Henry Wright
Encyclopedia
Henry Wright was an architect and major proponent of the garden city
, an idea characterized by green belt
s and created by Sir Ebenezer Howard
.
Born in Lawrence, Kansas
, Henry Wright's family was Quaker and he based many of the ideas for his communities on Quaker ideas. In 1902 Wright helped architect George Kessler
design the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
in St. Louis, Missouri
when he was only 23 years old. By the early 1920s Wright became one of the core members of the Regional Planning Association of America
, along with Clarence Stein
, Lewis Mumford
, and Benton MacKaye
, and it was this association that led to Wright's most well-known work.
, a suburb of St. Louis
, that were platted in 1910, 1911 and 1913, respectively. Wright later said that the origins of his planning concepts lay in his St. Louis developments. Wright designed all three of his projects to face inward toward their common grounds and away from the noise and congestion of Wydown Boulevard and the trolley line which ran along it (now gone). The subdivisions share common characteristics such as limited access from surrounding thoroughfares, curving interior drives, one to almost 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) lot sizes, and large traditionally designed houses. Brentmoor Park is designed around a draw, or small valley, which has its lowest point near the intersection of Big Bend and Wydown. This natural land formation forms the common ground of a rectangular 33.8 acres (136,783.9 m²) tract. The 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) tract encompassing Forest Ridge has only 6 homes, and rises to a central plateau with the lots planned around a large circular private park. Brentmoor has a simple oval plan due to the evenness of its 49.8 acres (201,533.6 m²). The three subdivisions in this district contain forty-seven houses, twenty-one of which were built in the first decade after the sites were opened, with an additional sixteen built before 1930. The fashionable period-style houses which fill all three subdivisions were designed by the best local architects as well as some out of town ones, the most notable being Howard Doren Shaw of Chicago and Raymond Maritz. The large, carefully designed houses are about evenly divided between medieval and Georgian styles. Among the civic leaders who have lived here are J. Lionberger Davis, Stratford Lee Morton, and Morton D. May. In 1982, the National Park Service
listed the Brentmoor Park, Brentmoor and Forest Ridge District (see: Historic district (United States)
) on the National Register of Historic Places
.
designed Sunnyside Gardens
, in the Sunnyside
neighborhood of the New York City
borough of Queens
, was one of the first developments to incorporate the "superblock" model in the United States. The complex was constructed from 1924 to 1929.
The residential area has brick row houses of two and a half stories, with front and rear gardens and a landscaped central court shared by all. This model allowed for denser residential development, while also providing ample open/green-space amenities. Stein and Wright served as the architects and planners for this development, and the landscape architect was Marjorie Sewell Cautley
. These well-planned garden homes are listed as a historical district in the National Register of Historic Places
, and are also home to one of the only two private parks in New York City.
Recently, on Tuesday, April 17, 2007, there was a hearing for landmarking on Sunnyside Gardens.
community in Fair Lawn
, New Jersey
. Radburn, founded in 1929, was intended to be the "town in which people could live peacefully with the automobile-or rather in spite of it". Radburn was designed in such a way that thoroughfares had a specialized use; main roads linking traffic at various sections, service lanes to allow direct access to buildings, and express highways. The desire was also to have as complete a separation of automobile and pedestrian as possible. Pedestrian crossways were designed at differing levels than that of autos, and were directed differing places than autos. These largely residential areas were termed “superblocks”.
Radburn was also intended to become a garden city characterized by surrounding greenbelts, and the careful design of residential, industrial and agricultural land. Residential areas were designed to face inwards towards gardens and nature rather than out towards traffic. Unfortunately, the Great Depression
proved the end of the "Radburn idea". Only a minute section was completed before the operation was forced to stop. The originally-planned manufacturing area never materialized, so the town became a commuter city, despite the planners' best hopes. The other main problem to appear were extremely high costs of developments of this type, as well as the large amount of land that it consumed. However, the city did achieve a very high level of pedestrian walkability.
community, which was constructed in three phases in 1932, 1936 and 1956 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. Chatham Village's distinctive design was based on the ideals of the Garden City movement, including single ownership and the protective greenbelt of undeveloped land, but drew heavily on elements of the "Radburn Idea," particularly the use of superblocks with interior parks, and the complete separation of automobile and pedestrian. Designed as a high-density community for moderate-income workers, the Georgian Revival houses were constructed in attached groups. Cost savings were realized through the use of the superblock design with its reduced infrastructure investment, and high-density attached dwellings to lower construction costs. The successful use of attached grouped dwellings in a garden environment, demonstrated at Chatham Village, influenced the growth of the garden apartment-style subdivision in American urban and suburban planning. Built during a time of rapid technological change, the 'reverse-front' orientation of house groups, facing the open courtyards in the superblocks' center, evoked the comfort of the traditional English village. The meticulously designed and maintained landscaping of the terraced greens and courtyards dramatically enhanced the village atmosphere and provided the healthy environment thought to be necessary for modern living. Wright's innovative 'reversefront' design of the houses, in which service rooms face the street and living rooms face the interior park, turned the focus of the community inward, away from the noise and activity of surrounding development. In 1998, the National Park Service listed Chatham Village on the National Register of Historic Places.
