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Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management

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https://hdl.handle.net/10919/24246

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Browsing Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management by Subject "Appalachia"

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    Arthurdale Reviewed: Sustainable New Deal Housing in Appalachia
    Galford, Gregory; Tucker, Lisa M. (2021-05-21)
    This work in progress is connected to Eleanor Roosevelt’s passion to provide residents of an Appalachian coal-mining town an opportunity to live in a community based on principles of sustainability and social justice. Arthurdale, West Virginia was designed as an ideal community with each family receiving a new home and a plot of land with sufficient acreage to produce their own needs for food. Each home had its own above-ground root cellar and was designed to make the family as independent as possible. Local artisan workshops provided wage-earning jobs and community functions were housed in a town center building. This work in progress revisits that town to learn from the residents how the models have transformed with time. Most houses are still in existence, but with alterations to suit changing needs. The goal of this study is to see what insights of sustainable design can be gleaned from the lived experience of its residents over time. A mixed methods approach will be used, with both surveys and interviews used as tools within both a quantitative and qualitative framework. Expected results will find that longitudinal differences in family lifestyle are reflected in home renovations, and the demographic changes in family makeup have had a strong influence on home adaptations. As new generations of homeowners seek innovations in housing models, the historical lessons of Arthurdale can provide relevance.
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    Resilient Experiences in Appalachian Housing: Architectural Experiments in Planned Housing
    Galford, Gregory (2021-03-11)
    The purpose of this presentation is to illustrate research regarding historic experiments in Appalachian social housing to glean lessons for future successful housing models. This research is significant as housing in the region if often viewed through conventional lenses that do not reflect the rich histories of different experiments in Appalachian housing. This presentation will focus on two Depression era housing developments in West Virginia. This presentation and paper will highlight some of these historic endeavors to make the housing of Appalachia’s residents an important topic within studies of the region. This presentation will rely on a mixed methods approach that will utilize observation, analysis of historic documents and potential interviews with current residents. The presentation will rely heavily on a review of the literature around the topic to frame and solicit questions. Expected findings include a disconnect between planning of ideal housing systems and the actual user, problems with technology regarding construction standards, and adaptation of homes over time to reflect changing demographics within the region. This will highlight both successes and failures of these centrally planned housing systems. This work will inform future planners and policymakers in the region by providing a template to aid in the planning of the next iteration of housing infrastructure in the region.