "I can't clean that living-room!

SjpM-CA.

You

HOME
should have one servant just to work there and no-

where

else. I

can't get the

vacuum

those spindle-legged sofas, so

cleaner under

have to move them.

But you can't move them, because there are tables

on both sides. So I move the tables. But you can't

move

there's that corner of yours.

to that old leather chair,

there are the cigar ashes

it

on

No

matter what

never looks right.

that beautiful

me move

new

do

And
rug.

drums, and I
clean around them or under them. And Miss

Master John won't

can't

Then

the tables, because they're too heavy.

let

his

Peggy's friends got toasted marshmallow

one of the upholstered chairs

hardly

last

all

night.

over

can

move around, because you've got three floor

IS

WHERE YOU HANG YOUR ARCHITECT

A

was made forthwith. Or,

were made.
list

rather, four lists

them together was the most fascinating

game of give-and-take the family had ever played.
But as the room emerged from this building-up of
Putting

requirements,

it

took on a rather curious and

turbing quality, for

them could
There

was not

like

any room any of

having seen before.

recall

were,

it

for

example,

thirteen

different

Some were

high and some were

low, some were dim and some were bright, some
were direct and some were indirect. They had never
sources of light.

room with thirteen lights in it before, but the

idea seemed to make sense. And, anyway, they had
seen a

gotten rid of the three floor lamps, because

lamps now.
"I quit!" screamed Bessie, vanishing into a black

dis-

nobody

There was even to be a funny

screwed on the wood wall in the

liked floor lamps.

void where the wife could not even find a fragment

black spotlight,

of pride in working out a living-room that would

alcove, just like the ones in the

make everybody

down at Lloyd's. But they had mulled over the

question of lights, and this they knew was what

in the family happy.

Breakfast the following day was better. Planning

was in the air. Each member of the family sensed in

they needed.

own way the challenge and excitement of

arranging things so that this room would do every-

there

his

or her

There was acoustical

was

in

Dad's

tile

office

show windows

on one wall

just as

to counteract

some of

And

was one

thing that they

the effects of the swing band.

uinely

wall that seemed to be mostly glass, which could be

demanded of it. They were all genfond of one another, and the bickering was

almost always amiable.

"Let's

make

list,"

said the mother.

made

to slide so that in

summer

there

the porch would

become part of the living-room, and everybody

rvodio

/Uttprujvt

ht

13

HOME

WHERE YOU HANG YOUR ARCHITECT

IS

"Because," said the Architect, "there has never

at

any period,

room you

in

any

style,

this astonishing creation,

tion,

Symmetry, or

you should build

would have no Propor-

it

Style. In fact,

architectural quality of
correct. It

been the kind of living-

are talking about. If

any

it

would have no

kind. It

would be

in-

would be bad form. You would become

a laughing stock.

And

things to

to any of

cannot allow any of these

happen
my clients."
The Man and his wife were silent and subdued.

How

had they managed to break so many rules?

had wanted was a living-room.

All they

"Well," said the

TY\8, Jiocott

You had

space.

this point they

went to

who

their Architect,

was a very distinguished old gentleman. He had

built the local courthouse,

Re-

very fine Italian

The main lobby had a wonderwith a ceiling you would have sworn

we

"I can see that

should have come to an expert in the

would have more

At

Man finally,

first

place.

go ahead and show us what we

should have in our living-room."
better

Gratified, the

Great Architect smiled benignly

and reached behind him

for the well-thumbed

Homes of the

naissance building.

copies of Stately

ful corridor

of the Early Eighteenth Century by Marmaduke

Chilblane, and Country Houses of the Borgias, Il-

was made out of wood beams. Everybody

knew they were

in

town

concrete, of course, but nobody

had ever seen so good an

imitation.

houses in the best sections of town

He had done
stately

Geor-

English Aristocracy

and Detail Drawings, by

Baron Occhio di Porco, and Rooms Louis XIV Was
Particularly Fond Of by Lady Meddle. The Great
lustrated with Photographs

gian mansions, the most intimate kind of French

Architect was ready to design another house.

farmhouses, and even a Mediterranean

The ending of this story is very sad or very beautiful, depending on how you look at it. The thirteen

villa,

which

looked too tropical for words, except, of course, in

the worst part of February.

The Architect looked

about the thirteen
the acoustical

tile

lights

at the

list

and the

and heard

sliding wall

and everything

else that

all

were replaced by four very chaste gold-andantiqued-mirror wall brackets and two lamps that

lights

and

easily

was

over the long-legged

needed for the living-room. And the slight wrinkle

in his distinguished forehead broadened into a po-

frown that gradually became fixed.

"It's impossible," he said finally, delicately tap-

lite

gave enough light so that nobody stumbled

When

thought and

band found quarters

This last was admitted

"Why?"
14

his wife

they asked.

looked at each other.

carpet.

did his

the kitchen, their daughter took over the

produced west of the Mississippi). "It's simply im-

and

Man

scat-

reading in the bedroom, his wife did her sewing in

(one of the finest Chinese Chippendale pieces ever

Man

were

Aubusson

the house was finished, the

room

The

tables that

tered all over the fine imitation

ping his gold pencil on the top of his antique desk

possible."

little

in the basement (which

was

built as

in sheer desperation),

in

rumpus
an

after-

and the swing

somebody

else's

house.

to be a very successful piece

of planning on the part of the Great Architect.

The

story might have

had a

different ending,

but

HOME
the

Man

many

and

his wife did

years after the house

not find

was

WHERE YOU HANG YOUR ARCHITECT

IS

this

out until

one room or

By

then they

To these people it seemed perfectly natural to design a room for those who were going to use it. A
room was a space created by walls of some sort and

built.

had become so accustomed to the dreary correctness of their house and its living-room, and had so

sliding walls or old leather chairs.

a floor and a ceiling, so

adapted themselves to its manifold inconveniences,

that they forgot about the living-room that was de-

furniture that

signed for living rather than the gratification of a

wanted

Great Architect, the

home magazines, and the most

But many other people did not

forget.

There had

already begun to appear in Switzerland and Swe-

San Francisco and

den and Holland and France,

in

Spring Green, Wisconsin; in

New

places,

architects

One of

it

York, Chicago,

and designers who

were not shocked by the idea of thirteen lights in

"is a

in

with equipment and

you could do exactly what you

the way you wanted to do it.

these architects even

tion about

sheeplike of their friends.

and other

in

fitted

it

in the early days.

machine for

a proclama-

"A house,"

he

said,

living in."

The people who came

this declaration

made

later

thought that even

their style.

cramped
about the "machine"

And

they be-

as an end in itgan to forget

self and to think more about what it could do for
better living.

15

CHAPTER THREE

HOW TO

PLAN A

LIVING-ROOM
FIRST,

WE DO

chapter did.

exactly

what the family

We make lists.

in the last

Certain activities will

smooth wood or
and tend

Book

plaster wall.

to absorb

some of

covers are soft

the sound.

So do the

For example, writing letters,

cracks between the books and the spaces above

doing homework, settling the household accounts,

and various other occupations can all be taken care

them. Libraries, you know, are traditionally quiet

cancel each other out.

of at a good desk.
sions

one

To be

when one desk

will

want to write

will

someone

sure, there will

prove inadequate. Someletters at the

same time

wants to do homework.

else

be occa-

If

such

situations are likely to arise very often, planning

takes this into account

by providing a secondary

and many of us have thought that it was because everyone took care not to make any noise.

places,

Actually, however,

the existence of walls lined

with books constitutes an excellent sound-deadening treatment.

libraries is

The atmosphere of

quiet in

many

due as much to the books themselves as

to the considerate behavior of the people reading

we have a

desk. This might be the dining-room table or even

them. Here

a table

ing-room provided, of course, that there is a

desire to absorb sound and make the room quieter,

that
at

in the kitchen. Possibly

homework

all,

will

it

will

be decided

not be done in the living-room

but in the bedroom, and a space there will be

planned for

in a great

liv-

one happens to own a lot

both of these conditions obtain, and

and provided,
of books. If

it.

real tool in planning

also, that

many families they do, we have a method

of absorbing sound that won't cost a cent, because

NOISE

the books have to go somewhere, anyway.

Some of these

overlapping requirements

fairly elaborate solutions. But

and

real

economy

to

do

this

it is

may have

both good fun

This

be

kind of multiple plan-

ning wherever possible. For example,

it

is

being

is

just

one example of dozens which might

listed.

If acoustical treatment is to

diture of

money and

using one's head, the same

important a role to play

Lighting in the average

house as

it

has had

and moving-picture theaters. As it happens, a wall of books has certain acoustical properties. It does not reflect sound as readily as a
in offices

16

it

extent expen-

to a larger extent a matter of

recognized that acoustical treatment has almost as

in the

some

is

more

home

is

true of lighting.

so important,

has been so badly handled to date, that

devoted an entire chapter to

ever, might be said here.

it.

and

we have

This much, how-

HOW
LIGHT
In the living-room

more than

of lighting

flexibility

room should be

make

any other room,

The

exceedingly desirable.

on some occasions, dim on

bright

others. It should

designed to

is

in

have many special installations

reading, sewing,

and other

ac-

on the eyes as possible, and at the

should not become so cluttered with

tivities as easy

same time

it

either table or floor

fixtures

that cleaning

lamps

and moving around become inconvenient.

The problem of providing light where

For

this

reason

many

architects

home

is

it

fixtures.

have turned to the

equipment produced for commercial and industrial rather than domestic use. They are already
producing home lighting of high quality and
flexibility. (In this

book you

will find that

to be

made out of rubber and

stretched

on ap-

propriate occasions.

The problem, however,

find the

answer

not insoluble. But to

is

or, rather, the answers, for there

are several solutions

necessary to look at this

it is

aspect of living-room design with something of a

fresh viewpoint.

As we

sit

here working

on

this chapter,

we

are

looking at two photographs of living-rooms. Both

are in houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

wanted, and in the proper quantity and quality,

cannot be solved with conventional

is

TO PLAN A LIVING-ROOM

a great

One

a very large room;

is

must be

main room

feet square. It is the

house, Taliesen, which was

more modest

thirty or forty

in his country

built

not far from

The other

Spring Green, Wisconsin.

is

much

in a

residence in a Chicago suburb.

In the smaller living-room, which looks as

if it

could take care of a cocktail party for two dozen

people, there

is

not a single visible piece of movable

unimportant exception of a

furniture, with the

deal will be said about flexibility.)

it

small coffee table in front of the fireplace. There

is,

however, a couch built in under convenient bookshelves

FLEXIBILITY
Consider, for example, the

initial

disagreements

of our family when they began to plan their living-

Much

room.

of the argument revolved around

questions of seating. Father wanted his comfortable

old leather chair next to the radio.

Mother wanted

and cabinets which

stretch out on, or to seat

are several counters

six

and

is

large

enough to

or eight people. There

tables, built against the

walls, providing very attractive practical surfaces

on which to put books, meals,

else.

flowers, or anything

In the particular photograph

interesting to see that there are

we have,

it is

no lamps

also

sitting

couches and chairs for committee meetings, bridge,

around, because the architect built his lighting

and entertaining her friends. Daughter wanted

tures into the ceiling,

On

seating facilities, too, but of a different kind.

many

occasions, although they didn't talk about

it,

no seating at all
where one or two people

the family wanted practically

just

one or two chairs

might

sit

quietly

and read or

talk or listen to

and

you design a room so

mate with two people
with thirty? In a

way

that
in
it

it,

it

looks

warm and

do

inti-

same room functions equally well with as many

The secret of this remark-

able flexibility

that

an insoluble

Yet,

like

problem, unless one assumes that the living-room

is

built-in seating,

but never overcrowded

sounds

fix-

a flush

equipment is even more remarkable.

Here, in a small alcove, one can sit all alone in the
evening by the fire and feel quite comfortable. And
as fifty or sixty people.

How

is

built-in living

the

a real problem for the planner.

shows

In the big living-room at Taliesen, this use of

or too barren.
is

that

rectangle of frosted glass.

music without feeling that the room looked too big

Here

all

it

seems

again to be found in the use of

which

like

when a crowd

for people to

sit

is

always so inconspicuous

a part of the room's architecture.

turns up,

it is

always available

on.

17

HOW TO

PLAN A LIVING-ROOM

The peaceful atmosphere of such rooms as these

must be experienced to be fully understood. But
the basic idea, that the

and

room

itself

provide seating

table top space rather than accomplishing

these functions with furniture

room

is

done,

is

moved

of great importance.

in after the

It is

also im-

portant to note that in such rooms the essential

equipment is provided at the walls. The center is

free. It can be left clear or chairs and light tables
can be moved

what

in as they are needed. This

meant when we

is

How many

is

part of

talk of flexibility.

of the living-rooms with which you

are acquainted are too cluttered? If any of us were

honest about our

friends,

own

we would be

houses and those of our

forced to agree that half or

more of the furniture which

gets in one's

way could

and replaced by less expensive,

less conspicuous, built-in units, and that a great
deal of the junk lying around on bookshelves,
well be eliminated

and so on, could be thrown out or at

put in cabinets where it would be out of the

table tops,
least

way.

STORAGE
The old
closet.

idea of the living-room never included a

Nor was

storage space of any kind consid-

ered essential. There might be a table with two or

three drawers in

it,

which would be jammed with

playing cards, seed catalogues,

letters,

canceled

checks, and dozens of other odds and ends. But

could hardly be considered storage.

Phonograph records, for instance, need to be

this

kept safely out of sight, away from dust. There

is

mess up the room with them. The same

true of game equipment chess and backgam-

no need
is

to

mon boards,
and the

like.

bridge tables, poker chips, score pads,

And

there are always the extra ash

trays, cartons of cigarettes, coasters for glasses,

all

and

the other paraphernalia of entertainment.

This, incidentally, provides one of the major con-

18

HOW TO
trasts

between the living-room

in the

modern house,

PLAN A LIVING-ROOM

way of cluttering up

larly irritating,

interiors.

The

most houses are so appallingly ugly or

which invariably has one or several cabinets filled

with shelves, drawers, and compartments, and the

pictures in

conventional type of interior where nothing of the

how they got there in the first place. They have long

sort

since ceased to be objects providing

is

provided.

Attention to storage units as a factor in providing greater

has a profound

flexibility for living also

effect on the housewife's problems of keeping the

place in order. There

is

a house in one of

New

York's suburbs, for instance, with a living-room

supplied with forty-five running
cabinets.

These extend the

and out into the

equipped with

all

hall.

full

of storage

feet

length of one wall

The whole house,

in fact,

is

sorts of storage units in addition

moved

in, it

When

the

was found that two did the job

a saving which paid for

units (in a few years,

when

it

all

of the extra

might be added). Then,

war came and servants disappeared, the

family found that it could run the house under its
the

own steam

leave

friends,

any enjoyment

but nobody dares to

them because of the marks they would

the room would look

on the wall and because

so "bare" without them.

The argument here

is

not against pictures

if

they are pictures one can look at with honest en-

but against the misunderstanding of the

joyment
essential

purpose of a picture and

A picture is not a decoration.

its

proper use.

represents in a

It

derstanding of the world around them. In this

according to

be needed to keep the house in order.

very well

get rid of

its

impossible to understand

was believed three servants would

result,

energy and money.

family

for the family or

it is

and

and one

the owners, has been a great saving in time

it

that

some experience an artist has had,

which, when communicated to other people, gives
them a certain amount of pleasure and a better un-

to the usual closets,

Originally

commonplace

without too

"Clutter" can

much

mean a

many of Frank Lloyd

many

things. In

Wright's houses the floors

are of brick or polished concrete. In

sense a picture

who would

some

cases the

rugs have been omitted entirely. This might sound

sit

is

not entirely unlike a book. But

and read the same book over and

over and over again day in and year out? The only

known example

the hypothetical castaway

on the

imaginary desert island with the ten best books

the closest approximation to date,

want to be

difficulty.

great

limited area

It is

in his spot?

true that decorators will frequently "build

a room" around some picture. They

of a masterpiece
scape

is

and who would

for instance, a

will set

a print

Van Gogh

land-

over the fireplace and take the yellows and

an exchange of comfort for ease in cleaning,

greens and blues and earth red and repeat these

and most people would prefer the comfort. How-

colors in the curtains, upholstery fabrics, wall paint

like

ever, these

houses are radiant-heated through

warm

water pipes embedded in the concrete floor slab.

The major source of discomfort with

floor

its

coldness

this

kind of

has consequently been elim-

This does not mean, of course, that rugs should

be discarded.

It

simply suggests that they can be,

any reason the owner feels that

sirable or

Pictures

is

proclaimed to

and harmonious job where picture

and room become a unified whole. Actually, it is
be an

artistic

the cheapest trick imaginable for borrowing

some

of the respectability of an acknowledged work of

inated.

for

or covering, and so on. The result

it

if

would be de-

more economical.
on the wall are another, and a

particu-

art for the

more

purpose of making a decorating job look

impressive.

Keying a room to a picture would be a good idea

if one didn't get tired of the picture. But anyone
with eyes in his head and a minimum of honesty
19

HOW

TO PLAN A LIVING-ROOM

must confess that any picture, however fine, becomes very boring if looked at for very long. The
reason most of us do not get impatient with the
pictures in

our houses

is

that

we have long

since

ceased to look at them.

The
bility.

solution here

One of

is

again provision for

flexi-

whose uses we

have just been considering could perfectly well hold

a dozen or a hundred favorite pictures. Whether
they are originals or reproductions, incidentally,

unable to appreciate art except in

who are
terms of how

much it costs. The reproductions on

the market to-

bit,

except to those snobs

of which are the same

day, so

many

original

and very faithful in their rendering of color

size as the

and even of texture, are just as good from the viewpoint of the average

man

as the originals. This

indicated clearly enough by the fact that

tell

half the time whether

you

you are looking

is

away from

it

pictures

mounted

in

sizes

mats to

these four standard frames,

same way

fit

and

all

of your

one or another of

you could change your

to, and in about the

at

an

and who wants to look

at

picture at a distance of six inches?

A storage cabinet, perhaps one placed under the

window, would probably hold more pictures than
the average person buys in a lifetime. There's no
need to worry about storage space for frames, be-

museums have always done

that

Any

it.

by the way, can fix the backs so

that mats can be slipped in and out conveniently.
reliable framer,

The reason

is

not interested in passing on

useful as such

vice

and

for talking about pictures

ture framing at such length

an

very simple.

home

activity

may

be.

The pur-

is

of its parts, an attitude which

to build

up an

attitude towards

help produce a living design adapted in every

to the physical

are

decorating ad-

pose of this book

all

pic-

We

the house and

will

way

and emotional requirements of the

family.

From

can't

original or reproduction until you are about six

inches

With four frames of different

pictures whenever you wanted

the storage cabinets

doesn't matter a

cause they could perfectly well stay on the walls.

the attitude stems a course of action.

consists of clearing out everything

ness

is

whose

It

useful-

doubtful and retaining only those items that

stand up under

critical

examination. This involves

analyzing your needs, a provision not ordinarily

made.

PLANNING FOR USE

This method of attacking the whole question of

rU/wn&fl/

Cop

how

to live can

pay the most extraordinary

divi-

dends in the most unexpected ways. Take, if you

like, the question of the dictionary which most

own. In a surprising number of cases this

dictionary is a fairly husky volume. If the library is

families

the living-room, as

is

ary will be tucked

away on a

cause

it is

usually the case, this diction-

so clumsy to handle,

bookshelf, and beit

really doesn't get

handled, and the purpose for which

is

it

was bought

therefore lost. Nevertheless, there are ways of in-

stalling dictionaries in the

their use
tractive.

is

made

One

easy, in fact,

and a

home so that
made definitely at-

average

fairly old one, at that

provision of a sloping

shelf,

somewhere

is

the

in the

HOW TO
book-shelf section of the room, reserved for the

main shut in? Will

it

PLAN A LIVING-ROOM

have to function

or just a few? Is

exclusive use of the dictionary. If possible, there

with a lot of people in

it. The normal probbook

are eliminated by a
a
lems of handling clumsy
design which takes care of it. Other solutions would

formal or informal?

involve the use of one or another of the gadgets

Yet answer them we must.

should be a small light over

sold to libraries

and

ing stands built

on the

schools,

Lazy Susan,

The

little

sketches below indicate

steps to be taken

We

or inclined shelves on arms, set into the wall so that

they can be swung out of the way.
Is this too much trouble to take for a dictionary?

it

to be

These questions are hard to answer, except in the

most specific terms applied to specific problems.

which consist of turn-

principle of a

it

at its best

on the way to a

some of the

solution.

start with a rectangular box sixteen or eight-

een feet wide, twenty or twenty-four feet long,

seven and a half to eight and a half feet high. This

depends entirely on how much you

want to use one and whether or not you want the
It

could be.

children to

It

grow up with the habit of

when they don't know

the dictionary

referring to

the meaning

of a word.

an expression, an exceedingly personal expression, of a way of living. Housing the dictionary is part of this way of living, and
Design in

this

this sense is

problem

will

be solved or not depending on

how you feel about dictionaries.

ess

Multiply this proc-

by a thousand, and you have a house that

is
is

really designed.

Up to this point we have been looking at the living-room as a

problems

of solutions to very practical

series

like the provision

of storage space, the

proper handling of pictures and special books,

flexible seating, getting the right amount of light in
the right place,

and so on. There are other

qualities

to be produced which are quite as important in

their

way but much

less tangible.

SPACE
For example, there

is

the whole question of space,

the most vexing problem of

modern

architect has to

all

the problems the

contend with. Should a

living-room look spacious or small? Both kinds are

good; a combination

is

best.

Should

it

be higher

than the otheK rooms or the same? Should

it

out to include a porch or a garden, or should

open
it

re-

a good enough

size for the better-than-aver-

age home. Unfortunately, the better-than-average

home

rarely gets

any further in

its

design than the

provision of this rectangular box.

The

nice thing about a

easy to design

and

box

is

that

it is

familiar,

build. Its disadvantages are that

HOW

TO PLAN A LIVING-ROOM

it is

comparatively

uninteresting,

and

inflexible,

hard to

light, visually

These sketches, which show one kind of

from a conventional boxlike

that

is

door space,

illustrate

some of

transi-

interior into

better organized for use of indoor

They are just more convenient

to handle. Some of them are insulating boards in
ance from

acoustically atrocious.

tion

inpfi rpapering and are not radically different in appear-

one

and out-

addition,

is

largely or entirely a one-story design, the freedom

Then

and the

most

makes

it

outlines of the

natural

money.

above. This
house, and as

good many

Some

one advantage of the one-story

is

we go along we

shall

come

across a

others.

there are the laminated materials

common

room is greater, of course, than if there were a floor

to change ceiling height

which gives them an advantage over

plaster.

the possibilities at

the disposal of the designer today. If the house

plaster.

of which

plywood

the

whose use

possible to get a tremendous variety of

wood

finishes

and with great

a brick wall

out. Similarly,

is

much

without spending

have used exterior materials

architects

side the house,

ple,

is

success.

in-

For exam-

finished as brick inside as well as

you can have walls of natural stone

or wood. These devices are used primarily to give

MATERIALS

the house a unity inside and out that conventional

Along with the question of space comes the related question of what encloses the space. Here we

houses seldom have, but in addition they have

of modern technology and tradelight and confuse the would-

ing no maintenance. This is not a new idea; it was

used in some of the best of the early Colonial

find all the richness

ditional building to

home builder.
Not so long ago it was generally assumed that
the walls of a room any room were finished in
be

plaster,

that

which was

was about

all.

either painted or papered,

If

one could afford

it,

and

plaster

was replaced by wood paneling in the study and by

tiles in the bathroom, and that was really all.

Today

the

list

of materials actually used by ar-

chitects for the interiors of houses is

one. First

come

a very long

the dry sheet materials with which

you can make a wall or

great decorative effect

and the advantage of requir-

houses.

A rule that the wise home builder should follow

is

never to use a material that requires maintenance

if

one can be found that does

ey, to

not. This saves

be sure, but far more important,

it

mon-

keeps the

house looking well year after year. Houses of permanent materials that do not require maintenance
age gracefully and inexpensively.

wall of brick

or stone will look as well in a hundred years as

does when

built.

More

accurately,

it

will

it

look a

all.

great deal better, because time deals kindly with

Some of these materials are designed to be left exposed. Most of them, however, require painting or

such materials, softening their sharp edges and en-

22

ceiling in

no time

at

riching their color.

LIVING
One
is

ROOMS

of the nicest things about contemporary design

that

it

has no set pattern: you can have as

much

formality or informality as you like, and you can mix

these qualities

in

rooms shown on

any way you see

this page, for

fit.

Both of the

example, are archi-

tecturally severe, but they differ radically in furni-

ture.

Room

comfort and

extremely informal, emphasizing

conviviality. Room 2 shows a carefully
I

is

studied, even ascetic furniture grouping.

some

chairs and tables are

The hand-

American-made pieces

designed by Alvar Aalto, famous Finnish architect.

Not

all

modern

interiors are bare, nor

need they be unless you happen to

like

Good contemporary

bare rooms.

design varies

the way from the

all

severe simplicity of the apartment

ing

room shown

rich

warmth of room

bines the
in

in

two effects,

view
1

liv-

to the

7 or even com-

as has

been done

the combination study-living room

pictured
living

in

room

15.
in

View 16 shows the

a city house, designed

especially for entertainment and carefully studied

tical

to produce ideal acous-

conditions.

The

glass wall looks

out on an enclosed, and therefore

completely

private,

which the house was

court
built.

around

Pattern and decoration

may be provided by the

fur-

nishings, by construction materials, or even by cer-

equipment as in the case of the

corrugated ceiling panels which furnish radiant heat
essential

tain

for the story-and-a-half living

Sometimes

room shown

in

picture

most important decorative

element may be the view outside the window, as
21.

room 22.

in

In

the

the city apartment shown,

glass block wall serves the dual

out street noises and providing

ing

of

in

18, a

purpose of shutting
light and an interest-

background for the furnishings; the simplicity

room 20

And,

is

as picture

can be just as
as in

set off by a ceiling of v-jointed boards.

its

19 shows, a rough stone fireplace

much

at

home

traditional setting.

in a

modern

interior

24

Some

of the

possible

the

is

living

drama which

large glass areas

make

suggested by picture 23, which shows

room

of

the ocean (picture

beach

house overlooking

24 shows the opposite

side of

the same room). That similar effects can be achieved

on a smaller

scale

rooms shown,

all

movable

demonstrated by the other

of which employ walls of fixed and
is

glass to add to the feeling of space.

The

large

window

modern

architecture's

important contribution to house design

used

in

most

can be

a great variety of ways. In 28, the de-

signer has

employed

a series of large,

fixed,

to form the
lights separated by structural posts
entire view side of a second-floor living room.
In

29, the living

two

room

has been divided into

parts by use of fixed, floor-to-ceiling glass

flanked by ventilating sash

of the space. Views 3

two-level living

in

one portion

and 32 show a large,

room which combines

a glass

onto a terrace with a projecting

Picture 30 shows
plant window at one end.
still another window treatment employing a
wall opening

checkerboard of wood mullions to support fixed

been used
Big glass areas of this type have

glass.

as successfully in the

northern part of the coun-

and in California.
try as in the south

Planned furniture arrangement, worked

convenience

as well as

appearance,

is

out for

another im-

portant contribution of modern architecture. Pictures 33 and

34 show two views

room designed with

In this

of a large living

a definite use-pattern in mind.

example, notice

how two

entirely different

furniture groups have been provided

one around

the fireplace, the other, mostly for daytime use,

near the large windows.

In

35, a terrace

window

takes the place of the conventional fireplace as the

focus for the main furniture group. Pictures 36 and

37 show how
to

less

similar planning principles are applied

pretentious houses.

_.

iiiiiiiap!

r:

CHAPTER FOUR

WHERE SHALL WE
THOSE OF us who grew up in the traditional middleclass home of thirty or forty years ago remember
quite clearly that dining

was never much of a prob-

lem. There was a large kitchen with a table in

the hired girl

newly

from Sweden,

it

for

arrived, in all probability,

Ireland, or Poland.

She was an

af-

EAT?

underneath was considered a "must." Few,

if

any,

people had even dreamed of replacing the expensive,

hard-to-launder tablecloth with today's place

mats.

As a

result there

niture in the

room

was a second piece of

fur-

a sideboard, which was really

a linen closet turned on

its

side

and

set

up on

legs.

immensely competent person who could

whip up anything from a snack to a banquet at
short notice and somehow managed to do not only

This contained the tablecloths for everyday dining

the cooking and dishwashing but the serving as

most impressive of ceremonial occasions. The top

well. For dining, the family had the dining-room.

of the sideboard contained the

Everyone who was anybody had a

Father had

made any money

hard to

as

fable,

The notion of

dining-room.

eating anywhere else

would have

maid

been considered very strange indeed.

Because families were bigger, the dining-room

was a

ample space, and

pretty

table in the center could be

its

already large

expanded with leaves

so that a dozen people could

sit

and formal family dinners, and the wonderful lace

contraptions which were spread out only on the

down

together for

lift

it

was

at

silver,

all,

which,

if

was almost as

to clean. This alone kept the

pretty busy, for gleaming silver

was the

hall-

mark of a properly run household. But this was not

all. Somewhere else in the room there was a great
glass-and-wood cage, usually with an intricately
carved front behind which the family kept its real

Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Over the center

treasures.

of the table, hanging on

lighting fixture in the house. It usually

mother had brought back from her wedding trip

to Germany. There were the porcelain shepherds

lamps and a dazzling array of

This fixture was not only the fanciest

and shepherdesses made perhaps in the kilns of

Carlsbad or in one of the great establishments out-

most ornate

had

gilt

brass chains, was the

at least three

stained glass.

piece of applied art in the house of the period,

it

There was the

side Paris.

There were

set

little

of china that Grand-

china dogs and cats

And

presently, in dis-

from the famous English works. And perhaps a

cussing the dining-room of today,

we shall find that

polished piece of stone presented to the family by

was

also the

most

we come back

to

efficient.

it.

In the early 1900's a tablecloth with folding pads

Uncle Ezra on
fied Forest.

his return

from a

trip to the Petri-

There were cut glass pitchers so ornate

39

WHERE SHALL WE

EAT?

Mother really hated to pour water out of them.

Because of these two things, something new ap-

with sand from the

peared in the middle-class house. The dining-room

beach at Nassau or Bermuda, surrounded, no

remained, but a brand-new element, the breakfast

doubt, by the inevitable collection of seashells.

All these treasures needed space, and they got

nook, was added. This was sometimes part of the

pantry, sometimes a separate little sunroom with

Nothing could be farther from our minds

benches for four and a table in between. The break-

that

There were small bottles

space.

filled

today than a desire to ridicule them. The old-style

dining-room was a fine thing and let's not forget
it.

It

was a family

was so comfort-

social center. It

able that people sat for long hours after dinner,

swapping stories, cracking nuts, and drinking wine.

Because it had the only decent lighting fixture in
the whole house, this

was where the children did

homework, and where games were played.

Special tables for whist were to be found only in a

their

few big houses, and the folding card table was not
yet what it has since become.
This picture lasted into the twenties, when two
things happened simultaneously.

First

was the

fast

nook was both a

going on at the time and a very practical response

to the shortage of servants.

was now the cook. The dining-room turned into a

kind of architectural vermiform appendix, which
was kept because the operation of removing
not yet become fashionable.

The next

ners.

By now money was scarce, and something had

shrinking budgets.

more

40

make more money and

live

much

pleasantly if she got a job in a store or office.

had

Macy's puts it, it became smart to be thrifty. Suddenly a split arose in the ranks of the house planto be

that she could

it

stage occurred in the thirties, when, as

one end to the other and reached

peak in 1929.
Second was the fact that Greta the maid had found

The family began to do

most of its eating in the breakfast room, because it

meant less work and fewer steps for Mother, who

surge of prosperity which swept the country from

its

sign of the general inflation

done

cal victim.

to provide adequate houses within

The dining-room was the logiElaborate scientific studies were made

to prove that here

was a room which should never

have existed in the

first

place

it

took up many

WHERE SHALL WE
was

cubic feet of space in the house but was used only

as

three or four hours out of the twenty-four. This,

however,

and the era of the

they cried, was inefficient

liv-

it

in the thirties.
is

not the same. There

growing

ber of rather interesting features in the living-din-

ern-minded architects

ing-room. They were being forced to make livingrooms smaller again because of shrinking income

these architects,

within the

number, there

and they didn't like it. Moreover, some space

had also to be provided for eating. By using one

arrangement

end of the room for

cleared

cove, they were able to create the illusion of

al-

more

who

new

But once the

idea began to wear

here was

off, it

became obvious that

no millennium. The living-dining-room

was a makeshift, frequently quite satisfactory, to be

sure, but nevertheless an expedient to save space
and money. For family meals

it

worked

fairly well,

Among

very interesting.
still

feeling

comparatively few in

about dining that no

:

acceptable unless a definite space

can be established where meals

may be

There are
meals:

it

five places

can eat

where a family can have

living-room; (3) in the kitchen; (4) in a breakfast

nook; and

(5) outside. It is perfectly clear

these possibilities that the dining-room

of the dishes at the end. Moreover, the kitchen was

that the breakfast

now

really

tory, because while the family

itself

to these

reason to

new

inflict

farther

is

might have hardened

inconveniences, there

them on the

This brings us to today.

come family

less satisfac-

As

was no

away than

ever.

is

Budgets are more ample

than they were during the depression years, but

nook

to

is

way

only

true for the

it is

today);

do a complete job must

and that meals outside are either a seasonal affair or

confined to limited sections of the country.

There

is

another way of analyzing eating require-

We have (1) family meals; (2) meals for the

ments.

younger children, probably served separately;

formal dinners with or without guests; and

How

far as the middle-in-

concerned, the maid-of-all-work

same

is

become another version of the dining-room;

snacks

guests.

that the

kitchen (at least, the kitchen the

they bothered to have a door. For formal meals,

was much

from

ideal if

is

partly satisfactory

dining in the living-room

its

(1) in the dining-room; (2) in the

ing was sometimes shattered by the setting of the

table at the beginning of the meal and the removal

washed came through the swinging

door so clearly that people began to wonder why

any

AN ANALYSIS OF DINING

service facilities exist ; that the living-room

dishes being

to

other part of the house.

although the peace of the living-room in the even-

next to the living-room, and the clatter of

up and

set

away without causing disturbance

flush of enthusiasm for the

first

is

are

is this

is

space than actually existed for general living purposes.

evidence of a

home on something approximating

the old-time basis. Its reflection in the work of modlife

purpose, or perhaps an

is

people,

desire to recreate certain aspects of social

ing-dining-room was inaugurated.

The more modern-minded architects saw a num-

this

The temper of the

(3)
(4)

whether at midnight or any other tune.

these requirements are met is a decision

primarily for the family rather than the architect.

you won't consider giving a formal dinner anywhere but in a separate dining-room and the budIf

more and more money is being diverted from space

into equipment, most of which is by no means gad-

to go by the boards. Should family meals in the

getry of a luxury nature but machinery which

must

kitchen seem most practical except for a prejudice

be purchased to make up for the lack of available

against dining in a cold, white room, consider the

labor.

possibility

So the problem of the

forties is

much

the

same

get won't stand the cost, formal dinners will have

of treating the kitchen as the warmest,

most cheerful room

in the house.

41

EAT?

WHERE SHALL WE

EAT?

Solving the problem of where to eat, however,

not nearly as uncompromising a matter as

to be. There are

all sorts

it

is

used

of new solutions: some

sponded not only to an economic situation but also

to a changing idea of

how

the twenties disappeared.

to live.

The snobbery of

No one thought it strange

are so unconventional that the kinds of space de-

that the housewife should do the cooking and that

veloped do not yet have generally accepted names.

guests should help with the dishes.

THE ROOM THAT WAS NEVER LIVED

IN

Meanwhile, designers were finding that there

were almost as many variations to the living-

room

kitchen idea as there were families. In 1943 maga-

One of the
in

first

an exhibit

proposals of this kind was a

New York World's Fair.

at the

It

was

designed by Allmon Fordyce.

Fordyce's approach to the problem was based on

an analysis similar to the one just outlined, and he

decided that a solution worth trying was an entirely

new kind of room, which he

en-living room. In

this

to the

dining and recreation area, but even to merge these

spaces with the living-room

on occasion.

series

called the kitch-

of hardwood covers for sink, stove, and other

equipment converted the work area into an interior

which contained a

sink, with cupboards and

shelves above. Instead of a white stove

erator, these fixtures

made it possible not only to open the kitchen

room there were easy chairs

and a dining space and all of the cooking and dishwashing facilities. It was divided by a kitchen counter

showed a kitchen designed for the LibbeyOwens-Ford Glass Company. Use of a sliding wall

zines

and

refrig-

were a dull midnight blue. The

handsome enough

to glamorize any buffet supper.

This ingenious publicity device was nothing more

many separate ideas which had

by many different architects. It

than a re-use of

been suggested

proved that one could have a living kitchen or a

white sink was replaced by gleaming metal, and

more conventional arrangement, depending on

everything else in the room, including the cup-

position the sliding wall happened to occupy.

We

boards, was carried out in natural color wood. If

the "ooh's"

and "ah's"

in front of this exhibit

could have been converted into shiny five-cent

We

like the living kitchen.

many problems which would

think

it

the

solves

otherwise stump the

family of moderate means. But maybe you don't

What then? Who

The

pieces, architect

Fordyce would have been a very

like

man by

the time the Fan" closed, because

about houses that makes designing them so end-

wealthy

people saw

in this design not just a good-looking

kitchen, but a brand-new

to live in a house.

way

Here was a kitchen which accepted the fact that

nobody except the very rich was going to have servants.

The

kitchen-living

room not only

the burden of housework, but

it

was

lightened

also good-

looking enough for guests. This was a completely

new

idea and yet a very old one: Fordyce had

simply resurrected and modernized the old farm-

house kitchen.

During the next few years other versions of the

kitchen-living

room appeared

in various parts of

the country. Generally, the reaction

vorable.

42

Somehow

this

was

pretty fa-

new kind of space

corre-

it

at

all.

lessly fascinating is that

your

life is

is

right?

thing

everyone can be right. If

not complete without a room devoted

solely to dining, if the idea of eating in the

same

room where food is prepared is revolting, it is your

inalienable right to demand a dining-room. There
is

nothing whatever wrong with that. Just remem-

ber that

it

costs

more than no dining-room, which

we started to tastes and

brings us back to where

budgets.

NEW PROBLEMS
While we now seem to have a solution which
can be worked out with a great number of variations, we also have new problems. One is the mat-

WHERE SHALL WE
ter

of acoustics, and you will find considerable

dis-

cussion of sound control in the kitchen in another

chapter. This

ing here:

worth emphasiza plan becomes, and

much, however,

The more

flexible

is

the more it relies on open spaces which can be subdivided or merged at will, the more acute becomes
the problem of acoustics.

The

kitchen

is

a natural

noise-producing center, and what sounds cannot be

stopped

at their source

way or another by
There

is

must be absorbed

the ceiling

one

in

and walls and

floor.

problem of cooking odors,

also the

which are now free to move through the entire

ing area of the house. This
ter

is

liv-

discussed in Chap-

Lighting also becomes a problem, because one

is

needed for the work center, another for the

dining table,

and a

third for the living area. If

spaces are to be related in a flexible

activities overlap, lighting will also
ible.

And

there are also built-in tables in the

living-room and sitting-room.

