La casa y los niños: modelos arquitectónicos del Movimiento Moderno

I Este Congreso ha contado con una ayuda del Vicerrectorado de Investigación de la Universidad de Granada obtenida en concurrencia competitiva. © De los textos, sus autores, 2019 © Abada Editores, s.l., 2019 C/ Gobernador, 18 28014 Madrid www.abadaeditores.com Imagen de portada: La cabaña primitiva, frontispicio realizado por Charles-DominiqueJoseph Eisen para el Essai sur l’architecture de Marc-Antoine Laugier, edición de 1755 Fuente: ETH-Bibliothek Zürich Imagen de contraportada: Grabado encabezando el capítulo “Adspectus Incauti Dispendium” del libro de Theodoor Galle Verdicus Christianus, 1601 Fuente: Vilnius University Library ISBN 978-84-17301-24-8 IBIC AMA Depósito Legal M-607-2019 Cualquier forma de reproducción, distribución, comunicación pública o transformación de esta obra solo puede ser realizada con la autorización de sus titulares, salvo excepción prevista por la ley. Diríjase a CEDRO (Centro Español de Derechos Reprográficos) si necesita fotocopiar o escanear algún fragmento de esta obra (www.conlicencia.com; 917021970). Coordinador de la edición Juan Calatrava Escobar Equipo Editorial David Arredondo Garrido Ana del Cid Mendoza Francisco A. García Pérez Agustín Gor Gómez Marta Rodríguez Iturriaga María Zurita Elizalde Diseño de cubierta Francisco A. García Pérez II Congreso Internacional Cultura y Ciudad La Casa. Espacios domésticos, modos de habitar Granada 23-25 enero 2019 Comisión Organizadora David Arredondo Garrido Juan Manuel Barrios Rozúa Emilio Cachorro Fernández Juan Calatrava Escobar Ana del Cid Mendoza Francisco A. García Pérez Agustín Gor Gómez Ricardo Hernández Soriano Bernardino Líndez Vílchez Juan Francisco Martínez Benavides Juan Carlos Reina Marta Rodríguez Iturriaga María Zurita Elizalde Comité Científico Juan Calatrava Escobar, Universidad de Granada (Presidente) Tim Benton, The Open University, Reino Unido Miguel Ángel Chaves, Universidad Complutense de Madrid María Elena Díez Jorge, Universidad de Granada Juan Domingo Santos, Universidad de Granada Carmen Espegel Alonso, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Rafael García Quesada, Universidad de Granada Carlos García Vázquez, Universidad de Sevilla Fulvio Irace, Politecnico di Milano Ángeles Layuno, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares Marta Llorente, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Caroline Maniaque, ENSA Rouen Mar Loren Méndez, Universidad de Sevilla Josep Maria Montaner, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya Xavier Monteys, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya José Morales Sánchez, Universidad de Sevilla Eduardo Ortiz Moreno, Universidad de Granada Francisco Peña Fernández, Universidad de Granada Antonio Pizza, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya José Manuel Pozo Municio, Universidad de Navarra Rafael Reinoso Bellido, Universidad de Granada José Rosas Vera, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Santiago de Chile Carlos Sambricio, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Margarita Segarra Lagunes, Università degli Studi RomaTre Marta Sequeira, Universidade de Lisboa Jorge Torres Cueco, Universitat Politècnica de València Elisa Valero Ramos, Universidad de Granada Presentación.......................................................................................................................... XIX Juan Calatrava BLOQUE TEMÁTICO 1 Arquitecturas de la casa: el espacio doméstico a través de la historia Lo público y lo privado en la forma urbis de Santiago 1910. El espacio doméstico en el Canon Republicano............................................................................................... Josep Parcerisa Bundó, José Rosas Vera 22 La Alhambra habitada. Experiencias del paisaje desde el espacio arquitectónico.. Marta Rodríguez Iturriaga 37 Housing and Children: Architectural Models from the Modern Movement................ Alexandra Alegre 48 Högna Sigurðardóttir. La misteriosa marca indeleble del origen............................... Julio Barreno Gutiérrez 59 Las casillas de peones camineros y su implantación en la costa del sudeste de España.............................................................................................................................. Antonio Burgos Núñez, Juan Carlos Olmo García, Francisco José García Castillo 73 El palazzo all’italiana, de la casa del príncipe al principio urbano............................ Michele Giovanni Caja, Maria Pompeiana Iarossi 82 The City and the House: Going Back to the Future...................................................... Antonio Alberto Clemente 95 Traditional Urban Housing at Alentejo’s “Marble Area”.............................................. Ana Costa Rosado 104 La consolidación del cuarto de baño en las viviendas de la ciudad de São Paulo, Brasil................................................................................................................................ Clarissa de Almeida Paulillo, Tatiana Sakurai 117 La cama amueblada: del objeto a la estancia............................................................... María de Miguel Pastor, Carla Sentieri Omarrementería 126 VI The Spaces, the People and the Ways of Being at Home in the North of Portugal in the 19th Century.......................................................................................................... Alexandra Esteves 136 Casa de John Soane en Londres (1792-1827). Luz, iluminación y patrimonio......... Rosalía Fenutría Aumesquet, José Joaquín Parra Bañón 143 Rita Fernández Queimadelos. Los proyectos de viviendas realizados en la DGRD (1943-1946)....................................................................................................................... Paula M. Fernández-Gago Longueira, Eduardo A. Caridad Yáñez 154 Arqueología urbana en Barcelona: aproximación a los espacios domésticos entre los siglos IV-VI........................................................................................................ Francesc Xavier Florensa Puchol 167 Memoria e identidad: el espacio de almacenaje en el imaginario doméstico........... Marta García Carbonero 178 Between Doorkeeper Apartments and Housemaid Rooms: Ways of Living in a Changing Lisbon............................................................................................................. Maria Assunção Gato, Filipa Ramalhete 188 La casa popular de zaguán, patio y corral. Habitabilidad y protección para el siglo XXI........................................................................................................................... Vidal Gómez Martínez, Blanca del Espino Hidalgo, María Teresa Pérez Cano 196 Casa en transformación: cocina y tecnología en el siglo XX en Cuenca (Ecuador). María Augusta Hermida, María José Cañar, Guillermo Mauricio Torres 206 Granada: la arquitectura doméstica de la ciudad cristiana........................................ Carlos Jerez Mir 218 Consideraciones históricas sobre la casa tradicional gallega y otras construcciones adjetivas................................................................................................ Francisco Xabier Louzao Martínez 230 Modern, Rationalist and Mediterranean: Residential Architecture during the Italian Colonization in Libya........................................................................................... Andrea Maglio 236 El confort en la vivienda canaria: de la arquitectura tradicional a los EECN............ Eduardo Martín del Toro 250 Instalaciones de la casa: el espacio doméstico en el siglo XX en España a través de la tecnología................................................................................................................ César Martín-Gómez, José Manuel Pozo Municio 261 El diedro casa | ciudad en la arquitectura nobiliaria de Sevilla: la plaza del Duque Pedro Mena Vega 272 Un primer acercamiento a la Quinta Nova da Assunção en Sintra............................. Iván Moure Pazos 282 VII BLOQUE TEMÁTICO 2 El proyecto doméstico como núcleo de la modernidad: casa singular y vivienda colectiva, del Movimiento Moderno al siglo XXI The Construction of “Minho’s” Domestic Space in Portugal’s 18th Century........... Flávia Oliveira 294 Arquitectura moderna en la ciudad histórica. Adalberto Libera y la casa Nicoletti (Roma 1932)..................................................................................................................... Carlos Plaza 302 Casa Bellia en Turín: nuevos espacios para la burguesía.......................................... Alice Pozzati 315 Live-Work Architecture. Learning from Peripheral Neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro.............................................................................................................................. Ana Slade 327 The Relationship Between Inhabitants and Vegetation in the Houses of Maceió in the 19th............................................................................................................................. Tharcila Maria Soares Leão, Josemary Omena Passos Ferrare, Veronica Robalinho Cavalcanti 339 The Home and the World: Domestic Dynamics of the Postwar American Suburban House............................................................................................................................... Luísa Sol 350 El hogar de Telva. Miradas femeninas al interior doméstico español 1963-1975..... Jorge Tárrago Mingo, Cristina Sunga Zamora 360 La casa jesuita en Granada: el Colegio de San Pablo................................................. María del Carmen Vílchez Lara, Jorge Gabriel Molinero Sánchez 371 La habitación en la arquitectura agraria granadina...................................................... Eduardo Zurita Povedano 381 Habitar el arte: la casa del coleccionista como modelo experimental de espacio doméstico........................................................................................................................ Ángeles Layuno 394 Domesticidad Mediterránea vs. Modernidad americana de Posguerra. Sert y Rudofsky.......................................................................................................................... Mar Loren-Méndez 411 Tradiciones en las políticas de vivienda pública.......................................................... Josep Maria Montaner Martorell 422 VIII De la Weissenhoff