The lecture by Jason Reblando was quite enjoyable. I had never heard of the book before the extra credit assignment was given, so I was not able to really participate as much as I would have liked- to engage in the book signing or with the lecture. Without reading the book, I did feel that I got a clear sense of the elements of it from the lecture.
New Deal Utopias explores one of the most ambitious but overlooked programs of the New Deal Greenbelt towns designed and built by the United States government to be a model city. In the 1930s, the program was critiqued as communistic by conservative members of Congress, industrial and corporate leaders, and newspapers yet they still managed to make an indelible impression on urbanist ideas in America.
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During the Great Depression, the U.S. government constructed three planned communities – Greenbelt, Maryland; Greenhills, Ohio; and Greendale, Wisconsin, to house displaced farmers and poor urban dwellers.
Collectively known as the “Greenbelt Towns,” the housing program embodied the hope that these new model communities would usher in a new way of American life based on cooperation, not individualism. As the design and philosophy of the towns were inspired by Sir Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City principles, New Deal Utopias focuses on the designed landscapes and built environments of the towns, meditating on the connection of “town” and “country.” Howard envisioned cities where nature would be part of everyday life, and residents would have the social and economic advantages of living in a community with each other.
Using Jason Reblando’s contemporary photographs of the communities, the lecture discussed a fascinating chapter of architectural and planning history during a time when the government enacted bold and ambitious plans to protect who Franklin D. Roosevelt called the “Forgotten Man.” New Deal Utopias explores how we continue to grapple with the complex roles of housing, nature, and government in contemporary
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Articulated in his “Three Magnets” illustration, Howard lists the repulsive and attractive aspects of “town” life and “country” life on two separate magnets. The third magnet, the Town-Country magnet, combines the attractive draws of both, including “social opportunity, low rents” to represent positive aspects town life, and “beauty of nature, bright homes & gardens, no smoke, no slums” to represent country life. Tugwell- of whom the Greenbelt concept was not a new one- adapted Howard’s Garden City concepts of marrying the best of the town and best of the country for his Greenbelt
What I liked most about it was reading from two different perspectives and how those different perspectives met through the book.
Several works we have read thus far have criticized the prosperity of American suburbia. Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus, and an excerpt from Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poem "A Coney Island of the Mind" all pass judgement on the denizens of the middle-class and the materialism in which they surround themselves. However, each work does not make the same analysis, as the stories are told from different viewpoints.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once asserted “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people,” in belief for a change, for a better nation, and for guidance to those who have lost all faith in humanity. During the Great Depression, The United States faced many different scenarios in which it caused people to doubt and question the “American Dream.” The Great depression began in 1929 and ended in 1939. In these ten years, people went through unemployment, poverty, banks failed and people lost hope. President Herbert Hoover thought it wasn’t his responsibility to try and fix such issues in the nation. He felt it was just something that everyone was facing and it will be over soon enough. However, years passed and nothing seemed to
Now, a normal sized town contains fast-food joints, supermarkets, malls, and superstores, but a small town lacks that appeal. The small-town could be the most beautiful landscape known to man, but lack the necessary luxuries in life that a typical American would benefit from. Carr and Kefalas make this statement that emphasizes the town’s lack of appeal, “Indeed the most conspicuous aspects of the towns landscape may be the very things that are missing; malls, subdivisions, traffic and young people” (26). The authors clearly state that they realize that towns, such as the Heartland, are hurting because of the towns’ lack of modernization. For all intents and purposes, the town’s lack of being visually pleasing is driving away probable citizens, not only the native youth, and possible future employee’s away from a possible internship with the town. The citizens with a practice or business hurt from the towns inability to grow up and change along with the rest of the world, yet the town doesn’t realize what bringing in other businesses could potentially do for their small town. Creating more businesses such as malls, superstores and supermarkets would not only drive business up the roof, but it’ll also bring in revenue and draw the
The Great Depression, beginning in the last few months of 1929, impacted the vast majority of people nationwide and worldwide. With millions of Americans unemployed and many in danger of losing their homes, they could no longer support their families. Children, if they were lucky, wore torn up ragged clothing to school and those who were not lucky remained without clothes. The food supply was scarce, and bread was the most that families could afford. Households would receive very limited rations of food, or small amounts of money to buy food. This led to the starvation of families, including children. African-americans faced tougher challenges than most during the Depression due to discrimination. The classes hit hardest were middle-class
The Great Depression was felt worldwide, some countries more than others. During this time many Americans had to live in poor conditions. In the United states, 25 percent of the workers and 37 percent of all nonfarm workers lost their job(Smiley 1). Unemployment rates had increased to a 24.9 percent during 1933(Shmoop 1). Unable to pay mortgages, many families lost their homes. The cause of this was the Stock Market crash in 1929. Many investors of the stock market panicked and sold all their stocks. The results of this include frightened Americans withdrawing all their saving causing and hoarding it in their homes many banks to shut down and less money to circulate in the economy. Although the economy had taken a dramatic blow, there was hope. A new program was administered by the government to help people suffering from the depression. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) program helped improve lives of Americans affected by the Great Depression.
To appreciate a row house neighborhood, one must first look at the plan as a whole before looking at the individual blocks and houses. The city’s goal to build a neighborhood that can be seen as a singular unit is made clear in plan, at both a larger scale (the entire urban plan) and a smaller scale (the scheme of the individual houses). Around 1850, the city began to carve out blocks and streets, with the idea of orienting them around squares and small residential parks. This Victorian style plan organized rectangular blocks around rounded gardens and squares that separated the row houses from major streets. The emphasis on public spaces and gardens to provide relief from the ene...
