American Apartment Living 1925
A BRITISH ARCHITECT ON THE AMERICAN APARTMENT
JUST what the American apartment house is and how it fits in with our national social life is set forth in a report made by a British architect, G. Topham. Forrest, on “The Construction and Control of Buildings and the Development of Urban Areas in the United States of America.” This survey, as explained by Alfred C. Bossom in the New York Times, was made at the instance of the London County Council, to which Mr. Forrest is the chief architect, and was undertaken for the purpose of seeing what ideas in architectural economics, as carried out in this country, could be utilized in the British metropolis and in other cities of England. Says Mr. Bossom:
Mr. Forrest was especially imprest with the adaptability of American architecture to climatic conditions and to the environment. He is more confirmed in his belief that the skyscraper, as we call it, is not for London. As he so clearly states, most American cities are further south than is the city by the Thames; New York, for instance, is 700 miles further south than is London. The result is that in the cities of the United States the rays of the sun are at a far greater angle, and no matter how tall the apartment house or skyscraper may be, the rays can be suffused for a greater part of the day through American buildings. The average width of London streets is only twenty-eight feet, while in American cities many streets are 100 feet wide.
Under the zoning laws which Mr. Forrest found in effect in more than 500 municipalities, the first line of the roofs or cornices must not be taller than is the width of the street on which the buildings face. This gives the American building the advantage. Under the old common law in London owners are prevented from shutting off the light and air of their neighbors, so it is impossible for London to have such towering structures as obtain in this country.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Forrest recommends that London get the benefit of all the height it can by employing the set-back method of construction which has become such a feature of American municipalities. England had this idea back in the days of Queen Elizabeth, but, as the English expert says, it was rather more of an ideal than an actual method. Owing to the absence of soft-coal smoke in overbearing quantities in New York, and the general freedom from fog, Mr. Forrest found that the interior corridor or hallway, without any windows, was employed with satisfaction in American buildings. This is made possible by glass-paneled doors and glazed transoms, which would be of little use in London.
Mr. Forrest declares that the standard of living, generally speaking, is higher in America than in Great Britain, and that what in America would be termed an apartment for the working-class would in England be considered in many respects superior middle-class accommodation. To quote further:
He does not think that America is so far advanced in the evolution of internal planning and layout as England is, with perhaps three exceptions, being, the appointments of kitchens; the appointments of lavatories, bathrooms, and other sanitary arrangements; the layout and treatment of the courts and open spaces about buildings.
It must be remembered, however, that such things necessarily imply a larger expenditure than is usually available in England in these items.
Mr. Forrest is imprest with the skill with which new housing accommodations are provided in American cities by building higher tenement dwellings to take the place of those which have been torn down to widen streets, or provide parks or to make neighborhoods more accessible to light and air.
The advantage enjoyed by the American housewife over her British sister receives appreciative acknowledgment from this discriminating visitor. As we read:
He states that American building development gives a great deal of instruction, saying that in the apartment buildings every apparatus is provided which can eliminate the labor of the housewife. In the apartments he inspected he found many such labor-saving devices incorporated, such as built-in ironing-boards, fitted dressers, installations for vacuum-cleaners, polished hardwood floors and wainscots, terrazzo-paved corridors, gas-fires, installations for the supply of hot water and other heating.
Mr. Forrest noted that these add to the utilities and amenities and thereby to the rentable value of the apartments. He suggests, so far as would be remunerative, that such modern accessories be incorporated in London dwellings, and that in designing such dwellings, the possible subsequent addition of such fitments be kept in mind.
As the London County Council has wide powers, and controls certain properties on which it can erect model houses and apartments, it is likely that the capital of the British Empire will soon have many flats and apartment houses planned as to their conveniences in accordance with the American idea.
Source: The Literary Digest for September 12, 1925
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