a Oporto, un camino de servicio.................................................... José Manuel Pozo Municio 430 Le Corbusier’s Immeuble-villas and an After Lunch Remembrance......................... Marta Sequeira 441 Le Corbusier. Une science de logis.............................................................................. Jorge Torres Cueco 454 La casa productiva. Propuestas para la autosuficiencia alimentaria durante la República de Weimar...................................................................................................... David Arredondo Garrido 470 Modernità y mediterraneità: sincretismo habitacional de Luigi Figini y Gino Pollini................................................................................................................................ Emilio Cachorro Fernández, Cristina Medina Valverde 482 El piano Fanfani en Roma: la torre de viviendas y la casa patio................................ Ana del Cid Mendoza 496 Feet on the Sand: Living Spaces in Apartment Buildings by the Sea in Maceió, Brazil................................................................................................................................. Camila Antunes de Carvalho Casado, Maria Angélica da Silva 510 Atomic-age Housing. The Fallout Shelter in Cold War America................................. Chiara Baglione 521 De la manzana a la supermanzana. Recuperación e innovación en la cultura urbanística....................................................................................................................... Raimundo Bambó Naya, Javier Monclús Fraga 531 La ventana y el balcón sobre avenida Providencia (1931/1981): evolución y permanencia de la arquitectura doméstica.................................................................. Pedro Bannen Lanata 544 Towards the Modern Block: Evolution of an Urban Type in Kay Fisker’s Prewar Architecture..................................................................................................................... Guia Baratelli 554 La casa en Isle of Wight (1955-1956) de James Gowan, austeridad en la modernidad británica...................................................................................................... Alicia Cantabella Gallego 566 Villeggiatura urbana: una residencia secundaria en el núcleo urbano de São Paulo................................................................................................................................. Sara Caon 576 Otredades en la habitabilidad de un Monterrey moderno: primeros edificios de departamentos como alternativa a la vivienda unifamiliar.......................................... María de los Ángeles Castillo Soriano, Alberto Canavati Espinosa 586 Brutalismo doméstico. Un espacio para la contemplación......................................... Rubens Cortés Cano 597 IX Profundidad espacial. Abriendo el muro. De la habitación sin nombre al jardín de invierno............................................................................................................................ Marta Pérez Rodríguez 1599 Rooms. Aldo Rossi and the House in Ghiffa: Symbol, Dust and Desire.................... Michelangelo Pivetta, Vincenzo Moschetti 1609 La colina habitada: características morfológicas y modos de habitar el campo...... Luigi Ramazzotti 1620 El studiolo como teatro de la mente............................................................................... Jaime Ramos Alderete, Ana Isabel Santolaria Castellanos 1632 Modos de habitar en contexto de montaña: la región oriental del Atlas en Marruecos........................................................................................................................ Miguel Reimão Costa, Desidério Batista 1641 La casa en Santiago de Chile a fines del siglo XVIII: valores materiales y simbólicos........................................................................................................................ Marisol Richter Scheuch 1652 Hombres de condición inquieta y despegada: el fascinante espectáculo de la precariedad...................................................................................................................... Carmen Rodríguez Pedret 1660 Maid Rooms and Laundry Sinks Matter: Modern Houses in a Non-modern Context............................................................................................................................. Silvana Rubino 1671 Inquietante domesticidad............................................................................................... Alberto Rubio Garrido 1679 Houses for Whom? Between the Habitat and the Inhabiting, on Henri Lefebvre’s Quest................................................................................................................................. Teresa V. Sá 1688 Una casa es una «machine de l’émotion»..................................................................... Javier Sáez Gastearena 1698 Espacio doméstico e higiene. Políticas del habitar en Sevilla entre los siglos XIX y XX................................................................................................................................... Victoriano Sainz Gutiérrez 1710 La vivienda de los fareros, entre la casa y la máquina................................................ Santiago Sánchez Beitia, Fernando Acale Sánchez 1720 Naturalezas en la intimidad; acerca del jardín en los espacios domésticos contemporáneos............................................................................................................. Juana Sánchez Gómez, Diego Jiménez López, Isabel Jiménez López 1732 Cármenes, pequeñas historias domésticas.................................................................. Juan Antonio Sánchez Muñoz, Vincent Morales Garoffolo 1743 XVI Algunas casas modernas: de la caverna al hogar........................................................ Rafael Sánchez Sánchez 1755 Recuerdos de una escalera. Experiencias domésticas desplazadas en la obra de Siza................................................................................................................................... Juan Antonio Serrano García 1764 ¿No habitar es modo de habitar? Siglos de permanencia de mitos y criminalización................................................................................................................ Sonia Maria Taddei Ferraz, Evelyn Garcia da Cruz, Paula Andréa Santos da Silva 1778 Tres modos de habitar la casa popular: cereal, vid y olivar........................................ Salvador Ubago Palma 1787 La expresividad de la racionalidad: La casa estudio para Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo ............................................................................................................................... Luis Villarreal Ugarte 1800 Habitar en Iberoamérica.................................................................................................. Graciela María Viñuales 1811 BLOQUE TEMÁTICO 5 Miradas externas: la casa en la pintura, el cine y la literatura Habitar la aventura: casas de Jules Verne.................................................................... Juan Calatrava Escobar 1824 Casas vacías, olvidadas y recordadas: arte, literatura y memoria............................. Marta Llorente Díaz 1836 La villa Arpel: machine à habiter, “donde todo se comunica…” (Mon Oncle, J. Tati, 1958)......................................................................................................................... Antonio Pizza de Nanno 1850 El relato doméstico desde una estrategia vertical....................................................... Agustín Gor Gómez 1855 Fondos de escena en el cine de Ozu............................................................................ Carlos Barberá Pastor 1868 Habitar tras la Transición: los hogares cinematográficos de P. Almodóvar y A. Gómez.............................................................................................................................. Ruth Barranco Raimundo 1879 Espacios domésticos en transición y la ciudad moderna en Ohayo (1959) de Yasujiro Ozu..................................................................................................................... Bernardita M. Cubillos Muñoz 1888 XVII La casa Stahl, una vida de ficción................................................................................. Daniel Díez Martínez 1898 Habitaciones para la escritura: el autor y su espacio de trabajo................................ Tomás García Píriz, F. Javier Castellano Pulido 1909 Ámbitos privados de la residencia colectiva en el imaginario cinematográfico español............................................................................................................................. Josefina González Cubero, Alba Zarza Arribas 1920 Los registros de la luz. Vermeer y Hopper.................................................................... Luis Eduardo Iáñez García 1929 Allí reside el tiempo, mi infancia. La cabaña telúrica de Andréi Tarkovski................ Alejandro Infantes Pérez, Javier Muñoz Godino 1940 La casa, la calle y el territorio. Narraciones fotográficas de Guido Guidi................. Marco Lecis 1951 Entre la literatura y el cine. La casa de Sokúrov en El segundo círculo.................... Pablo López Santana 1961 Habitar un espacio, contemplar un paisaje: mujer, jardín y arquitectura doméstica en China (desde el siglo X hasta el XVIII)................................................... Antonio Mezcua López 1972 Registro de una mirada, Cape Cod House.................................................................... Jorge Gabriel Molinero Sánchez, María del Carmen Vílchez Lara 1981 La casa como metáfora del viaje. Fotógrafos y arquitectos en Mallorca................... Maria Josep Mulet Gutiérrez, Joan Carles Oliver Torelló, María Sebastián Sebastián 1993 La mirada indiscreta: la ventana en el cine como generador de emociones............ Patricia Pozo Alemán 2004 El telar es el cuerpo, el cuerpo es la casa..................................................................... Anita Puig Gómez 2016 El espacio doméstico en el cine de Jacques Tati: del bloque tradicional a la vivienda sobre ruedas ................................................................................................... Helia de San Nicolás Juárez 2024 Fisonomías arquitectónicas. La mediatización de casas de personalidades en Galicia............................................................................................................................... Jesús Ángel Sánchez-García 2034 Mujeres y jardines en la China clásica: espacios domésticos en Sueño en el Pabellón Rojo................................................................................................................... Beatriz Valverde Vázquez 2046 Notas autobiográficas de los autores............................................................................ 2054 XVIII La casa y los niños: modelos arquitectónicos del Movimiento Moderno Housing and Children: Architectural Models from the Modern Movement Alexandra Alegre Doctora Arquitecta, Profesor auxiliar, Universidade de Lisboa, [email protected] Resumen Al largo del siglo XX, visto por Ellen Key cómo el siglo de los niños, diferentes eventos políticos, sociales y culturales ocurrieran en los países occidentales que fueran responsables por una nueva consciencia sobre la necesidad de espacios adecuados para los niños. Además de los espacios para la educación y los deportes, también los espacios domésticos fueran influenciados por las demandas de los niños, frecuentemente conectadas a las necesidades de las familias. La asimilación de las necesidades de los niños en la arquitectura de la casa pueden ser analizadas segundo múltiplas perspectivas. El artículo apunta a explorar el impacto de diferentes ideales de infancia y necesidades de los niños en el planeamiento y proyecto de algunos ejemplos arquitectónicos notables del periodo moderno, buscando la comprensión del lugar del niño en la arquitectura de la habitación. Para eso, casas unifamiliares y edificios colectivos, proyectados por arquitectos conocidos serán discutidos. Palabras clave: casa y niños, espacios de los niños, movimiento moderno Bloque temático: Arquitecturas de la casa: el espacio doméstico a través de la historia Abstract During the 20th century, envisaged by Ellen Key as the century of the child, different political, social and cultural events took place in western countries were responsible for a new consciousness about the need for new and appropriately designed spaces for children. Besides spaces for education and sports activities also the domestic space was influenced by children demands, often linked to the families needs. The assimilations of children’s needs in the architecture of the house can been analysed under multiple perspectives covering functional and programmatic aspects, spatial features, and urban, social and political factors. The article aims at exploring the impact of different ideals of childhood and children’s needs on planning and designing of some remarkable architectural examples from the modern period seeking to grasp towards an understanding of the place of child in the housing architecture. Therefore, single houses and collective houses designed by well-known architects will be discussed. Keywords: housing and children, children’s spaces, children’s playroom, modern movement Topic: Architectures of the house: domestic space throughout history 48 Alexandra Alegre CyC‟19 Introduction The growing attention that is now being given to the rights and well being of children and the role that the environment plays in their upbringing had already been declared by Ellen Key in her book „The Century of the Child‟ (1900). But it was with Philippe Ariès‟ book „Centuries of Childhood‟ (1960) that an intensive debate began within the field of childhood studies. In his book, the use of spaces and material artefacts provided evidence for claiming that a new idea of childhood had begun in early modern Europe, drawing attention to the need for childhood to be studied from an architectural perspective. In the last two decades, this new field of research has been the subject of several articles published in journals, magazines and books, which have brought this matter to the attention of a wider audience, leading to a discussion of the material culture of children from a multidisciplinary perspective. During the 20th century, different political, social and cultural events took place in western countries that were responsible for a new consciousness about the need for new and appropriately designed spaces for children, both for their public and private lives. In the beginning of the century, industrialisation process and urban growth, children‟s birth and mortality rates, the increased participation of women in the labour market, and the decline and regulation of child labour urged the rethinking of urban space to solve insalubrity and public health problems, and raised the attention for the need of safe and healthy children‟s environments. The Playground Movement in Chicago (1890s), the kindergarten movement, the pedagogical movement of Progressive Education (late 19th century), the establishment of free compulsory education, the recognition of the benefits of leisure and sports activities, along with the legacy of the work of educationalists and pedagogues all these topics contributed with new educational and social objectives that deeply influenced the design of modern facilities for children. The period between wars was marked by the desire of