Robinson Rd, Chambers St, Blackburn St, Jackson St, Youngstown Ohio

An article by Harvey Whipple entitled '281 Fireproof Dwellings Built of Large Precast Concrete Units' was published in Concrete January 1918 and reprinted in Concrete Houses: How They Were Built also edited by Whipple and published by Concrete-Cement Age Publishing Co. of Denver in 1920. It focuses on this small estate in East Youngstown, Ohio:

Whipple writes that this is in many respects 'the most impressive industrial housing development in America' (p. 46). Most of Whipple's text is concerned with the method of construction, but he does reflect on some elements of the layout of the scheme, which the astute observer will note is divided into housing for 'Foreign Labor' and 'Negro Labor'. He remarks that 'the later group, for negro labor' is 'practically shut off by the arrangement of the streets from the group first erected, for foreign labor.' He has more to say about the 'Negro Labor' houses which is very interesting from the internal reserves POV, thus:

In the construction of the second group of houses, for negro labor, the plans were reversed, making what was the front of the houses in the first group, the rear of the houses in the second group. This was done for the purpose of making the swellings of this colony face entirely upon themselves in a separate rectangle, and for economy in service features, such as pavements. (p. 50).

Here is the estate on Google Map; I've reoriented it to reflect the plan in Whipple's article. As can be seen, only part of the 'Negro Labor' estate was built (or is extant). The 'Foreign Labor' section does contain spaces reminiscent of internal reserves (I've taken a few screen shots from google map and inserted them above), but with street access whereas the 'Negro Labor' section, for reasons explained above, does not. 

The 'Negro Labor' section was, as mentioned, either not built in full or has been decimated somewhat, but I have taken a couple of screen shots from Chambers Street and Booker Avenue which seem to show firstly the houses looking into 'Block No. 3' and the street frontage of houses.





The image below is on p. 45 of the article; it's difficult to be certain what it represents but these house frontages are reminiscent of the 'Block No. 3' houses above.

There is more information on this estate and current (well, 2013) moves to preserve its built fabric here.
The google maps link is here

Hypothetical 'Proposed Subdivision' Port Melbourne mid-1920s

Hypothetical Maidstone 'treatment' for Melbourne Metropolitan Town Planning Commission a la Sunnyside Gardens - c. 1927

Leikkikenttä

Leikkikenttä, Mäyrätie, 33430, near Vuorentausta and Tampere, Finland.

'Leikkikenttä' just (?) means 'playground'.

Clifton Ave, Clifton Hill

This small park space in Clifton Ave, Clifton Hill is one of those halfway internal reserve spaces which only qualify on certain measures, and don’t qualify at all on others. The space is not enclosed, in fact, it has road access on all sides. The facing streetscape includes: vehicle access doors on the south side, a row of flats on the north side, a newly-built home on the east.

Yet it seems to follow much of the classic IR principles in its very local (‘village green’) use, its relatively hidden/out of the way status and its benches for passive recreation. As is very clear from the Google map, it is also very close to a much larger park space (in fact, a series of linear parks for active and passive recreation).

One tiny detail may illustrate the value of this space to its users. While photographing it I realised I was being observed by a woman in one of the flats, looking I think out of her kitchen window. Eyes on the park were watching. 

Damien Hirst's Ilfracombe

Spot the internal reserves. Read about it here

Crete Reserve, Rosebery NSW

This small semicircular park, with a road leading to it at one end and a pedestrian pathway at the other, is I believe a part of Rosebery dating back to the original John Sulman design. It is not, in truth,    a fully enclosed reserve by dint of Rosebery Avenue entering it from the north. However, all the other elements are typical of IRs from the first quarter of the 20th century, particularly the pedestrian path at the south end. 

Visiting this reserve on 28 July 2014, my friend Annabel and I encountered a local whose property adjoins the reserve. He was, in fact, a Cretan by birth but did not, he said, represent a large Cretan community in the area. The reserve was, like so many of its ilk, described to us as being a place where 'boyfriend and girlfriend' would meet at night, and where marijuana was smoked, alongside other activities generally considered antisocial. This gentleman nevertheless greatly appreciated the park and particularly its trees.