Lubetkin and the
3 Bears
Once upon a time
there were 3 brown bears: Mummy Bear, Daddy Bear and Baby Bear. They all lived
in a very, very small house and they were all really unhappy. But one day 2 men
came to visit; the Earl of Dudley and Mr Marsh; who promised to get the bears a
brand new house built, big enough for them all.
The bears were so
excited they decided it would be the perfect time to go for a walk. While they
were out enjoying the beautiful sunshine, a man; Berthold Lubetkin who was new
to this part of town spotted the bear’s small cage like house and decided to
have a closer look.
He knocked on the
door but there was no answer, so he just went inside. As Mr Lubetkin went into
the house he had to bend so far down he nearly fell over, the door was just too
small.
When he was
inside he couldn’t even stand up, so as he tried to move around the house he
just kept getting stuck! “This house is
just too small” he thought, “I wonder who lives here”
As Mr Lubetkin
tried to get out of the house he bumped into the 3 bears who were really
puzzled by this strange man squeezing out of their front door. “What do you
think you are doing in our house?” growled the bears.
“Errrrm errrm errrrmm
is this really your house?” Mr Lubetkin replied slightly scared. “Yes it is! But it’s far too small for us”
said the bears really sadly. “Well I was just passing by and was extremely
interested in such a strange building, Mr Lubetkin replied still slightly
shaking.
He then went on
to tell the bears how he had never seen such a thing and that their house was
wrong for them and he wanted to help them out. The bears sent Mr Lubetkin to
see The Earl of Dudley and Mr Marsh.
After meeting up
with the Earl of Dudley and Mr Marsh, Mr Lubetkin was ready to take on another
big project but he only had a short amount of time to do it. So he called on
some of his friend to help him out. “My friends the Tecton Group will help me.”
he told the bears. Mr Lubetkin really wanted to give the bears the best house
he could.
Mr Lubetkin
visited the bears to show them the plans. They were so excited.
“Architecture is the tool for social progress”
he told them “a house without bars is what I am aiming for. Open –air is
definitely what you need.”
Baby Bear was
rather excited he kept rolling `around and around, he got very dizzy. Mummy
Bear was so happy. She was going to get lots of space and wouldn’t keep getting
squashed by Daddy Bear. Daddy Bear just wanted his family to be happy and somewhere
he could read his newspaper in peace.
Mr Lubetkin and
the Tecton Group got to work and a few weeks later he brought the 3 bears to
see their new house. They went inside and looked around but they were still
unhappy. “This house is just too square!” they moaned, “Too square?” Mr Lubetkin asked.
“Yes too square”
replied the bears. “I won’t be able to roll around and around in a square house!”
shouted Baby Bear.
“Ok” said Mr
Lubetkin “I will sort it out for you.”
So yet again Mr
Lubetkin and the Tecton Group went back to work on a brand new house for the
bears. A few weeks later he returned and took the bears to see their new house.
They were so excited.
As the bears got
to their new house they were really puzzled by the look of it, “This house looks
like a big chimney with lots of holes.” Mummy Bear said. Daddy Bear sighed,
(Big Sigh) “let’s just go inside and take a look it might be perfect.”
So off they went inside the house. Mummy Bear walked around the house and was disappointed “This house is just too round.” she said.
“Too round?”
asked Mr Lubetkin
“Yes too round”
she replied “You walk around and around and end up back in the same place. Now
I’m all dizzy.” she said. With a very
sad face she sat down to rest.
“Oh dear.” sighed Mr Lubetkin, “I will sort it out” and off he went to rebuild the bears a new house again.
A few weeks
passed by and Mr Lubetkin returned with the best news ever. He promised the
bears that he had got their house perfect this time.
“This is not just
any house this will be your home” he said to the bears. They were all extremely
excited and couldn’t wait to see this amazing house. So off they went.
As they reached
the house Mr Lubetkin told them how this was his best design. He told them how
he had managed to create them a big open-aired space, which would be easy to
keep clean and really hygienic.
The 3 bears were
so impressed they couldn’t wait to get inside. As they entered the house and
looked around they knew it was perfect. They all said “It’s not too square,
it’s not to round, This Is just right!”
The bears were so
happy; there was so much space they couldn’t wait to show their friends. This
is such an amazing house. As a big thank you to Mr Lubetkin and the Tecton
Group the bears announced they were going to name their house The Tecton, which
made Mr Lubetkin very happy.
“I have
the unfashionable conviction that the proper concern of architecture is more
than self-display it is a thesis a declaration a statement of social aims of
the age.”