The same possibilities should be considered for

a house on a
size

house

much smaller scale

even the average-

built for four or five people

and contain-

ing three or possibly four bedrooms. If there

Equipment

to

meet

all

manner and

have to be

flex-

these problems exists.

bedroom, there is no reason

why this space should not be used on occanot by the whole family, of course, but by

at all

sion

one or both of the parents. Small outdoor sitting

spaces, whether sheltered or open to the sky, are
equally usable
the kitchen.

if

planned in convenient relation to

The living-room or the

library alcove

This part of dining has nothing whatever to do

with efficiency, but with the fact that family

One of

the most wonderful houses ever built

Taliesen, the
hills

home

of Frank Lloyd Wright, out in

an immense, rambling
which today is beyond the means

of Wisconsin.

sort of structure,

It is

of any except the most wealthy.

strikes the visitor

much

is

most

its size

One

thing that

forcibly about this

or cost, but the

house

manner

is

in

even slight variations from normal habits can provide a considerable

lift.

it

highlights

ciency, mechanical design, lighting, acoustics,

and

so on, are important; but they should be solved

and brushed out of the way as

basic requirement
living,

is

fast as possible.

to provide a

not for running machinery

The

framework for

and

this is the

foundation on which really successful planning

must ultimately be carried

considerable satisfaction. In addition to the sepa-

place, so

how

out.

The broader

extends to an occasional snack in front of the

much

the

to live, the better the plan. If this

the better.

It is

fire-

the joint responsi-

of the family and the architect to see to

rate dining-room

bility

there are

that not a single

good days meals can be taken on wheeled serving

to the

effi-

picture of

little

left

what should be the funda-

mental approach to planning. Questions of

which the architect and his family and students

vary the eating routine; with little difficulty and

where everyone generally eats,

terraces here and there where on

life,

due to the necessary repetition of a number of uninteresting chores, can become extremely dull, and

end because

VARYING THE ROUTINE

not so

fireplace in the master

This seemingly minor problem was

the

is

could have similar provisions.

X.

kind

tables.

EAT?

it

one of these small enrichments to

the pattern of daily existence

is

omitted.

43

CHAPTER

FIVE

LIGHTING
FOR MANY YEARS lighting in the home has been provided as an afterthought.

It

was conceived

in terms

extraordinary latitude.

its

an idea that

an almost negligible place in the building budget.

For this reason the interior of the average home,

has to be understood before

be designed,

is

among

in fact, carry

on

the worst. People

do

home

practically all

activ-

THE PROBLEM OF THE TUNNEL

When

under lighting conditions which the owner

of the corner delicatessen would not tolerate for a

moment and which would run a

with

factory

owner out

of business in no time.
but not because of lack

of knowledge. Quite the contrary

is true.

Our tech-

great deal about lighting,

is

and the

some of the

to describe

things they have found out. Since lighting experts

are not hired, as a rule, to

work on designs

for the

home, many of our examples will be commercial or

The fundamental principles of good il-

industrial.

lumination, however, are the same. If

we seem

wander away from the house from time

to

to time,

these digressions will not be irrelevant.

We

are going to start to talk about lighting in

terms of the eye rather than the

tion

is

fixtures. Illumina-

something related to seeing,

and only to

Consequently nothing could be more to the

point in a discussion of lighting than an understanding of the peculiar limitations of the eye and
seeing.

44

the Holland Tunnel was built, the engineers

designed

it

were very conscious of the impor-

tance of this great project for linking Manhattan

New Jersey,

and they

tried to

make

their cal-

culations as nearly perfect as possible. This

Homes are badly lighted,

purpose of this chapter

home illumination can

their

ities

know a

too complicated to grasp, and each

be discussed with any degree of sense.

who

nicians

is

interior that could

evening chores, homework, bridge playing, reading

technica

terms are going to be used, but not one represents

of fixtures rather than illumination and occupied

which should be the best-lighted

number of

was

particularly true of the lighting, for with the im-

mense volume of automobile

single factor

was more

traffic

planned, no

vital in assuring

a safe and

steady flow of cars. After the tunnel was completed,

it

was discovered

the trouble taken with

It

it,

that the lighting, for all

was anything but

perfect.

was also found that there was no such thing as

an "ideal" amount of light.

This

is

what was the

tered the tunnel

trouble. Drivers

who

en-

on a brilliantly clear day invariably

found the inside quite dark

at

first.

This was caused

by the difference in intensity between full sunlight

and the lamp light in the tunnel, and there is not
any practical apparatus for lighting things as
brightly as the sun does. Moreover, on entering the
as yet

tunnel after dusk, the same group of drivers found

the

same

intensity of illumination too great. In

LIGHTING
other words, "perfect" lighting for the Holland

Tunnel was not a fixed quantity at all. To work

properly at all times it would have to vary in in-

Because improper lighting in a vehicular tunnel

could mean terrible accidents with disruption of
traffic

as well as loss of

life,

engineers

the very

were engaged to work

depending on what was going on outside.

The same problem, in a different form, appears in

best that could be found

the home.

could not afford to waste a single night raider,

tensity,

on this problem. Because the British high command

problem the most expert attention obtainable. But improper lighting in
the home doesn't kill anybody or cost measurable
they, too, gave their lighting

THE PROBLEM OF THE NIGHT BOMBERS

Some

when

the

RAF

began its great

bombing raids over Germany, there were many
stories of how the fliers were conditioned for their
years ago,

hazardous night missions. They were fed carrots.

They were kept in darkened rooms for hours, so
that retinal sensitivity

would be increased to a

amounts of money or produce any other immediately noticeable effect, and in consequence it has
been pretty largely ignored.
cry from the

RAF

living-room. But

it

To be

sure,

it is

a far

to the reading corner in the

isn't as far as it

seems.

maximum. Everything which could be imagined

was done

to reduce the pilots' difficulties in dis-

tinguishing the targets they were to find

For a while everything went

stroy.

One

night a

probing

its

fleet

way

well.

The question of enough

of Lancasters and Halifaxes,

to the heart of

proached one of the

industrial

Germany, apcities. It was

in the middle of the night

in one's face

New

by a

flashlight

complete inability to see anything.

procedures had to be developed to meet this

new weapon.

We

inability of the eye to adjust

tremes of intensity.

The

would not have been

searchlight barrage
to be almost

illustrations

itself

British

of the

rapidly to ex-

fliers,

for instance,

particularly disturbed

by the

had they not been conditioned

abnormally sensitive to

light.

Had

they flown over in brightly lighted planes the story

light is

ever go

IS

ENOUGH?

something most

down

to the local

supply store and wonder what wattage

bulb to get for a certain fixture?

hard to choose

is

One reason

it is

that the quantity of illumination

by which the eye can function varies almost beyond

belief. If the light by which you are reading this
book comes from a floor or table lamp, the illumination on the page
five

and

is

probably somewhere be-

fifteen foot-candles.

(Afoot-candle

the quantity of light thrown

by a single candle
from
the flame.) If toon some point a foot away
morrow afternoon you were to take the book out-

is

have here two very clear

Did you

precise terms.

tween
i

LIGHT

people think about, though not necessarily in very

electrical

by the customary blackout, but by a

barrage of intense light thrown up by hundreds of
searchlights. The result was the same 'as being
greeted, not

awakened

HOW MUCH

and de-

doors and read in the shade of a

illumination

tree,

would be around 500

however, the

foot-candles, or

much. And, as
would be hard to

thirty to one hundred times as

far

as comfort

tell

is

concerned,

it

the difference.

"Fine!" one might say at this point. "This

would have been quite different. The drivers in the

Holland Tunnel had the same difficulty in adjust-

fact will save

me

ing themselves to comparative extremes of inten-

any

why waste good money on unneeded

sity

within a

split

second.

intensity,

wattage?" The eye

lot. If

is

one can read

little

at almost

a willing and wonderfully

45

LIGHTING
adaptable instrument

if

necessary

admirably for reading even

tunately, while

we can

by

it

will function

firelight.

under

see remarkably well

extremely unfavorable conditions, there

cular and nervous

Unfor-

a mus-

is

and a disproportionate amount of energy expended. So this saving

would not pay off nearly as well as one might
strain involved

think. In the first place, as the intensity

we

is

lowered,

more slowly. This has been proved by an ex-

see

many times in hundreds of

industrialists now take it for granted.

periment repeated so
factories that

footPeople have been given jobs to do with

candles of illumination on their work then the in;

was stepped up, for the same work.

tensity

It

rate at

which the work

with

Up

it.

done

is

accomplished increases

to a certain point the

amount of work

increases in direct proportion to the

of illumination. After

this point is

passed

the neighborhood of 100 foot-candles

amount
it is

in

the quan-

of work continues to increase, but no longer at

tity

same

the

rate as the illumination.

amount of work
It

on the
of

Finally the

increase levels off almost entirely.

might be thought that somewhere around 100

would be the most efficient level of il-

this sizable

for factories unless they

in terms of production.

above the point where the rate

The experiment demonstrated two

very clearly: with more light we not only see

more

quickly, but

more

easily as well. In this latter

respect there seems to be almost

amount of light we can

no

limit to the

profitably use. It might be

noted that even 100 foot-candles

lighting

good enough, for his investigations have led him

recommend intensities at working levels of 500
to 1,000 foot-candles for

some

as high as 3,000 for tailors

operations, running

who work on

blue serge.

few years ago such levels of brightness would

have been considered unthinkable.

The

first facts

to be noted about intensity, there-

fore, are (1) that our eyes are extremely bad judges

of quantity of illumination; and

(2) that so far as

and health are concerned,

enough light. Point one can be

productivity, comfort,

we can

scarcely get

taken care of by using the services offered by most

local offices of the electric light companies,
will

which

provide data on desirable levels of illumina-

lamps necessary, etc. Some will even send

around a man with a light meter to check the prestions,

ent installation. Point two

with

tight,

heavy shades

light paid for before

it

gets

room.

"Enough
all

partly a matter of bud-

is

money, and partly a matter

Lamps

can absorb most of the

into the

crease sharply.
things

prob-

seems

to

of fixture design.

fact:

on

to consider the best factory installations not yet

lumination. But continuing the experiment pro-

failed to increase, fatigue continued to de-

pay off

Matthew Luckiesh

ably the outstanding authority

get, since current costs

of work

And every penny

was made by men who

investment

foot-candles

duced another

than $2,700,000 was spent

less

lighting installation alone.

do not buy things

was

found every time that as brightness increases, the

no

airplane engines,

light" is not the

whole

story.

We have

experienced the unpleasant sensation of sud-

denly entering a
lighted."

room

The same

that

effect is

by a show window on a dark

was "too brightly

sometimes produced
street.

The

quantity of

not the important thing here, but

way beyond the

level of illumination we are accustomed to in homes

illumination

and

for instance, might have been lighted to 150 foot-

is

offices.

In the best of the

modern

or mercury-vapor lamps are

factories, fluorescent

jammed

together so

the sudden change in quantity.

candles, the

is

At

the

46

the

Dodge Chicago

plant, largest producer of

room

to 100

from a mountain may be

above the tools and assembly lines that

some interiors seem to have a solid ceiling of light.

tightly

is

5,000 foot-candles by the

that

The show window,

and yet a pleasant view

lighted to as

summer

sun.

much

The catch

what we consider too much or too

way of light

is

as

little

in

a matter of where we have been

LIGHTING
just before entering or looking into the space in

question.

while back

lems of the

it

RAF

was

stated that

from the prob-

to those of lighting a corner of

was not a very far cry. It is equally

the shop window and the factory. In all

the living-room
true for

cases the eye

is

at the receiving end,

and some ap-

paratus at the other. Eyes have to function in

safety

and comfort whether

evening paper. There are

many

industrial jobs far

exacting than darning socks, as far as seeing

less

concerned.
for

at a turret lathe or the

It is

home tasks
even

line,

if

is

as important to have sufficient light

on the production
the home tasks never appear on any
as for operations

balance sheet. But "enough light" doesn't do the

if

job

the lighting

is all

out of proportion to the

general illumination of the room.

illumination, in turn,

And

the general

must be so scaled that

it is

not blinding to eyes that have been "dark adapted"

like those

of the British night

home through

poorly lighted

fliers

by a walk

streets.

It

appears, therefore, that while intensity

is

vital

consideration in proper lighting design,

it is

by no means the only one. Contrast is the next factor to be considered. Just what does this mean?

CONTRAST
Let us imagine that a person
ite

is

sitting in his favor-

armchair, reading a magazine by the light of a

lamp that has a 100- watt bulb. This lamp,

shining on the magazine's page at a distance of

floor

three feet, produces the relatively

twenty foot-candles. But there

is

low

intensity of

no other

light in

the room, so that areas around the magazine are

only dimly illuminated by the stray light from the

lamp. The foot-candle intensity of these areas will

be one foot-candle at most, producing a contrast

ratio of twenty to

one between the white page and

the surrounding areas.

Thus

if

the person reading

47

LIGHTING
has occasion to look away from the page from

sun, incidentally, gives the

same kind of lighting

time to time, his eyes have to adjust themselves

the 1,000-watt lamp:

very rapidly to a considerable change in brightness.

which

This

is

hard work, and the demands made on the

eye are serious.

When

the eye

brightness to darkness, the

its

iris

first

turns from

has to open up to

widest aperture, quantities of retinal fluid have

to be generated very quickly; and even with these

great efforts

on the part of the

eye,

it

takes a few

seconds before anything can be distinguished in

the comparative obscurity. Then,

when

the eye

turns back to the bright page, the reverse process

casts sharp,

it is

brilliant point

dark shadows.

It is

as

source

the custom

to talk of the sun as an ideal kind of illumination.

you perform the simplest, most "natural"

But it is very bad indeed for

It is, if

activities in sunlight.

the

many

modern

complicated jobs eyes have to do under

conditions. Therefore, while the sun will

appear again in

this discussion,

stood that proper

room

plex than setting

up a

it

lighting

must be under-

is

far

more com-

single bright source of

il-

lumination.

has to be gone through, with the result that for a

moment you have an uncomfortable feeling

the page is much too bright and glaring.

Now consider another case of contrast.

a living-room
fixture

in

which there

is

lighted,

but

bulb

The room would be very

it

would

ated, in spite of the

Imagine

a central lighting

containing a single exposed

1,000 watts.

that

say,

brightly

also be very badly illumin-

amount of money being spent

It would be bad be-

to run the 1,000-watt lamp.

cause the light source would be visible from

parts of the

room and would

all

therefore be a source

BUILDING UP

A LIGHTING PATTERN
One

place to look for

lighting

is

in the

newer

more

good home
Here the same

clues to

retail shops.

trend appears that was noted in the factories: ever-

We

increasing intensity of light.

characteristics

also find special

which stem from the nature of a

re-

business, but these can be disregarded. The

tail

modern shop has a high

tion.

This

may be

level

of over-all illumina-

provided by

strips

of fluorescent

lamps or cold cathode tubing, by coves, by high-

the illumination would defeat the purpose of seeing.

and by a variety of
other equipment. Over and above this general illumination there is special lighting. There are light

One can

fixtures for

of discomfort; because every shadow cast would be

relatively black;

and because

see into a

issues into

it,

either

the very brightness

of

shadow only when some

light

reflection or directly.

The

by

intensity incandescent fixtures,

showcases and built-in displays, spot-

lights for particular items

of merchandise, and

lenses set flush with the ceiling to provide powerful

down
lot

These add up to a
of ways to illuminate a shop, but the progreslight at certain locations.

merchant of today, like the progressive industrialist, is finding that he can hardly have too many
sive

of these fixtures for the job he would like to see

done.

Did

it

simpler

ever occur to you to consider

it is

to light a store than a

how much

home? After all,

the merchant has merely to illuminate his goods,

which are for the most part in the same places

48

all

LIGHTING

the time, get

enough

light in the store as a

so that people can see their

and

whole

way around comfort-

a few special items by

means of spotlights. Compare this with the problems of the home, where the light for eating must
ably,

attract attention to

down

be variable in intensity and directed

may be done

table; the light for reading (which

after dinner at the table)

must be

must be

surrounding areas

to the

brilliant,

and the

bright. Conversation in

because they have never been up to normal. Even

the houses of the very rich suffer in this respect, not
because of lack of funds, but because there was no

understanding on the part of the owner or architect

of what should be done. Today the story

There

is dif-

a vast accumulated experience

which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to ac-

ferent.

quire but

is

now

is

at

your

architect's disposal for

practically nothing.

dim arrangement, a few

serving more for decoration than

the living-room needs a

soft pools

of light

For constant sewing we have already

noted Mr. Luckiesh's recommendation of 3,000
illumination.

foot-candles, a standard

which could be met only

by use of very special equipment. For reading in

the bedroom one kind of illumination is needed,

and for dressing

ent type
the

is

in the

same room a

needed. There should be night lights in

bedrooms bright enough to

ranged in such a

awakened.

totally differ-

And

way

see by, but ar-

that the children won't be

so on.

The job of lighting the small house

is

just as ex-

acting as the job of lighting the local department

store.

Yet the normal investment

is less

than a

hundred dollars for the wiring, and a few dollars

more are thrown in for the necessary wall and ceiling fixtures.

When

next you hear

ing a better, cheaper

moment

of what

it

someone

predict-

ENTER THE EXPERT

assume that you are building a new home, remodeling the old one, or fixing up an apartment,
Let's

and you have called in a lighting consultant. A trip

through the rooms might prove instructive. A specialist

worthy of the name

marily; this

equipment.

clear

from what has

He

will

be interested in getting

results.

our expert started on the living-room, he

would probably point out a number of deficiencies
If

right away. If there are

any of those

silly little

wall

brackets builders inserted so freely into dwellings

a few years back, he would undoubtedly suggest

future, think for

tearing

would cost

to produce any-

clutter

Expenditures for lighting have to be increased

much should be

already been written. He will talk about certain

qualities to be created through the use of specific

home of the

thing approximating adequate illumination.

not talk fixtures pri-

will

light

them

They are annoying to look at,

wall, catch dust, and don't give any

out.

up the
worth mentioning.

He might criticize the floor

lamps as being clumsy, space-wasting

fixtures. It

49

LIGHTING
would undoubtedly turn out that most of the table
lamps were too low to read by or had poorly designed shades. Little of the lighting equipment

would meet with

his

complete approval. In setting

up an illumination pattern for the living-room, our

expert would probably establish the following requirements: (1)

reasonable over-all intensity

throughout the room.

shadows;
needed;

No dim

corners.

(2) flexibility,

No

black

where

(2) concentrated, direct light

both in placing of light and

is

highly technical,

and not

easy, but the ideas are simple. Point (1),

for example, means that the room must be flooded
light,

ceiling,

and the

and the common procedure

some kind of fixture that throws

light

up to a white

ceiling which, in turn, reflects the light

all

back to

all

done with a

lighting

around the edges of the

ceiling,

parts of the room. This can be

cove that goes

is to install

ceiling reflects

it

down

Use of translucent shades

or book.

is

to use

to the table

gives a note of

color and

warmth which makes the room

attractive

and homelike.

But

needed amount of

more

light for reading, writing, or

where point

is

far

lamps do not always give the

direct-indirect

sewing. This

Meeting these requirements

background of light

get this

most frequently seen in houses in the form of

lamps so designed that light is thrown up to the

it is

in intensity.

with

One way to

the so-called "direct-indirect" fixtures. These are

(2)

comes

in.

Concen-

trated light can be provided in a great variety of

A bulb in a reflector will do

ways.

it.

So

will

any of

the inside-silvered lamps which are seen so often

in

show windows and

art galleries.

There are

lens-

type spotlights which can be built directly into the

ceiling so that only

a flush piece of glass shows.

Also available are the small spotlights used for display purposes in stores.

Some

of these will seem

or with lamps that direct light up instead of down.

inappropriate for use in the living-room. If the

made
home

idea of a spotlight fastened to the wall strikes you

far too costly

such as table lamps with properly designed shades.

The

ceiling itself

might be luminous, that

is,

of glass or plastic with lights behind. For a

such a procedure at the

moment

is

The point

and quite unnecessary.

In a

room

filled

with indirect light the Ulumina-

good in the sense that there are no deep

shadows, and light is diffused throughout the area.

tion

as too radical, use a

At

solidity. Indirect lighting is "flat." Therefore, in

the well-designed living-room

background, not the

main

it

provides only the

illumination.

it is

needed.

this stage in the process the

said to be well lighted

There

is

solution

concentrated, direct light must be

provided where

is

But it is not pleasant illumination. There is no contrast. Objects seem to lose their sharpness and

is:

more conventional

room may be

and agreeable in appearance.

a general glow of light everywhere, prob-

ably provided by indirect lighting. There are pools

of light created by individual lamps. And if one

wants to read or sew, a strong light source is available.

But there

still

remains one problem to be

solved.
If people always did their reading in exactly the

same

same groupon the same activities

place; if they always sat in the

ing; if they always carried

if these things

were

true,

a fixed lighting scheme

would be the answer. But they are not true. Sometimes people talk but do not read. For this less light
is

required.

don't

talk.

Sometimes they
This requires

listen to the radio

still

less light.

and

These and

LIGHTING

4-

a.

other shifts in the use of the

that

is

room demand

lighting

not only adequate and attractive, but flexible

Should you want to try this experiment,

photofloods can be purchased at any photographic
greatly.

supply store. But don't leave them in the lamps!

as well.

On the stage,

if less

illumination

is

reached.

required, the

dimmers

electrician merely operates his

desired level

is

until the

Few homes today can

Photofloods have a rated

do

of only two to

six

hours.

af-

LIGHT FOR EATING

ford such controls. But they can afford the extra

switches and wiring that will

life

approximately the

We need light to eat by as well as for reading.

But

same job. In other words, the living-room should

illumination of the dining-room

be so equipped that the wall switches control two

problem from illumination of the living-room. The

or three lighting patterns. Another control possi-

dining table, normally,

which is
bility is afforded by the three-way lamp,
being used more and more in floor and table lamps.
There are also fixtures which tilt up or down to be-

come

direct or indirect. Electrical supply stores

have sockets so built that the bulb can be pointed

in almost

any

direction.

These devices are excellent

for the direct-type lighting units mentioned above.

Gadgets such as swivel sockets

are not

recommended

flexibility

for their

and extra switches

own

sake: they

and control to the conventional

add

lighting

pattern.

"More

light"

is

a slogan that could be applied

any house. When

considering the living-room, don't be afraid of
making it too bright. The intimacy of an attractive
with profit to almost any

room comes not from

room

in

dimness, but from the bal-

ance of the different kinds of illumination. This, by

the way,

is

easy to prove. If the bulbs in your pres-

ent lamps were taken out and replaced by photo-

which have perhaps fifteen times the light

output, the room would be much brighter, but the

floods,

character of the lighting

would not be changed

who

use

it

is

fixed in their positions. This

The only

light

a vastly different

a fixed object.

are, for the period

scheme can be more

is

The people

of the meal, equally

means that the lighting

static.

needed for eating

is

light

on the

Background illumination has only to be sufficiently bright to reduce excessive contrast between
table.

the table and

table

surroundings. But light for the

not merely illumination:

is

that the

candle

its

us remember

modern home where the

has any functional justification is on

one place

still

let

in the

LIGHTING
the dinner table, where the flickering light and

yearly

warm

once again the

color

do an

excellent job of glamorizing the

food, the tableware, and the diners.

ture,

whatever

a comparable

fix-

must be capable of producing

it is,

This can be achieved by hav-

result.

ing a strong, direct light shining

face of the table.

The main

The

down on

light is best if it

an incandescent bulb rather than a

the sur-

comes from

diffused surface

game of poker, or
flexibility

cutting out dresses.

question raises

its

So

head.

Light for eating can be fixed. But in tomorrow's

house there

will

be no such thing as a

sively for eating. In consequence,

pattern for the dining area

is

light exclu-

when the lighting

created, the

same solu-

tions discussed for certain living-room activities

will

again be appropriate.

such as a fluorescent tube. The closer the light resembles a "point source" that is, the bare fila-

ment of the lamp

will be,

and the

the

more pronounced

glitter

the glitter

of dishes, glassware, and

LIGHTING
FOR SPECIAL FUNCTIONS
By now

lighting

of our hypothetical expert

should be more clear. He is concerned with illu-

has another function: striking the surface of the

mination, not with chandeliers and imitation can-

bounces back up and provides a certain

amount of illumination for the room as a whole.

dles.

minor

The

approach

silver is

table

table,

one of the things that makes a dining-room

good to look

Direct

at.

downward

it

best design, however, does not rely entirely

on

but provides a secondary light

this reflected light,

activities

planning.

more

are legion.

One

of fixtures for the dining-room

safe rule in their selection

is

that

the simpler and less conspicuous they are, the better.

is

One example of the

rule carried to

the concealed spotlight that shines

an extreme

down through

a small hole in the ceiling. Here the source has been

made

practically invisible,

and

results are

times dramatic. Variations include bulbs

ceiling,

some-

on the

so shielded with metal baffles that the

source of the light

is

very inconspicuous. Con-

cealed lamps, while theatrical in their effectiveness,

have a disadvantage.

good

It is

not that they can't do a

job, but that dining tables are rarely used

only for eating.

Light for dining, in the average home,

is

almost

always used for other pursuits in addition to eating.

For one

thing,

some dining

takes place in the

kitchen and in the living-room.

no dining-rooms

at

all.

Many houses have

And if they do, the table is

probably taken over for homework, for the semi-

52

and

seizes

upon the major and

tailors the lighting to

is creative,

not conventional.

same as the approach of the modern

room.
sizes

room he

In each

source which gives general illumination for the

Types and

the ways

Nowhere does

clearly

fit.

His

It is the

architect to

this attitude express itself

than in the solutions for special

light-

ing functions.

In a child's bedroom, for example, the expert

would borrow the idea of enclosed lights, set flush
with the baseboard, from standard hospital practice.

Such

and they

lights

would be rather nice in

halls, too,

aren't impossibly expensive.

We have become accustomed to lights in refrigerators

and clothes

closets.

In the

new bureaus that

are being treated as built-ins rather than loose

pieces of furniture,

why not

lights in the

drawers?

LIGHTING
Anyone who ever tried to find a pair of dark socks
on a dim winter's morning would bless the manufacturer for the rest of his days.

bureau

lights

est cars

have

At

moment

the

frosted glass, containing three lamps

and yellow each controlled by its own switch and

dimmer. The controls were located in the pantry.

sound expensive, but even the cheap-

The

lights in their glove

footlights.

compartments.

red, blue,

system, of course, was borrowed from theater

fooling around with three knobs

By

the pantry wall, the owner

any color and

intensity of light

three lights turned

white.

was able

on

full,

on

to get almost

he wanted. All

for instance, produced

The red and blue produced various shades of

the yellow

violet;

green; and
quantities

all

had

and

blue, various shades of

three used together but in varying

limitless possibilities.

This kind of toy in the hands of a practical joker

Most of us take

for granted the existence of a

could wreck more than one beautiful friendship.

fairly

What

ror.

treuse dress, for instance,

good lighting set-up for the bathroom mirBut there are other mirrors in the house where

people apply

where equally good illumination

is

and so on,
needed. There

lipstick, straighten hats,

is

no particular trick in making mirrors that have

their

own

little

Recent models of cars are almost sure to have a

dashboard which illuminates the

area where the ignition key goes

in.

is

Yet there

is

beyond imagining. And

the lady in chartreuse happened to be the boss's

wife,

it

would be just too bad.

Silly as this

may sound, there is the germ of a real

idea here. In a living-room

lighting systems built in.

tiny light in the

if

a reddish lavender light would do to a char-

it

might be desirable to

vary the over-all color within certain

cause in this

room

way from maudlin

limits, be-

the atmosphere will shift all the

to meditative,

and changing the

nowhere that one can buy a similarly convenient

gadget for the front or rear door keyhole. For an

color as well as the intensity of the lighting could be

ingenious architect, providing such a convenience

ing

would be no problem

to be sniffed

at

all.

Theaters with stairs have small lights built into

the top and

bottom

a wise and

steps of each flight

economical safety measure. Did you ever see a

house so equipped? Yet insurance companies are

always releasing horrifying

statistics

of accidents that take place on

on the number

stairs in the

Theaters have another device which

and inexpensive: tube

neon signs) in hollow

lights (the

stair illuminated in this

railings

is

home.

agreeable

same as those

along the

manner would be

aisles.

safe,

in

and

unusually good looking as well.

One of

us once visited a house in the Middle

West which had a very remarkable lighting unit in

the dining-room. It was an elaborate gadget of

useful either in heightening the

of

it.

The

firelight

mood

effectiveness of lighting
at.

or suppress-

and color

is

not

We all know what the ruddy glow

does to the

mood

of a group. The de-

signers of the Palace of the Soviets in

Moscow have

planned to use changing color to help regulate the

LIGHTING
speed with which crowds will

and

halls

locating

corridors.

someone

And

move through its vast

for a father interested in

to take over the support of his

daughter, a lighting installation using

some color

THE COST OF COMPLETE LIGHTING

Quality in a house or a car or a suit of clothes

money. The same is true for lighting.

prospective builder

who

And any

studies this as a separate

budget item will not be too happy when he sees the

figures. One reason the cost will seem high is that
people have always spent
ing.

When

a family

much too

installs

little

a bath,

it

on

light-

demands

high-quality fixtures, pipes that will last forever,

and faucets that won't leak

all

the time.

The

differ-

ence between the middle-class bath and that in a

rich

man's house

is,

therefore, pretty

much

a mat-

of trimmings. But lighting design for the home

has never gotten beyond the stage of so many out-

ter

lets

per

room

and wisely

lamps that cost from twenty to

as illuminating devices, are

full

of

which

for very

little

and a few sockets in the walls and

a considerable waste of money.

flector,

re-

One of the

ever seen consisted of

swivel socket in a ceiling outlet, an

and a 60-watt bulb. The

aluminum

total cost

re-

was

under $1.75. There are ways of saving money in

lighting as well as spending
It is

not the function of

it.

this

book

to establish

budgets, nor to replace the

many product catamanufacturers

which
put out. It is our funclogues
tion to outline procedures and to present ideas.
procedure more important than in
home lighting. It is definitely not an amateur opera-

Nowhere
tion.

is

In working out illumination patterns, the

modern-minded

architect will be invaluable, for he

has been forced time and again to seek good solu-

will

gets,

in the habit of

we have

best hall lights

getting the lights in the bureau drawers, etc.

more than people have been

and snob appeal, which

sults in

tions that will

spending.

good

basis of looks

for-

cost

sixty dollars,

on the

Thus, to bring lighting up to snuff

ceilings.

Houses are

selected equipment.

Hall and dining-room fixtures are often purchasec

might work wonders.

costs

Against this can be balanced intelligent planning

and

fit

within his clients' restricted bud-

his ingenuity is considerable.

You

will

need him, anyway, for the planning and designing

of the house use him for the lighting as well!

DINING

AND

ENTERTAINMENT
is

Simplicity

room from
materials

the keynote of this modern dining

a vacation house

were chosen

maintenance,

for low first cost and ease of

but they

adroitly that the total

warmth.
sliding

Notice

also

Maine. All of the

in

have
effect

been combined so
is

of richness and

the way the

doors and windows extend

all

horizontally

the way to

the ceiling. This detail, a favorite with modern architects,

improves appearance, lighting and ventilation.

47

Even the most conservative homebuilder

willing to admit the desirability of a

is

usually

generous win-

dow in

the dining space, and contemporary architecwhich

has made large windows its trademark,
ture,
rarely

fails

to satisfy this universal desire.

In all

of

the rooms shown here, the windows extend the

entire width of the outside wall, and in two-thirds
of the cases, from floor to
ceiling as well.

Two

of

the rooms (46 and 47) employ large panes of fixed

plate glass set directly

the frame, relying on

in

smaller sash, or doors, for ventilation.

(49 and

1)

Two more

have floor-to-ceiling sash that can be

folded back out of the

in fine

weather, leaving

the wall entirely open. The other

two (48 and 50)

way

use smaller units of glass set

in a

grid frame.

freed from stylistic restrictions, the problem

Once

of providing space for dining

as

solutions as

many

is

susceptible of almost

there are houses to build and

people to build them. The dining area may be set

off by a partial partition topped with glass panels,
as in

57;

it

may be combined with

a porch cut out

of the corner of the living room, as

it

in

may be so surrounded with windows

to become such a porch

in

it

sharing

may be one
a

itself, as in 60.

58 and 59;
as virtually

Or, as shown

of an articulated series of spaces

continuous

window but

storage units extending part

separated by

way to the

wall.

61

^*"*'

It

is

in

modern approach

the modest house that the

dining pays

its

biggest dividends: almost any

set in the plan offers sufficient space,

for

an

adequate,

attractive

which does not necessitate the

dining

if

nook or

to
off-

properly handled,

arrangement

one

and bother of unfold-

fuss

ing a table and collecting chairs for every meal, and yet
does not require an entire room to go unused between
meals. A prime requisite which has been satisfied in all

of the examples shown

ant, with a good-sized

is

that the dining place be pleas-

window and

if

possible, an attractive

outlook. For this reason a bay window, like that shown

in

64,

is

almost

ideal,

although the same effect can be

achieved by other irregularities

in

the plan, as

in

67.

In

view 66, the dining area is set off by a plywood panel

which serves to shield the outside entrance to the room.

69

This glazed recreation porch, which connects

halves of a divided house

in

two

shows how

California,

much sheer space can contribute to modern living.

Little more costly than an
ordinary porch, it provides ample indoor

made

room

possible a plan

in

for

games and

parties,

and

which the balance of the

rooms were compact and economical,

since

fur-

ther provision for entertainment was unnecessary.

Living

outdoors

and

partially

outdoors

of the major pleasures of owning a

one

is

modern house.

Modern heating methods and structural techniques

which have made possible the window wall and
glazed, horizontally-sliding doors have created entirely

new types

of rooms, as well as an entirely

relationship between the house and

of the possibilities are illustrated

porch

in

site.

new

Some

here: a dining

Michigan (70); a glazed wall in the rigorous

climate of northern
space, half porch, half

The porch
is

its

in

Pennsylvania (72); a dining

room, from California (71).

73, used for games and entertaining,

enclosed on one side by a glazed windscreen,

open

on the other for fresh

air

and unobstructed view.

75

CHAPTER

THE

WORK CENTER

THE OLD SAYING

that there

the sun, like so

many

is

nothing new under

old sayings, has a moderate

amount of truth

in it, and anyone looking for arguments to prove its truth can find ammunition in
what has been happening to the kitchen during the

past

fifty years.

Most people

to a childhood in

in

America look back

which much time was

kitchen quite different from the

room

the

home and

it

was

It

by
was canned,

by the big, round

and read, sewed, studied, played games, and

talked. The kitchen was the heart of the home.
table

In recent years the kitchen, like other parts of the

shown an extraordinary tendency

shrink. Enthusiasts for the

"minimum"

to

kitchen

pointed out that several hundred people could be

provided with complete meals from a dining-car

kitchen so small that you could hardly turn around
in

it.

The

seconds

it

efficiency boys counted the number of

took the housewife to get from here to

there, the inches to the flour can, the steps

refrigerator to the stove

and back

from the

again. Their

dream was a kind of circular closet where

the house

wife stood in the center and reached for everything

without moving. They never got quite that

which

is

well-being of the housewife depend

home and the

on more factors

than steps and minutes.

For one
Pullman

thing, the housewife

diner.

is

not a chef on a

She does not have to feed two hun-

dred people a day.

And the chef,

lucky fellow, does

keep two or three children under control while he

is cooking. Moreover, as the kitchen shrank to the

laundry was done, and meals were eaten. In the

house, has

not. Efficiency in the

by the

called

also a social center. Here,

evening people sat in rockers

which was

not have to make beds, run to answer the door, or

was the work center of

the stove, children were bathed, food

it,

spent in a

same name today. For one thing, the old kitchen

was big. For another, it was not merely a place
where cooking was done.

to

SIX

far,

just as well, but they did get awfully close

point where

it

was

virtually impossible to get

a din-

simply meant that the steps saved

in preparing meals were more than made up for by
the necessity to get dishes to the distant table and
ing table in

it, it

back to the sink again.

a very strange kind.

Then

If this

was

efficiency, it

was

was the question of laundry. There

was no room for it in the minimum kitchen. For
there

families that

had a laundress

it

didn't matter too

THE

WORK CENTER
much

if

but

mattered a great deal

it

the equipment was

down
if

other of the housewife's jobs.

in the basement,

was an-

the laundry

Have you

ever tried

and put them

into offices.

World War

vastly greater number and put them

The middle-class families and the

starting a meal in the kitchen, starting a wash in the

more and more on

running up once to see what the children

were doing, a second time to answer the phone, and

casting a jaundiced eye on the

cellar,

a ninth or tenth time to take care of some other

And have you

upstairs chore?

who

met anyone

ever

enjoyed the discomfort of working in a damp,

badly lighted space?

Maybe

hauling sixty pounds

of wet clothes from the basement to the drying yard

was good for mother's figure. The chances

would have preferred to meet this problem

are, she

in

some

other way.

mean there are no reasons for hav-

ing a basement laundry.

recent survey

made

in

one of the big war housing projects showed that

tenants were about evenly divided in their opinions

on this point. Those in favor of keeping the laundry

underground had two reasons for this preference
one was that they did not like the mess laundry

makes

in the kitchen;

and the other was that

clothes could be dried in a pinch downstairs

if it

was

raining. There are answers to both these arguments, however. One is that if the tenants had com-

work

plete

centers instead of oversized closets

labeled kitchens, doing the laundry

make a

mess. But a far

that equipment
fact,

some of

is

amount of

first-floor heater

space.

room,

The

incidentally,
it

is

that

is,

would be an
were planned

another potent force which

its

is

doing a

old proportions

the servant problem. Very few families,

percentagewise, have ever been able to afford hired

help. Servants, as a group, are disappearing.

War
72

The modern

took

women

kitchen cannot be a small room.

It

must be a big room possibly the biggest room in

the whole house. It should contain all the cooking
facilities, all

and

heater,

the laundry equipment, probably the

certainly all necessary space

for family meals

and

facili-

and even meals when guests

are present.

You

will

remember

that a while back

we

talked

about the kitchen-living room, an idea which has

steadily gained in popularity. This

is

merely an

expansion of the work center idea. Advocating this

kind of planning doesn't mean that it would make
sense for every American family to start doing

everything in the kitchen.

mean that dining under

on next to the
if families

sink.

who do

But

their

duce the mechanics of

does not

It certainly

circumstances has to go
must be emphasized that

all
it

own work

are going to re-

living to the

minimum,

afford

the

all

work

of them. This
center.

is

the

main argument

this

The housewife spends a

World

out of domestic occupations

for

dispro-

portionate amount of her time working around the

kitchen, and there is every reason why this room

should be designed to be a completely

great deal to swell the kitchen to

kitchen.

are in the top income group, you won't be able to

with this in mind.

There

minimum

in

increasingly popular

excellent place for drying clothes if

resources, have been

where the

rapidly getting to this point

is

washer, dryer, and ironer take up a phenomenally

small

thrown

scheme has a great deal to be said for it. If you can

afford a kitchen work center plus a dining-room
and a living-room, well and good. But unless you

would not

more important answer

has been designed

it

own

rich,

WORK CENTER-SOCIAL CENTER

ties

This does not

their

took a

II

into factories.

livable, as

well as workable, interior.

One of the great inventions

of the

so-called streamlined kitchen. It

inets

thirties

was

full

was the
of cab-

which stuck out a uniform distance from the

wall and below-counter cupboards which

difficult

or impossible to

sit

made

it

comfortably on a stool

THE

WORK CENTER

TVvi.

The streamlined kitchen was

attempted time and again by designers, but they

name of efficiency and good looks, and

this way because it was easy to manu-

have yet to be put into production. Ultimately we

was an improvement, but

include refrigerators broken

while you worked.

sold in the
it

was made

facture. It

means a complete
quires,

among

solution.

it

was by no

Food preparation

re-

other things, the provision of work-

Some

ing surfaces at different heights.

operations

will

be able to buy packaged kitchen units which

up

into three or even

more separate compartments, and stoves which

have broilers and ovens at working height. Unfortunately

we cannot

wait for "ultimately."

can best be performed standing up, others sitting

down. And if you sit down, there has to be some

However, there is one weakness in the streamlined kitchen we can do something about. That is

The

the disposition and design of the storage cabinets.

way of getting your knees under

streamlined kitchen, unless

it

the counter.

included a planning

desk or an old-fashioned table in the middle, offered

no such conveniences.

