Levittown
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Recent papers in Levittown
"During the 1950’s Americans saw Levittown, Pennsylvania as the embodiment of the perfect community. It was hailed as the best thing since slice bread by Reader Digest, Good Housekeeping, and Fortune. Following World War Two many... more
"During the 1950’s Americans saw Levittown, Pennsylvania as the embodiment of the perfect community. It was hailed as the best thing since slice bread by Reader Digest, Good Housekeeping, and Fortune. Following World War Two many ex-servicemen began looking to settle down and start a family. Levittown, Pennsylvania with its order, regulations, and perfectly trimmed yards proved irresistible to many of them; as did advertisements from Levitt & Son, the real-estate development company behind Levittown, promising that veteran statues meant no down payment was required.
Many in Levittown and the rest of the nation believed that they were living in a fantastic modern era. An era of peace and tranquility in which the United States stood as the vanguard, a city upon a hill that the rest of the nations of the world could look upon for inspiration on how to transform themselves in to perfect modern societies. In reality Levittown, Just like the rest of the nation was not as modern or perfect as many portrayed it to be. Under the surface laid age-old bigotry and hate. This becomes quite apparent when one looks at the Myers family, the first African America family to move into Levittown.
In 1957, realizing that their current home in Bloomsdale, Pennsylvania was too small for their growing family, World War Two veteran Bill Myers and his wife Daisy decided to move to the nearby community of Levittown, Pennsylvania. While Levitt & Son, had a firm policy against selling houses directly to African Americans, the Myers who circumvented this by buying their new house secondhand were not particularly worried about the prospect of moving into an almost entirely white neighborhood. They both had spent a great deal of time in Levittown prior to even thinking of moving. The worst they thought they might face would be some prejudice, a few dirty looks, and such. They never expected an angry mob to take up residences in their front yard the night they moved in. Nor did they expect they would wake up one morning to discover a flaming cross-planted in there next-door neighbor’s yard. The idea that things would get so bad that the governor of Pennsylvania would order state trooper to keep a 24-hour watch over their house almost certainly never passed into their heads. "
Many in Levittown and the rest of the nation believed that they were living in a fantastic modern era. An era of peace and tranquility in which the United States stood as the vanguard, a city upon a hill that the rest of the nations of the world could look upon for inspiration on how to transform themselves in to perfect modern societies. In reality Levittown, Just like the rest of the nation was not as modern or perfect as many portrayed it to be. Under the surface laid age-old bigotry and hate. This becomes quite apparent when one looks at the Myers family, the first African America family to move into Levittown.
In 1957, realizing that their current home in Bloomsdale, Pennsylvania was too small for their growing family, World War Two veteran Bill Myers and his wife Daisy decided to move to the nearby community of Levittown, Pennsylvania. While Levitt & Son, had a firm policy against selling houses directly to African Americans, the Myers who circumvented this by buying their new house secondhand were not particularly worried about the prospect of moving into an almost entirely white neighborhood. They both had spent a great deal of time in Levittown prior to even thinking of moving. The worst they thought they might face would be some prejudice, a few dirty looks, and such. They never expected an angry mob to take up residences in their front yard the night they moved in. Nor did they expect they would wake up one morning to discover a flaming cross-planted in there next-door neighbor’s yard. The idea that things would get so bad that the governor of Pennsylvania would order state trooper to keep a 24-hour watch over their house almost certainly never passed into their heads. "
The boundaries and apertures of home are not separate from but play an active role in a politics of body and social body health. As both the idea of home and housing fail increasing numbers of people, this thesis seeks alternatives to... more
The boundaries and apertures of home are not separate from but play an active role in a politics of body and social body health. As both the idea of home and housing fail increasing numbers of people, this thesis seeks alternatives to home's narrative of utopic internal intimacy that endorses retreat and a relationship of non-responsibility vis-à-vis the public realm. It suggests the result is dystopic in its concealment and exacerbation of vulnerability and its resistance to change. Instead, a vulnerable and intimate architecture centers the vulnerable body, by drawing the uncanny, repressed and emotional in home.
- by Revista Dearq and +1
- •
- Utopia, Psicoanálisis, Empatía, Límites
The article probes the social background to the controversial ‘Kitchen Debate’ between the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and the US vice-president Richard Nixon, which occured at the American trade exhibition in Moscow during summer... more
The article probes the social background to the controversial ‘Kitchen Debate’ between the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and the US vice-president Richard Nixon, which occured at the American trade exhibition in Moscow during summer 1959. Political histories narrowly focus on diplomatic point-scoring between the two leaders, leaving largely untouched the purpose of the landmark exhibition, and its expression of America's ‘suburban’ values. This discussion traces a broad arc exploring:
- The exchange between Khrushchev and Nixon, especially their discussion of housing
- What was shown in the Moscow exhibition (detailing the display kitchen that prompted Khrushchev’s indignation), and the US State Department’s broad aims.
- The expansion of suburbia in post-war America (census figures quoted), and changes in property development including the emergence of commuter suburbs.
- The influential Levittown model for mass home construction & instant suburbs, and the impact of its highly publicised estates on Long Island, Connecticutt and New Jersey.
- Nature and extent of suburban conformism, including pointed criticisms made by urban planning commentators, the sociologist William Whyte, and the Feminist Betty Friedan.
- Mounting distress of women who did not feel fulfilled as homemakers, and their main grievances.
- Segregation, and enforced racial exclusion at the Levittowns.
- Portrayal of suburban values in the key literary works, ‘The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’ (1955), ‘Revolutionary Road’ (1961), ‘The Stepford Wives’ (1972)
- Efforts to raise the quality of home and suburb design in California, prompted by the magazine ‘Arts and Architecture’
- The pioneering Case Study House project.
- Role of the Los Angeles firm Eames Office in post-war domestic design.
- Contribution of Eames Office to the Moscow exhibition.
9pp.
- The exchange between Khrushchev and Nixon, especially their discussion of housing
- What was shown in the Moscow exhibition (detailing the display kitchen that prompted Khrushchev’s indignation), and the US State Department’s broad aims.
- The expansion of suburbia in post-war America (census figures quoted), and changes in property development including the emergence of commuter suburbs.
- The influential Levittown model for mass home construction & instant suburbs, and the impact of its highly publicised estates on Long Island, Connecticutt and New Jersey.
- Nature and extent of suburban conformism, including pointed criticisms made by urban planning commentators, the sociologist William Whyte, and the Feminist Betty Friedan.
- Mounting distress of women who did not feel fulfilled as homemakers, and their main grievances.
- Segregation, and enforced racial exclusion at the Levittowns.
- Portrayal of suburban values in the key literary works, ‘The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit’ (1955), ‘Revolutionary Road’ (1961), ‘The Stepford Wives’ (1972)
- Efforts to raise the quality of home and suburb design in California, prompted by the magazine ‘Arts and Architecture’
- The pioneering Case Study House project.
- Role of the Los Angeles firm Eames Office in post-war domestic design.
- Contribution of Eames Office to the Moscow exhibition.
9pp.
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