Kolb, Caitlin2014-02-252019-01-282014-01-27bibid: 8442222https://hdl.handle.net/1813/36058This thesis explores the construction of Hillside Homes, one of the first publically funded lower-income housing developments in the United States. It was built in New York City during the depths of the Great Depression and designed by Clarence S. Stein, a lauded architect and community planner. While Hillside has been a topic of discussion in previous theses and other scholarly works, none have been so dedicated to the project's construction as this one. Through a close analysis of the many components that impacted Hillside's development, this thesis sheds additional light on how and why Hillside took shape as it did. Hillside's planning techniques borrowed from World War I building methods and Ebenzer Howard's ideas on garden cities while its architectural form employed traditional materials applied in a stripped down, modernist manner. To show how Hillside fit within the context of its time, this thesis begins broadly with an analysis of residential building trends of the 1910s and 1920s. The analysis then focuses in on Hillside itself, first examining the project during its planning and design stage before moving on to the primary emphasis of Hillside under construction. Hillside's developers intended that the project be a model of what could be accomplished when public and private entities joined together to create quality affordable housing that employed novel methods. While not able to achieve the initial goal of providing housing for working class people, once complete, Hillside stood solid as a complex of brick buildings. Its apartments and community spaces contained features typically reserved for higher end housing but its first tenants were amongst New York City's lower-middle class. Hillside remains today, representative of nowaccepted construction practices as well as financing tools that were then in their infancy.en-USClarence SteinHillside Homesdissertation or thesis