/taxonomy/term/351/0 en /culture/we-call-it-home/state-house-style <h2> State House style</h2> <div class="mini-pic-right"> <p><a href="/?q=node/176"></a></p> <p class="caption"><a href="/?q=node/176">Elevation of a typical state house in 1930s and 40s</a></p> </div> <p> The design of state houses has been fodder for armchair and professional critics since the beginning. Detractors slagged the first workers&#39; dwellings for being &#39;too swell&#39; and called for simpler shelters. Half a century later the complaint was the exact opposite: that new state houses were stingy, shoddy and slum-like. But who was right and who was wrong often came down to one&#39;s political perspective. Right-leaning critics have asserted that it&#39;s not the state&#39;s role to build workers &#39;luxury&#39; homes, whereas those to the left have argued that raising housing standards raises living standards. </p> architecture building housing State housing state housing style Thu, 01 Jan 1970 12:00:00 +1200 129 at http://www.nzhistory.net.nz