, near Washington, D.C.
Wright designed the first of these phases in the Colonial Revival style; the later phases also incorporated this style. Intended to be a middle-income neighborhood, the complex was funded by the Federal Housing Administration
. The garden apartment complex applied pioneering principles of garden city planning to a large-scale planned residential community. These principles include low-density superblocks, curving streets, separation of automobiles and pedestrians, shallow two-to-three story building plans allowing improved light and ventillation and landscaped common spaces designed around apartments to form a continuous park. The buildings are arranged in U-shaped complexes enclosing grassy lawns planted with oak and elm trees. Wright located a shopping center at the intersection of two major streets in the middle of the community, evoking the idea of a traditional village center.
The Arlington County government has protected some of Buckingham's buildings by designating them as components of a local historic district. Demolition has occurred, however, resulting in the loss of thirty buildings since 1953. The National Park Service listed parts of the Buckingham Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, 2004 and 2010.
Garden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by "greenbelts" , containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and...
, an idea characterized by green belt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
s and created by Sir Ebenezer Howard
Ebenezer Howard
Sir Ebenezer Howard is known for his publication Garden Cities of To-morrow , the description of a utopian city in which people live harmoniously together with nature. The publication resulted in the founding of the garden city movement, that realized several Garden Cities in Great Britain at the...
.
Born in Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
, Henry Wright's family was Quaker and he based many of the ideas for his communities on Quaker ideas. In 1902 Wright helped architect George Kessler
George Kessler
George Edward Kessler was a German American pioneer city planner and landscape architect.Over the course of his forty-one year career, George E. Kessler completed over 200 projects and prepared plans for 26 communities, 26 park and boulevard systems, 49 parks, 46 estates & residents, and 26 schools...
design the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the Saint Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in 1904.- Background :...
in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
when he was only 23 years old. By the early 1920s Wright became one of the core members of the Regional Planning Association of America
Regional Planning Association of America
The Regional Planning Association of America , formed by Clarence Stein was an urban reform association developed in 1923. The association was a diverse group of people all with their own talents and skills...
, along with Clarence Stein
Clarence Stein
Clarence Samuel Stein was an American urban planner, architect, and writer, a major proponent of the "Garden City" movement in the United States.- Biography :...
, Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford was an American historian, philosopher of technology, and influential literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer...
, and Benton MacKaye
Benton MacKaye
Benton MacKaye was an American forester, planner and conservationist. He was born in Stamford, Connecticut; his father was actor and dramatist Steele MacKaye. After studying forestry at Harvard University , Benton later taught there for several years. He joined a number of Federal bureaus and...
, and it was this association that led to Wright's most well-known work.
Brentmoor Park, Brentmoor,and Forest Ridge
Early in his career, Wright designed Brentmmore Park, Brentmoor and Forest Ridge, three private subdivisions in the city of Clayton, MissouriClayton, Missouri
Clayton is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis and the county seat of St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 15,939 at the 2010 census. The city was organized in 1877 and is named after Ralph Clayton, who donated the land for the courthouse.-Geography:...
, a suburb of St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, that were platted in 1910, 1911 and 1913, respectively. Wright later said that the origins of his planning concepts lay in his St. Louis developments. Wright designed all three of his projects to face inward toward their common grounds and away from the noise and congestion of Wydown Boulevard and the trolley line which ran along it (now gone). The subdivisions share common characteristics such as limited access from surrounding thoroughfares, curving interior drives, one to almost 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) lot sizes, and large traditionally designed houses. Brentmoor Park is designed around a draw, or small valley, which has its lowest point near the intersection of Big Bend and Wydown. This natural land formation forms the common ground of a rectangular 33.8 acres (136,783.9 m²) tract. The 23 acres (93,077.8 m²) tract encompassing Forest Ridge has only 6 homes, and rises to a central plateau with the lots planned around a large circular private park. Brentmoor has a simple oval plan due to the evenness of its 49.8 acres (201,533.6 m²). The three subdivisions in this district contain forty-seven houses, twenty-one of which were built in the first decade after the sites were opened, with an additional sixteen built before 1930. The fashionable period-style houses which fill all three subdivisions were designed by the best local architects as well as some out of town ones, the most notable being Howard Doren Shaw of Chicago and Raymond Maritz. The large, carefully designed houses are about evenly divided between medieval and Georgian styles. Among the civic leaders who have lived here are J. Lionberger Davis, Stratford Lee Morton, and Morton D. May. In 1982, the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
listed the Brentmoor Park, Brentmoor and Forest Ridge District (see: Historic district (United States)
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
) on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Sunnyside Gardens
Wright and Clarence SteinClarence Stein
Clarence Samuel Stein was an American urban planner, architect, and writer, a major proponent of the "Garden City" movement in the United States.- Biography :...
designed Sunnyside Gardens
Sunnyside Gardens, Queens
Sunnyside Gardens, in the Sunnyside neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, was one of the first developments to incorporate the "superblock" model in the United States...
