March 30, 2008

TIED DOWN HOUSE IS HURRICANE PROOF (Mar, 1933)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 9:58 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1933

I’d say these people drastically underestimate the power of a hurricane.

TIED DOWN HOUSE IS HURRICANE PROOF
Even the force of a hurricane will not unroof the house of one Florida home owner, or sweep it from its foundations, for the house is tied down. After witnessing the disastrous experiences of some of his neighbors in wind storms, this man passed steel cables over his roof and anchored their ends securely in the ground. Turnbuckles provided a means of taking up the slack in the cables and making them taut. The photograph above shows the owner putting the finishing touches to his installation.

Giant Figure of Christ in Odd Church Design (Nov, 1936)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 12:58 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1936

Giant Figure of Christ in Odd Church Design

Patents have been issued for an odd architectural design for churches. The plan calls for a giant figure of Christ, to be constructed of burnished copper, which would dominate the church building made of cement in natural stone color. The design has Christ seated on a rock at Gethsemane, with the church entrance in the rock, beneath the flowing robes of the figure. A halo for the figure and illumination for the entire structure would be provided by a system of floodlights.

March 25, 2008

TOURIST CAMP HAS CONCRETE “TEPEES” (Jul, 1936)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 10:31 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1936

TOURIST CAMP HAS CONCRETE “TEPEES”

Cleverly constructed to look like a small Indian village, a novel tourist camp near Lawrence, Kans., has concrete shelters closely resembling Indian tepees. Cement stucco, laid over wire mesh on a foundation of three slantingpoles, forms the walls of the odd overnight cabins. Each “tepee” is equipped with comfortable beds, running hot and cold water, cooking stove, and other conveniences.

March 13, 2008

KEEPING AHEAD of the JONSES (Mar, 1941)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 2:00 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1941

KEEPING AHEAD of the JONSES

ONE sure sign of spring is that annual urge to “do something” about the house and furniture.

Perhaps it’s because we stay at home more in the cold season and get a bit tired of looking at the same walls, floors and furnishings. Whatever the reason, the recent growing demand for change in the home has stimulated the invention and manufacture of more and different furnishings, gadgets and building materials than ever. Hundreds of these innovations will be found in your favorite department store, furniture showroom or building supply house this spring with possibly one exception, and this exception is likely to produce the greatest change of all in the home when it is ready for market.

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March 12, 2008

Manhattan’s $300,000 Roof Dwellings (Nov, 1929)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 12:30 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1929

Manhattan’s $300,000 Roof Dwellings

By ORVILLE H. KNEEN

The Story of the Penthouse Apartment

Roofs of metropolitan skyscrapers are now the most sought-after and expensive sites for exclusive apartment dwellings. Rentals for some of the roof houses range around $2000 per room per year!

I HAVE heard much about New York penthouses lately. Thinking of a penthouse as a little shack on a dingy roof, I asked a realty friend to show me one.

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A VISIT INSIDE UNCLE SAM’S New Gold Vault Fortress (Jun, 1934)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 12:28 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1934

A VISIT INSIDE UNCLE SAM’S New Gold Vault Fortress

Built to withstand fires, bombs and the raids of super criminals, the nation’s newest treasure house is the last word in safety. Here are the reasons why.

by JAMES NEVIN MILLER

UNCLE SAM’S new gold vault is the greatest and strongest fortress in the world. No fire can harm it. No bomb can damage its mighty walls. The most brilliant cracksmen cannot penetrate its baffling defenses.

Built of steel and concrete whose strength is unbelievable, this giant treasure house is equipped with mysterious passageways, secret doors and an automatic alarm system whose scale is the largest ever conceived by the mind of man.

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March 10, 2008

“COURTS” offer Luxury for MOTORISTS (Nov, 1936)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 1:50 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1936

“COURTS” offer Luxury for MOTORISTS

YOU can see the world through a windshield today and live in your own private home each night while you’re doing it. Not the dwelling you started from, of course, but one offering similar comforts, luxuries and privacy.

You’ll find these overnight homes in motor courts, and if you’ve never spent a night in a court cottage, a pleasant surprise awaits you. The motor court is a recent development of the motor age, an individual type of accommodation designed specifically for motorists, entirely unlike any form of “night lodging” heretofore available.

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March 9, 2008

World’s Tallest Building (Sep, 1939)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 3:01 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1939

World’s Tallest Building

In this drawing, the artist has shown how the “Palace of the Soviets,” now under construction in Moscow, will compare in height with the Empire State building, in New York City, at present the world’s tallest structure, and with Europe’s tallest, the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The Palace of the Soviets will be completed in 1942 and, including the stainless steel statue of Lenin ©n top, will be the world’s tallest and most spacious building. The main hall will seat 25,000 and another hall will seat 6,000. The ceiling of the interior dome will be 300 feet high. The building will be serviced by 120 elevators, 60 escalators, and will contain halls, clubs, galleries, museums, and will house government archives.

March 7, 2008

New Building Construction (Aug, 1932)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 1:54 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1932

New Building Construction
The introduction and use of metal and glass as construction material has been hailed as the greatest forward step in architecture since the introduction of steel frame buildings. The lighting features illustrated on this page are but one of the many advantageous features of this new combination. Buildings can be put up in one-half the time and at a 20% saving in cost from the ordinary masonry.

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March 6, 2008

ARCTIC CABINS HAVE WINDOWS HEWN FROM ICE (Jul, 1936)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 1:53 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1936

ARCTIC CABINS HAVE WINDOWS HEWN FROM ICE

Log shelters constructed in northern Russia for Soviet fishermen have windows of ice instead of glass. Thick slabs, cut from clear ice, were hewn to shape, fitted into the window frames, and frozen in place. Constant sub-zero temperatures keep the ice windows frozen solid throughout the long winter months. Seen from the outside, the ice windows sparkle with the electric lights in the cabin’s interior.

February 27, 2008

Chimneys Blow Smoke Rings (Feb, 1934)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 2:03 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1934

Chimneys Blow Smoke Rings

To add an unusual touch to these Orvieto, Italy, chimneys, they were constructed on spiral lines so that the smoke comes out of them in graceful curves and rings.

January 3, 2008

Boxcar Homes for $3 Per Month (Feb, 1934)

Filed under: Architecture — @ 12:11 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1934

Boxcar Homes for $3 Per Month

AN INNOVATION in living quarters is represented in a boxcar village which has recently sprung up in New York City.

Inhabitants of this unique village, pictured below, pay only $3 a month rent, or $6 a week for room and board—reasonable enough in these hard times.

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