THE PUBLISHERS’ PAGE
DISTRIBUTION of the ninth edition of The American Architect Specification Manual is now well under way. Each year this valuable volume is revised and brought up to date. The present volume for 1927-28 contains many revised specifications and new specifications that have not appeared in previous editions. For the convenience of specification writers, specifications have been arranged in the same consecutive order as the Standard Construction Classification of The American Institute of Architects. This parallel arrangement will be found convenient in many ways. The Standard Construction Classification is printed in full in the new edition of the Manual and has been corrected to June, 1927. This classification is intended as a system for filing manufacturers’ cata
gs and data on building materials. Its inclusion irk the Specification Manual insures a copy being instantly available for use, since it is not easily mislaid or destroyed.
In this Manual of Standard Specifications there will be found instructions for the installation of practically all types and kinds of building materials. This data has been prepared or approved by America’s representative producers.
A copy of The American Architect Specification Manual will be sent without charge to any established architectural office requesting one upon business stationery. Since the edition is limited and requests are honored in the sequence of their receipt, we suggest that those who have not yet asked for a copy do so as promptly as possible.
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In this issue there will be found an article of timely interest entitled, “A House Built Like a Skyscraper,” in which is described a house now being constructed at Forest Hills, Long Island, N. Y. During the past few years much interest has been attached to the development of houses framed in structural steel. Various systems have been devised and several have been used in the building of “model” houses to test their practical application. The majority of these systems have closely followed the wooden “balloon” frame and resolved themselves into a matter of replacing wooden studs, joists and rafters with steel members. Many of the steel frame systems applied to house construction have apparently failed to consider all of the factors involved and especially the relationship of the steel frame to other building materials with which it must be combined.
Since the steel frame is essentially structural it would appear logical, even for house construction, to design it from this standpoint. The enclosing walls and roofs are required to secure protection from the weather and provide the necessary insulation against heat and cold. Their structural
value, when used in conjunction with a supporting framework, is negligible. This is the basic principle of skyscraper design. The construction of the house now being erected at Forest Hills, Long Island, has made use of the principles of skyscraper design, and is, therefore, of more than usual interest.
These are days of economy. We economize on initial cost by minimum space; we economize on steps by combination living-dining rooms and kitchen nooks, and we economize on energy by compactness and efficiency in arrangement of service accessories. This all has a vital effect on the plan of modern houses. How can we reduce the floor area of the kitchen and retain its efficiency? The interesting point is that it has been done and done successfully. The pantry, too, has been eliminated, and in many cases the dining room also. An article in the Department of Interior Architecture, in an early issue, will be devoted to this subject. Plans of modern kitchens in both apartments and private houses will be shown, kitchens of less than a hundred square feet, yet complete and efficient. Built-in furniture has much to do with the success of these seemingly small kitchens, just as beds which fold behind a door during the day are effective in very small apartments. There is a complete dining set, for example, consisting of table and two benches seating four, which folds into a reveal in the wall between meals and makes of the room in which it is installed a dining room only at meal times. The successful solution of modern architectural problems depends on complying with the great economical questions of the day. The article which the Department of Interior Architecture is soon to feature is intended to acquaint architects with certain ideas which may materially assist them in solving the difficult problems with which they are constantly confronted.
The Neils Esperson Building, a skyscraper in Houston, Texas, designed by John Eberson, is fully illustrated in this issue. We regret that it is impossible to show the photographs in color, for the building is rich in its color treatment. Colored terra cotta is freely used in the design of the facade. There is a demand for more color in architecture to which architects throughout the country are complying. A black and white photograph cannot do justice to a building which is , so full of color as is the Neils Esperson Building. It is only fair, therefore, that mention be made of the fact that color is introduced so that in reading the black and white reproduction allowance be made for this interesting feature of the design.
DISTRIBUTION of the ninth edition of The American Architect Specification Manual is now well under way. Each year this valuable volume is revised and brought up to date. The present volume for 1927-28 contains many revised specifications and new specifications that have not appeared in previous editions. For the convenience of specification writers, specifications have been arranged in the same consecutive order as the Standard Construction Classification of The American Institute of Architects. This parallel arrangement will be found convenient in many ways. The Standard Construction Classification is printed in full in the new edition of the Manual and has been corrected to June, 1927. This classification is intended as a system for filing manufacturers’ cata
gs and data on building materials. Its inclusion irk the Specification Manual insures a copy being instantly available for use, since it is not easily mislaid or destroyed.
In this Manual of Standard Specifications there will be found instructions for the installation of practically all types and kinds of building materials. This data has been prepared or approved by America’s representative producers.
A copy of The American Architect Specification Manual will be sent without charge to any established architectural office requesting one upon business stationery. Since the edition is limited and requests are honored in the sequence of their receipt, we suggest that those who have not yet asked for a copy do so as promptly as possible.
*******
In this issue there will be found an article of timely interest entitled, “A House Built Like a Skyscraper,” in which is described a house now being constructed at Forest Hills, Long Island, N. Y. During the past few years much interest has been attached to the development of houses framed in structural steel. Various systems have been devised and several have been used in the building of “model” houses to test their practical application. The majority of these systems have closely followed the wooden “balloon” frame and resolved themselves into a matter of replacing wooden studs, joists and rafters with steel members. Many of the steel frame systems applied to house construction have apparently failed to consider all of the factors involved and especially the relationship of the steel frame to other building materials with which it must be combined.
Since the steel frame is essentially structural it would appear logical, even for house construction, to design it from this standpoint. The enclosing walls and roofs are required to secure protection from the weather and provide the necessary insulation against heat and cold. Their structural
value, when used in conjunction with a supporting framework, is negligible. This is the basic principle of skyscraper design. The construction of the house now being erected at Forest Hills, Long Island, has made use of the principles of skyscraper design, and is, therefore, of more than usual interest.
These are days of economy. We economize on initial cost by minimum space; we economize on steps by combination living-dining rooms and kitchen nooks, and we economize on energy by compactness and efficiency in arrangement of service accessories. This all has a vital effect on the plan of modern houses. How can we reduce the floor area of the kitchen and retain its efficiency? The interesting point is that it has been done and done successfully. The pantry, too, has been eliminated, and in many cases the dining room also. An article in the Department of Interior Architecture, in an early issue, will be devoted to this subject. Plans of modern kitchens in both apartments and private houses will be shown, kitchens of less than a hundred square feet, yet complete and efficient. Built-in furniture has much to do with the success of these seemingly small kitchens, just as beds which fold behind a door during the day are effective in very small apartments. There is a complete dining set, for example, consisting of table and two benches seating four, which folds into a reveal in the wall between meals and makes of the room in which it is installed a dining room only at meal times. The successful solution of modern architectural problems depends on complying with the great economical questions of the day. The article which the Department of Interior Architecture is soon to feature is intended to acquaint architects with certain ideas which may materially assist them in solving the difficult problems with which they are constantly confronted.
The Neils Esperson Building, a skyscraper in Houston, Texas, designed by John Eberson, is fully illustrated in this issue. We regret that it is impossible to show the photographs in color, for the building is rich in its color treatment. Colored terra cotta is freely used in the design of the facade. There is a demand for more color in architecture to which architects throughout the country are complying. A black and white photograph cannot do justice to a building which is , so full of color as is the Neils Esperson Building. It is only fair, therefore, that mention be made of the fact that color is introduced so that in reading the black and white reproduction allowance be made for this interesting feature of the design.