There were other

and

still is,

de luxe

interior.

for that matter

a bulky, clumsy box, poorly adapted to most types

of storage and exceedingly wasteful of power. Get-

one small item meant holding a big door

ting at

open while quantities of expensively cooled air

spilled out. The present day stove, in which the
broiler
is

and oven are

practically

down

at the floor,

another example of equipment which in some

is

respects

worse than the models sold twenty years

ago.

The

ideal

stove

and

building a ring of over-counter cabinets

refrigerator

have been

all

around the room we get a considerable amount of

well-located

faults in this

The refrigerator was

By

windows
this

storage

suffer.

by putting

But a

far

Some

glass

more

space.

all

and workable approach

main win-

the cabinets off the

dow wall and put them elsewhere. There could

storage wall (see Chapter XII)
kitchen.

the

have tried to solve

above and below the cabinets.

attractive

would be to take

Unfortunately,

architects

Running from

on one

be a

side of the

floor to ceiling,

it

would

have adjustable shelves like the existing cabinets,

but it would have far more of them than we are

accustomed

to. It

would

also provide the shallow

storage space which is so desperately needed. Cans,

bottles, glasses, and small packages of food should

73

THE

WORK CENTER
not be stacked three deep or, for that matter, two
deep.

An

kitchen

(it

performed in any

irritating operation

would probably be more accurate to

everything at the front of a shelf to find some-

thing sitting at the back.

to

remedy

this; if

your

No

millennium

architect

is

needed

works out a

good carpenter can

it.

some of the shelving. It would be no

trouble at all to build some storage cabinets so that

contains

on the door and

half of each shelf is

unit

When we

the rest in the

itself.

we

think of a kitchen,

and

items: sink, stove,

suit-

One trick is the arrangement similar to the

one we have on refrigerators, where the door itself

build

EQUIPMENT

ter,

able design, any mill or even a

foi

say,

in every kitchen) is the endless business of taking

down

a pat solution which will work equally well

everybody cannot be developed.

think of three

refrigerator.

The work

cen-

however, has a lot more than three items.

It

would be wise to plan for possible additions. Foi

one thing, it will almost inevitably have a quickfreeze unit

which

will finally

be reduced to com-

pact, cabinet size. It will also contain the laundr>

equipment, which, as

we have

seen, is also shrink-

The rapid improvedish- washing machines, some of which will

ing to manageable proportions.

ment in

also dry the dishes (this has been a standard ar-

rangement in many restaurants for some years)

means that more and more people will consider

DESIGNING THE COOKING AREA

There-seem to be only three general plans for the
arrangement of cooking equipment and the accompanying

There are the U, the L, and the

fixtures.

We

straight-line plan.

three types in kitchen

have seen examples of

work

centers. Since they all

the room. In

leg sticks out into the

middle of

many ways this is excellent.

If the sink

one

is

true of that wonderful gadget which disposes of

garbage by grinding

We

it

put into the projecting leg, it means that dishes

can be taken directly from the table to the sink
itself.

The U

scheme also tends to segregate the cooking operation

The

which has
L,

on

its

points.

the other hand, because

it

up and

have here, incidentally,

flushing
still

away.

it

another reason

follows two

more open space in the

middle, which again has its advantages. The straight-

The

for increasing the size of the kitchen.

kitchen simply

isn't big

enough, anyway,

if

old

these

additional items are going to be included. But

story.

The

greater the

important the planning. If the

that traffic through
point, the

room

it

is

room

and work

no good.

in

it

You

laundry, no matter how efficient,

is

so arranged

conflict at

the

same

is

any

can't have a

if it interferes

food preparation because it isn't in the right

The same is true of the placing of storage

And

let

new equipment is the whole

number of things, the more

us not assume that

is

without going into the cooking area

The same

rather than luxury items.

all

seem to have advantages, it would be difficult to

recommend one over the other two. With the U,
for example,

them necessary

with

place.
units.

true of the dining furniture.

walls of the room, leaves

line set-up

has the outstanding virtue of being the

least conspicuous,

away the

entire

purposes.

On

available for other

The house described all through this book is a

basementless house. The main reasons for leaving

have to make up

out the basement are described in Chapter XII. Such

because once the dishes are put

room becomes

this point

you

will

your own mind. The arrangement should be related to family habits and personal preferences and

74

THE HEATER

a house works only

above ground. This

if
is

equivalent space

is

provided

of the furparticularly true

THE
nace.

used to be necessary to keep the heater in

It

most systems worked on gravity.

Heat rose to the rooms above by convection,
the cellar because

whether
fell

air,

steam, or hot water was used, and

Most

again, thus completing a cycle.

it

plants

today, however, are of the forced circulation type

that

is,

pump

they use a fan where air

is

the

dows, because storage cupboards have been grouped

in such a
It

medium and

treated ceiling

the other reason.

the ground floor, but

would be equally possible to put

opening off the kitchen.

closet

it

We

even stoker-fired coal,

be required. But

can be

if

it

into a kind of

lighting is

space will

it

has

can give

for inspection or repair.

to be achieved in this

now

might be

try to

like. It

manner

worth making.

WORK CENTER

imagine what the room

itself

has one or more big picture win-

this

room

itself.

the

If

it

same

air

of

movable,

livability as the

functions for a

the day as a playroom,

that

Let us

is

fabrics.

a convenient dining terrace. The

wonderfully flexible. There is local illu-

living-room

needs to have around

PICTURE OF A

wall adjoining the dining space

and

dining table, and soft, general illumination which

much more

is

surfaces, bright color,

opening perhaps on the play yard, which might

toys

cellar

wood

also serve as

one tremendous advantage, and that is, that the

kitchen itself contains the space which any heater

by eliminating the

familiar hospital operat-

mination for the work surfaces, direct light for the

one of the compact new plants

The saving of space

is

For

oil.

installed in a closet off the kitchen,

it

its

room

are assuming

here that the furnace will use either gas or

coal,

resilient floor. If the architect

ing-room atmosphere, thanks to the incorporation

The

room somewhere on

and a

completely free from

ment. The gradual

would be possible to put the furnace in a sep-

used.

soot and grease. It probably has an acoustically

of natural

It

windows could be

has a fan and duct which keep out most of the

original reason for keeping the furnace in the base-

arate

that picture

way

has been intelligent in his approach, the

where water does the job. This removes the

shift in fuels is

WORK CENTER

it

good part of

contains cupboards for

and games. It works beautifully for a large

number of household tasks, and it looks so well

you would be glad to

entertain in

it,

too.

A short while ago we described the work center

to a friend of ours. She listened quietly at

first,

then

with growing excitement. Finally she interrupted,

"I could work in that kind of a

room!" Of course

she could! But that's not what we're driving

The point

is,

she could really live in

at.

it.

75

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE ROOM WITH-

OUT A NAME
A FEW MONTHS ago a young architect who worked

This was a

Washington wandered into our office to pass the

time of day and exchange whatever bits of news

asked.

was obvious, however, that he

had something else on his mind. We waited. Pretty
soon out it came, along with a fat black pencil.

there

in

there might be. It

little

disappointing.

"We've seen

studies before."

"I'm not through"

is

"So what?" we

still

drawing. "Next to

a small kitchen, cooking on one

side,

it

dining

on the other."

coo

Paper was found and shoved under the pencil.

Architects, as you may have heard, are very fond of
flavoring talk with drawing.

"Want

Again we waited.

to see the perfect house plan?" he asked

finally.

He smiled apologetically, but we didn't. Our

visitor

was one of the most

the country, and

his ideas

brilliant architects in

always made

sense and

"Well?"
"Well," he continued, "between this kitchen and

room

were frequently inspired.

"Sure we want to see the perfect house plan.

a third

Let's have it!"

in the house."

"Well,"

he began drawing

living-room.

Only

it isn't

small. It has

room

"you

start

glass partition.

The

no

partition, or

third

room is big.

is

with a

a living-room.

Too

for only four or six people,

and

really

there

maybe just a
Biggest room

r^n

|_| coola*,^

i
/

the walls are covered with built-in bookshelves,

desk, etc. Guess

you might call it a study, or parlor,

or maybe a kind of retiring room. Parents might
use it to get away from the kids."

76

"It does look big,"

we conceded. "What happens

there?"

"Everything,

practically.

movies, dancing. The

Ping-pong,

bridge,

children can play there.

Or

THE ROOM WITHOUT A NAME

you could cook

in the fireplace.

Good

place for a

dinner party, too."

"What do you

"Yes," we agreed,

call it?"

"I don't know," he said, puzzled. "I was going

it

the 'dirty room' because the materials

would be

and the kids

to call

could

"Funny," he said, looking at the sketch our

friend from Washington had made.

practically indestructible,

make any kind of mess without doing any

"it is

funny."

Less than a week after this a

Detroit.

He was

member of a
plants

and

man came

not a house architect at

in

all,

from
but a

big office specializing in industrial

But he couldn't talk

office buildings.

would

anything but houses because he had just purchased

be pretty swell-looking when it was fixed up."

"It doesn't look like much of a plan to me," one

a piece of land and was going to build himself one.

damage. But

that's

not a very good name.

It

of us snorted. "Where's the entrance? Where are

the

bedrooms?"

"Wherever you want to put them," he

retorted.

"And it isn't a plan, anyway it's a diagram."

"And what makes it the perfect plan?"
He looked up from the drawing, surprised. "Why,
the big room, of course. The room without a name."

A few days later another architect walked in. He

had come

from the West Coast by way of Brazil

and points north. For some reason or other, the
talk again turned to houses. Our West Coast visitor
in

had a house on

also

had a big room

his

mind.

And

in fact, leaving the

his house, too,

bedrooms

seemed to be was a big room.

There were only two partitions in the main

out,

all it

living

area a light screen wall for the kitchen, and a heav-

Would we like to

see the house? Yes,

a study, space for reading,

to see the house.

Out came the

ier barrier that set aside

or just privacy. This latter consisted of bookshelves

that did not reach the

Many

we would like

pencil.

features of the house were unusual, be-

ceiling.

cause of special consideration given to the view and

This seemed to be too good to be a coincidence.

the sun. But a couple of things immediately attracted our attention.

"What's that?" we asked, pointing to a small

square at the back of the plan.

cooKv

"That's the living-room.

you think?

bi o

"Sure,"
get

No

we

Good place for it,

don't

street noises."

replied.

more than a

"But

it's

tiny.

You

half dozen people into

it

couldn't

without

a shoehorn."

Had

he seen the

first

plan? No, he hadn't.

He had

"That's true," he admitted. "Iguess you shouldn't

been mulling over the idea for quite a long time.

like the kind of house one might want for

really call

it

Looked

or parlor,

oneself.

cause

a living-room.
suppose.

we thought

it

My

It's

more a kind of study

wife and

wanted

would be a good idea

it

be-

to have

77

THE

ROOM WITHOUT A NAME

one room where we could shut the door and have a
little

big

Anyway, we have a

privacy once in a while.

room

for parties

and

Yes, he had the "big

room" right across from

the

had folding doors along the side to

bigger. We told him about the architect

it

from Washington and the

Coast.

He looked

he was traveling

"Damn

it

all!"

architect

crestfallen,

from the West

but also pleased that

in such high-powered

He

grinned. "I thought

company.
I had an

original idea for once."

"Don't

fret,"

we

up on your own,

said.

"You

did.

You worked

it

didn't

room of yours?"
"You know," he confessed,

call that big

to

fit.

all

space the average family needed. The only trouble

with the formula was that

people don't forget about

it

ignored

minded

But

living.

no matter what

living,

the smart speculative builders

and the routine-

architects say.

People, praise God, don't stay put in pigeonholes,

no matter how the compartments are labeled. And,

but they don't quite seem

The room's functions

they end up by demanding space for activities that

don't

are kind of mixed, any-

hard to describe them in a word.

fit

into the pigeonholes, although

nobody

seems to be able to find a suitable name for that

space.

"I've been wonder-

ing about that myself. I've thought of several

you've heard them

set for-

to provide all the living

because they are neither animals nor machines,

you? That makes it origenough for anybody. By the way, what do you

inal

room, kitchen, and bedroom" became a

mula which was supposed

for the kids."

kitchen. It even

make

inch had been extracted. "Living-room, dining-

The purposes and

potentialities

of the space

are too indefinite to label as yet, but they are none

the less real.

Our "room without a name"

Many

is

not entirely new.

houses used to have something like

it.

Do

suggestions?"

you remember the houses of the seventies and

eighties that had towers growing out of a tangle of

"No," we said. "No suggestions. But what we

want to know is why are all of you people suddenly

towers were always picturesque. The funny

way.

It's

designing houses that always have one

room

Any

with-

out a name?"

No, we

roofs? Generally absurd in size and shape, the

cut-up rooms inside were the exciting property of

the children,

did not invent these stories.

The conver-

sations took place in exactly the order

we have

What is more, other architects have

come around with variations on the same

little

who

used them for everything from

playing steamboat captain to hiding from imaginary enemies. Such leftover rooms, however, were

related them.

not always for the children alone. In some of the

since

more

theme.
in so

Why? We aren't sure why this is happening

many different places at the same time,

have an

but we

things

accessible

rooms Mother kept her sewing

and odd assortments of household para-

phernalia. In others, Father created his private den,

where the happy disorder of papers, books, pipes,

guns, and the rest was never disturbed by the

idea.

intrusion of a dustcloth or broom.

A FLAW

IN

THE HOUSE

Contemporary houses have been planned to provide an acceptable

within an absolute
this

minimum of living facilities

minimum of space. In playing

architects

and builders took the

game,
livingroom, bedrooms, kitchen, and bath, and worked
them over and over until the last "wasted" square

78

Old houses had other

spaces, too. In

many

base-

ments there were comparatively uncluttered spaces,

where electric trains could be set up and the messier

hobbies carried on. The "rumpus

more

room" of

recent vintage extended these activities to

include games, dancing, movies, and so on. Such a

basement room, though more completely deco-

THE ROOM WITHOUT A NAME

was

rated,

still

a makeshift or afterthought, and

it

was usually the unforeseen result of shifting from

coal to a cleaner and less bulky fuel. Moreover,
none of the basement playrooms covered the broad
range of uses we are talking about.

is

a house

in their houses.

A striking example

built to sell for $20,000 in

suburban development.
called a recreation

as the living-room
sliding door. It

It

a Chicago

has a ground-floor space

room, which

is

can be reached from both front and

on

its

"public" nature.

adults,

HAVE A NEW ROOM?

There seem to be as many reasons for

room

as there are people.

tor of a

room

this

kind of

A successful woman edi-

New York magazine is planning to build a

without a

name

as an addition to her home.

There

room:

it

is

marks the

first

family

is less

room would provide a

ground for

fascinating back-

living as well as space for its

The greenhouse idea

hobby.

Coming

at a time

home than

tied to the

the whole

since the days of

when

the

ever before in

something of a contra-

diction. "For the family," by the way, doesn't

mean that all rooms in today's houses are specifi-

members; we are merely

cally limited to certain

pointing out that the "big

set

up

needs,

is

is

intentionally

and recreational

and that the usual adults-versus-children

distinction has been

room"

to cover the family's social

as the family

ers such a

home

history, this fact presents

breakfast and miscellaneous-purpose room. For

any

just the

activities.

room for

time a

family has appeared in the

veloping a

and flow-

is

another interesting point about this

Connected to the house by a glassed-in passage, it

will function partly as a greenhouse, partly as a
family interested in hothouse plants

We would not be en-

and for a limited number of

its

WHY

and for

living-room function slightly revamped, for the

living-room traditionally has been set aside for the

of the "big room." The idea obviously had genuine

in short order.

it,

tirely correct in concluding that this

back entrances without going through the livingroom, and it is well equipped to serve the purposes

was sold

use

it is

the farmhouse kitchen.

appeal, for the house

may

now planned is the lack of

privacy, it is interesting to see a room appear which
about the house as

about as large

and is separated from it by a large

of the family

any purpose. Since a major complaint

practically

insists

Some people have already gone beyond the basement playroom

Any member

abandoned.

third idea also presents

room which
and

its

is

itself.

By

frankly de-

entirely "public" as far

guests are concerned, privacy

made possible. Because

there

is

an "extra room,"

the other living space can really be enjoyed in peace

and

quiet.

The

children's rooms, too, are

no longer

any number of

under the same pressure to double as playrooms

other hobbies which might be served by such a

and sleeping-study spaces.

These three ideas combine to produce a picture
of a need and a trend. The need is clear enough: a

suggests

room. Properly designed, it might take care of

messy ones, such as indoor gardening, carpentry,

model
like;

building, metal working, painting,

and the

or others, such as music, which require only

space for their

full

enjoyment.

It is in

with the noisy and dust-producing

connection

activities like

the use of a power saw, however, that the advantages of the

On

room are most effectively demonstrated.

closer examination the

is

that

it is

joint activity. It need hardly be

mentioned that a

"normal" family's requirements are by no means

Some families are sociable, others

Some have their fun with lots of noise

standardized.

are less so.

An im-

and a considerable expenditure of physical energy,

while others have as good a time more quietly. The

totally lacking in privacy.

room without a name, therefore, cannot follow any

shows a number of definite

portant one

room without a name

house must be planned to meet adequately a normal family's requirements of both privacy and

characteristics.

79

THE ROOM WITHOUT A NAME

stock design or stereotyped arrangement;

too intimate an expression of a family's

of

spite

this,

the

standard features.
definitely

room does seem

Its furnishings

on the "tough"

side,

easy to clean. Since

usage. In

or dust, and

it

should be

on occasion, serve

entertainment of a fairly formal kind,

it

will

for

have to

have storage cupboards where toys, games, and

tools can be kept out of sight. What furniture there
is

would tend to be

highly mobile.

built-in,

None of

dentally, prevents the big

handsome

or light in weight and

these characteristics, inci-

room from being a

mean

it

more on

is less clear.

that people are insisting

living their lives in the

impressing the neighbors?

more and

way they want to?

That they are more concerned with

this

than with

The present-day

living-

room, as we well know, is something of a "front."

This is where guests are entertained; here we gen-

most expensive
evidence of normal family dis-

erally find the best furniture, the

and the least

carpet,

order.

For these very reasons

uses are limited.

its

Anything that might damage the furniture or disrupt the orderly arrangement is taboo. There are
families to

whom

this

does not apply, of course,

but in general the picture seems

Can

it

be that the living-room

the old-fashioned parlor

or

turning into a special-purpose

Will

its

is

fairly accurate.

going the

more

way of

properly,

is it

room like the study?

functions be divided in the future between

the small, quiet retreat and the big

Certainly the idea has

much

to

room? Possibly.

commend

it.

Other questions of a broader social character

suggest themselves. We have all read articles about
the family

80

tual respect

members of a family
on the

and affection? Might

it

will

be better

basis of

mu-

thus indicate a

deep-seated urge to reassert the validity of the family

by providing a

should like very

better design for living?

much

to think so,

and

if

We

there

is

any truth in this assumption, our search for a name

is ended
we should simply call it the "family
room." As a matter of
theories,

rate

it is still

fact,

even without social

a very good and completely accu-

name.

This

much we do know when

:

a number of out-

standing architects arrive almost simultaneously at

one.

Granting the need, the actual trend

Can

very

evi-

dence of a growing desire to provide a framework

equipped to enjoy each other

se-

not include anything that

it will,

Could the room without a name be

within which the

it

dirt

children.

designed and

all

will

In

the inadequacies of parents, the waywardness of

and materials are

up under extremely hard

might be damaged by

tastes.

far

to have certain

lected to stand

probability

it is

its difficulties

in the

world of today,

the

same planning

idea, each being entirely igno-

rant of the others' activities, something

This "something"
years, but

many

may

it is

is

brewing.

not come to a head for

a matter of experience that

artists (this includes the best architects) reflect in

an uncannily

sensitive

way currents

in thought

and

design long before they are popularly accepted.

What

they seem to be anticipating

now

is

a further

development of the general living area of the house,

a more freely organized arrangement of public and
private spaces which

would be

closer to the actual

needs of the modern family than anything that has

been seen hitherto.

prove to be the case and none of
for some time whether it will or not

If this should

us will

know

the validity of the underlying thesis of this

will

book

have received confirmation from an unexpected

we have outlined it, is that

tomorrow's house needs no new inventions, materials, or techniques for its realization. What is
quarter.

The

thesis, as

a deeper understanding of today's

trends, coupled with the most creative and bold use
required

is

of the techniques already at hand.

CHAPTER EIGHT

HEATING
As FAR AS THE home

builder

two ways of looking

at heating,

is

concerned, there are

to consider the equipment

is

ducts, radiators,

ers,

ing plant what

it is.

frigid sheets,

enjoying the extraordinary pleasure of breathing

the furnaces, boil-

fresh, cool air while one's

make

the

the other

all

modern

heat-

The other is

to think of heating

and

health. Since very

in terms of bodily comfort

a brief tussle with

after

and only two. One

controls, and

paraphernalia that go to

bedroom and,

most

body

enveloped in the

is

delightful kind of warmth.

These examples and we can think of others

have to do with heating, in spite of the fact that
the "equipment" in one instance

and

one's

is

own body,

few of us are equipped to evaluate one piece of

complex machinery as against another, and since

important to remember such experiences when

we

thinking about heating, because

are concerned with the results and not with the

means, we

will

look at heating from the second

in another, the sun,

the machinery for

is

in a third, a stove. It is

we

are buying

to duplicate in one

manner or

another these feelings of comfort.

point of view.

There are certain pleasant experiences having to

HEATING

do with heating which everyone can recall. Most

of us can remember the old-style kitchens of our

If

parents or grandparents which had a great, black

sists

coal stove in

one corner.

And we

can remember,

too, the wonderful sensation of well-being pro-

duced by

this stove

on a cold

winter's day.

pot-bellied coal stove in the general store,

still

the social center of so

ties,

produces the

periences don't

gone out on a

many

same agreeable

all

chill,

The

big

which

is

rural

communi-

effect.

These ex-

occur indoors. Have you ever

sunny day

in spring or fall

in a protected corner out of the

wind?

Skiers are familiar with this even in midwinter, for

it is

possible to strip to the waist

and

still

fortable in the direct rays of the sun

reflected

ably, is

feel

com-

and those

from the snow. Most familiar of all, prob-

the experience of getting into bed in a cold

live in

you

IN

YOUR OWN HOME

an average house,

it

probably con-

of a number of separate rooms,

all

of which

from one another.

It

probably

can be closed off

has two floors, sandwiched between a basement

and an

attic. Finally,

windows

the

the total wall area are fairly small.

in relation to

You will

recog-

nize in this description, of course, a typical Colonial,

English, or Victorian house. This kind of

compact and easy to heat.

you have a better-than-average heating plant,
furnishes automatic heat that is, it runs on gas,

house

and

noticed what a fine heating job the sun can do once

you are

all

is

If

it

oil,

or stoked-fed coal, and has a thermostat which

turns the furnace

on or

off

temperature. Yet even with

sents

many

depending on

this plant,

room

which repre-

decades of patient experimentation by

manufacturers,

it is

when something

not

less

difficult to recall

occasions

than optimum comfort was

81

HEATING
produced. Frequently there are drafts. Heating is
often sporadic and uneven. The air near the floor

ably than a house where entire walls

tends to be rather cool, and one of mother's major

living space

chores

to keep small children off

is

in cold

it

of plate

may be made

We can imagine, too, that if an open

glass.

extended from the

warm

side of the

house to the north where a cold wind might be

weather. Also, the thermostat sometimes behaves

blowing, there would be a measurable temperature

in a strangely unreasonable manner. When it is set

at 70 in the evening, the rooms may be too chilly

difference at the

When

for comfort.

the

it is

rooms facing south may

have other

on a sunny day,

set at 68

be overheated.

It

may

faults as well. If the system uses steam,

the radiators are sometimes noisy, occasionally

and above them. Also, people

quently complain that the rooms heated in
manner are stuffy.

air

creating drafts

When

the

and

first

architects were

all

of the attendant discomforts.

modern houses were

built, their

aware of these new problems, and

they tried in a variety of ways to solve them.

was to use radiators of

fre-

method they tried

shapes. For instance, where a

this

tended almost the

produce an unpleasant odor, and tend to soil the

walls behind

and cold

two ends of this space, and warm

currents would promptly be set up,

full

picture

One

special

window

ex-

width of the room, long row

radiators were installed under the

sills

so that cold

away from the window surface would

immediately hit the radiator. Where air condition-

air falling

HEATING

THE MODERN HOUSE

IN

was used, the typical register was replaced by

long grilles which ran the full length of the window,
ing

The tendency
farther

in

home

building today

and farther away from the

style house.

Survey

is

to

move

traditional old-

after survey has

shown

that an

increasing number of people are demanding houses

on one floor. They don't care particularly whether

they have basements or not. They

like the idea

of

the "open plan," where living, dining, and even

kitchen

facilities

other. In the

are related rather freely to one an-

newer plans partitions are omitted to

gain a feeling of space, as

are

left out,

baths where privacy

many

rooms

except in

doors as possible

like

is essential,

bedrooms and

and generally to

simplify the whole living pattern within the house.

This

is

equally true in expensive houses, where

people can build

the enclosed

all

rooms they want

to, as well as in cheap ones, where it is necessary to

eliminate such elements as the dining-room because

the budget isn't large enough.

The modern house

tages.

That

is

why

walls

82

it

great advan-

people are building more and

more of them every

problems.

brings with

year. It also brings very real

We all know that a house with insulated

and few windows

is easier

to heat comfort-

the purpose being the

same

to keep the cold air

from getting into the room and causing discomfort.

Nevertheless,
tried, it

when

all

was found that

colder than

it

of these things had been

air

near the floor was

still

should be even with the thermostat

pushed up to 76 or 78. And in basementless

houses where the floor was set directly on the

ground or above a shallow unheated air space, the

problem was very serious. Serious, that is, until
the day when some nameless hero had an idea. A
very good idea.

He thought, "Why not let the floor

be the radiator?

radiator so big could have a

very low surface temperature. This would eliminate

cold floors, and it might have other advantages."

THE RADIATING FLOOR

Young

students of architecture

about buildings of
tions of the

many

Roman

bath

who have

to learn

periods run into descrip-

probably the most lux-

urious athletic club in the history of the world. In

studying

it,

they find that the furnaces were un-

HEATING
derneath the rooms, and before the hot flue gases

warm

were allowed to escape through the chimneys,

they passed through the hollow floors, thereby pro-

through the house, we now find that a large part

of the house itself has become the radiator.

viding a very agreeable temperature inside.

to the touch. Instead of radiators scattered

This huge radiator

In

Korea ages ago the houses of the noblemen generally had one room called the spring room, where

conventional sense.

they could escape the bone-chilling dampness of

to find out

the Pacific winter. These

rooms were heated

in ex-

same way as the Roman baths. There was

furnace, and underneath the floor there was

actly the

little

a labyrinth through which

pass before

it

all

And

rooms

got to the chimneys. These

they really had

was possible for the fortunate few

it

to enjoy quite literally the pleasant freshness of

spring by returning to the

room

that

was

set aside

When Frank
about

Lloyd Wright went to Tokyo to

world-famed Imperial Hotel, he knew

this ancient

bathrooms he

method of

lation in

heating,

modern

it

twenties

was

called,

and

thirties

began to be

which we

floors.

How-

will see presently, the

exact location of the equipment did not

make a

RADIANT HEATING WORKS

The most common system of

heating in American houses is
on the ground with

the slab.

water

Through

the latter

the furnace

is

about 85.

tion.

by conduction, convection, or radia-

A traffic policeman who must stand for hours

out in the cold often uses a

we would put

coils

of pipe underneath

moment. When
above

reaches a temperature of

surface at this temperature

the transfer

it,

of heat from his feet to the pavement by conduction.

made uncomfortable by

People are

on a

sitting

In the average living-room where steam or hot

ferred

by conduction at

Convection
currents

is

barely

all

not trans-

is

but by convection.

movement of

refers simply to the

in this case, air currents

the fact that

resulting

some currents are warmer than

from

others.

In the living-room the air touches the radiators,

gets hot,

and

comes

rises to the ceiling.

Then

in to take the place of the

the cooler

warmed

air,

hits the radiators, is also

warmed, and also

Eventually the air loses

heat, drops to the floor,

What we

preferred at the

it

wood platform about

three inches high. This prevents contact with the

and the cycle

the pipes passes steam or hot

until

HEAT MOVES

Heat, the textbooks say, can be transferred in

three ways:

installing radiant

gins to circulate through the coils, the slab

warms slowly

HOW

to lay a concrete

turned on and the heated water be-

is

school physics will probably find the story familiar.

air

great deal of difference.

slab

from one object

remember high-

dow. The method of transfer in each case is the same.

times.

put in the ceiling instead of in the

HOW

still

We have

under the

used rather widely. The heating elements were usu-

ever, for reasons

transferred

is

Those who can

water radiators are installed, heat

In Europe during the

the

in the

large floor heating instal-

first

"radiant heating," as

ally

heat

all in

cold stone fence or by leaning against a cold win-

and

installed electric radiators

possibly the

floor

how

to another.

cold pavement, or, as

for this purpose.

build his

brief but important digression.

of the hot air had to

did not have heating in our sense

climate.

make a

to

not a radiator at

is

To understand why, we have

is

its

repeated.

call radiators are therefore far

accurately described as convectors,

fact, is

what the heating engineer

gravity-type

warm

air

system

fashioned kind), the convector

It is

the furnace

air jacket

rises.

itself.

around the

rises in the ducts,

The cool
fire

calls

(this
is

and

more

this,

in

them. In a

is

the old-

in the basement.

air

drops into the

chamber, gets heated,

and enters the rooms through

83

HEATING
the registers. True radiation, however,

is

quite a

is

and

the third type of heat transfer,

the only one that can be

made

independently of a

supporting medium. If this sounds like

scientific

air temperature of only 50.

were
Because
the copper walls were
hot?
Why
they
radiating a great deal of heat, almost as much as

body was

the

losing to the surrounding cool air.

jargon, consider one or two examples. Between us

The

and the sun there are unimaginably vast spaces

which contain no air at all. Yet the warmth from

dinarily need to

the sun covers this ninety-three million miles at the

the air

rate of almost

ther-

mometer showed an

different matter.

Radiation

Yet the

that they were uncomfortably hot.

two hundred thousand miles a

sec-

ond. This radiant heat emerges from the great

net heat loss, therefore, was less than

we

or-

remain comfortable.

The same subjects went into another room where

was above heat-wave temperatures

and yet these people

120

felt cool.

Again

say

it

was

heat radiation that furnished the clue, for the walls

room had been cooled down

clouds of incandescent gas that surround the sun,

of this

goes through the sub-zero temperatures of inter-

where they could almost have been used for making

stellar space,

which
por,

own

then through our

a sixty-mile blanket of

is

and

it is still

doing a pretty

air

atmosphere,

and water va-

good job when

it

lands in your back yard.

This

is

the

way a

true radiator works. It shoots

out heat at a prodigious rate of speed, and the

from the radiating surface to whatever is

warmed has nothing whatever to do with the temtransfer

ice cubes,

and the hot

air

was not

to the point

sufficient in this

case to counteract the loss by direct radiation from

body to the frigid walls. Here the experimenters

came across in extreme form, to be sure a comthe

mon

reason for discomfort in the average home.

THE INVISIBLE RADIATOR

perature of the air between. This was demonstrated

Most everyone has heard of "cold 70" that is, a

decidedly chilly condition in a room where the ther-

an extremely dramatic fashion by some experiments which were made over a period of about five

mometer showed a temperature that should have

been adequate for comfort. The explanation is not

in

years at the Pierce Hygiene Laboratory in

New

of the body.

Haven, Connecticut.

If

THE COPPER ROOM

entirely of

Copper,

Hidden

copper

you walk

many

In the Pierce laboratory there

made

found in the heating plant but in the reactions

to be

is

a booth which

walls, floors,

and

is

ceiling.

like other metals, reflects radiant heat.

in the corners of this

booth are

electric

into your

bedroom and ask how

radiators are in the room,

and there happen

one under each window, you might

think the answer would be two. But it isn't two. It
to

be two

is

three.

the

units,

For you yourself are the

bedroom has

large, cold

third radiator. If

window

surfaces, or if

and therefore

which can be switched on to provide almost

any desired amount of heat. Through a duct opening into the booth hot or cold air can be passed,

the walls are uninsulated

depending on what the experimenters are trying to

you will lose more heat by radiation than you gain

from the warm air. Here, we have a condition
which is quite like that which the Pierce Founda-

coils

find out.

In the course of the experiment in the copper

room hundreds of

people passed through

it

and

described their sensations. These sensations, to put

it

One series of people,

room and complained

mildly, were extraordinary.

for instance, sat

84

around the

body

And

cold,

your

will start radiating heat to the cold surfaces.

unless the air temperature

tion scientists set

up

is

artificially.

yourself rather than the walls,

extremely high,

If

you

you

insulate

will feel

warm

why, for example, we sleep comfortably under wool blankets in cold bedrooms. The
again.

That

is

HEATING
and bedding, incidentally, is one
of things that were developed in a

history of clothing

of those stories

manner

highly unscientific

admirable
ried out

One

results.

by

to produce technically

piece of research, also car-

the Pierce Foundation,

fascinating example of

a particularly

is

what clothing does.

In the course of some investigations of heating

and

its

one of the Pierce

stumbled across a strange and baffling question: Why, in the hot, dry climate of North Africa,

made up of

upon

layer

in garments

layer of fine white

ed by the heating

coils directly

surfaces are

warm-

behind them. These,

in turn, radiate heat not only to the body, but also

and other objects in the

room. Presently these objects also become warm,
and they, in turn, become radiators, though at a
lower temperature than the primary source of heat.

scien-

tists

did the Arabs go around wrapped

Some

of the surfaces are warm.

to the walls, furniture,

THE AIR-CONDITIONED ARAB

relation to hygiene,

normal tendency of the body to radiate

heat to cold surfaces is counteracted because most

ceilings, the

wool?

An

THE ADVANTAGES OF RADIANT HEATING

We are all familiar with changing styles in American houses. We know about the Colonial dwellings
of the seventeenth century, and

how

Colonial was

Eskimo, he reasoned, might have very good

reasons for traveling about in this manner. But

given up in favor of a Greek revival in the early

why an Arab?

Gothic, Victorian, and

The white explained

itself

very

easily.

White

tends to reflect rather than absorb solar radiation;

which

is

why we wear

light-colored

clothes in the summertime.

and white

But how explain the

Finally, after studying the

wool?

carefully,

problem very
he came across the answer. The wool

nineteenth century. This was followed by neo-

heating

pressure; that

because
this

exposed to the intensely hot

ing

air

of the desert regions. In other words, while the

outdoor temperature might be 120 or more in the

sun, the air between the wool clothing and the body
might be 90 or
of impersonal
tive

This strange

less.

tale,

scientific research,

a by-product

has one instruc-

moral: heating cannot be considered solely in

terms of equipment, since comfort

view,

and

this

may

is

the object in

be influenced by a wide variety

up

to the pres-

1920 to 1930, for example,

steam system operating at

through the pores cooled the skin, and the temperature of the skin was therefore actually lower than
if

the styles

steam was the system in vogue. This was refined to

become "vapor," which was nothing more than a

the radiators

would have been

From

styles.

formed an insulation layer between the air on the

outside and the air touching the body. Evaporation

it

all

ent day. Less familiar, perhaps, are the changes in

control.

than atmospheric

the temperature of the steam in

was lower and heating was easier to

Hot water was used, but not very much,

was rather sluggish in operation. When

disadvantage was overcome by using circulatit

pumps which

pipes
to

is,

less

and

forced the hot water through the

radiators, the hot-water system

began

compete with the better types of steam and vapor

installations.

All these systems, however, took something of a

beating

when

air conditioning

came

into vogue.

All that this "air conditioning" amounted to was a

redesign of the old hot air furnace, and the addition of a fan to

push the

air

around,

filters

to keep

of factors, none of them having anything to do

dust from coming into the rooms, and a tray of

with furnaces or radiators.

water to keep the air from becoming too dry. True

air-conditioning systems, which involve cooling as

RADIANT HEATING AGAIN

Where

heating coils are

haps supplementary

used in the floor with per-

coils

imbedded

in the walls or

well as heating, have been confined, in the housing

field at least,

there

is

to the

most expensive

residences, for

nothing cheap about them.

85

HEATING
Now we

have radiant heating coming up as a

contender. What are its chances? We must ask this

THE COST OF RADIANT HEATING

The answer, based on

actual experience,

is

that

limited.

radiant heating installations are comparable in cost

There are probably no more than five or six hundred

houses in the entire country which are kept warm

to high-grade air-conditioning (without cooling) or

question because, after

in this manner,

use

is still

a mighty small number

this is

to the twenty-odd million dwellings.

compared

One

and

all, its

big advantage of radiant heating

no

there are

visible radiators.

is

that

of cast iron or copper under the windows, no grilles

or registers to disfigure the walls. In other words,
completely out of the way, which

when you have

cant point

to

is

is

do the

concerned

a very

ant heating
directly

There are no chunks

the system as far as the housewife

hot-water systems. If the house

is

signifi-

dusting. Radi-

that

on the ground

tion costs;

and

there

may

this

actually cheaper than

designed for radi-

uses a floor slab laid

if it

is,

is

is

in

a saving in founda-

some

cases

make

it

an old-fashioned heating

system.

major worry of most people confronted with

the idea of radiant heating

is

that pipes, inextric-

ably imbedded in rock under three or four inches

of concrete, could become a terrible headache

if

ators not only catch the dust but also deposit dirt

they ever sprung a leak or broke or froze. These

on the

troubles, however, have not developed, because

walls

around them.

The second advantage is that the floor

This means that instead of having to grab

is

warm.

the baby
mother can dump him there, because
the most comfortable place in the room, and

modern welding techniques and

also the safest as regards colds.

The

and outstanding advantage of radiant

its evenness. Tests made in a number of

third
is

heating

dwellings in an eastern city showed temperature

differences
ceiling

between

air at the floor

running as high as 20.

and

air at the

One room,

for ex-

ample, had an air temperature at the ceiling run-

Is radiant heating, then, the

all

but

still

with temperature differences of 10 to 15.

our problems?

It

heating works at

its

though it has been successfully applied to those

with two floors. Its demands in the way of insulation

and double glazing are greater than those pre-

sented by other types of heating.

This emphatic recommendation of a kind of

heating that

is

not particularly well

become very high when air temperatures move up

to 80 or more, and creates drafts.

the years to come.

and,

if insulated

stripped,

is

practically

reasonably well and weatherdrafts.

For

invalids as well as for small chil-

dren this condition

is

no

ceiling temperatures

almost completely free from

old people and

"All this

and

is ideal.

very fine,"

we can hear you say, "but

what about the cost? Won't any system which

works such wonders be fabulously expensive?"

86

known

as yet

does not discount by any means the certainty of

further developments

The radiant-heated house shows

could be, in the opinion of

best in a one-story house, al-

This means expense, since heat losses to the outside

variation between floor

complete answer to

many authorities, if other factors were present.

One of the factors is house design. This kind of

ning as high as 80, while the ah- at the floor was

only 64. Others showed variations less extreme,

methods

are pretty close to foolproof.

off the floor,

it is

testing

and further improvements

The

in

basic elements of heating,

however, will remain precisely what they were in

the days of the cavemen, for they stem directly and

inescapably from the reactions of the

to

its

human body

physical environment.

Radiant heating by

itself

does not provide

all

the

factors needed to control indoor climate. It does

nothing about ventilation.

It

lacks air-condition-

and humidify incoming air.

can be met by separate
which
These problems,
equipment, are discussed in a subsequent chapter.
ing's ability to clean

AND BATHS

KITCHENS
There

a widespread notion that today's houses

is

have about the most up-to-date kitchens and bath-

rooms imaginable. This

designers

who

is

only partly true.

