As soon as the chief features of design were decided upon, preparations
were made for carrying them out in the actual work of building; for the
house was not to be a "castle in air." The first step was to put these
ideas on paper and work out the details of construction in clearly
executed and accurately dimensioned drawings. These included, as the
first to be used, the working drawings for the framing and other rough
woodwork, blue print copies of which were to be put into the hands of
the boys of the elementary vocational school, who were to carry out
this part of the building plans.
[Illustration: Front or north elevation of the model house]
_The Working Drawings._--A considerable number of detailed drawings
had to be made before the work of construction could be wisely begun.
This furnished an interesting set of problems for the mechanical
drawing groups of the technical high school. The material for this work
consisted of rough sketches in pencil, but with the correct dimensions
as determined in the plan accepted as the result of the competition in
design. These preliminary sketches required much study on the part of
both boys and girls, under proper guidance, in order to find out what
the elements of construction should be, what dimensions were required,
and how the various parts should be put together. It was an experience
of great value to all, but especially to those boys who were looking
forward to architectural draughting as a possible vocation. They got
an inside view of the importance, on the one hand, of accurate working
drawings as a basis for good construction and, on the other hand, a
practical illustration of the necessity of a thorough knowledge of
constructive principles, in order to make correct working drawings.
They saw that the efficient architect must be a builder, acquainted
with all the detailed processes employed by the carpenter or mason,
informed upon all the conditions to be met, and knowing the best ways
of meeting them. They gained impressions which should help them, in
studying the work of great architects, to look beyond the exterior,
however pleasing it may be, for those elements of strength and beauty
that characterize all good workmanship.
[Illustration: All the Rough Carpentry Was Assigned to Boys of the
Woodworking Section of the Vocational School. Plate I]
_How the Work Was Distributed._--It will be recalled that boys and
girls were to be coworkers in the designing, planning, and building
of the house. The boys were to be held responsible for the drawings,
the decorating after designs made by the girls, and the higher grades
of woodwork, including the finishing of the rooms and the making of
the furniture. They were to do the wiring for the electric lights, the
bells, and the interior telephones; and they were to install all the
fixtures in connection with this wiring. Boys from the metal-working
sections were to do the necessary piping for gas and water and some
of the work of plumbing; but, since the laws regulating plumbing are
strict and well enforced, as they should be, it was necessary to keep
this most essential feature of the work under charge of licensed
plumbers. But this requirement did not remove even the plumbing of
the building from the field of public school work; for, fortunately,
this city has a well-equipped plumbing school in the trades school
department, under the direction of licensed plumbers of high standing,
who were glad to have given them, as an exercise for their classes, a
practical problem in house plumbing. The boys in the forging classes
were not overlooked in the distribution of the work on the house. Many
of the fixtures needed for use or ornament were designed to be made
in the school forge shop. The girls designed and made rugs, curtains,
portières, and cushions as a part of their school work in weaving and
stencilling; and they contributed many decorative articles in clay,
copper, leather, and other materials. Thus every technical department
of the school was brought into service; for in the building of a house
there is to be found something to enlist the interest of every boy and
girl.
[Illustration: The Boys of the Forging Classes of the Technical High
School Were Not Overlooked in the Distribution of the Work on the
House. Plate II]
_Boy Foremen in Charge._--To bring about the right distribution of
the work and to marshal the working forces effectually required the
oversight and management of an experienced instructor. But much of the
work of direction was delegated to competent boys. The preliminary
tool work in the school shops had revealed those who were especially
observant and capable as leaders, and those who worked best under
specific directions. Thus the twenty boys of the vocational school who
set the posts and framed the house worked sometimes in pairs--one
being the chief foreman and the other the helper--sometimes in gangs
of three or four under a foreman. The plan was varied according to the
nature of the work in hand. When leaders of more technical knowledge
and skill were needed, as was the case in setting the window frames and
directing the shingling, capable boys from the technical high school
were placed in charge of groups of younger boys from the vocational
school. In this way the work was advanced in several directions at the
same time; and the advantage was not all in the advancement of the
house construction. It was a delightful and profitable experience for
all the boys, not unlike that which some of them will doubtless repeat
when school days are over and they take their place in the more serious
affairs of life. In after years they may look back upon the first
house that they helped to build and recall the part they took, their
companions in the work, and the good time they had withal.