The New Deal period has generally - but not unanimously - been seen as a turning point in American politics, with the states relinquishing much of their autonomy, the President acquiring new authority and importance, and the role of government in citizens' lives increasing. The extent to which this was planned by the architect of the New Deal, Franklin D. Roosevelt, has been greatly contested, however. Yet, while it is instructive to note the limitations of Roosevelt's leadership, there is not much sense in the claims that the New Deal was haphazard, a jumble of expedient and populist schemes, or as W. Williams has put it, "undirected". FDR had a clear overarching vision of what he wanted to do to America, and was prepared to drive through the structural changes required to achieve this vision.
Location, location, location -- it’s the old realtor 's mantra for what the most important feature is when looking at a potential house. If the house is in a bad neighborhood, it may not be suitable for the buyers. In searching for a house, many people will look at how safe the surrounding area is. If it’s not safe, they will tend stray away. Jane Jacobs understood the importance of this and knew how cities could maintain this safety, but warned of what would become of them if they did not diverge from the current city styles. More modern planners, such as Joel Kotkin argue that Jacobs’s lesson is no longer applicable to modern cities because they have different functions than those of the past. This argument is valid in the sense that city
The United States faced the worst economic downfall in history during the Great Depression. A domino effect devastated every aspect of the economy, unemployment rate was at an all time high, banks were declaring bankruptcy and the frustration of the general public led to the highest suicide rates America has ever encountered. In the 1930’s Franklin D Roosevelt introduced the New Deal reforms, which aimed to “reconcile democracy, individual liberty and economic planning” (Liberty 863). The New Deal reforms were effective in the short term but faced criticism as it transformed the role of government and shaped the lives of American citizens.
Sean Godsell’s career as an architect has been inspired by his interest in Asian architecture and it’s geographical immediacy to Australia, in particular the use of spatial devices within a structure. He talks of 'the connected plan', an interior that can be divided, traversed, or opened up at will. (INTEXT REF) This topic discussed in detail throughout the essay. When studying both localized and regionalist approaches to design it is clear that Godsell has taken on board all areas of this topic and his broad oeuvre represents this. There is an evident focus upon a localized approach to architecture, with his projects an observable response to their immediate surrounds in the landscape. In particular Godsell’s Glenburn house and The Carter Tucker House. Regionally speaking, as already mentioned, it is evident in almost all of Godsell’s works that he reflects upon and draws inspiration from neighboring Asian countries, drawing key elements and applying them respectively to his localized approach. Some prime cases of Godsell’s regionalist approach are his Peninsula house and also the St Andrews Beach House. Godsell; all the while responding to local and regionalist influences has put a lot of time into creating entirely flexible public dwellings, emergency housing, which can be adjusted and enhanced to whatever conditions they are placed in. This paper will draw examples of emergency housing from Future Shack, Park Bench House and also Bus Shelter House.
When Willy and Linda purchased their home in Brooklyn, it seemed far removed from the city. Willy was young and strong and he believed he had a future full of success. He and his sons cut the tree limbs that threatened his home and put up a hammock that he would enjoy with his children. The green fields filled his home with wonderful aromas. Over the years, while Willy was struggling to pay for his home, the city grew and eventually surrounded the house.
“Wright and Le Corbusier seem predestined for comparison. Their ideal cities confront each other as two opposing variations on the same utopian theme” (Fishman, 163). Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, more commonly known as Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, and writer. Throughout his life, he was a pioneer of modern architecture and city planning (Frampton, 12). One of Le Corbusier’s contemporaries was also hugely influential but with a competing plan Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959), an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator. Wright is known as one of the most important individuals in American Architecture of all time (Riley, 2). Both Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright were reacting to the density and overcrowding of cities in their urban plans and philosophies. Le Corbusier’s urbanism was consistent throughout many of his plans including La Ville Contemporaine (the Contemporary City), Plan Voisin and La Ville Radieuse (the Radiant City). Wright’s organic architectural style was apparent in his Broadacre City plan, which he consistently proposed throughout most of his life. Both of these influential men were raised outside of big cities and neither had formal training in the fields that the forever altered (Fishman 164). This essay aims to analyze the spatial, social and economic factors of these two influential contemporaries by laying out both plans and then laying out the comparison.
We will begin by describing the components of modernist and neoliberal planning theory, by doing so we will have a better understanding of how Los Angeles South Central Farm was influenced by both modernist and neoliberal planning theories. Modernism emerged in 19th and 20th century, in response to the city’s physical chaos, causing suffering to the working class. Local legislation began by improving the working class “slums” by implementing building codes, sanitation facilities, and public health regulations (Krueckeberg, 1983). Modernist projects implement certain goals; Robert A. Beauregard describes the four goals of modernist planning:
Imagine having to choose to reside in one place for the rest of your life. Which would you opt for? Some people would argue that the hyperactive lifestyle that a big city has to offer has more benefits than living in the country. However, others would contend that the calm and peaceful environment of the countryside is much more rewarding. Several people move from the city to a farm to get away from the hustle and bustle. Likewise, some farmers have traded in their tractors and animals to live a fast paced city life. Of course, not all large cities are the same nor are all of the places in the country identical. Realizing this, ten years ago, I decided to hang up the city life in Indiana to pursue a more laid back approach to life in rural Tennessee. Certainly, city life and life in the country have their benefits, but they also have distinguishable differences.