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IV. Modern architecture and man

4.1.  Read the article and complete the following definitions with the words from the text:

  1. *** - are streets of dirty, crowded houses;

  2. *** - are tall buildings with many storeys;

  3. *** - a building means to put new paint or wallpaper on the inside walls of a house;

  4. *** - is an area of land on which many houses are built;

  5. *** - is a group of people chosen to manage the affairs of a town or city;

  6. *** - centre is a building where people meet for social events;

  7. *** - means to kill oneself.

Mother And Child Jump From 11th Floor Flat Husband blames local council Housing Department

Mrs. Angela Smith of Redwood Tower, King Street, jumped from a two-room flat on the eleventh floor of a twenty-storey tower block yesterday, taking her two-year-old son with her. Her suicide has raised serious doubts about living conditions and the quality of life in the town's many council-owned blocks of flats on the King Street housing estate.

The estate was built three years ago as part of the town's slum clearance scheme alter the council declared most of the houses in the area unfit for human habitation. The architects promised that the traditional horizontal community would be replaced by a new vertical community.

Unfortunately, this new commu­nity spirit has never developed. The barrenness of the concrete jungle outside and the monotony of the staircases, the graffiti on the walls and in the lift, and the general vandalism of the local youngsters have made people keep themselves to themselves. The council has been promising to plant trees and redecorate the building for several months but has not yet found the money to do so.

Six months ago, the Smiths visited some of their former neighbours, who moved to Wel­lington New Town rather than Sta) on the King Street estate and were impressed with the "vil­lage system" on which it works. The new town, which has been attracting a large number of people recently, consists of seven “vil­lages” or sell-contained districts offering shops, a pub, a clinic, a primary school and a community centre, all within ten minutes' walking distance of the housing area. Each house has its own garden, and the residents have the satisfaction of growing their own flowers and vegetables. There are plenty of trees and playgrounds for the children. The town centre itself has excellent cultural, social, sports and shopping facilities. The Smiths were so impressed that they applied for a council house there, and last week the Housing Department informed them that they were on the waiting list but could expect to wait for at least three years. Angela Smith could not wait that long.

Mr. Smith blames his wife's death on the Housing Department. “Replacing those terraced houses with high-rise buildings was a disastrous mistake,” he told us. “The area has become impersonal and unfriendly. Yet only three streets away, property developers have renovated, redecorated and resold exactly the same type of house as desirable residences. Council-housing policy has got to change, or the Housing Officer may have more suicides on his conscience.”

Answer the questions:

  1. Describe in detail where the Smiths lived.

  2. Why were these blocks of flats built?

  3. What do you understand by “a horizontal community” and a “vertical community”?

  4. How do “new towns” try to create a feeling of community?

  5. Why did Angela Smith commit suicide?

  6. What, according to Mr. Smith, should the local council have done instead of demolishing the terraced houses and putting up high-rise buildings?