An eloquent examination of the links between being and building, The Most Beautiful House in the World offers insights into the joys of installing ourselves in a place, of establishing a spot where it be safe to dream.įrom a private collection, smoke free and pet friendly home. Three Girls Having Tea in a Garden By: Kate Greenaway 1879 Home: Short History of an Idea Witold Rybczynski Chapter 1: Nostalgia Home: Short History of an Idea Witold Rybczynski Chapter 2: Intimacy and Privacy St. Rybezynski discusses feng shui, the Chinese art of placing a home in the landscape, and also considers the theories and work of such architects as Palladio, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright. In tracing this evolution, he touches on matters both theoretical and practical, writing on such diverse topics as the distinguished structural descendants of the humble barn, the ritualistic origins of the elements of classical architecture, and the connections between dress and habitation, and between architecture and gastronomy. Rybezynski's project began as a workshed through a series of happy accidents, however, the structure gradually evolved into a full-fledge house. Witold Rybezynski takes us on an extraordinary odyssey as he tells the story of designing and building of his own house. He tells a story of being in architecture school and how the topic of comfort was only mentioned one time. Rybczynski has designed and built houses as a registered architect, as well as doing practical experiments in low-cost housing, which took him to Mexico, Nigeria, India, the Philippines, and China.

He has contributed to the Atlantic, New Yorker, New York Review of Books, and The New York Times.

An architect by trade, Witold explains that he wrote the book out of ignorance, as he really did not know what comfort was. FAIA, is an emeritus professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. The Most Beautiful House in the World - Witold Rybczynski - Paperback - 1990Ī winning book, a pleasure to read.a revelation about what architects actually do and how they go about doing it. Witold Rybczynski’s Home: A Short History of an Idea, is essentially a long essay about the idea of comfort.

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