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JACKSON HEIGHTS ARCHITECTURE
The building of Jackson Heights was started by Edward A. MacDougall.
He came from England and brought with him his sense of typical English
architecture. This meant that his ideas led to the building
of a “garden community” (Community Greens). Under
the guidance of the Queensboro Corporation, he was able to create
this lively new neighborhood. Like many other architects in
England, MacDougall was very influenced by Ebenezer Howard's Garden
City Movement. This movement was intended to attract people
from crowded cities into open, sunny, grassy areas. MacDougall
also believed that the addition of these carefully planned residential
areas would help the stamina of the growing city. It was “built
as a higher density garden community for the professional and managerial
class” (Jeffrey Saunders).
When developing his community, MacDougall had certain principles
in mind. First, all of the area was split into three zones:
a high-density middle zone surrounded by lower density eastern and
western zones. The east and west zones were mainly single-family
houses and the central blocks would have “garden apartments.”
These consisted of “elegant buildings surrounding spacious
interior gardens” (Saunders). The blocks were
also to be larger than regular city blocks, the apartments would
be made to face the sun and allow maximum ventilation, and buildings
would be built farther from the sidewalk to allow space for front
lawns and gardens. The buildings were also to have “internal
courtyards and gardens” for the residents to enjoy (Community
Greens).
 Several of the gardens included
beautiful flowers, benches, columns, and one even has a “cascading
fountain.” All of the buildings look very lavish and
seem to portray exactly what MacDougall had in mind. One large
difference that can be noted between this neighborhood and regular
cities is that “the buildings usually only covered 40% of
the land, which allowed the development of gardens on the other
60%; whereas, in the typical Manhattan development, the buildings
occupied 70% of the land”(Community Gardens). Besides
the apartment gardens, space was also put aside for children's playgrounds,
a community garden, tennis courts, and a golf course. The
buildings themselves were also built in a very historic manor.
They are mostly made of brick, with masonry brickwork, half-timber,
stucco, rile, ironwork, slate, and terra-cotta embellishments. Architectural
influences included neo-Tudor, French, Italian, neo-Georgian, Spanish,
and Moderne. Outside appearances were individualized and improved
with loggias, turrets, Belvederes, colonnades, dormers, towers'
arches, monumental temple-fronts, battlements, pediments, and other
large scale decoration (Saunders).
In describing the neighborhood today it can be seen that MacDougall's
ideas are still respected and appreciated. Although the tennis
courts, golf course, and community garden are no longer around,
all but one of the interior gardens are still intact. A rich
description of Jackson Heights says that “the neighborhood
remains elegant and verdant with graceful apartment buildings presiding
over acres of ornamental hedges, grand shade trees, and kaleidoscopes
of flowerbeds.... The importance of these gardens has not been lost
on the residents of Jackson Heights”(Community Gardens).
Even though the rest of the community is changing and developing,
the residents have fought to maintain their garden courtyards. Because
of such tenacity, the gardens and buildings are described as being
“distinguishing characteristics [that] qualified Jackson Heights
for recognition as a New York City landmark district in 1993”
(Saunders). This allows us to see that many of the original
buildings are still up and although they might have undergone small
changes or restoration, still appear the same. Some changes
that are noticeable are the decrease in size of the sidewalks, the
rise of ethnic enclaves and their stores/markets, and the building
of the new 7-train entrance. This says a lot about the style
and the populations' reaction to it; everyone must have enjoyed
the original architecture very much in order to maintain it the
same way.
Works Cited
1.“Jackson Heights.” Shared Parks in Urban Blocks. Community
Greens. 28 Feb, 2004
<http://www.communitygreens.org/ExistingGreens/jacksonheights/jacksonheights.htm
>
2. Saunders, Jeffrey A. Jackson Heights The Visions and Accomplishments.
Ed. David
Goldfarb. 21 March 1999. The Jackson Heights
Beautification Group. 28 Feb. 2004
<http://www.preserve.org/jhbg/jackson.htm>
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