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Good neighbors: affordable family housing
by Tom Jones, William Pettus, Mike Pyatok
MC Graw-Hill,
New York, 1998,
274 p., 568 pictures, hard cover
Web: http://books.mcgraw-hill.com/
Buying information
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0070329133/qid%3D1042721496/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/104-7912133-1189504
Book review
by Lorenzo Venturini
December 2002
It is ordinary America the one that Tom Jones, William Pettus and
Mike Pyatok describe in their book on U.S. housing and community
planning. Good Neighbors: Affordable family housing - this is the
title of this challenging book - speaks about another America, the
one that hardly ever finds a place in newspapers and magazines because
usually it is overwhelmed by the most common archetypical images.
Sparkling are such images when they express financial and technological
power; carefree when they convey the idea of open space and free
time seaside or mountain escape; dramatically violent and deteriorated
when they express social and legal problems.
Through the description of their vision of life styles, Jones, Pettus
and Pyatok offer us a sample of North American social living styles,
of the variety of regional architectural expressions, of the difference
among urban centers, suburbs, countryside and their relationship
with public space and historical identity.
Written in a simple linear style, the book tells us about a new
interpretation of the designer's profession that derives from the
authors' clear social and civic convictions in their job considered
as a community service.
Through the illustration of the housing problems a great number
of Americans has to face, of the welfare system and of the applied
experiences, the authors portray American social life. They also
describe the neighborhood life and the citizens efforts to overcome
economical, ethnic, and cultural barriers.
In the wide review of study cases collected in this book, exceptional
architectures are rarely found, if we take the word "exceptional"
as contemporary architectural style. The majority of the projects
is inspired to tradition in the constant search for a urban model
that encourages identification and socialization. On the contrary,
"exceptional" is the design process care, the constant search for
a better human living dimension considered as everybody's right
even though the customers are low income people and budgets are
limited.
A thorough quest of the aspects that improve everyday life is evident
in the book together with the search for social aggregation and
a sense of belonging to a community. Moreover, the community planning
method and the theoretical aspects are verified during the design
process with the neighbors and the new inhabitants. The book is
rich in descriptions of the social, economic and legislative context
in which affordable housing designers work. All the aspects regarding
the community design are confronted: the subjects living in community
housing, the needs expressed by them, the factors influencing the
community housing design. The second half of the text concentrates
on a rich variety of study cases accompanied by photos and essential
information.
The authors gained a long experience in the community housing field:
Tom Jones was Director of Architecture of the Asian Neighborhood
Design of San Francisco, a company that works for the development
of the non-profit settlements. He worked in the community planning
field and he has a 25-year experience in public housing. Working
for the AND Company he won several prizes for community planning
and for his dedication in design. William Pettus worked as
an architect in affordable housing and community planning design.
He taught design at the University of California at Berkeley and
edited several books on San Francisco Bay Area community planning.
Michael Pyatok designed lots of family housing throughout
the US. Winner of several design prizes and competitions, he collaborated
with communities in the design process. At the moment he teaches
at the University of Washington School of Architecture in Seattle.
Contents
Introduction.
Part I: Who Lives in Affordable Family Housing? Families in Need.
Neighborhood Profiles.
Part II: Factors Influencing Affordable Family Housing Design.
Community Needs and Context.
Policy, Finance, and Regulations.
Design Issues.
Part III: Case Studies of Affordable Family Housing.
Matrix, Topologies, Maps, American Housing Types.
Northern California and the Northwest.
Southern California and the Southwest.
The Central States.
The South.
The Northeast.
Additional Case Studies of Merit.
Resource Guide.
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