pOsT war

Context pOsT war

The need for housing

Right after the war, the military industry ceases, in part, to exist, leaving 10 million people henceforth unemployed. The 20 million women who had worked during the conflict must give back their jobs to the returning soldiers. The government must also face a shortage of singlefamily housing that is exagerated by the inefficient resumption of civilian construction since the crash of 1929, and aggravated by the conflict. With the onset of war, domestic construction concentrates on military barracks to house workers, large numbers of whom were mobilized in new labor centers scattered throughout the country, most notably in Los Angeles. Such short-term employment goes in hand with its precarious housing. Construction is distinctly military in aim, and is perfected through the rapidity and efficiency of its completion.

Enriched by the pragmatic methods used at the time, industry is in a position to respond to the needs of the postwar civilian population and to adapt its efforts to the incomes of the average American. The government plans the immediate construction of 5 million homes, with 12.5 million more to be built in the years to come.

The post war house

The idea of the postwar house is envisaged during the war, more precisely towards the end of the conflict, since it’s at this time that the wish to see the return of the heroes from the front becomes more present.

The single-family house has always been viewed in the United States as one of the greatest opportunities for the flourishing and freedom of the family unit. With the conclusion of the war, it is viewed as an industrially produced commodity like the automobile. The direct transference of the war is a remarquable effort, from the optimal supply and arrangement of everything from airplanes to the domestic space.

The post war process

The stimulation of the military industry allowed the country to restructure itself and increase its wealth without having to suffer, as such, the losses of the war on its own soil. After the conflict, peace occurs only at the price of continued support form armament. Facilited by the machinations of publicity and marketing, military techniques and materials are rapidly converted to serve the everyday needs of the civilian population, the implementation of large scale construction, prefabrication, the use of aluminum, plywood and plastic.