building a new society where children will play a crucial role as they were recognised as symbols of an optimistic future.1 Safe and healthy children‟s environments were considered essential to guarantee the transformation of society. The modern movement project, its functional and rational principles supported by the use of new construction technologies and materials, and the importance given to the design and quality of industrial production, embodied the necessary means to meet these challenges in creating appropriate and attractive designs for children‟s spaces. In the period after the Second World War, different challenges were brought to discussion by the destruction of the city centres, the disintegration of social and urban life, and the consequent increase in birth rates and need of reconstruction. Children‟s needs were placed at the centre of the social policy of post-war welfare states, resulting in a new theoretical approach to urban and architectural questions. Besides spaces for education and sports activities also the domestic space was influenced by children demands, often linked to the families needs. The assimilations of children‟s needs in the architecture of the house can been analysed under multiple perspectives covering aspects such as the housing functional programme, the definition of housing typologies, the interconnections between the private and social spaces, the need of protection and surveillance, the need of security and healthy conditions, or the outdoor conditions of collective 1 Juliet Kinchin and Aidan O‟Connor, Century of the Child: Growing by Design, 1900–2000 (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2012) 89. 49 Housing and Children: Architectural Models from the Modern Movement housing. They also reflect different political ideologies, ideals of societies, social and educational challenges and economical constraints. The article aims at exploring the impact of different ideals of childhood and children‟s needs on the design of some architectural examples from the modern period, seeking to grasp an understanding of the place of children in housing architecture. Therefore, the article proposes two different approaches for the understanding of the growing attention on children‟s issues on the architectures of the modern period: the design of children‟s spaces in single-family paradigmatic houses, and the relevance of children in the design of collective houses. 1. Children’s spaces in single-family housing design One of the most remarkable spaces of the Oak Park Home near Chicago, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for himself, his wife Catherine and six children is the children‟s playroom extension. The original home dates from 1889, and was modified through three additions designed by the architect to accommodate different programmes: the playroom addition in 1895, the studio in 18982 and the garage in 1911. His own house served as the first test for a number of houses that he designed in Oak Park between 1900 and 1913, expressing a new form of American housing architecture known as the Prairie Style. Figure 1: Frank Lloyd Wright, Children‟s Playroom in Oak Park Home (1895) Source: H. Farias (2018) As the family grew, Wright expanded the house changing it from a compact organization to a multidirectional approach, a cross-axial plan that can be found in later Prairie houses. This extension provided the children‟s playroom in the second floor, a very flexible programmatic space that could be used as a gymnasium, a kindergarten, a concert hall or a theatre, and in close contact with Catherine‟s dayroom on the same floor. A narrow and low-ceiling corridor links these two spaces, which contrasts with the great barrel vault playroom ceiling, with a clear 2 In 1898, Wright moved his practice from Chicago to his new home studio. 50 Alexandra Alegre CyC‟19 span of around 5,5 metres for playing activities. The wood and brick covering of the surfaces; the geometric pattern of the oak skylight that screen the day-light; the large mural over the fireplace, inspired in a tale from the Arabian Nights; the upper gallery on the opposite side with different levels of railings, wood bookshelves and a piano, and finally, the oriel windows on either side of the playroom specifically scaled for children that expands the interior to the surrounding garden, all contribute to the drama of the space. Wood and brick materials and geometric motifs in the details contribute to the creation of an internal space that «can still seem cozy and warm even though it is large and open».3 The strong spatial, functional, material, and decorative experimentation of the house can be found in the Prairie Houses developments throughout the following decade. Even if some of these houses also included a playroom, this does not mean that this space was part of their functional programme. Also the architectural significance and the remarkable interior environment of the children´s playroom of the Oak Park House cannot be found in others playrooms such as the one of the Robbie House. However, it is interesting to notice the spatial organization and the flexible use provided by Wright in the design of the private spaces