Modern

have given the cooking and sanitation

departments a fresh look have come up with

sorts of

new

ideas.

One

such

is

the

all

modern version

of the "old fashioned" service opening

shown

in

76

and 77. Besides opening the kitchen to the dining

space, this puts the percolator and toaster within

reach of the table, giving the master of the house

something to do while he

is

waiting for his eggs.

great

many

variations of the service-opening idea

are possible, depending on just

accomplish.

The one used

what you want to

79, for example,

in

is

primarily intended for sliding trays of soiled dishes

back into the kitchen, while picture

entirely different approach:
into which glassware
sink, accessible

is

80 shows

an

'two-way cupboard
it is washed at the

placed as

from the dining room when setting

the table. All such expedients, however, are simply

comparison with the full-fledged

living-kitchen shown in 81 and 82. In this arrange-

compromises

in

ment cooking,
merged

in

waist-high

scheme

is

and

eating

relaxation

areas

are

one attractive space, divided only by a

bar.

Ideal

for

servantless

living,

this

both sociable and convenient, saves space

and construction dollars.

Another

illustration of the living-kitchen

this series of semi-divided

the

New York

World's

scheme,

rooms was exhibited

Fair.

Its

at

carefully studied

plan provides separate sinks for food preparation

and dish washing, and a great deal of storage space

at just the points

and

living areas

where

most

useful.

Cooking

(83 and 85) are divided by open

shelving for glassware.

design, basic to the

the use of

it is

An important

whole

feature of the

living-kitchen

idea,

as to eliminate the aseptic

atmosphere ordinarily

associated with the separate kitchen. Natural

cabinets, dark linoleum

work

surfaces,

wood

monel metal

sinks and generous use of exposed brickwork

contribute to making the space pleasant to

as well as

is

rich, attractive materials throughout, so

work

in,

all

live in

and equally attractive throughout.

These designs come

category

as

to the "dream house"

as close

anything you

Views 93 and 94 show a

will

full

find

size

in

this

model of an

book.
ideal

kitchen developed by a glass manufacturer to stimulate use of his

so

far

product and including redesigned, and

unobtainable

equipment.

manufactured kitchen shown

in

The one-piece,
95, which has a

drawer refrigerator instead of the

usual type

actually in production but not yet in

wide

is

use. Pic-

97 show another one-piece unit, with

bath and kitchen fixtures on opposite sides, from a

tures 96 and

much-publicized

prefabricated

house that

is

longer manufactured. The basic idea, however,

being applied elsewhere.

no
is

107

106

108
While these bathrooms are

all

of the luxury type,

the design-approach they represent can be applied

as easily to

Views

the modest house as to the mansion.

04 and

05 show a combination bath-

dressing room with

a continuous

counter

with drawers for clothing and finished

veneers and
I

plastic.

The room shown

07 has walls of structural

in

fitted

wood

in

06 and

and an angle tub

glass,

with a broad rim which serves as a seat. The translucent top of the dressing table

.is

lit

from below,

providing illumination for the lower part of the face.

View

08 shows a bath finished

in

natural

wood

and marble, and equipped with a counter

lavatory
very similar to those used in Victorian houses. Such
materials are not

much more expensive than the

ones ordinarily employed

considerably more

in

attractive.

bathrooms, and are

Here are

five

worked out

versions of the counter lavatory,

materials and to

different

in

various planning ideas.

View

09 shows a

concealed,

when not
in

09

by a swinging door.

in use,
is

re-

bedroom and

cessed unit set in the wall of a

The counter

fit

of varnished mahogany,

and the fluted apron, made of half-round mold-

forms a cupboard for towels. Valves are

ings,

controlled by foot pedals.

View

shows an

ingenious arrangement of shelving attached to

the cupboard doors, view

2 a double lavatory,

marble, for a family bath. The unit

in
I

how

is

shown

suitable for factory production, and

in

shows

the counter-lavatory idea might be applied

to a stock fixture. This one

room

located

in-

the ante-

of a divided bath, with doors on either

side leading to

water

is

closet.

compartments

for the tub and

12

CHAPTER NINE

BATHROOMS ARE
OUT OF DATE
WHAT is A bathroom?
"A bathroom," someone replies,

only available place. In the seventy-odd years that

"is

taining a water closet, a lavatory, a tub,

room conand maybe

followed, the bath has stayed the

How

big

The functions served by the bathroom

is

a bathroom?

plumbing

"A

bathroom," continues our informant, "is

about five and a half feet wide by six feet long."

Why

is it

that size?

"That's easy,"

we

area,

fixtures,

good

lighting,

require

maneuvering space, counter

and adequate

person, or possibly two, there

storage.

is

For one

no reason why

these functions should not be performed in a single

are told. "These dimensions

are about the smallest that will take the three re-

room. But for a family there are good reasons why

they should not.

Some time ago one of us had the job of designing

quired fixtures."

a very elaborate and expensive town house in

The top

York

City.

suite,

with one large bedroom for himself

adjoining, of course
large

third

What about

for the

fix-

the people?

"I guess the builder didn't think about them."

That

is

what

is

wrong with bathrooms.

was to be the owner's

and across the

As

bath

hall another

the plans progressed the

somewhere on

cided that

Oh! So the bathroom was designed

floor

New

bedroom, also with bath, to be used as a

guest room.

tures.

hall

slightly streamlined.

bedroom,

a shower."

same old

this floor

room which could be used

owner

de-

he needed a

part of the time as

home, part of the time as a second

guest room. This meant chopping one bedroom in
half and somehow providing, in a now restricted
an

office in the

area, bath facilities

for not one

bedroom but

two.

Now

let's try

In the

first

again.

place,

it

What

is

isn't necessarily

When plumbing was first installed

went into the

hall

This might have been solved, as

a bathroom?
a room at

all.

in city houses,

it

bedroom, which was about the

it

has been solved

so frequently, by putting a bath between the

rooms. But

had done

it

two

turned out to be impossible. If

this, there

would have been

we

practically

103

BATHROOMS ARE OUT OF DATE

no space

left

for beds in the sleeping

rooms on

the bathroom has

either side.

The plan as it finally

room at all, but a string of separate compartments.
Each bedroom has a separate lavatory with laundry

own

hamper below the basin, installed in a shallow

average home.

worked out

closet.

The water

closet has

its

not a bath-

is

which make up
own compartment and its

Each of the other two

its

fixtures

door, and the tub-shower compartment

is

Now

ficiently large for dressing as well as bathing.

let's

consider this bath as

it

would work

suf-

in the

own compartment

with a door from each room. And,

finally,

there

is

a third space with a shower, also accessible from

both rooms.

down

This system of breaking

the bathroom

component elements can be worked with a

great many variations. Where there are a number
of bedrooms on one floor, for example, and there
into

is

its

no

possibility of providing a bath for

the scheme
will

work wonders

bathroom.

It is

bedroom

in taking the pressure off the

possible to go to the other extreme,

where space and funds are

and convert

available,

the bath into a bath-dressing

ties

each room,

of having a lavatory in each

room whose ameni-

are vastly superior to those of the usual re-

But the main advantage of considbath

not as a fixed room of a standard
ering the
stricted space.

type

is

that

it

frees planning all

through the sleep-

ing area, can increase convenience at

in cost,

and generally provides that

no

increase

flexibility

so

important in the house planned for living today.

spectacular example of the bath-in-com-

partments yet produced

Morris Ketchum,

Jr.

is

first

bath in the house, father might be shaving while

mother was dressing and while the children were

using the bathtub.

The Ketchum-Reisner bath has one

advantage:
three

it

serious dis-

takes up a square space between

and four times as

large as the

minimum

bath-

room. The "three-passenger" principle, however,

can be applied in less space and other shapes. It

work very well, for example, in a space about

five and a half feet deep and fifteen feet long. In
the typical modern house plan, which is long and
will

THE THREE-PASSENGER BATH

The most

might dash into the shower

compartment, leaving the lavatory and water
closet both free and private. If there were only one

Whoever got up

a unit designed by

rather narrow, such a shape

fits

very conveniently

between a corridor and the north wall, leaving the

and Jedd Reisner for Life and

The Architectural Forum. Created to meet the

needs of a whole family,

it is

ingenious in plan and

attractive in appearance.

The

up by a
lavatory and a mirrored storage compartment. The
largest space in the bath is taken

lavatory has foot controls for the faucet, a broad

counter, and a generous cupboard below.

a medicine

cabinet, in

which the shelves are

tached to the swinging mirrors.

104

Above is
at-

W-C.

BATHROOMS
southern exposure for the bedrooms. All
compartments, in this variant of the family bath, get outside light.

ARE.

OUT OF DATE

the handbrush,
hairbrush, toothbrush, or soap,
usually manages to slide down into the bowl.

There

it

a very simple way to eliminate this difshould be familiar to most of us, because
the solution has been used in the kitchen for
is

ficulty. It

THE BEDROOM LAVATORY

To

develop the idea a

little

further, let us

assume

that in addition to

some such compartmentalized

arrangement, two of the three bedrooms have
built-in washbasins.

These

units, as

we have

al-

ready seen, can be compact, inconspicuous, and

efficient.

space eighteen inches by thirty inches

closed off by a door provides the needed facilities

not only for washing,

makeup, and shaving, but
also for soiled linen. If these

two

never get in each other's

way and almost

all of the
luxury of individual bathrooms could be enjoyed.
The bedroom lavatory is an item that
could, and

certainly should be, prefabricated. It should be

and perhaps it will be one of these

days,
to wander down to the local
plumbing supply
place and pick out one or two models which would
be delivered complete with
lights, laundry hamper,
shelves, door, and so on. An ingenious manufacturer could work wonders with this unit. He
could
possible,

take a leaf out of the

book of the Pullman car deexample. The familiar type of wash-

basin in sleeping cars that

tilts up to become
part
no
means
by
beyond the capacity of a plumbing fixture manufacturer, and its
advantage would be that the whole unit could then

of a wall cabinet

be

is

made so thin that

it

would

literally

thickness of an oversized wall.

space would be required for

fit

within the

Not even

closet

the most frequent

complaints about the

modern lavatory

is

that

bowl

set into

a counter

covered with rubber, linoleum, or some other resilient material.

This type of lavatory

installation, of which a

many excellent examples can be found, must

be considered in the
planning, for the lavatory
having such a counter must be given elbowroom
and more. To be sure, this is another factor which
great

make bathroom space larger, but it is

worth the extra space. The space underneath the
counter can be used for shallow
drawers, linen
towel
hamper,
storage, and other
such as

items,
extra soap, which should be
in
the bathroom.
kept

Another source of occasional irritation,

a very minor one,

no matter where you put

although

the necessity of
having to
twist faucets while one's hands are covered
with
is

slippery soap. This isn't

there are devices

a very serious matter, but

on the market which will elimi-

nate the faucets entirely

would

like to

do

so.

if for any reason

you
These gadgets, rarely seen in

houses, are regularly supplied to hospitals and

other institutions where it is not
only inconvenient
for people to handle faucets but
dangerous, since
it might involve transmission of
There are

germs.

two types: knee-operated and

foot-operated. The
latter sit on the floor and have
pedals for hot and
cold water.

Foot controls,

like the

double lavatories some-

times put into master

bathrooms, are definitely in
the luxury class, but
fortunately there are people
in this

its installation.

COUNTER SPACE
One of

consists of a flat-rimmed

tends to

built-in lavatories

existed in addition to the

bath, we would have a
house where, without undue
expense for plumbing, the various members of the
family would

signers, for

years.

It

country

who have

the

good sense to deny

themselves necessities so they can

enjoy luxuries.
Also in the class of luxury items is instantaneous
circulating hot water,

which involves the creation

of a loop in the hot water

supply line so that
whether or not the hot water is
being used, it is

105

BATHROOMS ARE OUT OF DATE

continuously

though

circulating,

very

slowly,

that the

moment

through the pipes. This

means

the water

runs hot.

sive

of

is

turned on,

it

the luxuries,

all

and most

Most inexpen-

satisfying, is

an

oversized supply pipe for the tub. If you have ever

waited twenty minutes for the tub to

virtues of this item need

The

infra-red

no

fill

up, the

and there would be no need to race through

SHOWER VERSUS TUB

The most inexpensive and common
course, is to combine the shower and
same

description.

a gadget that has a great

fixture.

Where

badly, as a rule.

this is

done,

expedient, of

the tub in the

it is

done rather

Almost always there

moved

and

rather unattractive element in the room,

refrigerator manufacturers have used infra-red

lamps for years

and other

in drying tunnels

freshly painted parts

where car bodies

move through on

conveyor belts. In the bathroom three or four dollars' worth of infra-red lamps could work wonders.

That familiar

when one

chill

steps out of the

shower could be eliminated entirely by switching

on one or two of these lamps, located in inconspicuous sockets on a wall or even in the ceiling.

To produce a comparable

feeling of well-being

with conventional heating equipment,

it

would

probably be necessary to heat the bathroom up to

about ninety degrees, which of course would make
it

rack over the tub so that towels have to be re-

is

an

there

on storage which

deals

with the general problems of where to keep things.

The

special

problems of the bathroom, however,

are worth detailed discussion.

The

ideal

bathroom

whether it's one room or in compartmentswould have one feature on which agreement would
certainly be unanimous. It would have room for
all

the towels ever used in

would have

its

own

it

is

is

used.

in other words,

linen closet. It

it

would have

The

curtain rod

is

and the

the inconvenience and danger of dancing

around under an

and

icy spray in anything as slippery

restricted as the average bathtub.

lution, therefore,

stall

The

would be to separate

items, even though additional space

shower does not need

is

best so-

these

two

required.

tile

walls

and

chromium-plated trimming on a plate-glass door,

desirable as these may be. It can be a space the
size

of a closet with walls

made out of inexpensive

asbestos sheets, or waterproof plywood covered

with a good varnish.

the market for

stall

entire chapter

the shower

curtains themselves are a nuisance. Furthermore,

on

STORAGE
There

if

It

can be one of the inex-

pensive prefabricated metal

intolerable at all other times.

a towel

is

lamp
future in the American home once people become
aware of its remarkable properties. Automobile
is

chilly

halls looking for things.

shower

some

stalls

years.

which have been

The

will range, therefore,

materials in the

from very cheap

to very costly, and, whatever your budget, if

you

can afford a house you can probably afford one or

another kind of shower installation.
In planning, two points should be considered
carefully.

shower

thirty inches square

is

usable

but not very pleasant. If you can possibly do

make

it

about four

feet

it,

long by two and a hah or

three feet wide. This extra space will not

make

much

it

difference in the size of the house,

ample cupboards for the soap, toilet paper, infre-

turn a nasty

quently used medicines, hot-water bottles, eyecups,

for bathing.

little slot

and

will

into a really luxurious place

and the host of miscellaneous items which some-

how seem

to get put

away

in

two or three

different

WALLS AND WINDOWS

closets in various parts of the house. Everything

We

needed in the bathroom would be in the bathroom,

with the exceedingly unimaginative approach to

106

have already noted a certain dissatisfaction

BATHROOMS ARE OUT OF DATE

number

use in a bathroom. In a

the planning of the sanitary facilities in the average

terial suitable for

bathroom. Equally striking to any architect con-

of bathrooms which have been built in California

cerned with building better houses

houses redwood was used. Redwood, as you

is

the really re-

markable conventionality of the approach to the

cedar and cypress,

like

know,
oils which give it a great advantage
where it gets wet occasionally.
If the idea

why

if it still

plumbing

little

sounds strange. There

located

fixtures,

it

while,

and

no reason

is

contains a few

should look like an operating-

battleship. If

but don't want to use

is

it

the bathroom, just because

room on a

if it is

of a wood-paneled bathroom sounds

strange to you, think about

then see

may

with natural

is filled

it

like the idea

you

of wood

form of planks, there

in the

waterproof plywood. This material,

made up of

layers of veneer glued together with waterproof

plastics,

room. The windows

design of this

of the fact that the bathroom needs as

in spite

much

are usually small

any other room and

light as

good a view. And

entitled to

is

window, more-

has been used very successfully on torpedo

boats and airplanes.

We can assure you,

you need have no qualms about

in your future bathroom.
that

therefore,

its

durability

over, which invariably proclaims the location of

Equally suitable are the flexible sheet materials,

such as rubber and linoleum, which, as mentioned

the bath to the passer-by,

elsewhere, have desirable sound-deadening proper-

just as

tub,

where

it is

where

closet,

vacy in this

it

this tiny

is

frequently set over the

hard to reach, or over the water

produces a

room

is

draft. It is true that pri-

considered essential by the

They have the further advantage of bending

around corners with the greatest of ease, so that a
ties.

room sheathed with one of

these finishes could

round corners and be a

average homeowner, but there are

have

getting privacy besides cutting

For that matter, round corners have long

care
been used in tile baths and can be made of wood

to the size of a porthole.

good,
the

is

many ways of
down the window

One,

if

the view

no

Another is to keep
the same time to make it

to use translucent glass.

window high but at

window extending from

broad. Such a

floor will give

and

of useful

down

and metal as

LIGHTING

wall to wall

point in lighting the bathroom cen-

The

critical

ample privacy under almost any consame time transmit a great deal

ters

on

and

here, too, unless there

ceiling

lot easier to take

well.

above the

and from the

dition

is

all

of.

to five feet

at the

the lavatory.

Here

is

the shaving mirror,

is

a separate dressing

where noses are powdered. Despite the

that there are cabinets on the market which

table, is

light.

The attitude toward

materials until

now has been

fact

and

which

as restricted as the treatment of windows. Tile is

have

run from the floor up to average elbow height,

throw a great deal of light

with painted plaster above. If the builder

people are thoroughly satisfied with the

lavish,

maybe

the

tile

is

goes to the ceiling. But

for all its unquestioned merits,

is

very
tile,

not the only ma-

built-in illumination

fixtures

directly

on

a theater dressing-room, where good

vital

will

the face, few

result.

makeup

is

In

of

importance, you will find that the mirror over

107

BATHROOMS ARE OUT OF DATE

the dressing counter

is

completely surrounded

with a ring of electric light bulbs. This

not be

may

crate.

and

Above

in

was a layer of frosted glass,

the space above that were fluorescent tube
The grid directed all illumination downthis there

very pleasant, because the heat and glare from the

lights.

brightly glowing bulbs are intense. But the idea

ward, and the natural

is

wood

good, for the ring of lights gives even, shadowless

warmed

illumination from above, from the sides, and, most

ful effect. In addition, there

important for shaving, from below.

Something of this kind has to be developed for

on the lavatory mirror.

the

home

plicated.

lavatory,

The

and

it

need not be unduly com-

simplest method, and the cheapest,

color softened and

the light, thus producing a really wonder-

was

local illumination

THE INSIDE BATH

In a single house

it

has usually been taken for

involves the use of a single light over the mirror,

granted that the bath will be located on an outside

plus the use of the white basin below as a reflector.

wall so that

Most basins
and

are

much too low for comfortable use,

the lavatory were raised,

if

would be

flector

The

increased.

not be an incandescent bulb;

be a fluorescent tube.

Still

tion of two other lights

Tube

lights are

much

its

it

single light

would be
is

less

curved reflectors

ally

holds true, for land

is

so valuable and space

so restricted that baths have to be buried in the

would be the addi-

core of the building to save valuable outside wall

side of the cabinet.

space.

discomfort from glare.

What

by hiding the bulbs and using

of aluminum or stainless steel to

An

for day-

need

better in this location than

direct the light to the face.

own window

particularly in large hotels, the reverse gener-

can be reduced further by the use of

frosted glass or

its

light and ventilation. In big city apartment houses

and

spread over a bigger surface, and consequently

glare there

have

re-

incandescent bulbs, because the light would be

there

will

could perfectly well

better

on each

efficacy as

it

ideal solution, fol-

Most people contemplating the building of a new

house would probably reject the suggestion that
they put one or more inside bathrooms in the plan,
on the ground that such a bath is unpleasant to use
and unhygienic. Nevertheless, they will think nothing of going to an expensive, up-to-date hotel

where they

will use the artificially lighted

tilated inside

bathroom without the

and ven-

slightest dis-

lowing the theater dressing-room example, would

be to complete the ring and provide a light source

comfort. In fact, they might even enjoy the unpre-

from below as well. If you have an ingenious architect you will find that this solution is far from im-

affords.

possible.

Perhaps some manufacturer

bring out such a unit.

appeared, and

put together

if

To

will

date, however,

you want one

it

will

it

one day
has not

have to be

cedented degree of privacy which this type of room

When
bath,

approaching the question of the inside

it is

tween facts and prejudices, and between the real

advantages and the real disadvantages of such an
arrangement.

specially.

few years back a demonstration house was

New York City. It had an inside bath and

built in

therefore required full-time artificial lighting and

up lights on the wall

Edward Stone, made

is frequently no particularly good

should be removed from
bathrooms
why
outside walls. There is usually all the perimeter

here and there, the architect,

fifteen feet

of a grid of

inches deep, which

108

light

wood

The

ceiling con-

bars about three

made it look a little like an egg

true that in the great majority

of houses there

needed for

the entire ceiling a lighting fixture.

It is

reason

ventilation. Instead of tacking

sisted

necessary, therefore, to distinguish be-

all

of the rooms, and giving up ten or

of exterior wall space for bathrooms

does not create any shortage of such space.

ever,

there are occasions when,

How-

by placing the

bathroom within the core of the house, a consider-

BATHROOMS ARE OUT OF DATE

able increase in planning flexibility can be achieved.

This

from other rooms

into the bath,

of compartments where the various func-

apartment. Mechanical ventilation establishes fixed

its

tions are divided to give

There

added

must be considered

that

is

constant ventilation not only of the bath, but cross-

usability.

another point about the inside bath-

is

sirability,

and that

on the top
ally

is,

where objectionable odors are drawn off which

otherwise might be distributed throughout the

particularly true

changed from

room

the bathroom

that

conventional form into a related

is

series

when

direction

is,

in evaluating

its

de-

that in a one-story house or

floor, the inside

bath can also be natur-

lighted and ventilated by using clerestory win-

dows or

During the period of emergency

skylights.

ventilation of other rooms. Because air

from the

rest

is

drawn

of the apartment, the bathroom tem-

perature remains fairly constant.

"Secondly, this ventilation works

all the year

whereas
bathroom
windows
are
round,
frequently
closed almost all winter. One cold blast of air is

temporary nature built in various parts of the

enough to keep the window closed for the re^

mainder of a day, if not the season. Neither are

country used precisely this scheme. According to

city dwellers likely to leave

the few tenant surveys that were made, these bath-

was considered one

open for long and let the soot sift in.

"The equipment in the inside bath may be eco-

advantage, while the added wall space, thanks to

nomically arranged on one wall without blocking

the elimination of the window, was another.

access to a window, as

war building a great many housing projects of a

rooms were well

liked. Privacy

But war housing was not the first example of

this country. Decades ago Frank

is

accidents, as the tenant

Lloyd Wright, who seems to have had almost every

good idea about houses some twenty years before

floor or tub

anyone else, was building bathrooms and kitchens

where the walls extended well above the roof so

window

from the

sides.

Wright has already emphasized the virtues of this

often the case with the

outside bath. This has been the cause of serious

such planning in

that light could be brought in

may

or making up, and for this reason

windows function

in the

air.

In a kitchen of this kind the problem of cook-

air currents

on the way
would be coming

passing out

directly, carrying the odors with them.

ing odors

The same
This

is

is

well

to solution, because

into the kitchen

and

applies to the bathroom.

Use or

rejection of the inside bath idea

of personal

to show,

new

As

living requirements

of

riety

new and

years ago

What we have

air in

one

tried

more important than the few

is

that the kind of thinking

minimum bathroom

is

it

can produce an astonishing va-

Only a few
that the bathroom

interesting solutions.

was generally

felt

problem had been completely solved

room

for variations.

that arrang-

left little

We have seen that this

or no

not

is

And there is a very good reason why

modem architect who has contributed

the case.

that they are usually better ventilated. Artificial

a mat-

outdated, that an unprejudiced approach to one's

the

a constant flow of

is

is

far as that goes, so is the

that produced the standard

bathrooms work better than those on outside walls

ventilation insures

and what

ideas discussed,

about the inside bathroom "One reason why inside

is

taste.

ing three fixtures in a small area

what The Architectural Forum has written

artificial light is

preferred."

use of bath-in-compartments.

raised

stepping into

generally inadequate for either shaving

is

because, as he pointed out, kitchens with extra

same way as the large chimney that is, general

movement of air through the house would be set
up, the high windows furnishing the outlet for the

on a wet

the tub to open the window. Light from the small

ter

high ceilings

easily slip

when reaching over or

scheme, not only for the reasons given above, but

and

a bathroom window

changes.

It is

it is

the

because he forgets about the fixtures

and remembers that he

is

designing for people.

109

CHAPTER TEN

MANUFACTURING
CLIMATE
A COUPLE OF

weeks ago we helped a friend paint

had been a white kitchen to start

his kitchen. It

with,

and was

Except that

new coat of the same color.

wasn't the same color at

it

new white went on

ever the

next to

getting a

it

contrast.

suddenly turned a

Wher-

all.

the walls, the old white

muddy

Even the enameled

yellow gray by

electric clock,

it,

and not the gleaming white everyone

had imagined

to be.

it

This kitchen

no way

in

is

particularly remark-

where soot discolors everyhas been taken care of as well

able. It isn't in the city,

thing in sight, and

as a

room could

it

be.

Yet

after less

than two years a

high quality white paint was transformed into

something just

What

this side

to

this leads

activities in

of mud.

their

mate." The average kitchen, for example,

in miniature,

burgh
from the cooking

where minute

own
is

"cli-

Pitts-

particles of soot

burned food, and plain ordinary everyday grease get into the atmosphere and
wander around the kitchen, and the adjacent
rooms,

designed house this

condition

110

is

dirty

is

upstairs

window-

not to be tolerated. Such a

and

it is

wasteful.

produced inside the rooms of

The house-

The concern of

this

his house.

chapter

is

with the creation

of the best possible physical environment within

the house. Heating takes care of the elementary

problem of keeping warm. It stops short, however,

of what is technically feasible at the present time

and

probably be universal practice in the near

future. As good a place as can be found for an apwill

proach to

this question

Of

rooms

all

the

in the

of climate

house

is

it is

the kitchen.

the worst of-

fender in producing unpleasant climate.

And

it is

on the walls or

the fish mother fries

on the kitchen

the range and the refrigerator.

of equipment

What
The

the range does has already been described.

of the refrigerator

role

is

probably

less

familiar.

fire,

too, until finally they land

some of

on an

holder should have the power to control the climate

refrigerator

heat from them.

generally

summer

it

makes

things cold by extracting

The heat has

to.

go some place, and

goes right into the kitchen.

During the

this is particularly objectionable.

A clear course of action is indicated for whoever

furniture. In fact, laboratory analysis has disclosed

that

to condense

the worst offender because of two essential pieces

the observation that the

up
certain rooms produce
is

is likely

pane within a matter of minutes. In the properly

which

had been faithfully scraped every month or two,

seemed a rather dingy beige once the new paint surrounded

stove

is

planning the kitchen in terms of climate as well

MANUFACTURING CLIMATE
as mechanical efficiency. There should be a hood,

some kind of

or at least

collecting duct, over both

stove and refrigerator to get the dirt

and the un-

more than the bathroom and kitchen, because once

it is

in operation,

rooms

directly as possible.

air is set

For the home

years by the use of exhaust fans.

there

an additional refinement that should be

is

considered. If the exhaust fan were

hooked up

to a

thermostatic control located in the duct or hood,

would go on automatically whenever the

the fan

up

rooms. This

far better, of course, than having the

is

come from them.

air

A device that has been gaining popularity during

the past few years

is

houses

are

One

reason for

because people do forget things, and the remem-

doors, with the result that in

to

an automatic

The next

offender in order of importance

is

the

bathroom. One advantageAof the inside bathroom,

already noted,

which
side

is

that

it

has year-round ventilation,

more than can be

is

bathroom. People

said for the average out-

hesitate, quite understand-

open bathroom windows

ably, to

because the

room is used

in cold weather,

intermittently

all

evening, and, once chilled, takes time to

again.
is

A practical way to

to install

leave the

some kind of

get

around

day and

warm up

this situation

artificial ventilation

and

window closed. Some architects have gone

is

not vented to the out-of-

summer

the air

trapped under the roof gets so hot that the ceilings

below

gadget.

attic fans is

pitched-roof house has either an attic or an air

space. This air space

left

has

The average

badly designed.

unable even to push buttons any more, but simply

bering might just as well be

It

been adopted with particular enthusiasm in the

Southwest, and also wherever else the summers get

that

and

the so-called attic fan.

is

ture a few degrees. This isn't suggested because of

getting soft

come from some-

over the house towards these two

all

uncomfortably hot.

is

has to

Thus a general movement of

in the house.

refrigerator exhaust or cooking raised the tempera-

a feeling that the housewife

air

where, and this somewhere has to be the other

wanted heat out of the kitchen as quickly and as

Hotels and restaurants have been doing this for

new

are turned

it

literally

into radiators. It

is

a simple matter to design a house so that air under

the roof can be vented as

have been doing

it

becomes

this in their

hot.

Farmers

barns and chicken-

houses for generations. But because the

attics in

conventional dwellings have been designed as traps

for super-heated air, people have to install these

fans to get rid of

exhaust fan

attic,

This does not

mean

that the

a useless apparatus but that

is

been misused.

it.

Its

has

it

function should not be to cool the

but to control the climate of the whole house.

Turned on

at night,

it

brings in the cool outside

air,

so far as to install sheets of fixed glass, thus relying

and

on the window only for

ing breeze. But the fan doesn't have to be located

light,

to provide for a change of

the bathroom

is

and an exhaust fan

air. If

by any chance

located next to the kitchen, pos-

sibly the kitchen fan

could be

made

to

do double

we

stop and consider the climate question for

a moment,

we find that we now have the beginnings

of a rudimentary system of

which

is

quite independent of the heating plant.

This ventilating arrangement

light

artificial ventilation

of fixed glass for

and exhaust fan for change of air

applies to

is

dry enough, the result

for

it.

It

is

a refresh-

a perfectly good place

could be used to push air into the house as

in the attic, although this

well as to pull

humid

duty.
If

the air

if

it

it

out,

is

and where summers are very

could be used in conjunction with a de-

humidifying system.
Dehumidifiers are fairly simple pieces of equipair.

The com-

monest type uses a material known as

which is highly moisture-absorbent. If

silica gel,

ment

gel is

that take moisture out of the

this silica

placed in a chamber through which the air

III

MANUFACTURING CLIMATE
supply for the house passes,

out of the

take moisture

will

it

becomes so saturated that

air until it

it

any more. At this point the equipment

provides for removal of the saturated material,
which is then heated, usually over a gas flame, until
can't absorb

all

the moisture has been driven

re-used. In

most

off,

and

then

it is

installations the setup consists of

a slowly revolving drum, so constructed that part

absorbs moisture and part gets rid of it an ar-

good an idea as

it

no ducts; and by the simple

expedient of leaving doors and windows open or
closed, the flow of air can be directed as desired.
lating system requires

With a cooling system,

Ducts are needed, and
lation.

Added

to this

is still

cooling

exhaust fans for kitchens and bathrooms, an

costs a lot to run.

and a dehumidifier
would

able

establish a pretty high level of

fort in the average

junction with a
cise

manner

house

if it

first-class

in

electric

use should be desir-

if its

were

com-

installed in con-

heating system.

The

pre-

which home ventilation would be

handled varies not only with the prevailing summer

climate but also with the location of the house. If

an

it is

in a city or

attic

fan becomes something of a

the air which

laden with

is

dirt,

problem than

it

industrial neighborhood, the

liability,

because

windows

pulled in through the

is

if

one, or in a ground-floor utility room, and

it

The

bigger

operation, because to

to take the soot

hits the fan. Incidentally,

one rule about the fan

observed.

it is,

itself

that should be

the quieter

move a

through the house a big fan

it

and

still

will

be in

given quantity of air

will

be operated more

slowly than a small one. Ventilating fans

feet in diameter,

is

generally a big one

Another reason

up to four

comes pretty
during the

and

that for houses

is

needed

in the

hot and

close to doing the job that

summer months.

It is

only

central southern regions that air-cooling

desirable in spite of

its

is

relatively high cost.

Shortly before the outbreak of

World War

II,

one manufacturer brought out a gas unit designed

to handle both heating and cooling in one package. It

was

fairly expensive,

but by no means un-

when compared to any other good

The gas flame worked exactly as it

reasonably so

stallations

tests

on actual

in-

showed that while the cost of summer

cooling was fairly high,

it

was by no means beyond

the reach of the middle-class budget. Certainly in

the regions where natural gas
ful, units

is

cheap and

and inexpensive that they

will

become so

moment, however,

this is

One manufacturer

At

the

not the case.

interested in the field of

air conditioning for

effi-

be suitable for

installation in all but the cheapest houses.

mer

plenti-

of this type should be highly successful.

Possibly with refinements they will

cient

larger ones, have been

installed in houses.

is

parts of the United States ventilation

does in the gas refrigerator, and

out of the air before

is

motor, the motor

most

humid

a compressor which requires an

installation.

some type of filter should be used

there

in

is

and cleaning becomes more of a

before. In such cases the fan

a fact that im-

the fact that residential air-

is

was

should probably be installed in the basement,

there

is

large ones

very definitely in the luxury cate-

gory. If there

fan,

not quite as feasible.

this is

mediately complicates and raises the cost of instal-

rangement which provides continuous service.

A combination of the items mentioned so far
attic

sounds. For one thing, a venti-

sum-

houses said that before a

cooling system could be sold the owner would have

buy awnings. In the most recent houses where

the roof design has been worked out to let the sun
to

VENTILATION VERSUS COOLING

At

this point

one might well ask,

the works and add cooling?"

ment

112

At

there are several reasons

"Why

not shoot

the present

why

this is

mo-

not as

in during the winter

and keep

awnings would not be

it

out in summer, the

required. But the point

well taken. Engineers setting

was

up a cooling system

MANUFACTURING CLIMATE
design
that

with what they

it

is,

they find out

call the

the house, which, in turn,

tells

ery will be required to get

thing to do, obviously,

heat load in

how much

is

it

mind

heat comes into

them what machin-

out again. The smart

not to

let it

get in,

which

can be accomplished by proper design, the use of

reflective insulation, self-ventilating roofs similar

all

houses

will

year round

at

however, there
unless there

is

be completely air-conditioned the

some future
not

is

At the moment,

point in considering

it

a generous budget established to

cover not only the

its

much

date.

first

cost of the equipment but

use and maintenance as well.

Good

climate

is

something that can be defined

to those installed on barns, and the judicious use of

rather simply. It involves having clean air at the

planting.

proper temperature summer and winter, the hu-

This

last

should not be disregarded, because

can be immensely

effective.

it

A wall thickly covered

midity being kept fairly well under control at

times.

all

For the average house in this country a good

with ivy, for example, will never get hot on the in-

ventilating system, coupled with a radiant heating

no matter how long the sun shines on

the green leaves absorb some of the heat and

installation

side,

it,

for

reflect

some, while the pattern of the foliage permits a

and the

special handling of kitchens

and bathrooms already discussed,

close to providing

optimum

will

come

pretty

living conditions.

Dur-

up the face of the house

ing the next few years, at any rate, that extra

so that the wall behind never has a chance to get

equipment which would provide scientific perfection of interior climate will cost more than most of

free passage of air currents

warmed
It is

up.

conceivable

indeed, quite probable

that

us are willing to pay.

113

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SLEEPING
OF ALL THE rooms
changed

least. It

in the

house the bedroom has

would almost be accurate

to say

that the only essential difference between the sleep-

smoke, and sometimes write; they may

the radio, and they certainly make love.
In a

bedroom

there

is

listen to

also the question of sleep,

ing chamber of today and one of the post-Civil

War period is the absence of the chamber pot. Be-

which has been studied very intensively by a number of research institutes, and here proper design

cause of the simplicity of the activities involved,

can, but usually does not, play an important part.

there has been

The

little

incentive to change the equip-

ment. Beds and mattresses have been improved

when people threw a blanket over a

of straw in a corner. And the modern closet

since the days

pile

with automatic door switches and special hanging

gadgets

is

easier to use than the antique

wardrobe. But beds are

wooden

horizontal chunks that

still

up most of the floor space and have to be

made and unmade periodically. Closets, while built
take

in

and improved somewhat,

still

show a strong

re-

semblance to old-fashioned clothes cupboards.

This does not mean that when the bedroom

planned there is nothing to do about it. Tremendous changes are about to take place which will
influence

most of our sleeping

habits; but even

without these proposed innovations,

light, heat,

pect,

and

do not

some of

air.

effect

on

sleep are noise,

Most

people,

we

sleep particularly well,

for this conjecture

is

that

all

when we

strongly sus-

and the reason

of us seem to be able

to recall with extraordinary clarity

slept especially well.

some occasion

Such an occasion

might have been a night in a cabin in a pine woods,

where the temperature and quality of the

the

essential

factors.

strongly to their
is

an

factors having

whether from within the room or from outside,

first

City

dwellers

air

react

were
very

night in the country because

of the absence of familiar noises, of which they be-

come conscious only when

the source has been re-

moved.
These

factors, the scientists tell us, are exceed-

ingly complex, but for our purposes

The

it

should be

which verge on the fantastic, there is plenty to be

done in bringing the bedroom, as a space, up to the

apparently, the

standard of quality displayed by more highly de-

has a bearing on design, because rooms can be

veloped sections of the house.

Let us take time out and look at the bedroom,

not as a

room with some standard

furniture in

it,

possible to simplify them.

more

quieter the

peacefully one

room,

sleeps.

made quiet. Maximum physical comfort seems to

when the body is warm and the air a little on

exist

the cool side. Typical disturbances such as streaks

but as the area in which a great variety of activities

of light from the nearest lamppost, a reading

takes place. People read in their bedrooms, they

in the adjacent bed, or headlights

dress

cars, also tend to interfere

114

there,

occasionally

eat

there,

frequently

This

light

from passing

with sleep. These, too,

SLEEPING
can be controlled. Thus we see that there are two

required. Nevertheless, the example does serve to

approaches to planning a bedroom one based on

the creation of the qualities which induce sound

define clearly the range of design possibilities,

sleep, the other based

on

on the other activities carried

which

in turn represent varying tastes

a great

THE BEDROOM

AN

AS

ACTIVITIES

CENTER

years ago a book was published in Paris by

named LeCorbusier. LeCorbusier

was interested in developing entirely new standards
a Swiss architect

for house design,

tive discussion

and

of his provoca-

in the course

many

things. It

be a sleeping chamber which also includes dressing

And, finally, it can be nothing more than
a sleeping compartment containing only the beds

and the necessary controls for

sound, and the rest.

When

a house

only on the

and that was the bed. The idea of dressing

this preference,

same space was completely revolting aesthetically

and undesirable hygienically. LeCorbusier's fellow
citizens were shocked by his attack on what was
universally considered a

Quite recently a
scribed to

woman

life

de-

some of her friends the kind of bedroom

she would like to have. Nothing could have been

more remote from LeCorbusier's

astic sleeping

chamber, but

sense none the

less.

it

ideal of the

made

The main

perfectly

tached to

one operated a writing

which would swing into
:

position when wanted; another button worked a

a third took care

prefers to

live.

made
Even

however, will not be completely

because the budget at some point will enter

the picture. Space in a house

cheap to build

is

is,

to be divided into a dressing-room

chamber,

it

which both

comparatively

empty space costs less than

This means that if a given area is

that

will cost

more than a

activities are

and a sleeping
single

taken care

room, which has to be large,

feature of this bed-

carefully designed reading light;

how one

good

the bed was a kind of dashboard with

desk, built into the wall,

planned, a choice will be

less,

to be a remarkable motorized bed. At-

it

is

mon-

room was

about a dozen buttons on

is

basis of

subdivided space.

good arrangement.
active in public

free,

ventilation, light,

nobody who can tell you

kinds of rooms is the best kind.

