1. Clarence Samuel Stein was an American urban planner, architect, and writer, a major proponent of the garden city movement in the United States known for the Radburn concept.
16 Facts About Clarence Stein
1. 2.
Intense and self-absorbed, the young Clarence Stein had a nervous collapse shortly before he was scheduled to leave for college, experiencing a bout of what was then called neurasthenia for which he was sent to Florida to endure a rest cure.
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Clarence Stein returned to New York and worked in his family's casket business, where the combination of physical and mental labor matched the philosophy in which he had been educated, much in keeping with his contemporary John Dewey.
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In concert with his brothers and a small cohort of like-minded young men, many of whom would be influential partners for the rest of his career, Clarence Stein started the Young Men's Municipal Club, an organization modeled on many other such burgeoning social amelioration movements and dedicated to studying and then agitating for improvements to the chaotic life of the modern city.
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In 1919, Clarence Stein started his own practice in New York, and in 1921, he began his long association with fellow architect Henry Wright.
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In 1923, Clarence Stein cofounded the Regional Planning Association of America to address large-scale planning issues such as affordable housing, the impact of sprawl, and wilderness preservation.
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Clarence Stein served as a president of the RPAA from 1925 to 1948.
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From 1923 to 1926, Clarence Stein served as chairman for the New York State Housing and Regional Planning Commission.
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Clarence Stein travelled extensively to other countries and established friendships with among others Swedish statesman-planner Yngve Larsson.
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From 1928 to his death in 1975, Clarence Stein was married to stage and film actress Aline MacMahon.
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Clarence Stein was responsible not only for developing a more generally affordable neighborhood, but making it a healthy and enjoyable place to live.
12.
Clarence Stein designed more natural green space with much light, resulting in a serene living environment.
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Clarence Stein needed as much space as possible to incorporate gardens and open areas.
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Clarence Stein knew that the community could not survive without a road system but he didn't want the roads dominating the land.
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Clarence Stein wrote Toward New Towns for America in 1951, and received the AIA Gold Medal in 1956.
16.
Clarence Stein died on February 7,1975, at his home in New York City.