of University California, Berkeley Architecture 170b
Professor Littmann An Historical Survey of Architecture and Urbanism
Architecture 170b Lecture 26
4/24/2007
Mass Production Housing o Le Corbusier's Citrohan House Attempt to symbolize the aesthetics of mass production o Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House Interchangeable walls Off the ground o Mobile home Not so much a house to drag around More a preassembled house brought to be permanently placed Depression to 1945 o No houses being built o Post Second World War Housing boom o During depression and war Birthrate is low Wait until financially stable to have a family o During wartime Women went to work and got extra money Men at war Veterans get generous government loans o Come back together in the 1950s Everybody wants a house Massive increase in suburban houses Levit o Gets contract from the government to build thousands of houses for Virginia military workers o Levittown Government contract taught Levit how to mass produce house 17000 Levittown houses were built in the long island site Was actually cheaper to buy the house than pay for rent in the long island area Mass phenomenon o United States becomes a suburban nation Lakewood, Southern California, 1949 o 17500 houses built in 3 years 567 houses in one week o A lot of aeronautical workers o Model plan community o 1952 became a city o Very organized workers with specialized tasks Mass production o Had different house styles
Lecture 26 1 of 3 4/24/2007
Written By Raymond Leung
University of California, Berkeley Architecture 170b
Professor Littmann An Historical Survey of Architecture and Urbanism
Had 13 different floor plans And different paint jobs 52 different house configurations Can decorate different ways Traditional Provincial Contemporary Lakewood is one of the earliest regional shopping centers o Included 7000 parking parking spaces Saw this as a new shopping trend, people using their cars Different from city centers o Center of life Even the city hall was there for a while Library, post office, newspapers Suburban Living o Appliances becomes readily available o Suburban living isolated the women Social isolation o 1/3 of the LA landscape is hardscape for cars to drive on Levit claimed no man who owns a house can be a communist Changes in Suburban Houses o Social activity in the house starts to migrate to the rear of the house The porch disappears from the front 50s and 60s they don't have a front porch anymore o Houses get shorter No more high Victorians o The cellar used to be for coal burning Now with gas burners, the cellar is remodeled to a recreation space o California Houses tends not to have cellars o Initially, garage is away from the house. By the 30s, the garage becomes attached 50s and 60s, the garage is fully connected Garage o Gender Lines Male work bench area Female laundry area Driveway o Outside living room o Be look decent o Unless picking up the newspaper Backyard o Pretty crappy initially For trash o Landscape Architects come in and improve the backyard Becomes a place of place
Lecture 26 2 of 3 4/24/2007
Written By Raymond Leung
University of California, Berkeley Architecture 170b
Professor Littmann An Historical Survey of Architecture and Urbanism
Frontyard o Gets ornamental o Decorated Lots become less long, wider along the street edge Companies begin to move out of the city to catch the people of the suburbs o Felt scientists works better in natural landscapes Mimic the college campus o Mocked up the company campus like a landscaped college campus GM research plant north of Detroit o Massive campus o 23acre reflection pool The Office Park
Lecture 26
3 of 3
4/24/2007
Written By Raymond Leung