Fortunately, there

should be only one thing in the bedroom, said he,

in the

living-

facilities.

which of these
one could have been more emphatic: there

can be a second

room, giving members of the family needed privacy for conversation, reading, or study. Or it can

he came to the subject of the bed-

room.

No

living

From the foregoing we see that a bedroom can be

there.

Some

and

habits.

of.

room

in

Neverthe-

space does cost something, and the bed-living

will

be more expensive

than the old-style bed-dressing room.

The sleeping-compartment with separate

dress-

ing-room scheme, for example, has one tremen-

dous advantage: the dressing space can be kept

warm

even

open

left

if

all

quiet, since

the

windows

night.

There

in the sleeping unit are

is

also the matter of

a space containing only one or two

of opening and closing the windows; a fourth oper-

beds can be very satisfactorily soundproofed at no

ated the blinds; a fifth brought a small refrigerated

great expense.

compartment within reach; and others took care of

other hand, offers the pleasant prospect of sleeping

a radio, record-player, maid, telephone, and so on.

in a

There are few of us

in our beds,

who spend

this

and there are even fewer

afford the elaborate sets of motors

much time
who could

and controls

ity

room

The

bed-living

room scheme, on

the

of really generous size with the possibil-

of a very agreeable, casual kind of existence

where one can work or talk without the inconvenience of getting

up and going downstairs. Once the

115

17

20

121

An
is

ancient and honorable

to place them

of the first

in

modern

served as a passage
it

way

to provide for beds

an alcove (Thomas Jefferson, one

architects, kept his in

one which

between two rooms, and

up to the ceiling during the day). Views

18

show two

cially

stringent

pulled
1

7 and

up-to-the-minute versions of the

alcove scheme, which

sitting room or

is

applicable either to the bed-

when space

limitations are espe-

to other rooms as well, to provide

accommodation for guests. The pictures above show

what architect-designed built-in equipment can do
to solve the problem of clothes storage, save floor
space, and

improve appearance.

In

view 120, note

shoes just inparticularly the handy wall recess for

side the sliding doors. Such a recess, placed be-

tween the

partition studs, takes

can be built by any carpenter.

no space

at

all,

and

124

The bedroom above

come

across

in

modern houses

how

ing

room

is

"at

is

the handsomest

good many

all

over the country.

home"

in this

view

122, the desk

in

datory. But
pieces

if

interest-

thoroughly modern

America has produced. For

certain functional needs

bedback

It is

the bow-back Windsor chair, the best

piece of furniture

in

we 'have

years of looking at

like

the dressing table

in

view 123 and the

view 125, modern furniture

do not

hesitate to

you happen to

mix

feel like

it,

is

man-

in traditional

or

insist

that

the furniture be modern because the architec-

ture

123

is.

125

In

the sleeping as well as the living portions of

the house modern planning ideas can be employed

to save space, increase comfort or add entirely

new functions to commonplace rooms. View

for example, shows

how

26,

a sliding partition can be

used to create a combination bedroom-playroom

for the children, sunny and spacious by day, cozy

and intimate by night. In the room shown in 27,

the same device is employed to divide sleeping
1

and dressing areas, so that the

warm

all

night long.

show several

latter can be

kept

pictures on this page

versions of the popular double bunk,

which the upper bunk is

to take advantage of the space above the

including one (129)

offset

The

in

sloping ceiling of a stairway.

Nowhere
as in the

mium and

in

the house are the fittings so important

bedroom, where space

the storage question

tion of this

problem there

is

is

is

usually at a pre-

critical. In

the solu-

almost no limit to what

ingenious design can accomplish.

few examples of

such ingenuity are shown here: a variety of built-in,

space saving chests of drawers; closet doors which
also function as a fitting-mirror
(134); a minimal

room (135 and 136)

guest

good

fireplace as well as a

out

scarcely larger than a

sized bath, but providing a writing desk and

in

generous

closet. All are carried

an attractive, economical fashion; the main

investment

is

in

design, not in space or materials.

136

140

One

criticism frequently leveled at the large win-

dows employed in modern architecture is that they

do not leave enough wall space for furniture. The
rooms shown here provide a striking refutation of
this argument. As view 140 shows, window and
furniture design can be integrated

provides a

maximum

in

way

that

of both glass and storage space,

and a simpler, better looking wall to boot. The same

windows

principle has been applied to the

and 141, while view 138 shows

how

it

in

139

can be ex-

tended to the bedroom corridor. View 137 shows

a storage space for fireplace logs tucked into the

bottom of an

what

inside "storagewall" flanking a

similar passage.

some-

144

146

147
equipment can make as great a contribution to the living rooms as it does to the bedBuilt-in storage

rooms of the modern house, and

it

also has the

important job of creating functional divisions

in

the

"open plan." Thus the three storage units on the

facing page serve as semi-partitions between a dining

room and stairway (142), and living and dining

rooms (143 and 14-4 in the latter, note the convenient slots at the end of the unit for card tables

and trays). The views on this page show wall-high

cabinets for books, and

two of the

units,

145 and

146, include built-in radio-phonographs. The shelving in

147

is

covered by a horizontally-sliding ver-

sion of the roller desktop.

From storage cabinets and furniture attached to the

48 and 49, it is only a step to the use
walls, as in
1

of such equipment to form the walls themselves

device which

we

have named the "storagewall."

This arrangement takes only a

the ordinary partition, and

more space than

little

extremely

is

since the various units used to

make up

flexible,

a particular

wall can be arranged in any desirable pattern and

faced in either direction, serving

the same wall. The wall shown

designed for LIFE)
living

is

two rooms with

in

ISO (which we

intended for use between a

room and entrance

hall,

and

is

2 inches

thick.

dead,
air.

148

oJ-L

qarmL

cm. 9\a

cJlasuit

Si

15

us- coJk/v\ef

at

*?
* m* m
if * *
m^-im
nuat

151

!*r,.

CHAPTER TWELVE

ORGANIZED STORAGE
ONCE UPON A TIME
ments.

all

houses had

The basements were

attics

of furnaces, vege-

full

garden tools, rubber boots, canned goods,

trunks the familiar combination of junk and usetables,

The same was

It is

common knowledge

smaller than

it

that the house today

used to be. Part of

this

is

shrinkage

has taken place in the rooms themselves. However,

true

not only are individual rooms smaller, but there

attics, except that their contents were mostly

are fewer of them. Part and parcel of this process

ful things a family accumulates.

of

THE SHRINKING HOUSE

and base-

junk.

World War

of removing a lot

had the highly desirable effect

of scrap iron from these attics,

of shrinkage
attics

is

the gradual disappearance of both

and basements. Attics have disappeared for

thus bringing a semblance of order to the storage

spaces of millions of American homes. By the time

a number of reasons.

World War

dormers to

came around, the attics and basements were just as full as they had ever been.
II

One of the minor

ence

is

of tucking bedrooms under the eaves and using

let in

the light. Another

is

the increas-

ing popularity of low-pitched roofs, which

do not

the annual cleaning bee, during which

on an appointed day

Basements are disappearing for a number of

in the spring,

miracles in everyone's experi-

entire family,

swoop up

The amazing

into the attic for the yearly

part of this operation

is

not

the elimination of things, but the fact that once the

stacked in orderly piles there suddenly

junk is
seems to be a tremendous amount of space
over, although at the beginning the entire

left

room

was so cluttered that you could hardly walk around

in it. It is the moral behind this recurring experience that forms the basis for the theme of this
chapter; that

is,

if

you have an adequate number

equally

good

giant metallic spiders of

left

over.

have a good deal

The hot
all

air furnaces

the world like

some antediluvian

ther of which requires cellar space. It

that our oil supply
it

will

become

been; but

in heating

still

modern

the fact that

is

period,

needed plenty of space in the cellar. Since then

there has been a shift from coal to oil or gas, nei-

located, you can take care of everything that has

and

One

of thirty years ago, looking for

of all,

to be kept out of sight

reasons.

heating plants are compact.

of storage spaces, properly shaped and properly

of space

the popular practice

is

have a space under them big enough to be used

as an attic.

mother or the

cleaning.

One

is

may

less available for

electricity,

is

possible

dwindle to the point where

which

is

heating than

it

has

the most convenient

coming along to take its

equipment, however,

place.

is

The change

by no means the

only reason that basements have shrunk.

We don't

keep vegetables in them the way we used

to,

and

135

ORGANIZED STORAGE
home
out,

World War

canning, at least until

was rapidly becoming a

II

Just a few days ago, one of us went

broke

lost art. Finally, the

future to tiny storage chambers.

looked at

my

guess that

if

rubbing his chin, "I don't know.

said,

between

houses built in recent years

and

attics

is

that, while basements

have shrunk almost to the vanishing

point, the builders have included

the general living area.

The

six

no more space

result

in

for hundreds of

have never

inventory that way, but I would

you counted everything it would be

and eight thousand items." Checking

over this impressive array of stock

the most disagreeable things about small

How

items did he have in his store? "Well," he

many

One of

to the

hardware store and talked to the owner.

local

appearance of radiant floor heating may very well

eliminate basements, or at least reduce them in the

"EQUIVALENT SPACE"

down

we made

an-

other discovery aside from a few very bulky pieces,

:

wheelbarrows and baskets, garden tools and

like

rope, everything fitted very comfortably

on

shelves

not more than ten inches wide. Let us keep this

mind, because

fact in

it is

of the greatest impor-

thousands of families has been sheer frustration,

tance in working out a really

because in these houses there is no space for trunks,

scheme.

efficient

storage

old furniture, or any of the innumerable bulky

which must be kept around the house.

Obviously this is an intolerable situation. The acobjects

commodations once provided by cellar and

must be replaced by equivalent storage space

attic

Closets are no

else-

much

For years the major complaint of the

American housewife has been that never has she
where.

lived in

a house with enough

closets.

When

she

says she does not have enough closets, she thinks

she means closets; actually she means something

quite" different.

closet

is

a place where clothes

and blankets and very few other items should be

stored. For everything else in or around the house,
the closet

is

no solution

at

BULKY THINGS

all.

space

is

for

good

wasted.

things because

little

They are equally unsuitable

for the larger objects which have to be put

in every household.

when

the children

would include the

older, their bicycles. It

lawn mower and

away

of such things would

list

include the baby carriage and,

grow

to-

the roller, the rakes and luggage,

summer rugs and out-door furniture. Where do

the

they go? In

many

there

if

houses,

is

a basement,

they go in the basement. But the chances are that

your new house may not have a basement. Cer-

no one

tainly

is

going to build a

cellar,

which

is

expensive construction, just for the baby carbecause it should never get off the ground

an

ATIP FROM THE STOREKEEPER

riage,

Next time you go down to the corner drugstore,

how your local

grocery, or delicatessen, look to see

merchant

stores his wares.

boards, and show

wall storage.

There are

may

is

stock hundreds

of individual items, yet he can find any of them in

an

instant. If

he had to

sell his

stock out of closets,

he would go crazy. So would the housewife. In a

minor way this is what the housewife

do in the average house.

136

and

is

trying to

anyway. The same

is

is

true of garden tools

bicycles.

One

bins, cup-

cases, but most of the storage

shop-keeper

level,

excellent solution for this storage

the garage, where there

is

room

problem

to store skis,

summer furniture, and other awkward-tohandle items which are moved only once or twice

luggage,

garages are equipped with a kind of

of the car
storage mezzanine under which the hood

a year.

Some

will

so that

we

fit,

still

more space

is

are considering here, though,

provided.

is

What

the question of

ORGANIZED STORAGE

possibly

blower somewhere in the ducts which pushes the

than

warm

it

making the garage three or four feet wider

would have to be if only the car were to be

considered. This extra footage could be fitted with

compartments

for the carriage,

roller, bicycles, etc., all

out and put back

lawn mower and

some

little

A room for this pur-

like

woodshed, what of

pretty

good

is

no longer

true of the hot-

pumps on the return line from the radiators.

Thus we have the very attractive possibility of

it

can be a

kind of super garden shed somewhere but in the

father's

is

objects can also be solved

pose can be attached to the house, or

sounds a

Reliance on gravity, therefore,

a consideration, and the same

air

water plants, almost

independently of the garage.

yard. If this

in.

rooms and sucks the cold

of which could be taken

easily.

The problem of bulky

back

air into the

it?

of which have circulating

all

putting the furnace or boiler on the

where

it

can be gotten at

easily

first floor,

without any loss of

efficiency in heating.

a return to grandGrandfather had

FEW THINGS BELONG

IN

CLOSETS

ideas.

Having disposed of the bulky

THE HEATER

objects,

we come

to

the question of "active storage." Active storage

covers everything that

is

used frequently in the

include a broom, which from this

basement as a storage space

can be compensated for in one of the ways mentioned, or perhaps in some other, we still have to

house. It

remove the furnace. Can a furnace be placed above

months. They are

ground? In the older types of heating systems

which used gravity to get cold air or cold water

you want them you want them right away, and

without traveling to the other end of the house to

back to the furnace for reheating, the basement

was the only suitable place because it had to be

get them.

If elimination of the

below the

level

of the lowest living

ern heating systems don't

none but the

work on

least expensive.

floor.

But mod-

gravity, that

The warm

is,

air instal-

which are generally described as air-conditioning systems, work on a forced draft, using a
lations,

may

point of view

is

very active indeed, or a can of

stewed tomatoes, which

may

sit

on a

shelf for

alike, nevertheless, in that

when

The trouble with ordinary closets when the question of active storage

unorganized space.

is

considered

You

can

is

that they are

set things in

a closet

or you can hang them, but there are few things

which are

satisfactorily

taken care of by hanging

or leaning.

137

ORGANIZED STORAGE
Are you one of those unfortunates who has to

TVJ.

take a card table out of the front hall coat closet

once every week or two?

you are

If so,

with the agonizing process of trying to

coats out of the
table out of
all

sweeping

You

hall.

lift all

the

way and somehow wangling

the

hiding place in the

its

familiar

the rubbers

are lucky if this

back without

and overshoes

that happens, be-

is all

cause in the same closet there

into the

very well be

may

golf clubs, a pair of skis, undoubtedly a

set

of roller

and maybe a couple of umbrellas and a

movie projector. Perhaps you keep just a few of
skates,

these things in your hall closet, but the chances are

whisk broom, dust

good that by the time the card table is out

you are more in the mood for a stiff drink than a

and perhaps a vacuum cleaner. They go in easily

and they come out easily. Forgetting the appear-

pretty

game of bridge.
Here are some of the items

ance of

quiet

want of

most people, for

better space, keep in closets: toys,

brellas, tricycles,

bulbs,

that

um-

hat boxes, luggage, electric light

overshoes,

batteries, -wires,

tools,

tennis

and sewing machines. Every one of these items, and the dozens
you could probably add after going through your
rackets, rubbers,

movie

screens,

own

closets, deserves

that

storage space should be somewhere

Moreover,

if

proper storage space, but

fit

in

you organized storage

space.

How
We might

kitchen, which,

not

would

give

could keep your

other, the umbrellas

and rain coats. In a third there

might be racks for rubbers and overshoes, and so

on. The appearance, to be sure, might suggest a

that he could use a very

doors, which

lockers, but

architect

you would

worthy of the name,

handsome

would look much

series

of

wood

better than wall-

there

overnight bag or two

tend this

list

filled already.

you may ask

is

room

for hats, possibly an

but there

is

no need to

ex-

you probably have the space

"But what about the card table?"

since

at this point.

card table into a

broom

"How

closet?"

does one get a

The answer

is

that you don't, because it is just a matter of making

an opening hi the end of a wall wide enough for

twelve inches

the insertion of card tables, trays, or other objects

this

much more than

be called

cabinet or

one of the standard manufactured

is

like this

You

golf clubs, skis, or walking sticks in one; in an-

will

broom closet in your

really wonderful thing. Into

units, is

deep or wide, you can put one or two brooms,

138

A setup

paper or painted plaster. The joys of a hall so

equipped are not yet ended, however, for in the
space above the broom closets or whatever they

less.

they use narrow shelves and a lot of them.

which

side.

you had an

does this approach work for the house?

closet,

by

row of gymnasium

have already seen what shopkeepers, who

have to be efficient people, do about storing goods

closets, side

find, if

We

if it is

of six, so that you have about eight of these broom

typical

and most would

with the

ten or twelve inches thick instead

else.

PLACES FOR LITTLE THINGS

start

is

wax, a mop, dustpan,

us suppose that the wall in

this unit, let

your front hall

you get out the tape measure and

check the dimensions of these objects, you will

find that few of them need a space deeper than ten
inches

rags, floor

that have the

same general

size

and shape.

ORGANIZED STORAGE
A THEORY OF STORAGE
should be clear by

It

Storage space,

now what we

are driving

if sufficiently specialized,

practically anything in the

away. As we have

already seen,

jects are small ones.

Now

let

can hold

most of these ob-

us look at the house

you take the plan of an average threebedroom house and put all of the non-bearing

plan. If

partitions (that

up

walls which

is,

do not serve

beams) in a straight

ceiling

line,

to hold

you would

probably find that you had about 150 feet of wall

in a straight line. This is point one. Now let us

assume that

this length

out from 6 inches to

is

1 1

point two.

is

Now

inside.

space in the

by

units

handles on doors and drawers

ing pattern. Nevertheless,

them

installed

total

you don't want them. There is a kind of

spring catch available, to cite one example, where

which look

of
it?

the theory of essential storage

the replacement of certain parreally cupboards.

for storage,

These

and they would be

linens, silver, etc.; or solid

like

if

a door

is opened by pushing
lightly on it. With
kind of hardware, no knobs or pulls are visible.

the walls can be designed so that they give

no

hint of

what

is

going on behind the

2) Loss of wall space for furnishing.

as in the dining-room or kitchen, where

have to store

very pleas-

you don't have to have

existence of a great deal of concealed storage space,

which are

demands

make a

an

we

made up of open shelves, as in the living-room or

library, where we want the books to show; drawers,

bureaus and cupboards which take up a

large part of a wall, and where the knobs and

our three-bedroom house

partition-cupboards would be scattered through

the house according to which rooms make the
greatest

houses

doors can be operated with nothing more than a

of shelf space. Could you use

home

happens,

built-in

think you could.

titions

it

recessed finger pull. In other words, despite the

in its non-bearing partitions

is

As

fine old Colonial

is

for point three, which

would have

This, then,

some

find in

Then, too, drawers can be designed so that they

can be pulled out without the use of knobs. Sliding

six shelves,

feet

you can

of a wall

like the idea

or 12 inches so that there

average of

We

Few

Appearance.

of wall has been fattened

the payoff: if in these thick walls

900 running

1)

covered with knobs and handles.

this

about 10 inches of clear space on the

This

some of yours:

at.

house that has to be put

and perhaps they coincide with

their objections,

nothing more than

wood

where we want to keep things out of

we

doors

paneling,

sight.

little

or

surface.

When

this

arrangement was described to one person, she

replied that it sounded very well, but what if you

wanted to put a table against such a wall? Then

the table would have to be moved before you
could get to the cupboard. Here the essential
ibility

flex-

of the storage wall has to be put into play.

These storage spaces are accessible, as you choose,

from either side of the wall. If the storage wall,
were located,

and a

let

us say, between the living-room

above table height could

open on the living-room side, and the space below
corridor, the space

could open

the corridor side, and there

o'n

great deal in the

way

is

of games and equipment that

could be stored in the corridor very appropriately.

Here we have a very real basis for
3) Cost.

OBJECTIONS
Realizing

that

this

scheme for storing things

objection. It

partition, but
it

These were

make

elaborate

know that this type of wall is

be much more expensive than a plain

of people before presenting

here.

not necessary to

cost estimates to

might strike practical housekeepers unfavorably,

we took the trouble of checking it with a number
it

is

going to

it

should be. After

all,

consider what

can do that a partition cannot. There are very

139

ORGANIZED STORAGE
few places where one can get something for nothing, and a house is definitely not among them. In

and illuminated from

considering the question of cost, however, there

formerly hidden heirlooms into a really beautiful

is

of the storage wall,

with glass sliding doors

fitted

inside,

would turn these

one mitigating factor that should be considered

wall decoration. Another saving,

at this point.

try to

ELIMINATION OF FURNITURE
Let us assume that our

first

wall-storage unit

going to be installed in the bedroom. In

keep the bed

it

we

is

will

linens, possibly extra blankets, cer-

tainly all our shoes

and

and, of course,

the clothing

all

bureau. With such a

hats,

wall,

perhaps a few books,

now stored in the

we have no need for a

both of which are normally

found in a typical bedroom. And if you felt like
getting rid of the dressing table, a pull-down dress-

bureau or a

chiffonier,

ing table installed in the wall would

work

just as

make

it,

dent.

The desk could be a hinged

swing out of the wall.

the time, a stand for

it

desk

kneehole

are

side of the conventional

low drawers.

You will do far better with two

dozen

one-inch drawers than with the present four- or

six-inch drawers;

you

will

be able to store

things will be easier to find.

much

The drawe

of tables in living-rooms, at least most of the tabl

to look inside of

them, are stuffed with playing cards, photograph

also

albums, ash trays, poker chips, extra cigarettes, old

great deal of the time spent in

theater programs, etc. If you cannot bear to throw

bedroom

cleaning a

because

things stored in a desk should be kept in very shal-

whose owners have allowed us

must

useless

practically

chiffonier, and possibly the dressing table, a saving

can be made in actual dollars and cents. To esti-

would

you use a typewriter all

could be built in. The draw-

make up each

ers that

unit which

If

more and

accurately, however, other factors

to

size of the dining-room somewhat, since at least

two bulky pieces of furniture have been eliminated
In the living-room the same possibilities are evi

and take up much less space than the kind

that stands on legs. By eliminating the bureau, the

be considered.

you want

could be produced by reducing the

well

mate

if

is

wasted by the necessity of

getting underneath various

pieces of furniture,

dusting and polishing the pieces, and pushing

them around. If you hire people to do your clean-

out any of these rarely looked at mementos, you

would

still

be better off

a wall and out of

if

they were stored behind

sight.

short while ago

we asked a famous

industrial

of labor can be figured in a very

designer what he thought the best radio cabinet

precise manner. Should you be one of the majority

of people who do their own cleaning, think what

was. In a burst of unbusinesslike honesty, he re-

the saving of personal wear and tear over a period

speaker and record-player

of twenty years might be worth, again,

so that

ing, this saving

in dollars

Now

and

let

you

like,

us try the dining-room. Here a logical

because

would be on the kitchen

silver, linens,

and dishes

will

be kept

it. With
cupboard doors opening front and back,
and two-way drawers, we find that the side board
and the china cabinet are no longer necessary. If

in

you have

really fine dishes, china cabinets are

no

good for display purposes, anyway. Some section

140

"No

cabinet.

The

best place for a radio

is

in the wall

you don't have to dust

have to look

cents.

place for the storage wall

side,

if

plied,

Following

some place

and you don't

when you are using it."

suggestion, we would therefore be

at

this

it

and

it

except

inclined to take our radio out of its fancy imitation

Chippendale cabinet and tuck the works into the

storage wall. Placing the speakers in one of the
upper units would give far better acoustical qualities.

To

wall

would have

hold the record-player and records, the

to be

more than

ten inches thick,

which suggests that the wall as a whole be made

ORGANIZED STORAGE
deeper, or certain cabinets in

made

as wide projecting units. Records

bums and
cabinets.

sheet music could

So

it is

all

and

ice

convenient to

is

it

bucket in the storage

to build

the front of this bar unit as a shallow metal-lined

when

down, would provide a safe

water-proof surface on which to mix the drinks.
These suggestions, of course, barely touch the
let

possibilities of the storage wall, and uses of the

from one family to another.

ivory elephants, and family B

wall would vary widely

If family

collects

and family C is proud of its collecand family D subscribes to

thirty weekly and monthly magazines, these units
would be used in totally diiferent ways. Everyone
likes pictures,

tion of fine books,

would be completely

satisfied, too.

the elephants could be displayed

while the magazines,

would

It

if installed

be interesting to look at

In other words, what

we have

The books and

most

effectively,

means

storage wall

is

just

becomes what one makes of it.

WHY HAVE

CLOSETS?

would seem from the foregoing that the good

old closet has been practically eliminated. Such is
almost the case, but not quite.

What has been done

eliminates closet storage for almost everything ex-

and now, relieved of the necessity of

doing things for which it is totally unfit, the closet
can become an extremely efficient special unit. As
cept clothes,

a shallow box a
deep,

it

little less

than two and a half feet

becomes a perfect unit for suits and

Actually, a hanger with clothes on

commodated

in a

still

it

dresses.

can be ac-

narrower space, but we

must provide clearance for the moth bags

summer and winter clothes will be put.

The design of the efficient clothes

closet

in

is

which

simple.

The hanging rod should be high enough to accommodate long evening dresses. Everyday clothes
hun

from

be quite convenient to
no need to install two sets of bars.

this height will

get at, so there

is

in slanting racks,

This shallow type of closet should have an opening

and easy to

across

here

is

find.

another

in-

stance of standardization functioning not as a

straight-jacket but as a

The

It

would be a very simple matter

tray which,

a framework.

be stored in such

your family's habit to serve cocktails or

bottles, glasses,

wall. It

al-

amusement apparatus.

highballs in the living-room,

keep

and

pression of family tastes.

could the movie projector and the

bulkier kinds of
If

lower portion be

its

for freeing the ex-

its

entire front.

Whether you use

sliding

panels or swinging doors does not matter, although

it has been our experience that the latter are far

more convenient. But a

full

opening must be pro-

ORGANIZED STORAGE
vided in one

or another, because nothing

way

We

not be putting handkerchiefs, which

will

re-

trying to reach in through a

quire two-inch drawers, into drawers which are six

end of a shallow

inches deep. Dishes ten inches in diameter will not

In this closet there will also be a light over

be stacked in kitchen cupboards which are sixteen

more annoying than

narrow door to
closet.

is

the door.

Tube

find clothes at the

lights extending the full length

would be

the opening inside

part of the space

odds and ends,

it

is

ideal. If

the upper

to be used for blankets

should have

its

of

and

own door above

the door to the closet proper so that they will be

easy to get

at.

The

to keep out dust

floor should be raised

somewhat

from the bedroom, and

all

inches deep.

The house planned on

have more storage than anyone ever dreamed was

possible in a dwelling of reasonable size;

yet,

much

useless furniture" will be eliminated, there

be more space for unencumbered living.

Don't think that planning this kind of a house

will also

But a

corners should be curved for easy cleaning. Clean-

is

by the way, will be pretty easy, because shoes

and other things that used to clutter up the closet
floor will now be installed in one or another of the

the work than went into

The approach to the storage

we now see, is by no means a matter

and

because there will be a place for everything and

the

ing,

this basis will

easy. It isn't.

house
it

more

will

come out of

because planning a

it,

most a matter of months and using

generations. It would be wonderful,

at the

is

lot

can run into

we could go down

to the local building-

special wall cabinets.

indeed,

problem, as

supply house tomorrow and order the storage wall

of installing a

lot

of

closets. It involves

a very

thoughtful estimate of what you want to keep

where,

how

big

it is,

and how often

it

has to be

taken out or put back. The solutions will range all

the way from an enlarged garage or storage shed
out in the back

yard to slots in the walls

cupboards, shelves,
types.

Once

and

special

and drawers of the most varied

this part

of the planning process has

been gone through and the right spaces have been

provided, the same thing that

we

discovered

when

the attic was cleaned will be evident. Instead of

having wasted space, as might

case since so
for

all

142

much

first

storage space

parts of the house,

seem to be the

is

contemplated

we will have saved

space.

units

we

if

and the

closets

we would

like to have;

Nobody makes them yet, although

not far off when they will be made. In

can't.

time

is

meantime

it

will

be necessary to

rely

who

on the

but
the
the
car-

will

have to

build these walls from special designs,

and the

penter and the cabinetmaker,

cost will inevitably be higher.

expense can be

and savings

made up from

Some of
savings

this

on

added

furniture

in maintenance, but not all of

it.

As

you will just have to make up

spend some extra money, because

for the difference,

your mind to
the added expenditure

pay off. So plan

your storage space as you want it and then build
it as you can best afford it.
will really

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SOUND CONDITIONING
ABOUT FOUR

years ago

we had occasion

to

make

casting System installed

some

studios the like of

a general survey of what had happened to the design of broadcasting studios. These rooms pre-

which had never been seen in this country.

sented immensely diffi^lt acoustical problems,

tilted.

partly because of the nature of radio broadcasting

room.

itself,

partly because the rooms must be sufficiently

flexible in their engineering design to

permit the

walls, instead

The

of going straight up and down, were

Strange broken surfaces jutted out into the

On

certain walls

where sound-absorbing

had been used, there were panels of plywood designed to reflect sound and to give it resomaterial

way

nance. In the most recent of the studios the walls

from the voice of one person to the very complex

have been shifted around so that they are not par-

perfect reproduction of sounds ranging all the

made by an entire orchestra. Our assumpwhen the research was begun was that acous-

to each other,

and the

have been

noises

allel

tion

broken up so that no section of this surface is parallel to the floor. What this adds up to is that acous-

tics

as a science

the

first

with as

had a very

precise basis,

broadcasting studios

and that

had been calculated

much efficiency as the most recent. Nothing

the earliest studios examined had been

presented with very specific and ad-

mittedly difficult problems, has completely altered

room

could have been farther from the truth.

One of

tical science,

ceilings

design in an interval of barely

decade.

Today

more than a

the engineers are sufficiently well

built in 1928. It

was a plain rectangular room with

sound-absorbing material on the ceiling. It must

equipped in knowledge and experience to help the

architect produce any kind of acoustical effect in

have been quite unsatisfactory from the acoustical

point of view, but at that time so were the receiving

any kind of interior.

Possibly you have never thought of acoustical
design in connection with your home. Neverthe-

sets,

and the demand for

great as

it

Another
tangular

became

fidelity

was not nearly so

in subsequent years.

studio, built in 1932,

room

was

still

less,

a rec-

except that the corners had been

replaced by diagonal walls, and acoustical material

was used not only on the ceiling but also on some
of the walls. Six years later the Columbia Broad-

sound control can be a

ing livability
privacy.

vital factor in

improvand establishing a greater degree of

Moreover, the smaller the house, the

greater the need to

pay attention to

this

neglected factor in house design. It

and,

we

feel,

highly probable

is

that at

completely
possible

some point
143

SOUND CONDITIONING
in the future the rectangular shapes

standard for rooms will

now considered

be abandoned

in favor of

other shapes which to any of us at the

would look very

Some of these

moment

ciency paid for such installations in a very short

time.
It

was also found that sound could be controlled

to an appreciable extent by the use of noiseless

strange.

shapes will be brought

into exis-

tence by the requirements of large-scale factory

which brings up a third procedure

that can be applied to the design of the house

typewriters,

of forty
production, just as your car over a period
flat planes
years has changed from an assembly of

the elimination of noise at

and sharp corners to the present complex machine

whose every surface is part of a compound curve.

tory.

This belongs to the future, however. The purpose

of this chapter is to examine what can be done

industrial plants,

with the house as

it is

being designed today and

continue to be designed in the forseeable

will

ACOUSTICS

IS

The broadcasting
demands
This

is

as

SCIENCE

it

were

seen,

should be, for while a very few people

is

going on in a broadcasting studio,

tens of millions can hear.

The good movie

houses of the late thirties and early forties showed
the effect of talking pictures very clearly. Again we
characteristics:

one

is

the

abandonment

of parallel walls or surfaces; the other

carefully designed surfaces,

sound very

brilliantly

is

the use of

some of which

while others absorb

it

reflect

almost

feel the effect

larly those large

were the

rooms where

offices, particu-

thirty to three

hun-

dred typewriters might be clacking away at the

same

fac-

of

billions

it

was found that what held for

workers and their morale and efficiency was

also true for factory workers. We have already

office

described the immense

bomber

plant in the South-

time. In these spaces

on the

tical plaster

of sound-absorbing material. This was not as

material

is

it

it

was found that acous-

ceiling or those attractively

textured and perforated

tiles

reduce the general noise

level.

did a great deal to

sound, because the acoustical

may

also used for insulation against heat

cold. This is another expedient that the

builder

may

and

home

consider: multiple use of materials so

that the expense for

any given requirement

is

not

too great.

ACOUSTICS

IN

THE HOME

We now

have four techniques with which to

attack the problem of sound control in the home.

The question
to attack?
into

two

is,

what

is

this

problem we are trying

For the average family

parts.

The

first is

it

bedroom where a small

solution of this

would be

breaks

down

the matter of maintain-

ing complete quiet in certain areas

the

completely.

Next to

was the

were invested in the construction of new

When sound came to the

movies, theater design changed.

two

war broke out and

the

expensive as

we have

studios, as

for higher fidelity of sound reproduction.

can see what

find

When

dollars

full

NEW

building interiors to react sharply to the

first

source.

west whose mile-long walls and ceiling are packed

tomorrow.

the

The

its

next building type to fall in line

child

let
is

us say, in

sleeping.

letting the child sleep

without forcing the rest of the family to go about

on

tiptoe.

The second

general situation

flicting activities

on

are carried

is

one where con-

acoustically speaking, of course

in the

same room or

in the

same

This was done not

part of the house. For example, father wants to

merely to increase the well-being of the employees

read the paper, mother wants to carry on a long

telephone conversation with a friend, and the chil-

although
experts

and

144

its

it

who

did have that effect

but because the

carefully studied the causes of fatigue

relation to output

found that greater

effi-

dren want to
radio

listen to the latest installment

thriller.

The

of some

resulting acoustical conflict

is

SOUND CONDITIONING
normally

left

unsolved, except in the houses of the

very rich where there

is

enough space for the

vari-

ous members of the family to get away from each

other.

common

In addition to these two very

That

there frequently arises a third.

is,

situations

when

the

family takes great pleasure in listening to the radio,

phonograph records, or to music produced by

the family itself. If you take a five hundred dollar
to

radio with

been

of the wonderful quality which has

all

built into

and put

it

into the average small

it

living-room, the chances are that

much

it

will

better than a fifty dollar radio.

not sound

However, we

are told by the acoustical engineers that a living-

room can be

designed so that

istics are not very different

scale

symphony

hall; that

words, to design this

room

its

sound character-

from those of a

it is

so that the proper brilliance of sound could be

possible, in other

obtained; the two end walls, which were entirely

so that your five hun-

dred dollar radio (or even the

fifty

dollar one, for

that matter) gives a performance comparable in

quality to that of

Those who are

cial

added

who

architect

an orchestra.

is

willing

first-rate acoustical

from a

home must

use an

and able to work with a

engineer as a consultant.

say "willing" because the

room

successful collaboration

We

that will result

on the

part of

these two technicians will be rather unconventional

though far from unpleasing in shape, and

tainly will

not

fit

comfortably into

it

cer-

any known kind

One of

us had occasion recently to design a

New York

where a major factor in the

design of the living-room was precisely this acoustical quality.

The

best radio-phonograph combina-

was not considered good enough,

and one was specially built. Also, there were two

tion obtainable

pianos.

By

were

were not parallel to

each other. The ceiling was constructed of wood
frames covered with stretched linen, and behind
glass,

set so that they

some

areas

filled

the time the architects and engineers

with broken sheets

of wallboards so that sounds would be reflected in

an

manner; other parts of the

irregular

ceiling

were heavily padded with rock wool.

This was admittedly an extreme procedure, and

was by no means cheap. The results, however,

were extraordinary as far as quality of sound is
concerned, and the room's appearance generally
it

produced a favorable impression. The only point

of this example is that while such a procedure does
not apply to the house of

of "period" house.

house in

of

the linen were

interested in obtaining this spe-

livability for their

with sheets of oak plywood held loosely in place

full-

definitely is

minimum

cost,

it

most

not restricted to houses for the very

rich. Just as in the

bomber

plant, the rock

wool

padding on wall and ceiling can be used for heat

insulation as well as sound absorption. And finishing materials such as linen

and grass matting are

by no means beyond the reach of the middle-class

budget.

us return to the more general

got through, one wall was padded to a depth of

several inches with rock wool and covered with a

questions of

kind of grass matting which allowed the sound to

the

go through the surface; the other wall was paneled

duced by conflicting family

However,

let

how to establish quiet zones within

house and how to reduce the discomfort proactivities.

145

SOUND CONDITIONING
OBJECTIVE OF

SOUND CONDITIONING

Basically this objective

may be

stated in a simple

and precise manner: we want to design a house in

which anybody can carry on any normal activity
of the family.
In some of the preceding chapters it has been

without disturbing the

rest

evident that a one-story house has

tages over a two-story house.

concerned, the advantage

is

many

advan-

Where acoustics are

very marked indeed.

In the average two-story house where most of the

bedrooms are on the second

floor

and the main

noise-producing rooms are on the first, sound

travels far too easily. It goes up the stair well and
into the

bedrooms through door cracks or through

the doors themselves.

boards, which
as a

drum

It

also goes through the floor

function in

that

is,

much

the

same manner

any sounds picked up by one

surface are given off by the other.

Two-story

and many of those who can feel that

much a waste of money. If an attempt

struction,

is

is

pretty

made

to achieve the soundproof qualities of the

concrete-and-masonry house while using wood

something could possibly be worked out in

way
But

it

would be

costly

and not very

effective.

Turning to the one-story house we find the following advantages A one-story house of necessitj
:

places

main

its

bedrooms

living areas,

at

some

distance

and distance alone

sound control. The bedroom

done

to build multi-storied houses

tical properties

whose acous-

are admirable. But this generally

involves the elimination of

favor of

has been

wood

some heavy type of

where the second

floor

is

construction in

fireproof building

of reinforced concrete or

an equally- dense and weighty material. Few people,

however, can afford to pay for

146

this

kind of con-

ir

the:

can be treated very easily so that sounds,

which do penetrate into it are absorbed anc
It is also possible to put sound barriers,
between the noisy rooms and the quiet rooms.
Among those that might be considered, a stone

stopped.

wall with a fireplace in

comes

it

close to being

the barrier, the less likelihood there

it

a factor

is

stair well,

perhaps the greatest. But, acoustically speaking,

they have no merit whatsoever.
and, for that matter,

from the

corridor, unlike

ideal, because, as a rule, the thicker

It is possible

the

of separating floor and ceiling construction

houses have their advantages. Their compactness

is

tion

by sound.

If there is

wall of cinder block or

effective.

bank of

no

and heavier
of penetra-

is

fireplace,

a thinner

some such material

closets

is

is

very

also a satisfactory

sound-stopper, should the plan permit such an

arrangement.

The

essential advantage,

however,

is

the factor

of separation, with the possibility of stopping the

sound before
which

it

it

gets too close to the

should be excluded.

rooms from

SOUND CONDITIONING
PREVENTION OFNOISEATTHE SOURCE
Anything done to stop sound where it originates
works exactly like the traditional ounce of prevention

eliminates the need for a cure. Let us

it

consider some of the rooms

that are the worst

which have been on the market for some years.