for children (bedrooms), connecting all the bedrooms in the Winslow House (1893), the Frank Thomas House (1901), and the Arthur Heurtley House (1902). The significance of children‟s playroom in the housing programme will be a subject of debate almost fifty later, within the context of the post-war discussion on housing and domestic life in North America. Not so much by its architectural significance, in the sense of Wright‟s design, but as its educational, social and ideological value and as a new focus of the housing space. Ogata‟s comparison between children‟s housing spaces of the ninetieth century at the attic or large upstairs bedrooms, and the ones from the post war period that were placed at the centre of the house (family rooms, playrooms or play courts) is extremely elucidative about the childcentred attitude not only for the American family,4 but also their role in meeting American society challenges related to educational reforms, economic expansion and Cold War anxiety. The attributes of informality, cleanness, efficiency and aesthetic dominated the debate of domestic environment that elected the single-family house for middle-class suburban families with children the main target group. The famous playroom of the „The House in the Museum Garden‟ designed by Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) exhibited in garden‟s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 1949, was among the most appreciated aspects by the ones who visited the house during the exhibition period.5 Breuer‟s House symbolizes the large investment on housing research published by architects, designers, and journal‟s editors in journal, magazines, or museums at that time. Design principles enhanced children‟s needs and family togetherness, providing distinctive zones of active and quiet spaces, in a more informal environment and open-plan approach, where children and parents shared the same spaces. Children‟s playroom emerged as one of the key ideas in the smaller middle class dwellings of the post war housing debate. It embodied the strong conviction of the time that play had beneficial effects on children‟s physical and 3 Ann Abernathy, The Oak Park Home and Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright (Chicago: Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, 2017) 26. 4 The post war period in America witness a strong rise in the birth rate between 1946 and 1964. 5 A sample survey completed by MoMA revealed that he children's bedroom with adjacent playroom was liked by 84% of the people, while 76% were particularly interested in the children's furniture. MoMA, “Modern architecture favored in poll: survey of visitors to house in museum garden reveals majority like new designs”. MoMA Press Release, n.º 325655 (1949). (Accessed 6 November 2018) https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_press-release_325655.pdf. 51 Housing and Children: Architectural Models from the Modern Movement intellectual development, encouraging children´s imagination, and improving social aptitudes, sense of responsibility and self-esteem.6 In most of the schemes the playroom is placed near the kitchen, where mothers could have a better surveillance and proximity under the children. Figure 2: Marcel Breuer, House in the Museum Garden (1949). Plan and playroom (top) Source: MoMA (catalogue online), https://www.moma.org/documents/moma_catalogue_3251_300090420.pdf In the plans for binuclear houses from 1943, Breuer had already expressed his ideas about the needs of an American family living by clarifying the housing programme in an H or U plan organisation which allowed the separation of the day from the night areas. Breuer joined bedrooms, bathrooms and children‟s play areas allowing the creation of a „separate chaotic domain of children‟,7 in a clear intention of separating it from the parent‟s bedroom that was joint to the day area creating an autonomous „parent‟s house‟.8 Another example is the Idea House built by the Walker Art Center in 1947 in Minneapolis, designed by William Friedman and Hilde Reiss that became famous when Life magazine9 documented one-week living experience by a local family. A well natural lighted playroom with two adjacent small alcoves, which could be closed off from the playroom by partitions, providing sleeping areas space, was representative of the contribution of children‟s spaces for the housing debate of the time. As Breuer mentioned: Special consideration is given to the children. In the first phase or the house, stairs are completely eliminated. The children's playroom has a separate entrance. In the second phase, if there are more than two children, they can take over the master bedroom of the first phase and use the 6 Amy Ogata, Designing the Creative Child. Playthings and Places in Midcentury America (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013) 71-104. 7 Peter Blake, Marcer Breuer, Architect and Designer (New York: Architectural Record, 1949) 87. 8 Antonio Armesto, “Fifteen American Houses by Marcel Breuer (1938-1965)” in Marcel Breuer American. Houses 2G International Architecture Review, Volume 17, (2001) 12. 9 “How liveable is a modern house?” Life Magazine, 18 October, 1948. 52