12G 



TRAXSACTIONS OF THE AMKKICAN SOCIETY 



some of the interesting meetings. This or- 

 ganization has for its object the advancement 

 of the best interests of the world's intellectual 

 workers, — now so neglected as compared to 

 financial interests and those of manual labor. 

 The new organization has now been recognized 

 and subsidized by the League of Nations, 

 which has already taken similar action, es- 

 tablishing an International (Manual) Labor 

 Bureau. 



The International University which "aims 

 to unite in a movement of higher education 

 and universal culture the world's Universities 

 and International Associations, enabling a 

 portion of the students of such institutions to 

 complete their education by initiating them in- 

 to the international and comparative aspects 

 of all great problems." 



At present, while the Library, Museum, 

 Lecture Halls and other educational facilities 

 of the "Palais Mondial" are open all the year 

 for investigators and others interested, the 

 main activities center about an annual two 

 weeks' session, the so-called "Quinzaine de 

 rUniversitie" held usually in September. 



A great deal of interesting information was 

 obtained first hand by your Committee's rep- 

 resentative on two separate "Journeys of In- 

 vestigation by the Union des Villes et Com- 

 munes Beiges"; the first one, in 1920, was to 

 the more important Housing and Town Plan- 

 ning Projects of Holland; the second, in 1921, 

 to similar points of interest in the Rhineland 

 district of Germany. 



We did not fail to note how much more 

 skillfully and tastefully the Dutch handle the 

 use of color than do the Germans, but that 

 Dutch architects have apparently been in- 

 fluenced by German methods in their designs. 

 We noted, too, that in the German houses the 

 rooms were as a rule slightly larger than in 

 Holland, and that the Dutch tendency was to 

 let alcoves replace separate bed-chambers. 

 Perhaps, as one of our party remarked, the 

 seagoing habits of the country have influenced 

 their ship-like berths. We noted, too, that in 

 spite of much that seemed extravagant as to 

 the volume of house-operations in Germany, 

 many of their tnethods were most economical. 

 For example, the low-studded rooms, the in- 

 expensive cement blocks (Schwemstein) and, 

 apropos of this, that in many of the German 

 houses partition walls between rooms were 

 often but one such brick or block in thick- 

 ness (about four inches) plastered on both sides. 



How can these Belgian, Dutch, German, 

 French and English experiences help us in 



.America? From the, perhaps narrow, point 

 of view of the planning of towns (not the 

 broader all-inclusive subject City Planning) 

 not so very greatly. Very little is being done 

 in any of these countries in regard to com- 

 jirchensive re-planning or re-building of the 

 older portions of their cities, even the de- 

 vastated cities (Rheims, a brilliant example 

 and that the work of an American); nothing 

 at all comparable to what, for example, Chi- 

 cago is accomplishing. The unfortunate story 

 of the central portion of Ypres and other 

 Belgian towns has been mentioned. The mak- 

 ing of town plans in most of these countries 

 is confined to the preparation of what we 

 would call now allotments on the outskirts of 

 towns and as in most instances in all these 

 countries their topographical conditions are 

 simple, their plan-problems are corresponding- 

 ly so. Formality is appropriate with straight 

 lines of streets rather than curved. Diagonals 

 are usually not forgotten. Narrow pavements 

 are wisely used, and few alleyways are em- 

 ployed, while frequent park spaces and open 

 squares occur. The "cul dc sac" idea — the 

 court or place, has been quite generally over- 

 worked, especially in England. Little or no 

 attention is given to organized play and the 

 providing of playgrounds. Front dooryards 

 are generally not deep, 15 to 20 feet the aver- 

 age, and rear yards are also mostly compara- 

 tively shallow, seldom more than 50 or 75 feet 

 in depth. Allotment gardens are not uncom- 

 mon. Parks, as we know them, especially 

 genuine, comprehensive park systems as at 

 Boston, Kansas City, and Portland, Oregon, 

 are almost unknown. The great question of 

 Zoning has hardly been considered in either 

 Belgium or France, and while it may be said 

 to have originated in Germany, it is not being 

 very strenuously considered even there at 

 present. There is, however, an awakening in 

 this regard in England. In all of these coun- 

 tries, natural conservation has helped them in 

 this matter, coupled with the fact that a great 

 majority of the plain people are tenants. 



All of these countries, however, have much 

 to teach us about Housing, particularly hous- 

 ing for the poor. In every one of them they 

 are doing a great deal to help the poor man, 

 not by building model tenements but to house 

 him and his family in conditions that are usual- 

 ly excellent and occasionally luxurious. We 

 are not doing this in America. We are build- 

 ing our Rowland Parks, our Forest Hills Gar- 

 dens and the like, but these are for what they 

 would call the Bourgcoise, the middle class. 