The floor can be covered with a soft rather than
a hard material. The upper parts of the walls, that
are not exposed to moisture can have the perforated acoustical materials already mentioned. In

offenders.

addition, a heavy flush door, weather-stripped in

These rooms include the living-room, diningroom, kitchen, playroom, and bathroom; of these,

the bargain,

the bathroom

most annoying because

the

is

be the most embarrassing. Everyone

with the disagreeable interruption
noisy flushing of a

And

space.

toilet

is

it

familiar

made by
main

adjoining the

the

living

an unfortunate coincidence

it is

can

well imagine,
its

is

no shape

direct transmission of sound. This weather-strip-

ping, incidentally, need not consist of anything

more than a

of

strip

felt,

material permitting a tight seal to be made, and

would be attached

to the

done

one such arrangement there is a fireplace wall between it and the living-room, and the coat closet

we are considering a downstairs lavatory,

tically

the way, that a closet

we may

closet exists,

as

for the time being.

situation,

an

entry.

it

could

Remember, by

a wonderful sound barrier,

is

because the clothes will absorb any sound that

passes through.

we have a

Because of this unfortunate design

unhappy

stop.

be 'arranged to reduce transmission of sound. In

if

off the front hall serves as

clearly

it

for suppressing noise at

produce a shape more satisfactory acousand equally efficient in other respects. How-

it

door

of these suggested control measures. For example,

closet to

well forget

some other

is shaped
one might

trumpet, as

source. Conceivably something could be

no such water

rubber, or

Location of the bath can be as important as any

to modify the design of the present-day water

ever, since

to reduce the

that

the water closet, for functional reasons,

almost like a trumpet.

would do a great deal

and one which

is

height-

This

combination

suggests an

closet-sound

also

barrier

excellent solution for the telephone

telephone desk

ened by the fact that the ideal bathroom, as seen

problem, because

by most prospective homeowners, is an interior in

which all the surfaces are hard, waterproof, and

corporated with the closet-corridor, conversations

therefore highly sound-reflective.

find the opening

room
lines

Here

is,

where we

wedge for our attack on bath-

noises at their source. In the

that

is

first

place, soil

the pipes which carry waste matter

if

little

is in-

can be carried on without annoying anyone who

might be trying to read or study in the adjoining
living-room.
it

must be emphasized again

much a

matter of thoughtful plan-

Acoustical control,

and again,

is

as

can be packed in insulating material, which tends to deaden noise

ning as of installation of special materials.

somewhat. Tile and hard plaster can be replaced

by such materials as sheet rubber, linoleum, and

do the job, and

A good example of this is the open-front telephone

other materials which are water-repellent and also

booth used in

from the bathroom

resilient.

fixtures

This helps to reduce reflected noise.

On

the ceiling a standard acoustical material can be

used

either

one of the

specifically for

this

plasters

manufactured

purpose, or the perforated

metal panels, or perforated or textured fiber boards

It is

true that under certain conditions planning won't

special materials

New York

There, even with the

trains,

it is

have to be used.

City's newest subway.

terrific

possible to carry

clatter

on an

versation. This seeming miracle

of passing

intelligible
is

con-

the result of

using three walls of sound-absorbing materials for

the booth.

147

SOUND CONDITIONING
In the house where the corridor-closet-phone

room combination

some

corners. Thus, if you plan a small pantry or utility

variation

space between the kitchen and the dining-room or

scheme would work very well, for it takes

up very little space and costs very little money.

the living-dining room, the wall facing the kitchen

of

isn't possible,

this

THE KITCHEN

ary space would be greatly reduced.

The annoyances produced by the hired

who

door could be covered with sound-absorbing material, and what noise did get beyond this second-

girl in the

In addition to

home

however, the

this,

builder

your best china around with

the utmost abandon while you are trying to be

should consider an acoustically treated ceiling and

polite to your husband's boss after dinner, are too

installed not only to

kitchen,

well

known

if there is

tosses

to require extended description.

no hired

girl

Even

and no ceremonial dinner,

the noise problem remains.

Among them are the

ment of enameled metal

boards, with

replace-

surfaces, such as drain-

work counters of wood, perhaps cov-

ered with linoleum or rubber.

dropped on such a surface

dish or pot

will land

with a dull

thud instead of a noisy crash. Rubber-covered wire

dish baskets which fit into one's sink if there is a
double sink, or into the laundry tray

combination

if

there

is

unit, are, again, exceedingly effective

in muffling noise.

The type of sink which appeared

before the war, usable as a dishpan as well as a

sink, also
filled

can help control sound, because once

with water the noise of dish and pot washing

is

materially subdued. Over and above

is

the possibility of sound barriers or sound traps

this,

there

of one kind or another.

It is

a very convenient characteristic of sound

that, like light, it

resilient floor for the kitchen.

rooms but

more
is,

There are some expedients for cutting off the

sound at its source, but they are by no means 100
per cent effective.

does not readily travel around

agreeable.

make work

terials.

room

You can

in the kitchen itself

An empty room

acoustically speaking,

ant than a

by

also to

These should be

keep the noise out of the other

and the kitchen

empty

far less pleas-

is

containing sound-absorbing ma-

check

this for yourself

very easily

recalling the difference in sound between a fur-

nished living-room and the same space before the

furniture

and carpets were moved

echoing sounds we

associate with

houses or apartments are the kind

in the inhabited kitchen. It just

we

kitchen

we

are used to

The hollow

in.

uninhabited

we

usually get

happens that in the

them and

in living-rooms

are not. Acoustically treated surfaces in the

kitchen would perform the

holstered furniture

rooms.

And who

is

same function as up-

and carpeting

most of the housewife's time

less

agreeable in

its

the other

in

to say that a kitchen,

is

where

spent, should

atmosphere than the

be

living-

room?

CONTROL WITHIN ROOMS

The

things discussed so far are concerned chiefly

with keeping noise in one space from getting into

another.

What about

the family living-room where

three separate kinds of noises

may

be produced

within the same space at the same time? Obviously,

there

even

is

not going to be a perfect solution, because

if it

were technically obtainable

it

would cost

too much. Nevertheless, there are some highly desirable expedients.

example.

Take the case of the

radio, for

SOUND CONDITIONING
If the radio faces a

sound-absorbent wall, there

be two immediate results the

room

tically treated as in the

open-front telephone booth

concerned; and

can produce privacy within a space without breaking up that space. From the office designer we have

noise hitting the opposite wall will not be reflected,

learned that treatment of the ceiling with sound-

thus reducing the over-all disturbance.

absorbing materials and treatment of the floor

will

much

sound

larger as far as the

Now

is

will

what about the person who wants

seem

to

sit

and read or study while the radio is going? As we

have seen, the noise cannot be eliminated, but it
can definitely be reduced.

And

the solution

is

partly planning, partly use of materials. If the

living-room

is

made an L

rather than a rectangle,

with resilient materials or even with carpeting can

work wonders
It is

in reducing the general noise level.

evident that planning,

if

carried out with

the question of sound control in mind, can be ex-

tremely effective, and that a

little

places as the kitchen can turn

work

it

ingenuity in such

and

into a quiet

and the smaller part of the L is used as a library

alcove, and if, moreover, the long side of the living-

agreeable

room

between a one-story plan and a two-story plan, the

question of acoustics may help in arriving at a

noise

is

covered with sound-absorbing material,

would not be

reflected

around the corner.

It

pretty likely that this alcove,

If

you

space.

are hesitating for any reason whatever

decision, in spite of the obvious fact that

though completely
to
the
would
be a remarkably
open
living-room,
quiet and pleasant place even if a considerable

who wants a

amount of

rooms might become

is

rest

noise were being manufactured in the

two-story house

is

nobody

going to shift to

a plan for a single floor just because

some of

the

quieter.

of the room.

If this doesn't

expedients
faced

is

prove to be enough, the

by no means exhausted.

row of bookcases

of

list

projecting out into the

room automatically creates a kind of alcove. Books

themselves ranged on shelves are an exceedingly
effective

sound

trap.

Thus

acute,

room might

consist of

is

living-

a large space subdivided by

and an alcove. In such a room the average

family could carry

privacy

the noise problem

our sound-controlled

sufficiently

a baffle

if

on

its

undreamed of

separate activities with a

in the average

American

home.
This chapter has been anything but a technical
treatise

on

acoustics, yet

we have managed

to ex-

amine the many problems of sound control in the

house and some of the techniques developed in
other types of buildings.

sound does not

know

We

travel easily

that getting

have learned that

around corners.

We

around them can be made even

harder by putting sound-absorbing materials

the reflecting surfaces.

ACOUSTICS AS DECORATION

double-

on

We know that baffles acous-

One

reason people have been slow to adopt tech-

niques developed in offices and other types of non-

have

felt

that their

own home interiors would somehow

the process. As far as sound control

lose

charm

residential interiors is that they

is

in

concerned,

nothing whatever to worry about. Everybody likes exposed masonry walls whether of stone
or brick, and when these are used inside the house
there

is

and there are many such examples in the photographs scattered through this book not only is the
wall texture greatly enhanced but

sound

are automatically set up. In the most

barriers

modern of

modern houses and the most conservative of conmasonry walls are used with the
willingness by architects and their clients

ventional houses,
greatest

alike. Therefore,

consider such surfaces not only

as acoustical factors but also as a decided advan-

tage

when

comes up.
There has seldom

the question of decorating

Everyone

likes

wood,

too.

149

SOUND CONDITIONING
been a house where the owner has not been more

than willing to install

wood

paneling.

Ten or

fif-

And remember

that the few dollars an acoustical

engineer might charge for his consulting services

much one

teen years ago this was rather expensive, because

is

good wood such as mahogany or walnut or oak

could only be purchased in solid pieces, and the

way or another. Get his advice.

Sound control techniques embrace many mod-

panels had to be installed by expert craftsmen.

ern materials in addition to

Wood

tunately, they are all agreeable in appearance

paneling, therefore, has always been asso-

mind with

ciated in the popular

Today

this limitation

rich in texture.

luxury.

no longer

exists.

Any

of

the big plywood companies can furnish laminated

sheets four feet

by eight

not going to affect your total budget

feet in size, or larger, ve-

softer

The

and much

plaster that goes

is

wood and

stone. For-

acoustical plasters are

and

much

better textured than the white

on the average

ceiling.

The same

true of the perforated panels, which can be

neered with woods so rare and exotic that their

painted any color and any

use hitherto has been confined to the most expen-

out impairing in any way their high efficiency as

sive furniture.
desirability

There

is little

question about the

of using such woods

it

Some

where the attempt is to get textural richness through

the use of machine-produced forms rather than the

in their bathrooms.

finishes available

ings can be

made

on the market,

With the

ISO

fakery of bygone handicraft techniques.

Thus we can end with the assurance

these panel-

highly water-resistant.

Here we have the chance to combine improved

decoration with ideal sound conditioning.

home

in particularly

well with the contemporary decorating scheme,

people are so fond of flush plywood paneling that

new

sound absorbers. These, too, work

in the average

living-room or even in the master bedroom.

they have installed

number of times with-

that the

sound-conditioned house will not only be pleasanter to live in because it will be quieter, but that
it

will

be

much

better to look at.

WINDOWS
Big, well

of

designed windows are the trademark

modern

architecture.

They are the means of

bringing together the outdoors and indoors in an

integrated

makes

visual

living in

experience.

ments

in

and

functional

modern houses an

Made

possible by

pattern

that

exciting

new

modern develop-

building technology, they can be used

to reduce fuel

bills

and increase comfort.

In

one

form or another, they are applicable to every

building problem, and modern architects seem

go on discovering such new forms and

new applications indefinitely. The examples on

able to

this

page suggest the range of this experimenta-

dormer for a studio-workshop

Delaware (152), a foldaway window-wall in

tion: a two-story
in

a living
(I

room overlooking

a California hillside

53) and an unusual combination of sash, fixed

glass

and glass block from a suburban house near

Philadelphia

(I

54).

4*"

^'-

57

Not every house can enjoy the perfect setting of the

one above, but when such an opportunity does come
along
it

it is

one of the virtues of modern design that

capable of exploiting

is

it

to the

maximum. And

where nature does

on the ordinary suburban

lot,

not provide the view,

possible to manufacture

it,

as

it is

the other examples

shown here demonstrate.

depend on the most intimate sort of

collaboration between the designer of the house and
Such

effects

the landscape architect, and require

nominal investment
off,

however,

make

in

in

more than

spiky evergreens." They pay

a feeling of spaciousness that can

compact house seem twice

its

true size.

The

big glass areas and

movable walls used

modern houses are not only capable of

in

bright-

ening old types of rooms; they are creating

entirely

new types. Thus the

space above

59)

neither a porch nor an inside room, but a

combination of both. View 160 shows a
is

as a porch, view
glazed passage that dojjbles
161 an outdoor living space connected to a

bedroom by

a sliding door.

On

the facing page,

163 show a sunporch that can be

view
completely open or completely enclosed,

162 and

164

modern version of the

old-fashioned

"conservatory," with a glazed roof. Connected

by sljding doors to a glass-walled living room,

room won the grand prize in a contest for

this

new

uses of glass in building construction.

162

164

163

165

167

168

*fc

f*'

69

The

development of the glazed, sliding

wall is the living room that becomes a porch simply
by pushing away the wall, and becomes a room
logical final

it.

again by closing
sense, since

one

This arrangement makes lots of

set of furniture serves for

door and indoor

living,

and there

is

no need to put

chairs and tables in bad weather.

away
rooms shown here are
which

at least

one

full

all

both out-

The three

true part-time-porches

wall can be

in

removed com-

With present day equipment and weatherstripping, such walls slide easily and can be made
pletely.

virtually draftproof. In winter, they can be

slightly for ventilation.

opened

mi

171

172
r~

175

An obvious

objection to the use of glazed walls

built-up areas

how

it

and

is

lack of privacy.

can be avoided.

172)

scheme:

employ

Two of the

almost

in

These designs show

houses

Identically

(I

7 1-173

the

same

continuous glass wall facing a garden en-

closed by a high fence;

passage of

air,

the fence

in
is

one

case, to

permit free

built like a Venetian blind

Standing on end. Another solution is the "patio"

plan in which the rooms themselves enclose the

garden, as

in

174. Views

75 and 176 show two

more

versions of the walled-garden idea, one for a

small

lot,

the other for a large one.

177

When
made

all
an entire wall, or a large part of a wall

of glass, there

sash over the

no necessity to use ventilator

is

whole

ic
is

area. Big pieces of fixed glass

are better looking, easier to clean (when on the

ground
less

One

floor), easier

to make weathertight, and cost

than a complex assembly of movable windows.

of the simplest and most dramatic schemes

to use floor-to-ceiling panes of plate glass (set

in

is

the

type of frame used for store windows) over most

of the area, supplemented by metal sash, as

and 178. And, where fixed glass

is

in

177

used, there ar

convincing arguments for using louvres rather tha

glass in the part of the
as in

181 and 182.

window

given to ventilation,

ISO

82

II

186

,n lighting a large

of
roc., a given amount

glass

se

the same
as effective as
the walls is twice
high in
houses
.eve,, .none story
at or be,ow eye
the
over
to place such windows
it is often possible
and thus
in .83 and ,86
of the room, as
of equaminterior with daylight
flood the entire

Lnt

1L

a valuable fun,
can a,so perform
of
^
in the intenor pars
the

tensity. Skylights

tion in bringing

lighting

outs,de room.
the standard of the
the house up to
shows an inside cornd
View 187, for example,
omitted, t
Had this skylight been
in this way.
,n
have seemed excessively gloomy
corridor might
of the house.
relation to other parts

189

190

In

hot weather, the big windows used

architecture would admit entirely too

shine

if

they were not protected

monest solution for

this

in

in

modern

much sun-

some way. Com-

problem

the use of

is

"hoods," or permanent sunshades proportioned so

as to cut
in

out most of the

much

as

as possible

summer

sun while letting

winter

a device which

in

works to perfection on windows

facing south.

Two

such hoods, one used to form a porch, are shown

in.

pictures

188 and 189. An idea of the accuracy

with which they operate can be obtained from

and

191, which

house

in

midwinter.
the

show the outside

midsummer and the

In

90

of one "solar"

inside of another in

the second view, notice

room the low winter sunshine

how

far into

penetrates, bring-

ing heat that cuts fuel bills substantially.

S**

192

t*.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

WINDOWS
WINDOWS HAVE been

in houses almost as long as

windows

there have been houses. There have been

was
ful,

particularly important or financially success-

and

was probably because their curiosity

outweighed their business acumen. While their
this

of ice and rock crystal and mica and nothing at

all.

far

most completely

fa-

fellow professionals were saying in an unconscious

window

parody of Gertrude Stein, "A window is a window

is a window," these people were saying "Is it?" and

The most commonplace,

the

miliar part of a house that there

is,

the

seemed to most people so simple a thing that generations went by before it occurred to anyone to

do any thinking about

it.

And when

they finally

began to think, they discovered some very strange

and wonderful things.

Did you know

you look to see

that the

window out of which

coming home from

Johnny
the
milkman
is coming by with that
or
if
school,
extra quart that window so clear and perfectly

transparent

is

if

is

really as

armor plate? Did

opaque

as a solid slab of

ever occur to

you that this

fragile sheet is daily throwing back a bombardment
of rays of all sizes and shapes?
It

it

was only when some

scientifically

people began to look at the

glass

we have taken

common

minded

pieces of

for granted for so long that

they found they were dealing with an amazingly

complex apparatus, built like a dam with countless
billions

of tiny

sluice

opened and closed to

gates

let

some

which unerringly
things through and

to keep others out.

When the scientists

"What is it?" and "Why

One of the little tidbits

it?"

they picked up, a typical

and apparently unrelated scientific fact, is that

glass is opaque to low temperature radiation; that
is,

while wide open to most of the heat of the sun,

it is

closed to the infra-red waves sent off by any

object cooler than a steam radiator. This

reason

is

one

why the greenhouse makes such a good heat

also the reason why the solar house is

trap. It is

possible.

opaque

But

glass,

as everyone knows, is also

to the bulk of the ultra-violet rays. In other

window is a very narrow gate

through which only a little more than visible light
words, the average

can pass. Attempts to widen it have been pretty

expensive or not very successful, but location of
the gate in the spectrum can be shifted. In terms of
the home, what does this

Some years ago

well.

window

mean?

a product called Vita Glass was

put on the market.

thing

got through, a few architects

is

glass

was intended to do everydid and let in ultra-violet as

It

This was an attempt to "widen the gate"

was a

in various countries began piecing together the bits

to let in a broader slice of the spectrum. It

of data, wading through formulas and graphs and

good idea. People in homes glazed with Vita Glass

would have had fewer germs to contend with and
might have gotten a coat of tan in the bargain. But

other scientific jargon, to find out what this meant

in terms of buildings.

None of

these architects

167

WINDOWS
it

down

never got

home

to a price

builders could

The windows
sheets of glass,

your car are not made of single

but are a sandwich with a trans-

in

parent plastic sheet as the

windows
that a

is

filler.

The

virtue of these

home

whose

filler is air,

across a large

insulating properties are

removes the need for the extra sash. Double

widely used in modern

homes

trains.

One such

"Thermopane," a
sealed package consisting of two thicknesses of
product available for

is

glass with a quarter-inch air space.

more than twice

but

less

as

much

It

costs a

little

as a single sheet of glass,

than a window plus storm sash. The small

air space,

by the way, provides quite as

lation as a

also a pretty

good

because

ventilator,

can be opened from the top or bottom or both.

The second important type of window is the

the great houses of medieval England. This doesn't

we ran

known to anyone who has put up a storm

sash. The advantage of the "air-glass sandwich" is
glass is

it

It is

builder feels the need to go to extra

well

it

handle.

casement. Casements trace their ancestry back to

is

house in Pittsburgh a while ago whose playroom

windows were equipped in this manner. A far more

that

much

good

insu-

mean
but

does relate to a certain type of medieval

it

building, just as the double-hung

window

our

own

Colonial period.

The casement,

too, has

awkwardly

jects

swings out,
rust if

it is

in-

into the room.

tends to disintegrate

steel.

because

common,
tight.

it

The

its difficulties.

way of curtains and proWhen the window

swinging type gets in the

wood

if it is

or

The out-swinging type is most

it is easiest to make weather-

Obviously, a

window

frame from the outside

that closes against a

likely to let rain in

is less

than one that closes from

inside.

which

have to take the screen

WINDOW MECHANICS

is

fundamental design element in the architecture of

want to use screens

bigger gap would.

was invented in England,

that the casement

is

However,

if

down

you

something they

never worried about in medieval England

to get at the

you

window

or use a mechanical operator.

Even more important than glass is the kind of

window in which it is installed. There are many
types,

has

it

rarely

that they are shatterproof. It

expense for this reason, but

useful

practically foolproof mechanically, since all

are pulleys and sash weights (or balances) and a

afford.

some comparatively new and

unfamiliar,

The casement has two

that

it

can be opened

big advantages.

One

is

for 100 per cent ventilation.

In fact, with the offset hinges that enable the win-

dow

to swing out in front of the face of the build-

type of window selected for a house has to do with

ing,

casements can give better than 100 per cent

much more than

ventilation, as the projecting

others which have been in use for centuries.

The

operating characteristics and

windows, more than any other element

in the house, set its "style." Not many of us realize

wings act

like sails

identify houses as Colonial,

up passing breezes.
The next two types, which are becoming somewhat more common, are nothing more than

English, French Provincial, and so on, is pretty

much by the window pattern, which is different in

double-hung and casement windows laid on their

sides. The horizontally sliding window has the

each case. Similarly, an outstanding characteristic

advantage of

price, for

this,

but the

way we

of the modern house

is

not a

flat

roof or some new

material, but the radically different

which the windows are

country because

168

it is

is

the long, low lines char-

of the modern house.

It

needs no pulleys

or weights, and one type on the market can be

in

our

removed for easy cleaning.

The awning-type window has a casement hinge

install,

and

at the

common

cheap, simple to

acteristic

fitting into

in

manner

set.

The double-hung window

that scoop

top instead of the

side.

Awning-type win-

WINDOWS
dows look very

pretty, indeed,

when banked up

in

arrangement of fixed glass to

a big wall of glass; they cast pleasant shadows on

view,

the exterior surfaces, and they help keep out the

air.

rain.

With

these windows, as with casements, there

a screening problem, because screens can only

is

work with some type of mechanical

So much

They

all

to providing a view

and

common

in addition

letting in light, they all

serve as ventilators. This dual function

and smaller windows or louvers to

let in

the

Combinations of movable and fixed windows

The louver

are not new.

idea

is still

unfamiliar,

however. Louvers can be arranged so that they

ventila-

they can be installed as long, narrow slots directly

underneath the

sill.

It

much

doesn't matter too

how

they are placed as long as they

cient

volume of air to

let in

room

ventilate the

suffi-

properly.

has been taken for granted for so

tion plus light

long that few people think about

who have been

architects

and

in the light

look like shutters on each side of the window, or

operator.

for the standard types of windows.

have one feature in

let

it.

But among the

MORE LIGHT EQUALS

re-examining every part

LESS

GLARE

of the house an interesting question has arisen:

The

great virtue of the divided system of lighting

why do windows have

and

ventilation

to

fill

this

dual function?

is

that

makes

it

worth asking, because if the answer

is that they don't have to, you have a freedom in
handling the outside walls of your house you

windows

would never have believed

greater freedom in design than

The question

is

possible.

Let us say, for example, that you would

have the outside wall of one room entirely

like to
glass,

and by entirely, we mean from wall to wall and

from floor to ceiling. Now, if this glass screen had
to be

made out of windows

windows, that

is,

which could be opened and closed it would be

expensive, complicated to build, and also clumsybecause the frames required by sash

looking,

on the other hand,

ventilation and lighting

weights or hinges are thick.

If,

you accept the idea that

do not necessarily have to be taken care of by the
same unit, you can build a handsome, inexpensive
glass wall

composed of one or two big

sheets of

shop window, or a larger number

of panes of sheet glass, which costs less.
Ventilation then becomes a problem to be solved

plate glass, like a

by

could be done mechanically by turning

itself. It

on a blower which would push fresh air through

registers into the room and take it out through
other registers. During the winter
quired, this

There

is

architects

is

when heat

is re-

what happens anyway.

another solution, however, which a few

have found even more intriguing: the

glass walls, in fact

possible very large

without undue ex-

pense for construction or weatherproofing.

therefore,

erto.

device

Whether the

which contributes

It is,

toward

we have had

ventilating element

is

hith-

a louver,

window, or door is not important: the freedom is

there. But what about big windows? Have you
ever heard anyone say, "It must be dreadful to
one of those modernistic houses Think how

live in
all

must hurt your eyes!"

that light

Maybe you have

felt this

ever hear anyone say, "It

ful

out of doors where

way, too. But did you

must be

perfectly dread-

all

that light hurts your

is

not to be found in the

eyes"?

The answer, of course,

way in which light is

A room with just one small window in a solid

quantity of light, but in the

used.

wall can be very hard

there

too

is

much

between the

brilliant
is

surroundings
ors, to

light,

which

on the

eyes, not because

but because the contrast

patch of glass and the dim

almost unbearable. In such

all

interi-

of us have been exposed at one

time or another, the light shoots in through the

window

as if

from the mouth of a cannon, and

its

impact can be comparably unpleasant. So, strange

may seem on first thought, the more windows

a room has always assuming that these windows
as

it

169

WINDOWS
have been properly distributed by a designer who
knows what he is about the softer and more
pleasant the lighting will be.
It is

the

modern

and

architects,

their eternal

curiosity about things everyone else has taken for

up the whole subject of

connection with the home. As in so

granted, that has brought

daylighting in

many

other instances, they have learned what the

problems and solutions are from other types of

and schools. In

buildings, notably factories

fac-

lost,

and the view would be

spoiled, since

when one was

only be seen
tice,

therefore, the big

ther

down towards

standing up. In prac-

window extends much

the floor. But this

room were

If the

with a continuous high

result

would not be

window on one

would be coming in from the same direction.

Shadows would be cast, and the illumination
sharply as one

moved away from

instructions given the architect

pends to so great an extent on adequate daylight that there are state laws which control the

ried out.

minimum

proved: illumination

height of the top of a window, since

found that

light

of a window

is

which comes

more

far

in

it

the

fix

has been

through the top

useful than that which

enters at the bottom. Light

from the bottom

is

mostly glare while top light is soft, usable illumination. In house design this fact is important.

At the beginning of

this

book

there were

two

chapters devoted almost exclusively to the prob-

side, the

pleasant, because all the light

considerations: the well-being of the pupils de-

of windows. These laws also

done for

is

of the design

built at this stage

would

size

far-

considerations other than daylighting.

major design factor, as it

has an appreciable effect on worker efficiency,
profit and loss. In schools there have been other
tories daylighting is a

could

it

fall off

window

At

wall.

to one-tenth

is

it would drop
means
that the
which
value,

the opposite wall

its initial

The next

is

the situation
far

more

infinitely pleasanter.

has an important

would not be

step, therefore, is to

Now

opposite wall, too.

room

the

effect

But

on the

is

open

carthis

vastly im-

even, and the

this

procedure

Few houses

plan.

have living-rooms with both long walls exposed on

the outside. Usually one side has other rooms up

Here modern architecture can come to

it.

against

The

the rescue.

characteristic long,

narrow plan

with the living-room at one end can solve the problem, or,

doesn't

if this

work out

conveniently, the

Not

all

living-room ceiling can be raised and a band of

of the problems were dealt with, however, for

we

clerestory

lems involved in designing a living-room.

might approach the design of

basis of daylighting, too.
Let us assume, therefore, that

this

room on

the

we

are continuing

demand

that the lighting

be so worked out that on an average day one could

read or write comfortably anywhere in
thing he

it.

The

first

would do would involve the creation of

a window

starting

the floor, going

from a

up

sill

four or five feet from

as close to the ceiling as possi-

and extending from wall to wall. In other

words, the upper half of the wall would be a winble,

dow.

You

would the

wouldn't

window, and neither

architect for that matter, because the

connection between

170

like this

interior

installed.

A clerestory window is nothing more than a high

window which occurs where

the design of the living-room, and that the instructions given the architect

windows

and garden would be

levels

come

together.

are full of such

and

aisles,

roofs of differing

The old Gothic cathedrals

windows

in the walls

between nave

and much of their atmosphere

this lighting device. It

many

due to

can be used in homes in con-

junction with either pitched or

clerestory has

is

flat

The

roofs.

advantages: for one thing,

it

must be higher than

other rooms, something most people like anyway;

means

that the living-room

for another,

it

we
room

provides the balanced lighting

are looking for without the need to plan the

with both long walls exposed. In Taliesen, the

home

of Frank Lloyd Wright, there are

rooms with windows high up under the

many

roof,

and

WINDOWS
When

they are extraordinarily effective decoration.

story

was wrapped around two

walls; this helped

stream

even more. The result in these modern schools

through, giving the interiors a wonderfully "alive"

was that the standards attained by the new window

sun

arrangements w.ere higher than those established

the sun gets

quality

around to them, shafts of

owing to the changes of

moves across the

light

lighting as the

for the best artificial lighting. Let us note here

sky.

all

very important point:

DAYLIGHTING
The living-room we have

IS

A SCIENCE

tentatively arrived at,

with large, continuous glass areas on one side and

on the

a clerestory band

is

other,

unusual in ap-

to ordinary rooms, but

it

has

pearance compared
one advantage never possessed by a conventional
interior: since the light is

furni-

good everywhere,

ture can be placed wherever

you

please.

A desk or

favorite easy chair does not have to be

window

against a small

to be usable,

jammed up
and mother's

sewing table can be next to the fireplace

wants

there. If

it

our living-room has

blance to conventional interiors,

it

little

if

she

resem-

shows an

as-

tonishing similarity to the wonderful classrooms

architects

have been

installing in schools

on the

West Coast.

doing the same thing. They were scrapping the

conventional window pattern in favor of a new

approach based on getting the right amount of

daylight exactly where it was needed. Does this

sound coldly functional and completely unlivable?

Parents who have seen the new California schools,

and

homes such

visitors to

architect

do not

as Taliesen,

As a matter of fact, they are invariably

captivated by the warmth and beauty of these new
think so.

interiors.

This kind of "daylight engineering"

what

it

amounts to

really

ings of all types, but

its

has

ticularly great.

example, to have a kitchen in

surfaces, even those in the

Imagine what

it

for that

would be

is

most remote corners of

work

like

at,

and

clean.

always to be able

to find things in the closets without putting

room

light, to step

of schools, for desks are

all

in the case

over the classroom

par-

would mean, for

which all of the work
it

provision of good reading light everywhere in the

presents an absolute necessity

is

much to offer build-

benefit to houses

Think of what

the room, were bright, easy to

The problem given our hypothetical

one

these architects were

out of the house on a bright

on a

summer

day without having to squint and shield your eyes

area and each child must be able to see properly.

for several minutes while

School architects began

to the light, to be able to see with equal ease in

in

much

the same

and

living-room,

to

manner
tests

approach the problem

as

we have

discussed the

with light meters soon

showed that the theory of balanced daylighting

could be a practical reality. This is what happened
in California.
wall, a

This

new

new

To

set

set

the standard windows on one

on the opposite wall was added.

was a high

clerestory band, since

was always a corridor along one side of the

room. Variations were tried. In one case, the clerethere

story, instead of being over

an outside

over the center of the classroom

provement, for

where

it

it

brought the

this

wall,

was

was an im-

light in closer to

was needed. In another instance, the

clere-

any part of the

If houses

you become accustomed

interior.

could be built without roofs, and rooms

without ceilings, these qualities would be very easy

to achieve.

For our homes would then be lighted

by the most nearly perfect lighting surface we know

anything about the vault of the sky. This surface,
which would cost hundreds of thousands o dollars
to duplicate over the extent of a small factory,

is

capable of lighting the top of a desk or work table,

shielded

from

direct sunlight, to a brightness of

to 1500 foot-candles throughout

most of the year

500

most of the day

five to fifty times the intensity

produced by the best

artificial lighting installa-

171

WINDOWS
The sky provides even, shadowless illuminafrom all directions, and particularly from

tions.

tion

above, where

it is

of the most value for seeing pur-

poses and least objectionable from the standpoint

of glare.

It

nighted

and nothing to
most be-

costs nothing to build

operate, and

is

city

available to all but the

dwellers

in

unlimited

practically

The trouble is
ably construct a

that whenever

we

build

we invari-

out 80 to 90 per cent

lid that cuts

of the sky vault. We do this not only because we

have to have something to keep out the snow and

but also because

this is the only practicable

which

shield against direct sunlight,

is

far

from

How,

do we

then,

Fortunately, however,

not necessary to use

it is

really needed?

dows

least

makes a

better looking

large rooms,

window and

good

is

is

which

not hard to

raising the height of the ceiling

by

good rule is that no part of the room

should be more than one and a half times the

itself.

away from a window wall. To

if the ceiling is eight feet high, no part of

height of the ceiling

illustrate:

the

room should be more than

twelve feet away

and most important,
by spotting clerestory windows, skylights and other
wall. Third,

satisfactory lighting; as a matter of fact, a

perfectly

it

structural methods. Second, in

small, high openings

good

wherever

until they are flush with the ceiling,

the interior portions of the house.

do a

not ob-

First, by raising the tops of the win-

more than a small portion of the sky for thoroughly

deal less than 20 per cent will

is

get this kind of lighting

throughout the house, or at

from a window

ideal for illuminating purposes.

window

structed by a shade or curtain.

do with modern

quantity.

rain,

vided the upper part of the

Naturally,

good

where they are needed to

lighting

light

cannot be the only con-

and such de-

where daylight is more appreciated because there is less of it, engineers have

sideration in the design of a house,

figured out that as

avoid an awkward hodgepodge of dormers and

job. In England,

vault

is

little

as 2 per cent of the sky

capable of producing acceptable illumina-

tion within a room. This quantity

is

based on a

vices

must be used with

hands of a

skylights. In the
tect,

skill

however, openings of

and

skilled
this

discretion to

modern

type can become

standard of illumination described quite graph-

real design features, inside as well as out,

"grumble point." This point is nothing

more nor less than the one at which most people

quently offer other advantages as well.

ically as the

will get

up and turn on the lights because of insuffi-

cient daylight. Obviously,

noon on a

clear day,

when this happens about

when

there

is

every reason to

archi-

and

fre-

prime
example of this is the type of inside kitchen which
Frank Lloyd Wright has used in many of his
houses, where the ceiling

is

raised well

general roof line and ringed

on four

above the
sides with

expect plenty of light from the windows, you have

small windows

a condition of less-than-adequate daylighting.

This is a very low standard indeed. For really

ventilators in addition to letting in large quantities

good
it is

light, suitable for close

work, such as sewing,

necessary that at least 5 per cent of the whole

which serve as excellent exhaust

of diffuse overhead

light.

Small, high-up dormers

can be used with equally good

rooms and over

effect in living-

interior hallways;

and

in

flat-

area of the sky be visible from the point where the

roofed houses, perforations in the ceiling, capped

work

by inconspicuous stock skylights for weather pro-

is being done. This is enough to produce

about twenty foot-candles of illumination at four

in the afternoon

on a

dull

about ninety foot-candles at

In the average

room

it is

December day, and

noon in midsummer.

the kind of light you get

within a few feet of a good-sized

172

window

pro-

tection, offer similar advantages.

A few years before World War II this last device

was used to produce one of the handsomest and
best lighted rooms in the world: the reading-room
of a library designed by Alvar Aalto, Finland's

WINDOWS
is

The

ceiling

of

very large and very high,

is

greatest architect.

this

room which

perforated with

of regularly spaced cylindrical openings

deep enough to exclude the angular rays of the sun
while admitting quantities of light from directly

scores

overhead. This

is

the only light the

room

receives,

which

is

too bright to look at with comfort from a

badly lighted room. Since this makes the

even darker, curtains are added to screen at least

exposed. After the curtains

bull's eye

person lying on his back on one of the work

tables would see at once that this arrangement observes the

and only

rule of

good daylighting:
that a large percentage of the sky be visible from
the point where light is needed. The ordinary visfirst

however,

itor,

is

conscious only of the

pervading quality of the

fect

light,

soft, all-

and the almost per-

LIGHT CONTROL
Alvar Aalto's library brings up another important daylighting problem the need for means to
control light at the openings which admit

it.

In the

and

and so on, ad

about twelve inches square in the center

of the lower part of the "window."

Modern

no sympathy

architecture not only has

for clutter of this kind

it

has no need for

it.

From

a really well-lighted room a generous patch of sky

is as comfortable and interesting a part of the view
as

it is

in fact,

so

working conditions provided.

draperies,

These items not only effectively shut out

most of the light, but also reduce the view to a

throughout the whole area, completely diffuse and

almost directionless, and absolutely without glare.

almost ideal illumination

come

after the draperies, over-drapes,

infinitum.

it is

which remains

partially that portion of the glass

perfectly even

and

room

from under your favorite shade tree. This,

is one of the things which make such rooms

much a

part of the out-of-doors: the sensation

of sitting in them
side.

is

so

much like that

of being out-

But modern windows do have a

real

need for

easily manipulated coverings of various

outside and inside the glass. This need
both
kinds,
is best approached on a functional basis.

flexible,

One

Aalto skylights control was provided by the design

of the prime functions of most such conexclude direct sunlight. In the

of the units themselves, which were ingeniously

trols is to filter or

shaped to exclude direct sunlight. The same

chapter on solar heating

can also be achieved in properly oriented skylights

how permanent, external "hoods" or other projections may be

of the familiar "north light" variety, and in clere-

used to keep the

story and dormer windows facing in the same direction. Most windows, however, must also be used

windows, but

to provide outlook

and

effect

in the winter sun,

let

and

therefore require control devices of the flexible

type.

to

Even where shades or

filter

direct sunlight,

blinds are not needed

some means must be pro-

vided for covering big areas of glass at night, both

and for the sake of appearance.

The shades, curtains, and draperies which ob-

for privacy

walls

we

summer sun from

this device is at its best

and may not provide

sired in late

describe

summer when

all

the sun

at

a low angle and, pleasant as

example,

is

usually pulled

down

to cover the up-

per part of the window in order to conceal the sky,

all

times,

may be

it

is

at certain

definitely objectionable at others.

In discussing the best means for controlling sunlight,

it

is

necessary to sort out a

which lead in opposite

number of

common point

south window, protected from the

roller-type shade, for

still

to temper the glare of the winter sun, which enters

never-ending effort to overcome the effects of poor

The ordinary

low but

is

hot. Moreover, such projections do nothing at

threads, all of which begin at a

daylighting.

only on south

of the control de-

meager windows of the conventional

house were originally put up in an unsuccessful and
scure the

entering large

but

directions. Controls for

summer sun by

an outside hood or roof overhang, are very different from those needed by a west window facing the
full glare

of the afternoon sun in hot weather. In

173

WINDOWS
the

instance, the

first

and soften the

is

at the

is

merely to diffuse

light; in the second,

something that

and

problem

what

is

needed

completely exclude sun heat

will

same time permit the window

to func-

here the problem

controls such as curtains

to diffuse

good job, as

different,

because in

workers can't look out because they are too far

from the outside

The more

In the case of the protected south window, inside

is

somewhat

a big factory which covers dozens of acres, the

walls. Therefore the question

of

view becomes pretty academic.

tion as a ventilator.

function

is

and

and shades (whose true

filter sunlight) will do a

will inside Venetian blinds,

which have

the advantage of blocking the direct rays while re-

a great deal of

against the ceiling

rational solutions proposed trapping

the sun before

it

could get through the window.

why we mentioned

This

is

You

see, if the sun's radiant

exterior Venetian blinds.

heat gets through the

window, the damage is done. It doesn't matter

whether there are blinds inside the window or not.

light up
and deep into the room. In the case of the west

The heat

window, outside controls such as awnings or ex-

disposed of by the cooling system. If the sun

terior Venetian blinds are needed.

trapped before

flecting

In the

more

recently-built

commercial buildings,

where air-conditioning includes cooling as well as

heating, engineers have discovered a very disconwhich hinge once again on
the terrific potency of solar heat. For example, if
the west side of an office building is mostly wincerting series

of

facts,

dows (and it has to be; otherwise you couldn't rent

space on that side of the building), the "load" on
the cooling system increases tremendously.

same

is

The

true of the south side unless projecting

hoods are used, and to a smaller degree, of the east

side. In other words, the nicest window found itself in the position

of being the air-conditioning

is

room and must then be

already in the

it

never does get inside the

it

is

passes through the windows, then

room and

therefore

never becomes a problem.