, in the Sunnyside
Sunnyside, Queens
Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens, in New York state, in the United States. It shares borders with Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria to the north, Woodside to the east and Maspeth to the south...
neighborhood of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough of Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, was one of the first developments to incorporate the "superblock" model in the United States. The complex was constructed from 1924 to 1929.
The residential area has brick row houses of two and a half stories, with front and rear gardens and a landscaped central court shared by all. This model allowed for denser residential development, while also providing ample open/green-space amenities. Stein and Wright served as the architects and planners for this development, and the landscape architect was Marjorie Sewell Cautley
Marjorie Sewell Cautley
Marjorie Sewell Cautley was an American landscape architect who played an influential yet often overlooked part in the conception and development of some early, visionary twentieth-century American communities. Her father was William Elbridge Sewell, who later became Governor of Guam...
. These well-planned garden homes are listed as a historical district in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, and are also home to one of the only two private parks in New York City.
Recently, on Tuesday, April 17, 2007, there was a hearing for landmarking on Sunnyside Gardens.
Radburn
Wright and Stein later collaborated on the design of the RadburnRadburn, New Jersey
Radburn is an unincorporated planned community located within Fair Lawn, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.Radburn was founded in 1929 as "a town for the motor age"...
community in Fair Lawn
Fair Lawn, New Jersey
Fair Lawn is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and a suburban municipality in the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 32,457. Fair Lawn was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Radburn, founded in 1929, was intended to be the "town in which people could live peacefully with the automobile-or rather in spite of it". Radburn was designed in such a way that thoroughfares had a specialized use; main roads linking traffic at various sections, service lanes to allow direct access to buildings, and express highways. The desire was also to have as complete a separation of automobile and pedestrian as possible. Pedestrian crossways were designed at differing levels than that of autos, and were directed differing places than autos. These largely residential areas were termed “superblocks”.
Radburn was also intended to become a garden city characterized by surrounding greenbelts, and the careful design of residential, industrial and agricultural land. Residential areas were designed to face inwards towards gardens and nature rather than out towards traffic. Unfortunately, the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
proved the end of the "Radburn idea". Only a minute section was completed before the operation was forced to stop. The originally-planned manufacturing area never materialized, so the town became a commuter city, despite the planners' best hopes. The other main problem to appear were extremely high costs of developments of this type, as well as the large amount of land that it consumed. However, the city did achieve a very high level of pedestrian walkability.
Chatham Village
From 1929 through 1936, Wright and Stein designed the first two phases of the Chatham VillageChatham Village
Chatham Village is a community within the larger Mount Washington neighborhood of the City of Pittsburgh, and an internationally acclaimed model of community design. Chatham Village Historic District, is a historic district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is roughly bounded by Virginia Ave.,...
community, which was constructed in three phases in 1932, 1936 and 1956 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. Chatham Village's distinctive design was based on the ideals of the Garden City movement, including single ownership and the protective greenbelt of undeveloped land, but drew heavily on elements of the "Radburn Idea," particularly the use of superblocks with interior parks, and the complete separation of automobile and pedestrian. Designed as a high-density community for moderate-income workers, the Georgian Revival houses were constructed in attached groups. Cost savings were realized through the use of the superblock design with its reduced infrastructure investment, and high-density attached dwellings to lower construction costs. The successful use of attached grouped dwellings in a garden environment, demonstrated at Chatham Village, influenced the growth of the garden apartment-style subdivision in American urban and suburban planning. Built during a time of rapid technological change, the 'reverse-front' orientation of house groups, facing the open courtyards in the superblocks' center, evoked the comfort of the traditional English village. The meticulously designed and maintained landscaping of the terraced greens and courtyards dramatically enhanced the village atmosphere and provided the healthy environment thought to be necessary for modern living. Wright's innovative 'reversefront' design of the houses, in which service rooms face the street and living rooms face the interior park, turned the focus of the community inward, away from the noise and activity of surrounding development. In 1998, the National Park Service listed Chatham Village on the National Register of Historic Places.
Buckingham
During the mid-1930's, Wright designed a residential apartment community (Buckingham Community) that was constructed in six phases between 1937 and 1953 on former farm land in Arlington County, VirginiaArlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
, near Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Wright designed the first of these phases in the Colonial Revival style; the later phases also incorporated this style. Intended to be a middle-income neighborhood, the complex was funded by the Federal Housing Administration
Federal Housing Administration
The Federal Housing Administration is a United States government agency created as part of the National Housing Act of 1934. It insured loans made by banks and other private lenders for home building and home buying...
. The garden apartment complex applied pioneering principles of garden city planning to a large-scale planned residential community. These principles include low-density superblocks, curving streets, separation of automobiles and pedestrians, shallow two-to-three story building plans allowing improved light and ventillation and landscaped common spaces designed around apartments to form a continuous park. The buildings are arranged in U-shaped complexes enclosing grassy lawns planted with oak and elm trees. Wright located a shopping center at the intersection of two major streets in the middle of the community, evoking the idea of a traditional village center.
The Arlington County government has protected some of Buckingham's buildings by designating them as components of a local historic district. Demolition has occurred, however, resulting in the loss of thirty buildings since 1953. The National Park Service listed parts of the Buckingham Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, 2004 and 2010.