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REAL ESTATE
AND
^^ BUILDERS
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NEW YORK, JULY 31, 1915
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I THE COMMITTEE ON TENEMENT PLANS |
Principles of Good Designing Laid Down by Specialists—Ap¬
proved Examples From Drawings in Tenement Department
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THE report of the Committee
on Tenement Plans in New
York, issued by its secretary,
Cecil C. Evers, presents the
conclusions of a notably
thorough and systematic study. The
object of the report is to supply in¬
formation that will tend to improve
the average quality of apartments in
the more common grades and types
of tenement houses—to point out how
safe, wholesome and convenient liv¬
ing quarters may be built that will
cost no more, and that will bring
Steadier investment returns,- than the
general run of existing accommoda¬
tions. It discusses the principles of
good planning, and gives examples of
what the committee considers to be
the most approved plans evolved for
diiTerent plot units.
The members of the committee are
Lawrence Veiller, chairman; Cecil C.
Evers, secretary; William H. Abbott,
C. Grant La Farge, and Rudolph P.
Miller.
The committee was organized on
November 13, 1913, at the Engi¬
neers' Club. Its work has been fa¬
cilitated by Tenement House Commis¬
sioner Joiin J. Murphy, who placed
at its disposal every convenience for
inspecting material of public record
in his department. More than three
hundred plans were examined and
twenty conferences were held, the sec¬
retary's report being adopted on Julv
2, 1915.
The members of the committee came
together in response to invitations is¬
sued by the Record and Guide, which
took the initiative at the request of
public spirited men who had observed
the success of the method adopted by
the New York Chapter of the Ameri¬
can Institute of Architects for pro¬
moting good taste in the matter of
tenement house design. The Chap¬
ter awards medals each year for ex¬
cellence of exterior design in tene¬
ment houses (including what are popu¬
larly known as apartment buildings)
erected during the preceding twelve¬
month. The metropolitan newspapers,
as well as technical journals, have
been glad to publish illustrations of
the houses thus singled out as note¬
worthy by a professional body of ar¬
chitects.
The publicity given to current ex¬
amples of well designed buildings has
proved to be of educational value, and
it is recognized that the awards of the
Chapter of the American Institute
T N response to invitations issued
â– •• by the Record and Guide, sev¬
eral prominent men, interested in
promoting better tenement house
construction, formed the Commit¬
tee on Tenement Plans in New
York. In the accompanying re¬
port are given the findings of the
committee, which met many times
and examined a great number of
plans in order to arrive at a satis¬
factory conclusion. Typical plans
of units of various sizes and a short
digest of each are printed in this
issue. The houses considered are
those renting for moderate sums
and which are adapted to the more
congested sections of the city.
form one of several influences which
are bringing about a marked advance
in apartment and tenement house ar¬
chitecture in New York City.
Excellence of design is chiefly a
matter of artistic expression, while
excellence of plan is dependent main¬
ly upon practical considerations. Hav¬
ing set for itself the definite aim of
encouraging a popular demand for
good architecture in relation to the
prevailing type of domestic housing,
the New York Chapter of the Ameri¬
can Institute logically and properly
makes its awards exclusively with ref¬
erence to exterior design. Its aim is
distinctly public spirited, a special
phase of the general effort in the di¬
rection of a more beautiful, con¬
venient and sanitary city; and is be¬
ing effectively carried out.
However, it is the interior plan
which directly affects the health and
comfort of the occupants of a house;
and because of the success of the
method employed by the New York
Chapter, it was felt that a similar
method should be adopted with re¬
spect to interior plans. Tenement
House Commissioner John J. Murphy
on various occasions had given public
expression to this thought, but no
association of professional men had
taken it up; and the reason was fairly
apparent. The principles of design
are fixed and well known to compe¬
tent artists, but there was no concen¬
sus of opinion as to what constitutes
a good plan.
Before any such agreement of opin¬
ion could be reachSed a cooperative
study would have to be undertaken
for the purpose of reconciling several
distinct points of view often supposed
to be antagonistic; namely, that of
sanitary science, that of social and
economic conditions, that of the prac¬
tical requirements of construction, and
that of the capitalist. The Commit¬
tee on Tenement Plans in New York
is composed of men each of whom
might be expected to view the tene¬
ment problem from a different angle,
but all of whom had a common in¬
terest in it and were qualified by pro¬
fessional experience to contribute to¬
wards its solution.
The work consisted : (1) in estab¬
lishing the relative importance of the
factors necessary to ensure safe,
wholesome and convenient accommo¬
dations to tenants, while securing for
the owner a successful investment of
capital; and (2) in selecting from
among the plans filed with the Tene¬
ment House Department typical ex¬
amples to illustrate the principles laid
down bv the committee.
Mr. Evers' report is so brief and
compact that nothing would be gained
by attempting to summarize here the
findings of the committee. It may be
noted, however, that Mr. Evers makes
a point of the fact that, under normal
conditions ef supply of housing, badly
lighted and badly ventilated rooms do
not bring a satisfactory return on the
money invested in their construction.
Many builders act in the belief that
the biggest profit is to be obtained only
when the site is occupied up to the
limits permitted by law; whereas, on
the contrary, many properties are un¬
successful investments merely because
of the presence of inferior rooms, say
one or two repeated on each floor,
which do not bring in enough to pay
their relative share of the taxes, in¬
terest, and operating cost.
It seems worth while recording that
this special argument in favor of sani¬
tary housing was confirmed by the
abundant practical observations of Mr.
Evers, who is vice-president of the
Lawyers' Mortgage Company.
Before proceeding to its examina¬
tion of plans the committee ascertained
from statistics compiled for it by the
Tenement Liouse Department that the
common house frontages in New York
were approximately 25 feet, 50 feet
and 100 feet. In the 25-foot class,
plans of houses with a frontage of
not less than 23 feet nor more than
27 feet were eligible for considera¬
tion ; and corresponding variations
were adopted for the other classes.