Trapping the sun has made further changes in

what we normally consider to be just a plain, ordinary window. In Brazil, for example, they have
built strange

and wonderful skyscrapers which on

the sunny side resemble nothing so

much

as a

huge

egg crate. The north face of the building (south to

us)

is

not like a

built

flat

windows

wall with

in

it,

but like a waffle-shaped series of horizontal and

vertical baffles. In

New York

City there

is

a town

house where the windows are covered with movable horizontal

fins,

which do a very good job of

and the owner's, too, because it meant having to get rid of unwanted heat.
Immediately people began wondering what could

giving light

be done.

some other highly

The engineers solved the whole thing very

quickly and easily. "Leave out the windows," they

particularly well, for then they will reflect the sun's

engineer's worst enemy,

And

letting the

and privacy to the

sun in to disrupt the air-cooling system.

If the exterior blinds are

heat the

way a mirror

reflects light,

themselves won't become

tions about the building of the future which would

air

have no windows and in

fact

In factories, to be sure, the windowless building

reality.

Many

of our biggest war plants

have no windows or skylights in them at

174

they will work

and no heat

at

be absorbed. In other words, the blinds

coming through them

warm and

thus

warm

the

into the building.

might even be built

underground so that it wouldn't get in people's

way while they were walking around.

became a

all will

made of aluminum or

reflective metal,

pretty soon the magazines and Sunday

supplements were full of all sorts of idiotic predicsaid.

interiors without

all.

But

THE GOLDFISH BOWL

So much

for controlling sunlight.

What about

some of the other control problems? What,

stance,

about controlling the neighbors?

for in-

How

can

WINDOWS
you have big windows and

retain a

still

little

privacy?

The answer

to this question

is

partly a matter of

planning and partly a matter of the sensible use of

and drapes. In the picture section which

curtains

this

accompanies

chapter you

will find

a number

through ordinary windows, at a prodigious rate in

comparison with modern insulated walls. Double

by about one-half, but

to be desired. Here again is an op-

glass reduces this heat loss

still

leaves a lot

portunity for

window

controls to be functional as

good drapery, lined and inis an investment

well as decorative.

of examples of houses in built-up areas which have

terlined

used enormous glass surfaces with,

which any householder who wants large windows

can well afford, since it will pay for itself in reduced

more privacy than

gets.

There

ous ways

if anything,

even

the conventional house usually

is

nothing remarkable about the vari-

fuel bills long before

this

has been done. In one instance the

draperies of this kind in the original plans of the

architect solved the problem by building a high

fence around the garden

in other words,

ing the "curtain" out to the lot

extreme,

with heavy material,

remember

build a wall

all

the purpose.

that

it

is

by mov-

line. If this

seems

rarely necessary to

around the garden to accomplish

single wall jutting out from the

house at right angles to the window

house

it

wears out. Provision for

permit them to be pulled entirely free of

will

the window in the daytime and to cover

all

or most

of the window at night, thus admitting quantities

of solar heat in the daytime, and reducing heat
losses substantially

when

the traffic

is all

in the

other direction.

do

Pre-planned draperies are no novelty in modern

same time provide a back-

for planting. Often planting alone will be

house design and are typical of the extra care and

thought which go into this type of house. Provision

enough. In some cases putting the windows in the

of "pockets" where draperies and Venetian blinds

right places (vertically as well as horizontally) will

can be furled so that they do not obstruct the

glazed area adds little to the cost of a big window

the trick, and at the

ground

be

all

that

is

will usually

needed to avoid a "goldfish bowl"

and much to the

effect.

Whether or not these things are done, you will

want curtains and probably drapes to cover

still

the

window

glass at night,

and to take care of those

when you would like to feel a little shut in.

As a matter of fact, there is nothing better looking
than a really big window with a handsome, barely
times

translucent drapery half drawn. Far

the big

window a

"failure" (as has sometimes been

argued), such a use of draperies to

year and the

from proving

mood

fit

the time of

of the occupants of the house

serves to demonstrate

one of the biggest advan-

tages of the true window- wall: big windows are the

only kind that can be made large and small as you
see

fit;

small ones have to stay that

want to

way

unless

you

a carpenter or chop away the wall

yourself with an ax.
call in

Earlier in this chapter

we mentioned

the use of

double glass to reduce the tendency of heat to leak

satisfaction of using

cases, particularly in the case

it.

some

In

of Venetian blinds

which are not very handsome when pulled up overhead, such pockets are enclosed in the construction

and out of

In others

sight.

the drapery material

room

is

and

especially

where

a decorative element in the

there are recesses in the wall alongside the

window opening

big

enough to accommodate the

folded material.

we have to say about wininfinitely more than a "style" fea-

This sums up what

dows. They are

ture: they

can take care of some heating in winter,

they can give furniture placing infinitely

more

free-

dom, they alone can provide a truly intimate relationship between garden

and house, and they can

combine the enjoyment of view with the enjoyment

of privacy.
the

One

of the really great contributions of

modern house

is its

bold and generous use of

glass areas.

175

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

SOLAR HEATING
THE STORY OF

solar heating offers

what

is

probably

the best of these peculiar chains of influence which

are to be seen so often in the development of the

modern house. When

architects in this country

and

Europe began to experiment with new shapes and

plans and structures for buildings, one of the features

which became practically universal was the

big window, expanded in

many

instances to the

point where it became a glass wall. A great many

reasons were advanced for the introduction of these
large glass areas.

There was the

pute, that the view

dow
not

is

fact,

It

that

was

in the

modern

quantities

forms.

The

Germany of the Weimar Republic

buildings were put

and frequently

in

up in the greatest
the most interesting

architects of this period,

most of the

1920's,

which included

had a theory about

their glass

buildings which they proceeded to put into effect.

The theory sounded very good.

dis-

big win-

meant, according to the theory, that the east rooms

would

get sun all

houses had good views. Then there was

would

get sun all afternoon.

the argument, supported by the findings of the

was produced in
one with just slots

Once

built,

It

morning and the west rooms

But

nicer than if seen through a small one.

many

reason for doing so.

was that a long

building, running north and south, would have its
longest sides exposed to the east and west. This

hard to

when seen through a

house, he would have to be given a good practical

the structures themselves punched

physiologists, that less eye strain

the theory full of holes. In the

a room with glass walls than in

of heating these buildings was excessive. In the

for windows.

on

It

was also the contention, based not

scientific fact

but on an emotion shared by

practically everyone, that a

light

was

far

room flooded with

sun-

more agreeable than a dark, dingy

The

architects

who began

building

"glass

place, the cost

second place, the cheerful morning sun varied with

the seasons. In
sunlight
winter,

midsummer

coming

when

in

from the

there

was plenty of

east,

while in mid-

the sun rose far to the south, there

was only a short time

interior.

first

in

which these rooms

re-

ceived the dubious benefits of their western expo-

houses" thirty or forty years ago had other reasons

sure. In the third place,

for their seemingly extravagant procedure, reasons

rooms found that for most of the year this exposure

which stemmed from purely

was

all

through the

They

field

of

esthetic

art,

notably in painting.

didn't talk about these esthetic reasons to

their clients because they felt

if

developments

the typical

quite rightly

homeowner were going

that

to be sold

on

the idea of installing acres of plate glass in his

176

people living in the west

practically intolerable.

tered in

summer by

The

interiors

were

blis-

the late afternoon sun, and the

strong light coming in at a very low angle was unpleasant and hard to screen out with shades.

The important

thing about these early experi-

mental buildings was not that they failed but that

SOLAR HEATING
they were trying something new. They were trying
to bring the
its

house into more intimate contact with

natural environment through the use of sun-

light.

One

result

was

that scientists, not architects,

began to ask questions about what sunlight did do

and how one should go about getting the maximum
benefits from it.

which got the most sun in winter faced neither east

nor west but south. So architects began to think in
terms of glass walls on the south side, and here
they

made a

we wonder why people

that today

thing about

didn't

the house in relation to solar

a double one. In winter

is

do some-

long before.

it

The problem of
heating

THE SUN AS A HEATER

discovery so simple and so obvious

the sun's heat in and in

we want

to

let

summer we want to keep it

That the sun throws off a great deal of energy has

been clearly understood for a long time. A phys-

out. Fortunately, the mechanics of the solar system

can tell you that the amount of solar energy

which heats the earth's atmosphere adds up to

very low and in

about 430 horsepower per acre. This is a lot of

energy. The first presentation of these facts that

projected out over a south

icist

made

sense in terms of house design

report published
stitute

of British

came from a

by a committee of the Royal InArchitects in 1932. The British re-

port figured out the number of hours of sunlight

received each day

on

walls facing the different

points of the compass.

and Ventilating Engineers carried this investigation one step further by measuring the amount of

on these

this very easy.

In winter the midday sun

summer

very high. Thus

it is

summertime no

direct

window

sunlight

sun shade, was flooded with

got inside the

light.

This solved the

problem of how to admit the heat in the winter

when you wanted it and how to keep it out in the

summer when

it

only

made

trouble. Let us note at

changed the appearance of

the house because previously it had not been nor-

different walls. True, the

mal

practice to build sun shades over windows.

But new questions popped up as fast as the old

ones were settled. To get the full benefit of sun on

work

the wall area, or

called attention to the fact that sunlight

on

outside walls produces substantial quantities of

to realize that they

so that in the

rooms. In winter the same window, with the same

the south, this wall had to be

At

this point designers

had a yardstick ready

at

began

hand

made almost

was

solid,

less,

if it

and,

contained windows. The rest

was insulated to boot,

the glass wall was accepted, however,

it

enough

so long as the sun was shining, for the

tion for the glass wall

came

justifica-

into being if somehow

:

energy could be converted into heat in-

side the house, there

would be a way of reducing

fuel bills.

The main thing revealed by the British architects'

study was the reason that the east and west orientation

had not worked.

It

was because the walls

this solid

wall was very effective in keeping the heat

curately with the amount produced by the furnace.

Thus, barely ten years ago, a possible

entirely

of glass. In the typical Colonial house, one-sixth of

by which they could compare solar heat quite ac-

this solar

was

possible to install a permanent sun shade which

Society was concerned with the problems of summer cooling rather than winter heating, but its

heat inside the room.

it

is

this point that it also

Somewhat later the American Society of Heating

heat landing

make

that the system

in.

Once

was

clear

would function admirably

amount of

heat that got in through the glass would be

greater than that which leaked out. But

night time and cloudy days? Here

it

much

what about

was

perfectly

would be no gain and all loss, and

the question to be answered was: would the balance sheet at the end of an average winter show a
clear that there

bigger fuel

bill

A few years

or a saving?

ago a student

at

Columbia Univer-

177

SOLAR HEATING
sity,

Henry Fagin, took precisely

his graduate

thesis.

He

He compared

made of a

anything

wall would

make a

when

people,

knows

that

no

street.

the plan of the

or rather

this study,

Some

must have

crazy, for

anyone

glass,

which has

the sun beats on the outside

The problem Fagin

which direction the

set himself
traffic,

was

And when

it

to find out in

came

to the rescue.

Few home

if

they could help

that such

knew from experience

least comfortable. So a

for they

rooms were the

was made

shift

it,

in the plan

the house was stretched

and for the north

ets,

bathrooms,

require

side the architect reserved clos-

stairs,

no windows

Thus the

first

step

and hallways

spaces which

at all or fairly small ones.

was achieved. Window

more heat

age

size, since

out during

round, but on the west side, where

could possibly

ment of brick versus glass would be settled.

Fagin found out that if any zone having a
winter climate similar to that of New York one
built a house whose south wall was entirely of

house would be cheaper to heat (on a

on

but without detriment to the livability of the house.

the east side

the night, there would be a net gain of heat which

would be reflected in the fuel bills. Then the argu-

sizes

the most exposed of the four walls were cut down,

On

let

builders

wished to put rooms on the north side of the house

so to speak, was the

heaviest. Because* if a glass wall let in

it

of nature

out so that most of the rooms would face south,

insulation value whatever.

heating an outside wall, then heat leaks out.

glass, that

if

advantage

was absolutely

during the day than

not figure out what would happen

Why

life

walls, heat goes into the building.

isn't

of glass on the south side?

this wall

of solar heating?" Here the facts of

building cheaper to heat.

When

"Why,"

tack.

calculate only the heat lost

but to find out which kind of

Fagin knew this, too. But he also knew that the

transmission of heat in a building is a kind of two-

way

through

we

full

than through a single sheet of

practically

they asked, "should

new

whole house were modified to take

lose less heat through a brick wall

you

architects tried a

more durable or

learning of

thought that he

single thick-

these walls, not to see

which was the better looking or

like that;

The modern

theme for

considered a solid brick

wall with plaster and a wall

ness of glass.

this

heat

is

windows were

the morning sun

left at
is

about aver-

pleasant

all

year

summer sun

the source of extreme discomfort, there

grew up a tendency to eliminate most of the windows, or at least to shade them from the sun. The

sum

total of this

procedure was that the house be-

gan to look like a glass house only if it were seen

from one or two sides at the most, and this is why
in so

many of the more recent modern

houses some

ten-year average, let us say, since

some winters

of the views show great expanses of wall undis-

have more sun than others) than

there were

no

turbed by any windows whatever. As a final refinement in the evolution of what people have begun

windows
and

at all

on the south

if

wall, with solid brick

in.
plaster used to keep the heat

parts of the United States where this

There are

would not

be true because of climatic conditions, but these

to call the solar house,

to the west.

By

its

axis

was

shifted slightly

this shift the east wall gets

more sun than it used to and

summertime.

little

so does the north wall

When World War

II

broke

parts are few

in the

One

out, there were only a few solar houses in existence

is

and cover a surprisingly small area.

the section which runs from the shore

of Lake Erie 200 to 300 miles to the southeast. The

other

is

the seaboard of

notorious for

its

Oregon and Washington,

persistent winter fogs. In virtually

every other part of the country windows

walls are likely to pay off.

178

on south

that demonstrated all of these refinements. Nevertheless,

The
ity.

a workable procedure had been established.

house began to receive national publicBut it still posed many an unanswered ques-

tion.

solar

SOLAR HEATING
PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES
Any

housewife knows what the sun does to fab-

rics.

She knows that

fade, that

it

it

will

make almost any

color

raises the very devil with curtains,

lampshades, rugs, upholstery fabrics, pictures, and

even the paint on the walls. For this problem a

heat. This

happens because the massive concrete

has a greater capacity than

The old

storing heat.

more than a

wood for absorbing and

tireless

cooker was nothing

practical utilization of this simple

principle.

Here, as in the case of the sun shade,

that the sun

utmost care in selecting materials whose colors are

closest to being sunproof. Some of it is still waiting

house in quite an unexpected way.

who

will

have to develop colors

more permanent than any found

hitherto.

The

find

again influencing the design of the

solution has yet to be found. Part of it involves the

for the chemists,

we

is

floor

which

can store the sun's heat during the day and give it
off during the evening will have an effect, and a
pretty important one,

on the

total fuel

bill.

But use

of a concrete slab modifies the whole house plan,

companies also have a part to play in the development of special materials which will let in the

for

sun's heat but screen out those light waves which

than two and, incidentally, to bring the house into

glass

do the most damage

Some such

to synthetic

glasses are already

and natural

dyes.

on the market. They

have a disadvantage in that they are

slightly tinted.

it

much

tends to force the design to one story rather

closer contact with the surrounding land-

scape than

it

was

before.

This, in the sketchiest possible form,

of solar heating.

found in the dyes themselves, and injudicious

use of such items as Venetian blinds, which will let

with nature instead of fighting

to be

the sun's heat get through the

ing the direct rays off paint

The most

window while keep-

and

opments

in

the story

of the very best devel-

They are usable, however, if they are placed carefully. The simplest solution, however, is probably

It is typical

is

modern house design because

it

the process the whole design of the house

fied.

it

works

with gadgets. In
is

modi-

With the sun shades or overhanging eaves the

house grows eyebrows, so to speak. Through the

fabric.

interesting, perhaps, of all the possi-

heavy concrete

slab, laid directly

on the ground,

we might call

the outdoors and indoors are brought into closer

the reservoir principle. This can be illustrated by

contact with each other. Highlighting the impor-

an example. People who live in all-wood houses of

the solar type have found that they tend to become

tance of varying the amount of window area on each

of solar heating involves what

bilities

overheated while the sun

is

shining

and

to cool off

side of the house, gives each wall

its

own individual
rooms

inside

anyone who

plans

character and modifies the plan of the

From

almost instantly when the sun goes behind a cloud.

for the better.

In houses with concrete floors the reverse happens.

a house without giving serious consideration to the

The

floors

the sun

is

absorb

shining,

much of
and

it

the solar energy while

may

night, before the floor cools

where

it is

no longer giving

be hours, or even

down

all

to the point

off a certain

amount of

here on

in,

operation of the solar house principle

is

missing

a wonderful chance to get a better house, a more

interesting house,

and a house that

is

cheaper to

run.

179

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

PUTTING THE PIECES

TOGETHER
So FAR WE have approached the problems of house

rapidly becoming an almost equally potent factor.

design through specific problems, such as planning

An understanding of the benefits of solar radiation

for storage, meals, relaxation,

ity,

when a house

is

and so on. In

actual-

being designed, study of the

and the plan as a whole proceed almost

simultaneously. Whatever is done to an individual
details

bedroom, has an

space, such as a

spaces related to

it.

Until

all

effect

on the

the small ideas have

been merged in a smoothly working over-all plan,

there can be no house.

The plan of a house

plans of

its

It is

rare indeed to

any point along the line. Involved as this process

of fitting and patching may be, however, essentially
not particularly mysterious. Just as the design

to put in

it,

come

in

how much clothing you have

so the working out of the house plan

is

summer and

all it

To

in our
tried to

it

to the house. In connection with the house,

means

is

privacy.

"zoned" house

sleeping areas, isolated as

the noisier rooms.

may

which

may be

flat

or steep, regular or irregular. The successful plan

will treat the

house and the

lot as a single unit.

The

immediate view and space for outBoth must be related intimately to the

lot provides the

door

living.

house

180

itself.

Sunlight, as

we have

already seen,

is

It will

will

much

have one or two

as possible

from

have a work center, which

also be a part-time living area. It will have a

service group, including heater, laundry,

sibly a portion

itself,

major types of activities

maximum convenience and for

that certain

are grouped for

have the general

the lot

in winter.

common word

hensible factors.
is

is

date, however, few people have

also the result of the operation of equally compre-

First of these

Almost as important a factor

sunlight.

Zoning has become a

apply

the result of a

house where no compromise has been made

of a closet depends on

midday

the direction from which the prevailing breezes

com-

is

at

it is

it has begun to turn the house from a

box
into a long and narrow one so that a
squarish
maximum number of rooms can get the benefits of

cities.

individual parts

and

cepts,

as opposed to the separate

plex process of give and take.

find a

has had a tremendous influence on planning con-

of the kitchen; and

living section,

and pos-

finally

which

may

it

will

include

outside as well as inside space.

Still

another factor which often forces further

compromises is the point of access. At some location on the perimeter of the lot there has to be a
sidewalk to the front door and a drive to the garage.

Too many home

builders persist in consider-

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

the entrance

have to go by the boards. Maybe only two bedrooms can face south instead of all four. But every

the automobile drive and

item making for greater livability should be fought

ing these separately. In today's house

be even more true in tomorrow's

will

most frequently used

is

and

this

not the pedestrian path. If the two can be merged

and a

service entrance included, planning will

immensely

simplified,

landscape

will

costs

somewhat reduced, and convenience

will

be

be en-

there were

and

good

quiet.

more than

For

this

reasons. Streets were relatively

Today

noise,

street side.

the street can offer nothing

gasoline fumes, and danger, and

there has been a steadily growing tendency, there-

approach and put the

the back where they could be tied

fore, to reverse the old

living-rooms at

it is

obvious that the budget

is

nearing the

breaking point.

The minimum dogma with which

ners were infected

The

few decades ago the main rooms of a house

were invariably placed on the

safe

for until

be

hanced.

will

results,

For one

had a short

so

many

however, were by no means

open plan, with

thing, the

plan-

but a hectic one.

life

its

bad.

all

many

vir-

tues, received a great impetus. For another, architects

and builders who had been notoriously

wasteful in the

money

way they

began to be

spent their customers'

somewhat more

practical

and

considerate. Nevertheless, the tendency to squeeze

down
much

in with the family's private garden.

the size of the house should be resisted as

as the budget will permit.

bedroom the

of a third-class steamer

size

cabin can be a satisfactory sleeping compartment,

PERIMETER VERSUS BUDGET

The most inexpensive type of medium-sized house
that can be built is a cube with living-rooms downstairs

and sleeping-rooms

upstairs.

perimeter of this familiar plan

is

Whenever the

made larger,

costs

go up. It happens to be an unfortunate fact that all

of the modern tendencies in house planning, such
as those listed immediately above, operate to pro-

duce a house with

maximum

for example, operates

perimeter. Zoning,

more conveniently with a

but a bedroom big enough to be used as a sittingroom is nice, too.

large living-room has greater

flexibility

and use

separate dining-room,

will take

choice. Small bathrooms,

good for very little

son, and there are few

At this point there is only one thing for the home

builder and his architect to do. Maximum economy
is

adequate family bath takes a space of more

than a hundred square feet, the size of a small
is

good space and

money. Once again, convenience

it

will

costs

good

have to be

The "space

no consideration,

one example, a living-room. Let us say that the

is

compromise is probably the solution.

Maybe some of the desirable features of zoning

find that

which can afford

You

livability.

no problem. Most of us, however, have to

consider cost, and carefully. Here again you will
there

families

money" problem does not

solve itself with a series of simple rules. The ingenuity of the designer can work wonders here. Take

must be balanced with maximum

cost

on the other hand, are

balanced against the budget.

the perimeter of the house.

Where

we

the extreme luxury of one bath for each member.

bedroom. This

can't have both.

efficient,

has

it,

but

unless they are used by one per-

between rooms and garden, which people are coming to prefer. The long, narrow plan designed to
solar radiation also increases

you can swing

a large one any time we are given the

An

most out of

if

than a small one.

advantages. Small kitchens can be

one-story house. So does the intimate relationship

get the

potentialities

living-room

is

versus

going to be eleven by sixteen

feet.

This is a small room, but perhaps no more space

can be afforded. If there just happened to be a
screened porch alongside the living-room and

some
181

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

would

still

be eleven by sixteen but for

five

or

more

months of the year it might expand easily and

cheaply to become an enclosed area of twenty by

Where space is
can work wonders, for
sixteen.

with low garden walls,

more than worth

his fee, because

spend the money to build

WILL

big

windows

At some point
tion arises.

and
is

is

he can create the

without making you

but what

care of

is

design an ex-

house at

all

to

Maybe it won't even look like a

those who are accustomed to sym-

metrical fronts with two shutters

Nevertheless, in

its

personal,

on every window.

modern way,

architect

who knows

been

efficiently

planned

one another. The entrance

rooms are off by

and sunlight have been taken
it going to look like? The con-

creates

his trade,

is

live thing. It fits the

people for

physically. It does all of these things because

of a copybook. Behind the finished product

steel

house seen from the outside have very little to do

with a plan worked out to meet the requirements of

dreds of years. For the

modern

choices are incidental and not basic. For

we have advocated

it

in

as

was

conceived in a creative manner and not taken out

house makes sense.

to this point

whom

was designed, it expresses the time they live

and, above all, it works, psychologically as well

flexible, inquiring attitude.

compromise as a

will

it

good house plan at this stage, if you let it. And preconceived notions of the proper appearance of the

Up

it

be a good-looking house.

ventional design approach can completely wreck a

living.

It

planning and design, building and site, house and

family, all form a single package. The product he

in the right place, the quiet

themselves, the view

difficult to

be agreeable in appearance.

For the modern

in the planning process, this ques-

Rooms have

carefully related to

will

thoroughly work-

of the back door.

it.

LOOK?

IT

not going to be

which

a pretty safe

the kitchen will be next to the front door instead

trellises,

illusion of additional space

HOW

it is

It is

and other cheap

premium

where the topnotch architect

is

able

terior

is

these, used in conjunction

at a

can create the impression that the

available
is
much larger than is actually the
space
Right here

rule that if a planning solution

may be unconventional. Maybe the bathrooms

will have big windows instead of little ones. Maybe

exterior features,

fact.

Preconceived ideas are poison.

doors in the walls between, the living-room

sliding

It

may have walls

may be of

in the

Everything in such a

or plywood, or they

hewn masonry used

is

of stainless
the rough-

neighborhood for hun-

modern

architect these

him

there

desirable, even necessary expedi-

are rules but they are fundamental rules: the fam-

Now our advice is the reverse. Do anything

but compromise. Let the house look the way it
really is. If your lot is a hillside and common sense

determines the exterior, and the exterior responds

ent.

demands

that

you put the garage

in the attic

and

the bedrooms two floors below, don't fret because

this is

a violent departure from grandmother's Co-

lonial farmhouse.

grandmother.

If

Of

course

everyone

it

is,

but you aren't

who comes

to visit

you
shove in a

by car, don't make the architect

front door in the center of the house just because
arrives

that

the

the other houses in the neighbor-

way
hood are equipped.
182

is

all

ily

and

its

ways of living

same time to the

dictate the plan, the plan

developments of industrial technology and the most ancient of local

at the

The modern house

traditions.

cause
is

it is

that

latest

a "natural" house.

it is

a good house be-

is

Its

outstanding virtue

a genuine response to real needs, and

its

appearance has the authentic quality

to

all

you,

genuine

it is

articles. If it still

only because

miliarity, in this case,

but contempt.

it is still

you

common

looks strange to

unfamiliar. But fa-

will find, breeds

anything

193

EXTERIORS
The outside of any house inevitably expresses the
interior even when strenuous efforts are made to
avoid

it.

Thus conventional exteriors are expressive

not only of the tight

little

ventional design; they also

go with conreveal the tortured complans that

promises this approach necessitates. And, since

modern plans are freer and more imaginative, mod-

ern exteriors are freer and more imaginative

consequence.

bold conception

like

in

the cantilev-

room

living
projecting over the water in
pictures 193 and 194 may be a determining fac-

ered

tor;

if

your tastes run to

less

dramatic things you

can expect a quieter looking result. But whatever

your tastes don't expect a truly modern house to

look like anything but what it is.

194

Back

197

tecture
belief

the early Thirties,

in

first

when modern

began to be used

in this

archi-

country, the

was general that a building couldn't

be modern unless
at least

it

really

had white stucco walls and

one corner window. This fashion

to architects as the International Style

known
is

what

most people think of when they hear the word

Modern, or "modernistic." But the modern ap-

more catholic
proach has become considerably
its
of
since the days
importationfrom Europe and
of most people.
incidentally, more to the liking
International Style houses are

still

however. Those shown here range

one of the

first

modern houses

(195) to two of the

for those

house look

we have

who

ask,

like in

being built,
in

time from

built in the U. S.

(199 and 200). And

"What would that sort of

latest

the

New

included one: 198.

England landscape?"

198

200

199

202
203

One

which has relieved the severity of modern architecture has been the desire to achieve a
factor

more intimate

relationship with

functionally as well as aesthetically.

the landscape-

The

International

Style house was frequently too detached from

surroundings: chaste and a

trast,

bawdy

little disdainful. In

some of the more recent work

in

the way

it

snuggles

is

its

con-

almost

among the trees and

205 and 206 are

against the ground. Views 201,

expressive of this trend. People

because ants get

in

the food

who

may

hate picnics

prefer a canti-

levered balcony, but most of us will probably like

204

modern better

in its

homier mood. And, since even

will

want

to get out of on occasion, doing so ought to be

made

the best modern house

as easy as possible.

is

something you

2 OS

206

207

^-

rr

209

210

21

212
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, whose
masterpiece.

Water, is shown on the preceding two

went
on designing contemporary houses in
pages,
the years when most architects were jumping about
Falling

between Cotswold, Tudor and Colonial. One of

most recent small houses

is

shown

in

his

209, and a

Wright-influenced design by another architect in

2 0. The houses on this page are examples of a dis1

tinctly different trend: a blend of

American wood

frame construction with the ribbon windows and

structural-expressionism of European modern. The
studied

unconcern for outside appearance which

houses 21
and 212 evidence useful as it was in
I

establishing an honest, experimental approach to

house design

has never found acceptance outside

of a limited circle of
disciples,

and

is

modern

on the wane.

architects and their

Outside appearance depends as much on the fundamental character of the house as on architectural

treatment.

have a

closely-knit,

solid, substantial

two-story

6 and 2

7).

will

look regardless of whether

the walls are light or dark, the roof

(2

house

flat

or pitched

Broad porches and spreading wings

have hospitable connotations in any design idiom

and 215). And if you decide that a modest,

(214

meets your needs you will

story-and-a-half rectangle
looks pretty much like an early
get something that
American farmhouse. The one in 218 and 2 9 is
I

to date by an
actually an old farmhouse brought up
architect who understood that the excellence of
this building

dow

type

muntins, but

lies

not

in its

in

the moldings and win-

unpretentious approach to

the problem of enclosing space.

219

III

220

221

Eli

a*'

223

224
Even a poor architect has a hard time making a
spreading,

one-story

best designers,

house

working

in

unattractive.

The

the free style which

the overthrow of traditionalism has engendered,

are producing houses of well-nigh universal appeal.

Depending on choice of materials and type

of roof, the effect can be varied from the trim,

tailored look of house

220-221 to the

pleasant

romanticism of 222, but both types represent a

fuller exploitation of present

niques.

day building techViews 223 and 224, which show stand-

ardized houses from a Federal housing project,

demonstrate the applicability of this approach

to even the most modest sort of dwelling, provided that the details are handled with sufficient
sensitivity,

and view 225 shows the same ver-

nacular carried over to a larger, two-story design.

225

K-

230

The

earliest

modern houses

231
all

had

flat

roofs; any-

thing else was considered an unpardonable concession to traditionalism.

reason for

this,

There was no compelling

however, and

in

gable roof reappeared, and with

it

later designs

the

new type (new,

known as the

at least, in its application to houses)

"shed" or "monopitch" roof. The shed roof, use of

which has reached the proportions of a fad among

modern

designers, has

much to recommend

it.

It is

simple, easy to build, readily ventilated to keep out

summer

sun-heat, and good looking; moreover,

makes possible

a high,

it

open wall to the south, ad-

maximum of winter sunshine while presentminimum wall surface to the cold winds from

mitting a
ing

the north. Three of the houses

this design principle,

The

latter

is

along "solar"

shown here

illustrate

226-227, 228-229 and 23

I.

an example of an old house remodeled

lines.

View 230 shows the

application

of the shed roof to a small, one-room-deep design.

2fc

r
:>

v;$I

"^JS.

,*>**,

'*->.;

'

232

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

HOW TO
GET YOUR HOUSE
(OR REMODEL THE

FOR YEARS THE

books and

ONE YOU HAVE)

presses have been grinding out

articles

on how to

get yourself the house

you want. There are acres of printed admonitions

on sound construction, how to save, where to go
for a building loan, what grade of lumber to buy,
and so on.

We propose

to deal rather lightly with

ous parts and characteristics have been discussed

at length

is

proach to

a pretty unconventional one. The applanning also is not typical. Unfor-

its

you are now convinced that this

way of designing a house makes sense, there is
tunately, even if

going to be trouble.

these matters, partly because they have been cov-

ered so
there

many
a

is

lot

of hocus-pocus involved which

merely serves to confuse the buyer.

Today FHA-insured mortgages and

their vari-

ous equivalents have been so standardized as far as

technical

HEADACHES FOR THE HOME BUILDER

times elsewhere, but mainly because

requirements are concerned that the

chances of getting a jerry-built house are fairly

methods of obtaining loans have

well publicized, and if by any chance

The building industry as of this moment or if

you like, five years from this moment is not an
,

industry. It
ers,

big

and

is

the clumsiest aggregation of build-

small, manufacturers, handicraftsmen,

and

merchandisers one could possibly imagine. Even the conventional Cape Cod
architects,

retail

slim. Also, the

cottage, with

been

ing the front door

fairly

you have not run into

can get

it

this

without any

kind of information, you

difficulty

from any com-

petent architect, builder, local bank, savings

association, or

Our problem

from the
is

local

FHA

& loan

office itself.

not primarily a matter of build-

ing or financing technique. The house whose vari-

with half

house

is

its

moons

inevitable pair of evergreens flank-

For one

turquoise-blue shutters

cut into them,

this

is

hard to get

if

the

With the kind of

book, these difficulties mul-

thing, a run-of-the-mill architect is

not going to produce

meshed

its

to be a custom-built job.

house described in
tiply.

and

it

for you.

He

is

in old-fashioned drafting-room

too en-

methods

199

HOW TO

GET YOUR HOUSE

and prejudices to be capable of working out your

problems with you on a constructive, forwardlooking
in this

The

basis.

book have,

architects

whose work appears

to be sure, already demonstrated

their ability to create a superior

modern

living.

background for
But these men constitute a small

group, and if all the architects in the country like

them were added to the list at the back of the book,
it

would

still

be a

fairly small one.

some young architect in your

community who has ideas and can carry them out.
If so, fine. Near the big cities, of course, this probmight be added here that
no reason to be afraid of going to see a
serious. It

is less

there

is

firm of architects simply because

it

has a

first-class

reputation. Architects as a rule have fee scales

which do not vary tremendously, and many people

find to their surprise that the fee charged

best available firm

that asked

Among

by

is

its less

frequently no

by the

greater than

it

and equipped, negotiate with bidders to get the

house within the budget, and arrange for changes
in the plans and details. And, into the bargain, he
probably give advice on furniture, color

will

schemes, fabrics, and landscaping, in the event

is fairly

That

why

is

a conscientious architect cannot un-

dertake to do a reasonably good job

built

house for

less

on a custom-

than 10 per cent. Probably,

more.
Finding a really topnotch architect, however,
only the

from

first

Whenever

old-line builders are

confronted with anything that deviates a hair's

standard

things, they let out

mighty squawks and proceed

They also have a disturbing

to jack

of a house for architectural design services and

habit of predicting (1) that the house will

supervision.

them

will

A few offices go above this figure, and

go below. There are architects

who

will set their fees at

lower. These, however,

do not

many

of

6 per cent or even

fit

into the group

whose work appears here.

Perhaps you would like to know why architects
have to charge a 10 per cent fee to do a decent job

on a modern house.
this fairly clear.

A little arithmetic should make

Let us assume that a house

is

going

to cost around $12,000. This puts the architect's

somewhere

fee
this

amount he

will

lynch you; and

his business. In return for this

he

will

camp on

your doorstep, practically psychoanalyze the fam-

down

neighbors will

rented or sold.

There

is

another situation that has to be met.

Rather early in the game your architect

that existing

for light-

some other purpose,

not prop-

ing, storage, or

erly

designed, and he

good reason,

will find

home equipment, whether

is

will suggest, frequently

that a certain

with

amount of special work

be done. This involves dealing with a miscellane-

workers, hardware

head, salaries to draftsmen, and the other expenses

fall

(4) that the house could never be

be able to recapture $300 to

if he is lucky, as payment for his time, which

run
from three to six months or more. The
may
remainder say $850 has got to pay his over-

200

(2) that it will leak; (3) that the

ous assortment of

neighborhood of $1,200.

$400,

of

up

the price.

Of

in the

is

of the headaches, and they multiply

this point on.

practice to charge at least 10 per cent of the cost

some

if

he were as good a business-man as he is a technician and artist, he would charge considerably

breadth from the way their grandfathers used to do

talented competitors.

the better offices

say you want, produce a series of drawings from

which the house can be satisfactorily constructed

that specialists in these fields are not engaged.

Possibly there -is

lem

what you want from what you

try to distinguish

ily,

electrical

firms,

supply people, metal

and

others, in

an

effort

to concoct something superior to the stock article.

Some people
designing a
so,

it is

Up

find that this part of the process of

modern house

lot

is

great fun.

But even

of work, too.

to this point

we have been

talking about

some of the problems of getting the house designed

HOW TO
and

built.

As

it

happens, there are other just as im-

portant hurdles to be surmounted.

these

is

The

of

first

money.

it

understood once and for

matter of the architect's

And

dwelling. There

the architect

closing a check for

is

is

the

also substantial.

a "must," because there

is

nowhere one can write for a

house just

that a

we have

which, as

fee,

be reasonable but

may

all

and custom-built house costs

custom-designed

more than a ready-made

seen,

set

two or ten

of stock plans, en-

dollars.

Tomorrow's

ready-made counterparts, but

they also cost money. If you agree that a one-story

house has great advantages in many instances over

a two-story house,

it

be found that

will

integral unit for indoor

house and

and outdoor

has to be reasonably generous

in the case of a one-story

extra

lot

some

modern

so,

of course,

house than a dwelling

not permit the expenditure of

will

for extra amenities,

it

would be most

unwise to embark on the venture of having a house

designed to meet your requirements.
far better to

It

would be

buy a house ready-made because the

value for a limited

amount of money

is

is

and nobody

crazy quilt,

to the last

penny

not a package:

will really

know

it is

the price

until the last bill has

been

paid.

The contradictory requirements of budget on

the one hand and space need on the other have
wrecked more potentially good houses than any

The architect, who is perennially

other single factor.

an

optimist, tries to

please his client by producing

a minor miracle. But

comes

off,

this miracle, like

and the

with which no one

one

is

others,

a botched job
and for which every-

result

is satisfied

most

is

blamed.

When

the architect

is

selected

and given the job,

he must be given one set of limitations or another

but never both. If your budget is $8,500, say so,

and he

will tell

you

at current prices.
live

pretty quickly

what you can

and

so,

you

are competent to attach a price tag at the

This

is

it

fall

into the trap of believing that

takes even the experts a

little

same
while

the

is

what the bill will probably be.

not an attempt to shield the architect.

home

builder

who

will suffer if

It

he refuses to

take a reasonable attitude towards this

all-important matter of budget procedure.

states his requirements

want four bedrooms, two baths, a

guest lavatory, maid's room, and two-car garage,
and the living-room should be at least thirty-two

My budget, including your fee, is $8,500.

is

but don't

time, because

THE NEIGHBORS

as follows: "I

This, obviously,

six

to figure out

pet peeve of almost every house architect

that his client walks in

without

on the other hand, you can't

bedrooms and seven baths, tell
If,

him

greater.

YOU

feet long.

$850," he would be laughed

house, for that matter

is

The

stainless steel

reasonably expect to get for that amount of money

floors.

money

is

and a

Nobody tries this procedure with

because
the product is a package at
automobiles,
a fixed price. Today's house and even tomorrow's

form an

living, the lot

more

budget

this, too,

savings can be made. Moreover, since the

architect designs so that

My

body.

looking for a car. I must have 180

five headlights,

out of the place.

rarely

increases the price, in spite of the fact that

budget

am

is

isn't

better job than their

If your

said, "I

down

produced that way. The special

equipment and fittings just mentioned will do a

with two

one walked into an automobile showroom and

horsepower,

MONEY
Let us have

If

GET YOUR HOUSE

absurd. Yet everyone does

it.

Some

years ago one of us designed a

modern house

for a Westchester suburb. Before the

ground had

been broken, the neighbors were up in arms. And

very soon we were called to account. "What do

201

HOW TO

GET YOUR HOUSE

you mean," they demanded, "by putting a modern

house in our community?" (They called it modern"Don't you

istic.)

realize that

you are destroying

the homogeneity of the entire neighborhood? All

of these beautiful homes

you and your

ciated if

will

be seriously depre-

clients persist in this insane

reply to this

was not very

polite, but

it

was

was pointed out that the neighborhood as

as the houses were concerned was anything but

true. It

far

there

was an imitation French

homogeneous;
farmhouse next to a pseudo-Mediterranean villa;
there were houses cribbed from work of the Georgian period in

England, and there were peculiar

half-timber jobs that were probably supposed to be

was also pointed out even more sharply that

was nothing that we as architects could do

to the neighborhood from the architectural point
there

of view that would

than

it

was

make

it

much more

chaotic

already. This argument was greeted

with shocked silence, and by the time the irate

householders could think of a reply the house was

built. They thronged in for the housewarming and
left

little

result

envious, because they could see that the

house was amazingly easy to live in and take care

of, and that the windows were big enough to see
out of and to

let

the sun

for flaunting one's ec-

architect's screwball notions if the

can be achieved in a reasonably incon-

spicuous way. In other words,

way

a house

live? If

is

there

no

is

out of one's

why go

whom

to offend the people with

one has to

built in a middle-western
is

com-

one of the favorite materials,

particular reason at this stage of our

technical development for not using brick. If wood

is

in the local tradition, or stucco or

same holds

whatnot, the

house
in

adobe or

true, because the modern

not a rigid package to be produced only

is

one way and no other, but merely a reasonable

attractive framework for a family's activities.
It is particularly important to hang on to this

and

last idea,

Elizabethan.
It

same

an

munity where brick

venture."

The

no argument

theless, this is

centricities or

because frequently the temptation to fol-

low some current fad

was once believed

ern unless

perhaps
ners.

it

well-nigh irresistible. It

that a house

was not

was a white cube with a

it

had

trim smeared

really

mod-

flat roof.

Or

to have round instead of square cor-

Or maybe

foolishness.

is

the "thing to do" was

all

chromium

over the main entrance. All this

Modern

design,

it is

is

true, does have

which are peculiar to

the ones that have lasted have managed to
certain characteristics

it.

But

justify

themselves on a very practical basis.

in.

Most people who have

built

modern houses

in

the past ten years have had similar experiences, and

generally the stories have ended equally happily,

THE BANKER
Your banker may not

agree to

this.

As a

trustee

because whatever one's preconceived notions about

of other people's funds, his normally conservative

hard to

tendencies have been intensified a hundredfold.

the external appearance of a house,

resist

the insidious

it is

charm of a well-designed mod-

ern interior.

not as great as

Today the problem is

The shift in public taste

be.

it

used to

in just the past few

years has been phenomenal, and

it is

probable that

any community the building of a modern

house would be greeted with more pleased and ex-

Like his friend the builder, he

is

frequently shocked

by the newfangled ideas people are getting about

their houses. Colonial was good enough for his
father,

and

and

it is

his son, if

going to be good enough for him

he has anything to say about it.
a real obstacle to surmount.

has

in almost

This attitude

cited interest than with fearful disapproval. Never-

been so great a hindrance, in fact, that most of the

outstanding early modern houses were built by

202

is

It

HOW TO
men who

wealthy

could pay for their houses with-

out applying for a mortgage.

banker

If your

is

likely, if

and

refuses to

make

the finished house to something below

that he, too,

also that he

is

mortgage

is

be open to

may
may have

actual

its

inadequate, remember
reason. And remember

competitors

who

are some-

what more open-minded. When World War II

broke out there were already a number of lending
institutions that

new

these

had convinced themselves that

types of houses were here to stay,

and

such as

services,

He can add

plumbing, and

lighting,

space, such as a garage storage

Or he can do

shed or a family room.

a complete

remodeling job.

Which of

he arbitrarily discounts the value of

cost so that the

its

heating.

recalcitrant

a loan on the house designed for you; or, what

more

ernize

GET YOUR HOUSE

these alternatives to choose

the most perplexing problems an

tect

can

face.

Costs are

since old things

ones installed.

owner and

difficult to figure accurately,

struck between the value of the house after remodeling

and

new house which

that of a

uses the pro-

ceeds of the sale of the old one. Unfortunately,

there

no way

is

which a book can give advice to

in

an owner confronted with a choice of

conventional types, because they were

because each case

get completely out of date before the mortgage

been paid

With

had

off.

home

existing financing arrangements for

builders, the

banker

is

no longer quite the

free

its

also

FHA

is all

representative,

who

frightened, petty-minded

must the regional

little

too often,

bureaucrat whose

only effective method for handling a

tion

is

difficult situa-

to say "no."

In spite of these manifold

lot

alas,

difficulties,

of modern houses have been

however, a

built.

THE HOUSE YOU

OWN

There

on the

cost.

another

has been followed throughout

one of considering
living problems and workable solutions. These
problems are the same in any kind of house, and

as

an

overconservative banker.

To

the

homeowner who

is intrigued by the
prosof
better
offered
tomorrow's
pects
living
by
house,

several possibilities are

one of

selling

open besides the obvious

the roof over his head. He can mod-

to old

and new

houses.

ful in a

remodeled house as a new one; so are im-

proved

lighting, acoustical treatment, insulation,

storage wall, for example,

built-in furniture,
dealt.

is

just as use-

and the other items with which

planning a new home.

new house

is

most of the solutions apply equally

are not entirely happy with

ownership can be as

his

way in which this book can help

of
anyone thinking
remodeling. The approach that
is

we have

it,

You

and get the builder to give

There are almost 35,000,000 dwellings in the

United States. Maybe you own one of them. If you
great a hurdle between you and a

say.

would be wise to include a builder in the planning

team. Tell them what you want, listen to the archibest guess

good investment, but so

and must be solved on

it

banker be convinced that the proposed house

specfiic

own. This much, however, we can

tect's suggestions,

is

is

this kind,

should not go ahead without the help of the kind

of architect you would choose for a new house, and

Most mortgages are now

which
means
that not only must the
FHA-insured,
agent he used to be.

archi-

must be ripped out as well as new

There is a delicate balance to be

actually constituted a sounder investment than the

less likely to

one of

is

This book, therefore, has been de-

signed to serve as a guide to remodeling as well as

It

would be absurd

to sug-

gest that tomorrow's house could be created

relic

of the 1870's

it

can't.

But there

is

from

a great

deal of unsuspected livability in millions of old

houses that could be brought out by applying the

techniques of modern planning and design.

While we are pointing out the disadvantages of

203

HOW TO

GET YOUR HOUSE

remodeling,

inevitably

becomes the leading member of a team whose sole

objective is to get a house that does everything a

lot of guesswork, and no layman can

house could possibly do. With a conventional

might be well to look at

it

advantage. Designing a

mixed with a

new house

its

is

major

possibly visualize his

house, planning

lines

completed house from the

on blueprints. As a result, seeing the house

Wherever one turns there are

rules which, while

always a surprise.

meaningless, are all-powerful.

Windows have

enclosed for the

Rooms

first

time

is

are bigger or smaller than imagined. De-

have certain

had seemed very important don't count

one way or the other. Almost always something has

dictated

None of

and the

that

tails

been

left

out or put in the wrong place.

vance.

you start with a complete house.

The mere process of living in a house, coupled
with a reasonable amount of critical observation,

can be

happen

produces an exceedingly intimate knowledge of its

good and bad

is

therefore,
basis,

begun on a very

and for

satisfactory.

points. Planning for remodeling,

solid

this reason, the results

There

is little

and

realistic

can be most

likelihood of wasting

space or money. The owner knows which features

are most objectionable, and he can insist
recting

them

things that
for

first.

work

on

cor-

Because he knows so well those

badly, he

will recognize

improvement and understand

proposals

And

their value.

remodeling carries a great deal of pleasure with

it,

not only because of the marked improvement in

the house, but also because

it is

the one kind of

building job where the layman can function

on a

barred.

result

that ceased to be important

out of the

in the

between building an old-fashioned

house and tomorrow's house

genuinely exciting

and

is

that the latter

truly creative activity.

architect, instead of functioning as

elegance

where

it

refusing to let

belongs because

it

an

put the

you
would

is

The

arbiter

of

bathroom

interfere with his

symmetrical window arrangement, for instance

204

are
that

summertime? You

it.

house up on
under cover?

stilts

It

some of

so that

the garden

is

has been done.

The reason that the small group of modern architects

has persisted in

had so much
skeptical at

its efforts is

become

first,

because they have

They have watched their

fun.

clients,

wildly enthusiastic.

They

have seen in the completed houses how old ways of

living were scrapped in favor of new and better
ones. This for the conscientious professional

is

the

highest reward he can be given.

Modern houses have been

sell

increasing in

number

themselves. People like the easier

livability.

like

having the garden where they can enjoy

live

with

it.

And

they

tell

their friends

Getting tomorrow's house

is

about

They
and

it

it.

a lot of trouble.

haven't pulled any punches in pointing out just

much

trouble

it is.

But

headaches of building

end

fairly unscathed,

it

like

They

the lack of clutter and the feeling of space.

THE FUN
difference

never free

way
Would you prefer a screened porch
without a roof on it? Your architect can make it
look very handsome. Would you like to use ramps
instead of stairs? Would you like to put part of the
can have

maintenance and the greater

The

is

could have been predicted in ad-

With the modern house, no holds

Do you want a living-room with a wall
slid

to

and proportions. Materials are

sizes

by conditions

because they

par with the architect.

strait-jacket.

a hundred years ago. The planning

in a remodeling job, because

these things

done within a

is

We

how

you ever go through the

and come out at the other

if

you

will agree that it

worth every one of the headaches, and more.

was

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

PROJECTIONS
NOW we have carefully refrained from men-

UNTIL

and materials which

tioning methods, techniques,

will turn

on

foundation like a sunflower, keep-

its

ing everybody tanned and happy

year long with-

all

are not immediately realizable in terms of today.

out even the trouble of pushing a button. This, too,

Most

houses are so far behind their potentialities

could be

that a

mere

listing

of what has been done in a few

make pretty

outstanding cases can

exciting reading

and these few houses have provided even more

exciting living. Despite this emphasis
tical,

on the prac-

the temptation to indulge in crystal gazing

is

embarking on our
it
dreams
own particular
might be a good idea to
put a few nicks in the crystal.
practically irresistible. Before

A great deal of what has

been written about the

home of the future hogwash. The helicopter, for

instance, is a strange and wonderful thing, but at
is

but

built,

we have

house that doesn't revolve can be pretty well designed to take care of the sun in the southern quadrant,

which

the only time

is

Then

there

and trundled to a happier neighborhood.

wheels,

Mobile houses can be

been. But'

what

is

built, too.

the worth to

cents of something

its

nonexistent products into print.

the idea, the

more

publicity

it

The

screwier

with the dishes while carrying on a face to face conversation with the Fuller
gets past the front door.

Any

never

manufacturer of tele-

vision equipment could undoubtedly produce this

gadget, but for

much

less

planned with the kitchen

money the house can be

window right next to the

that the

you

in dollars

and

of idiocies brought forth by the pseudo-

American public

Apparently they believe

swallow anything as

will
is

attached to

it.

Right

moment there is a good bit of talk about

window glass being replaced by sheets of clear
at the

plastic,

little

rumor

that has driven a

number of

reputable manufacturers practically out of their

minds.

The

facts are (1) that glass is

has been for generations)

windows and

is

(2)

it

a plastic (and

makes very good

relatively inexpensive; (3) there is

no other known

plastic at

any price that has the

unique resistance of glass to abrasion. Bomber

front door.

Consider, dear reader, the hullaballoo about the

revolving house, that

list

long as the label of novelty

receives.

Let us consider a few examples. We read that

with the help of television mother can keep right on

brush man, who

The

In fact, they have

you would not use more than

scientific writers is legion.

difficulty in getting

much good

package which can be unhooked from the lot when

you have a quarrel with your neighbor, put on

imagination seems to have no

exists.

is

the mobile house, that wonderful

is

once in twenty years?

it

it

anyway.

Cars with rear engines also exist.

Where the house is concerned, any overworked
least

already seen that the

wondrous contraption which

noses are

made out of plastics,

cost a small fortune

to be sure, but they

and have to be reconditioned

205

PROJECTIONS
every few

on planes beformed, but no

are used

flights. Plastics

cause they are light and easily

house has ever presented air-combat requirements.

There are enough wonderful things

to satisfy any of us. If

we must

coming along

indulge in day-

dreaming and we all like to let's approach

morrow's house on a more reasonable basis.

A pretty

good beginning

one takes the trouble to look

is

Most

into the history of ap-

in bulk. In your grandfather's house the furnace

belly with fat tin

through the

tentacles reaching all

If you
wanted an air-conditioning system for your home
which would give individual temperature control

room in

for every

would cost a

it,

and

One

them

be an

and of the refrigerator, half of which used

ators

compartment. This trend can and

ice

continue.

and

With radiant
registers

to

will

heating, for example, radi-

have been reduced to the van-

ishing point. But radiant heating

still

uses a lot of

pipes. When electricity gets to be our most common

fuel,

the pipes

may

well disappear along with the

furnace. Before this really revolutionary develop-

ment takes place, however,

heating equipment now

be able to have

of money.

we

are asked most fre-

for our house?" There are

example, a

stove,

will

home builders
is, "What about those wonderful new materials
that are being developed? When will we be able to

does twice as good a job. The same

true of the

you

but

it,

that in

is

quently by starry-eyed prospective

get

is

lot

of the questions

poking
their way up through the floors into the walls. Today's warm air furnace is a quarter of its size and
cellar,

of money. Our guess

won't cost a

it

you could have

the house,

lot

the not too distant future

facts stick out

significant is a steady reduction

was a sheet metal octopus, a huge

and we can count on further refinements.

it

with equipment. If

paratus for the home, one or two

prominently.

to-

were drafty. Equipment already on the

market has eliminated most of these annoyances
all

cold;

One

this.

of brick.

that there are a lot of wonderful old

is

materials.

Take

that middle-western favorite, for

wood frame wall

with an exterior finish

The

out-

trim appearance indefinitely.

The

a phenomenally good wall.

It is

side keeps

two answers to

its

inside can be thoroughly insulated.

build

it.

Does

it

disillusion

Anybody can

you to have the house

of tomorrow discussed in such terms

that a manufacturer

is

terior facing material.

duce a material that

:

Let us say

trying to develop

Here

is

new

what he has

ex-

to pro-

will retain its initial

good apno maintenance;

being designed promises to reduce the furnace to

pearance indefinitely; requires

keeps out the weather; does not shrink or warp

the size of a steamer trunk or a suitcase.

noticeably;

Reduction of bulk

is

important because

it

saves

injury

is

that

strong enough to resist mechanical

is,

it

can't fall apart if

space and makes maintenance easier. Closets are a

enthusiastic youngster bangs

good example. In our own time we have shifted

from separate wardrobes and other pieces of mov-

and is relatively inexpensive.

able storage furniture to

of

compact

built-in closets

ditions
light

and

it

some

over-

with a baseball bat

If it satisfies these con-

offers into the bargain the advantages

weight and quick installation,

we have

walls. In the future storage will un-

new

material that will compete effectively with the

questionably be almost 100 per cent integrated

old.

Anybody who produces

with the house. Furniture manufacturers

and wonderful market waiting for him. Unquestionably it will be produced and ultimately ac-

and storage

like this prospect

but

we

may

suspect housewives

not
will.

As important as reduction of bulk is flexibility

To go back to heating for a moment,

of control.

the old hot air furnace

lot

of rooms.

206

pumped

Some were

a lot of heat into a

too hot, others were too

this material

has a

rich

cepted

own
as

but no one knows

crystal gazing,

it is

and as

The house

is

it

let

how

soon.

To do our

us take a look at the house

might become.

the only important consumer prod-

PROJECTIONS
uct which

is still

assembled by craftsmen. Practi-

sticks

in all

a set of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica plus a couple

in the

who

kinds of weather by people

back to Neolithic times. This

straight

and

change

cause the

drastically. It is

home market

is

joists,

open

is

going to

going to change be-

too big for industry to

pass up. Once production engineers start figuring

out ways to give more product for less money,
things are going to happen.

You

don't have to be

a minor prophet to guess what these things are.

Even the least technical-minded among us has a
fairly clear idea

of

how

HOW

You can prove this to your own satisfaction

use tools going

of various lengths called studs, floor

and roof rafters, put together out

strong.

Stood on edge, this

piece of heavy paper can't even hold itself up.
Twist it into a tube and it could probably support

United States consists of

cally every dwelling in the

with a cardboard shirt

of telephone books.

INDUSTRY FUNCTIONS

into a

compound

Houses

curve.

stones are the carpenter's

once they

start

We

and mason's

can count on the following:

in the years to

delight,

will

it

come

(1)

and
but
be a

More and

are going to be

be

built of sheet

materials, used not only for finish inside

out at the other. In the middle are a lot of machines

future

punch.

much

built of sticks

coming out of factories

curved rather than

cut, press, squeeze, stretch, turn, or

it is

different story.

an operation that is
automatic from beginning to end. The raw metal
comes in at one end and the finished product comes
is

and

stronger, because the simple curve has been formed

factory-produced; (2) they will

The manufacturer's dream

which

A car fender is far more com-

plicated than a cardboard tube,

more houses

the process works.

stiffener.

and out

but for their structural qualities as well; (3) because sheet materials function most effectively in
flat

may look very

forms, the house of the

strange.

Do you like the idea

of a corrugated kitchen or a circular

bedroom or

The machines are very big and very expensive.

They can be afforded only if what they turn out is

rooms without square corners anywhere in them?

Most of us would have to get rid of a lot of pre-

produced in quantity and without flaws. To be

sure, there are all kinds of manufacturers. Some

conceived notions before

make

wrist watches with

dime, and others

make

movements the

locomotives.

It

size

of a

seems rea-

sonable to assume that industries making large assemblies give us the best clue as to what will hap-

pen to the house, which must be a series of large

assemblies. Three such are the automotive, aviation,

and ship-building

teresting

examples.

industries,

When

and

all offer in-

a car manufacturer

wants to make a roof, he doesn't put up a

rafters,

lot

of

we accepted anything but

our favorite rectangular shapes, but it might not be

so hard. The pride of many a Colonial mansion is

During the late years of the

French Renaissance there were circular boudoirs

an

elliptical stair hall.

and anterooms. The Eskimo, too, would probably

consider it strange if he had suddenly to go and
live in

kicked

a house that was

when

curves. Tastes

cars

all

square corners.

Nobody

went from square corners to

can be very deep-rooted, but

tastes

can change.

cover them with sheeting, and lay a lot of

has a series of big presses

THE INDUSTRIALLY PRODUCED HOUSE

which squeeze out each roof in one operation. He

can eliminate the rafters because he is playing on

The machine-produced house we label "prefabricated" has caused a considerable amount of argu-

one of the most

ment. People like to believe that their homes are

shingles

on

top.

He

significant characteristics

of sheet

metals. Sheet metals left flat are weak. Curved,

individual, even if the facts of life

crimped, or corrugated, they are tremendously

very rarely are. Mrs.

and Mrs.

show

that they

have already

207

PROJECTIONS
gone on record against prefabrication because they
fear that the monotony would be intolerable and a

tached to them, will go by the boards. Take the

mass-produced house would lack the charms of

home. What gives a home its charm is not neces-

good

sarily special tailoring,

it.

We

have

but the process of living in

seen apartments and third-hand

all

houses which are

full

of charm and individuality

floor.

good carpet costs more than a

Even in a home of modest means, car-

case of carpets.

pets and rugs may represent an investment of a

good many hundred dollars over a period of

twenty or thirty years.

We

Why

do we have carpets?

started having carpets because

on cold stone

our feudal an-

the result of what their occupants did to them. In

cestors

other words, almost any personality can be im-

without some insulating material laid over them.

printed on any dwelling. There is also this point:

mass production, oddly enough, makes for less

This

monotony rather than more. When nails were made

by the local blacksmith, each nail was slightly dif-

other words,

ferent

from

types.

Today

all

the others

but there were few

although their production

nails,

more kinds of

there are hundreds

is

highly stand-

ardized. If this is true of so completely simple

item,

it

must

an

is

anything but an estab-

Yet already there are types and

methods which promise a tremendous variety of
lished industry.

finished products.

Some houses

are being built in

panels, others are constructed in chunks, like

ers.

trail-

Materials include wood, plywood, asbestos,

reinforced concrete, insulating board,

steel.

and sheet

New ideas on design and construction appear

almost

daily.

The

what-

facts strongly suggest that

ever industrial production does to the house,

it

will

not destroy the variety everyone demands.

no problem any more. We also have rugs

because a room without them sounds queer. In
material

seen

women go

tories.

first

into offices

come

in.

We

have

and then into

We have gradually watched

a general

ing of the center of gravity from the

home

fac-

shift-

to the

community. These are broad social and economic

trends which will continue. Houses are going to reflect

them. Anything that pays out in the

way of

labor-saving design has a good chance of acceptance. Survivals,

208

it

our practice to put acoustical

is

on the floor in the home rather than on the

ceiling as in offices. This could

date, there is

no

single material

the advantages of a rug

that

To

be changed.

which combines

is, its

softness,

deadening and decorative qualities

sound-

with the ad-

however,

is

not too far

easily cleaned,

warm

off. It

has to be

in appearance,

expensive than the carpets

it

resilient,

and not more

will replace.

Are you

appalled by the idea of a house without rugs?

dren will

The

one that your grandchilbe appalled to learn that you ever had

chances are about

five to

such unsanitary contraptions in your house.

HORSEPOWER
One of

the interesting by-products of

World War

tremendous number and variety of frachorsepower motors that have been turned

II is the

DESIGN FOR TOMORROW'S LIVING

Within our own lifetime we have watched servants
aids

floors intolerable

is

tional

disappear and mechanical

life

vantages of a structural floor. Such a material,

certainly hold for the house.

Prefabrication today

found

no matter how much we are

at-

out in a great hurry.

well over a

The

B-29, for example, uses

hundred of these

house of the future

may

little

gadgets.

The

not use a hundred, but

it

probably use quite a few. Walls that open to

the out-of-doors, such as the huge sliding windows
will

seen in

many modern

living-rooms, might as well

be motorized as not. The same goes for partitions,

whether between children's bedrooms, the

living-

room and dining-room, or dining-room and kitchen. A push of the button and the wall isn't there
any more. Portions of roofs could be operated

in

PROJECTIONS
the

same manner. Awnings or outside

blinds could

be operated by motor, using photo-electric cells

activated by the sun so that you would not even

have to push a button. All of these amenities are

technically feasible now.

you counted the number of motors in your

house right now, you would probably be very imIf

pressed. There are the fans, the refrigerator, wash-

any color or pattern. Glass has moved out of the

kitchen to serve for piping, insulation, and fabrics,

in

and

it is

being combined with rayon and plastics to

new

Water pipes of flexible plasmay be standard in homes tomorrow, and

create
tics

lights

materials.

without wired connections have already been

demonstrated. There

is

a process by which soft

woods are made

maybe

the garage doors, and probably five or six

as hard as ebony and maple. Old

and new materials are emerging in a bewildering
variety of forms and combinations.

others.

Horsepower has already invaded the home.

Lest our enthusiasm for these novel materials

oil

ing machine, ironer, sewing machine,

All

we

are suggesting

that the front

is

burner,

may

pres-

ently be widened.

MORE MATERIALS
World War

II

produced more than fractional

motors.

horsepower

It

developed

the

paper-

laminated plastics, which are as strong, weight for

weight,

as

aluminum.

produced wood that

created plywoods which

It

doesn't swell or shrink.

It

run away with

us, let's try to

householder

doesn't

it

remember

make a

this

to the

great deal of differ-

ence whether his water comes out of pipes of

plastic or of brass.

ence

if his

some

He

will never

know

the differ-

walls are insulated with glass or with

older type of material. These developments,

mean something
have
a
direct
when they
relationship to better
while technically interesting, only

have extraordinary strength and water-proof qualities. It took aluminum out of the class of an al-

living.

most rare metal and made

it,

of the most common.

expanded

Using industrial techniques in other fields as a

basis, we think tomorrow's house will be built in

It

with magnesium, one

stainless steel

production to the point where at least one

manu-

facturer has been talking about using stainless steel

for roofing. This, incidentally,

would be an exceed-

ingly good idea because the reflecting qualities of

would do a

toward keeping the

house comfortable in the summertime. Its mirror-

stainless steel

like surface

the
it

would

lot

reflect solar radiation in

same manner as aluminum

much

foil insulation,

but

would have the additional advantage of consid-

erable strength.

One company developed

cases for shells, using

a sandwich of plywood and metal. Precut at the

factory, these cases could be shipped

flat,

assem-

bled by merely folding the pieces into boxes.

The

THE CRYSTAL BALL

pieces in factories

be

full

walls,

may

and odd materials that absorb sound but

can be cleaned off with a hose.

Its

windows

will

not

be single sheets of glass but insulated sandwiches

with two or even three panes in a single frame,

whose surfaces may be

lenses are
tirely

now

treated, as

photographic

treated, so that reflections are en-

eliminated.

This could be very pleasant.

Imagine being able to look out of the living-room

at night without seeing reflections of

window

lamps and furniture. Under such conditions a view

might really become something to be enjoyed.

Tomorrow's house

will

and other storage

things will

Another type of plywood

has a strong paper surface, which can be furnished

at the site. It

of all sorts of queer curves, strange slanting

metal covering served as a hinge, a principle that

might well be taken over for closets, cupboards,
units.

and assembled

Its

will

be highly mechanized.

present supply of fractional horsepower motors

be multiplied by two or three, and

happen

at the

all sorts

of

push of a button instead

of the heave of a back. Electricity

may become the

209

PROJECTIONS
prime fuel as well as source of power. Bathrooms
probably be prefabricated and

will

own

may

have

their

instantaneous electric hot water heaters. In-

dividual

room

air-conditioning

is

certainly in the

people have had some good times in their quiet

It is

way.

unlikely that tomorrow's house

to be so devoid of enrichment

and

is

going

interest that the

youngest generation will be in the same spot as

its

picture, but instead of bulky ducts to the separate

contemporaries

rooms there may be small pipes through which the

too, that as long as people are people their houses

air will pass at

a high

in darkest Africa.

them whatever

will fail to give

velocity.

For our part we can

Many things will completely disappear from

view in the house that is now shaping up. Bureaus

this

and chests

will give

already beginning to appear. If

Radios

move from

will

inets into the walls.

to built-in cupboards.

pretentious oversized cab-

good

deal of furniture for

tend to become an integral part of the

sitting will

walls.

way

This creates the prospect of a series of

ible, uncluttered interiors where there

is

is all right,

too, because our

us that there will be no law in

tells

you to

give

little

to

crystal ball

194X compelling

up your Duncan Phyfe highboy and

chintz curtains.

Most of us
way.
tics

When

react to change in a pretty standard

the tractor replaced the horse, roman-

pined because they liked the picture of a team

of horses on the brow of a

at sunset, a stalwart

hill

unlikely,

they demand.

it is

see a pretty

newfangled piece of industrial

good time in
shelter which is
quieter, easier

it is

to take care of, better to live in than

it is

is

its

predecessor,

doing just about everything a family can de-

mand

of a house.

flex-

room

swing a cat and where there may be less need to

swing a mop. Possibly you like cluttered interiors.
This

It

TOMORROW'S HOUSE

IS

HERE

The reason we indulged in the pleasant game of

projecting trends was to prove that the potentialities

much

of tomorrow's house are very

with us

today. There are materials yet to be made, and

machines to be made simpler and

less expensive,

and production techniques to produce more space

money. There will undoubtedly be revolu-

for less

tionary developments in lighting, heating, and the

other services of the home. Tomorrow's house in

this sense will

never

come all in one neat cellophane

farmer urging on his tired steeds. But every time a

package.

farmer got money enough for a down payment on

a tractor he bought one. Maybe farmers don't have

With what we now know about planning and materials, and what architects have learned from the

fun any more. In the absence of proof

clined to doubt

A home

we

are in-

all

kinds of strange and wonderful

junk. There were whatnots

full

of sea

shells, attics

loaded with musty trunks, glass chimes on the

front porch, stuffed animals

and

all

the rest of

it.

on the mantelpiece,

Maybe

the youngsters are

going to miss a lot of fun in tomorrow's house.

what was said about yesterday's

house, too. Deep inside Africa and Australia there
are tribes that have never even seen a house, and,
But maybe that

if

is

the anthropologists are to be believed, even these

210

and commercial

can be built right

it.

in the days of our childhood was loaded

to the brim with

industrial

grow, item by item, year by year.

It will

now is a

fields,

the house that

pretty wonderful thing.

Every age has produced the amenities

it

wanted

the most. This was as true in the days of

Queen

years from now.

Today

Victoria as
is

it

will

be

fifty

no exception.

The

real fun of building

comes from the time

ings,

lag.

tomorrow's house today

Almost all of our dwell-

even the new ones, are ten to

fifty

years be-

hind what they could be. If you want individuality,

and that means

if

you

really

want

it

and just don't

to get

give lip service to the idea, this

is

the

and the time to

is

right now.

start

planning

way

it,

ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS

WHOSE WORK APPEARS IN THIS BOOK
CALIFORNIA
Clark

&

Palm

Frey, 869 North

Palm Canyon Drive,

Francis E. Lloyd, 210 Post Street, San Francisco:

13, 149, 153

W. W. Mayhew, 330 Hampton Road,

Piedmont: 71, 164
Richard J. Neutra, 2300 Silverlake Boulevard, Los

Clarence

Springs: 199

Hervey Parke Clark, 210 Post

cisco: 188, 189,204,215

Street,

Frederick L. R. Confer, R. F. D. #1,

San Fran-

Box

41 5A,

Angeles: 62, 103, 140, 169, 170, 197

Martinez: 176, 203

Mario Corbett, 210 Post Street, San Francisco: 27,

Emrich Nicholson & Douglas Maier, Los Angeles:

225
Robert Trask Cox, 1570 Poppy Peak Drive, Pasadena: 205

W.

Gardner A. Dailey, 210 Post

cisco: 20, 158,212,222
J.

Street,

San Fran-

R. Davidson, 1417 Comstock Avenue, Los

Angeles: 161

John Ekin Dinwiddie, Architect; Albert Henry

Hill, Associate, 233 Sansome Street, San Francisco: 14,38, 138

Joseph Esherick, Jr., Ross: 121

Willard Hall Francis, 1539 Bentley Avenue, West

Los Angeles 57
John Funk, 21 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco:
:

201
L. Pereira, 519

Hills:

Raphael

North Crescent Drive, Beverly

216
S. Soriano,

6731 Leland Way, Los An-

geles: 102

Lloyd Wright, 858 North Doheny Drive, Los Angeles: 19, 206
William Wilson Wurster, Wurster & Bernardi, 402
Jackson Street, San Francisco: 68, 69, 159, 160,
162, 163, 220, 221

COLORADO
Burnham Hoyt, 400 Colorado National Bank
Building, Denver: 127

CONNECTICUT

172

Michael Goodman, 2422 Cedar

Richard

90,91,211
Harwell Hamilton Harris, 2311 Fellowship Parkway, Los Angeles: 58, 59, 61, 80, 101, 115, 120,
126, 131, 155, 165, 166, 175,

Philip Joseph,

San Francisco:

M.

Street, Berkeley:

210
38, 138

George Kosmak, Ruth Gerth & Associates, 1226

Sutter Street, San Francisco: 110, 114, 134, 137,
226, 227

Paul Laszlo, 362 North Rodeo Drive, Beverly

Hills: 31, 32, 35, 73, 157, 174

University,

Bennett, School of Fine Arts, Yale

New

Haven:

21, 190

Thome

Sherwood, Mayapple Road, Stamford: 30,

218, 219

DELAWARE
Victorine and Samuel

DISTRICT OF

Homsey, Hockessin: 152

COLUMBIA

George Howe, Supervising Architect, Public Buildings Administration, Federal

Works Agency,

Washington: 39, 40, 193, 194

211

MISSOURI

FLORIDA

Law Weed, 444 N.

Robert

E. 102nd

St.,

Miami: 41

Huson Jackson, 9737

Road,

Litzsinger

St.

Louis:

139

ILLINOIS

Isadore Shank, 4 Graybridge Lane, Ladue,

James Auer, 1505

28th Street,

Rock

Island: 64

William F. Deknatel, 840 North Michigan Avenue,

NEW

Chicago: 33, 34, 51

Robert Sydney Dickens, 840 North Michigan

Allmon Fordyce, Glen Gardner:

Avenue, Chicago: 183

&

Dubin, 127 North Dearborn

Chicago: 42

Dubin

Kassler, 221

cago: 70, 88, 92, 128, 184, 185, 191

nue, Chicago: 22
Arthur Purdy, Chicago: 183
Paul Schweikher, Roselle, Illinois, and Theodore

John Breck, New York: 54, 55, 116

Alan Burnham, New York: 8, 9
John Callender, 396 Bleecker Street,

117

Morgan Carson, New York:

Earle, 6

Burns

Street,

Boston: 66
Massachusetts

1430

Gropius,

37, 106, 107, 198,

Hill,

Belmont:

Avenue,

200

1, 15,

G. Holmes

Perkins, Department of Regional Planning, Graduate School of Design, Harvard Uni-

Cambridge: 2
Stubbins,

Jr.,

Royal Barry Wills: 3 Joy

Street,

Paul Grotz, 7 St. Luke's Place,

168, 228, 229

William Hamby,

25

New York:

New

York:

New

York:

167,

4, 6, 16, 43, 50, 65,

78, 104, 105, 109, 230

Michael M. Hare, 110 East 42nd

York: 60, 217
Albert Lee Hawes,

New York:

8,

New

570 Lexington

96, 97

Avenue,
Caleb Hornbostel, 80 West 40th
:

Street,

& Associates,

New York

Street,

New York:

21, 190

Clements Horsley, 205 East 42nd

York:
5,

217

111

S.

Midland:

60,

Robert A. Green, Tappan Landing, Tarrytown: 11

Julius Gregory, 74 Macdougal Street, New York:

Boston: 63

MICHIGAN
Inc.,

New York:

Holden, McLaughlin
83 Snake Hill Road, Bel-

mont: 63

212

I.

147

26, 28, 48,

232

79, 142, 179, 180,

Alden B. Dow,

Street, Forest Hills, L.

Philip L. Goodwin, 32 East 57th Street,

Samuel Glaser, Architect; L. L. Rado, Associate,

versity,

New

95

Cambridge: 29, 53
Marcel Breuer, 1430 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge: 36, 37, 106, 107, 200

Hugh A.

135, 136

Donald Deskey, 630 Fifth Avenue, New York 195

Malcolm Graeme Duncan, 299 Madison Avenue,
New York: 181, 182

Livingstone Elder,

Cambridge: 36,
Carl Koch, Snake

York:

Robert L. Davison, 299 Madison Avenue,

York: 76, 77

Guyon C.

Walter F. Bogner, Hunt Hall, Harvard University,

Newbury

New

76,77

MASSACHUSETTS

Walter

Princeton: 7, 46,

Vincent Kling, East Orange: 23, 24, 213

Alice

Samuel A. Marx, Architect; N. L. Flint and C. W.

Schonne, Associates, 333 North Michigan Ave-

162

Elm Road,

NEW YORK

840 North Michigan

3, 17, 52,

87

214

Avenue, Chicago: 122, 132, 143, 148

George Fred Keck, 152 East Ontario Street, Chi-

Lamb, deceased:

4, 83, 84, 85, 8

Street,

cago: 49, 74
Bertrand Goldberg, Chicago: 133
Inc.,

JERSEY

Kenneth

James F. Eppenstein, 35 East Wacker Drive, Chi-

G. McStay Jackson,

St.

Louis County: 64

171, 173

Clement Kurd,

New

York:

60,

217

Street,

New

New York: 130

New York: 171, 173

A. Musgrave Hyde,
Philip Johnson,

Morris Ketchum,

Virginia Williams,

York: 145

Henry Wright, 48-13 39th Avenue, Long Island

Jr., 5 East 57th Street,

New

City: 21, 72, 150, 151, 167, 168, 190, 192, 228,

229, 231

York: 113
William Lescaze, 21

New York:

East 48th Street,

NORTH CAROLINA

123, 145

John Manzer, 220 East 41st

Street,

New York:

60,

Allen

J.

Maxwell, Borden Building, Goldsboro:

223, 224

217

Moore

New

&

York:

Hutchins, 11 East 44th Street,

New

56, 67

George Nelson, 4 East 95th

New

Street,

York:

&

Breines, 18 East 48th Street,

Antonin Raymond,

New

New York:

101 Park Avenue,

H. Creston Doner, Director of Department of

Design, Libbey-Owens-Ford Glass
Toledo: 93, 94

Ernst Payer of Rideout

10, 141

Jedd Stow Reisner, 26 East 55th

Street,

OHIO

47, 202

York:

J.

4,

6, 16, 43, 50, 78, 104, 105, 150, 151

Pomerance

Rowland, 330 North Queen

Kinston: 223, 224

John

Street,

New

&

Company,

Payer, Chagrin Falls:

226, 227

York: 113
George

Sakier, 9 East 57th Street,

New

Morris B. Sanders, 219 East 49th

York: 18

York: 98

Street,

New

Walter Sanders, New York: 54, 55, 116

Willard B. Smith, 1929 E. Genesee Street, Syra-

PENNSYLVANIA
Robert M. Brown, Philadelphia: 119
George Daub, 2123 Delancey Place, Philadelphia:
125

Kenneth Day, Miquon:

12, 100,

154

cuse: 99, 146

Theodore Smith-Miller, 235 East 72nd

York: 54, 55, 116

New York: 207

Stone, New York: 48,

Street,

New

TEXAS
Alden B. Dow,

Inc.,

Houston:

5,

25

Eldredge Snyder,

Edward D.
124,

129,

177,

178,

179,

180,

89, 108, 112,

187,

195,

196,

101 Park Avenue,

New

223, 224

van der Gracht

York:

& Kilham,

Paul Thiry, 468 Stuart Building, Seattle: 81, 82,

144, 156

WISCONSIN

135, 136

Paul Lester Wiener (formerly Contempora,

33 West 42nd Street, New York: 118

WASHINGTON

Inc.),

Frank Lloyd Wright,

Taliesin, Spring

Green: 44,

45, 75, 186, 208, 209

213

PHOTOGRAPHERS WHOSE
PICTURES APPEAR IN THIS
William H. Allen, 99, 146
Elmer L. Astleford, 5, 25

C. V. D. Hubbard, 10, 141

Esther Born, 204

Chicago Architectural Photographing Company,

4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 16, 23, 24, 46,

76, 77, 78, 98, 100, 104, 105, 109, 152, 154, 213,

214, 217
32, 58, 59, 80, 101, 120, 126,

Paul Davis, George H. Davis Studio, 26, 36, 37

P. A. Dearborn, 181, 182

Richard T. Dooner, 125

8, 9,

18, 65, 81, 82, 110, 134,

137, 156, 226, 227, 230

John Gass, 195

Samuel H. Gottscho,

Rodney McCay Morgan, 130

Nyholm, 145
Maynard L. Parker, 111
Ben Schnall, 39, 40, 43, 54, 55,
Juluis

Shulman,

35, 62, 73, 102, 140, 157, 161, 169,

Richard Averill Smith, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87

Ezra Stoller, 1, 2, 15, 28, 29, 47, 48, 53, 79,

178, 187, 198, 200, 202,

21, 41, 56, 135, 136, 196

Arthur C. Haskell, 63
Hedrich-Blessing Studio,

72, 116, 192, 193,

194, 231

89,

106, 107, 108, 112, 124, 129, 142, 171, 173, 177,

Gottscho-Schleisner, 67, 96, 97

Roger

3, 17, 22, 33, 34, 49, 51,

184, 185, 191, 208, 209, 216

232

Sturtevant, 14, 20, 38, 61, 68, 69, 71, 115,

121, 138, 158, 159, 164, 172, 212, 220, 221,

Mary

52, 70, 74, 75, 88, 92, 117, 127, 128, 133, 183,

214

103, 197

170, 174

Philip Fein, 13, 27, 149, 153, 225

Steven Reiser, 42

Luckhaus Studio,
P. A.

131, 155, 165, 166, 175, 205, 210

Richard Garrison,

Robert Humphreys, 201

LIFE photo, Herbert Gehr, 113, 150, 151
LIFE photo, William C. Shrout, 1 14
F. S. Lincoln, 95, 118, 119, 207

122, 132, 143, 148

Robert M. Damora,

Fred R. Dapprich,

BOOK

Thiry, 144

Bennett

S.

Tucker, 64

George H. Van Anda,

P. Woodcock, 199

W.

30, 218,

219

222

4**t*m****H*A