The Most Beautiful House in the World - Softcover

Rybczynski, Witold

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140105662 ISBN 13: 9780140105667

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 1990

Synopsis

"A winning book, a pleasure to read...a revelation about what architects actually do and how they go about doing it." –Los Angeles Times
 
Witold Rybezynski takes us on an extraordinary odyssey as he tells the story of designing and building of his own house. Rybezynski’s project began as a workshed; through a series of "happy accidents," however, the structure gradually evolved into a full-fledge house.
               
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 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. 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."

About this title

About the Author

Witold Rybczynski of Polish parentage, was born in Edinburgh in 1943, raised in Surrey, and attended Jesuit schools in England and Canada. He received Bachelor of Architecture (1960) and Master of Architecture (1972) degrees from McGill University in Montreal. He is the author of more than fifty articles and papers on the subject of housing, architecture, and technology, including the books Taming the Tiger, Paper Heroes, The Most Beautiful House in the World, Waiting for the Weekend, and Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture (all available in Penguin), and most recently, City Life. He lives with his wife, Shirley Hallam, in Philadelphia and is the Martin and Margy Myerson Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania.

From Library Journal

Young architect decides to build boat, needs boat house to work in, ends up years later with country place and no boat, and meditates thereon. An extended reflection on the meaning of a house to its inhabitants, this personalized extension of the author's earlier Home ( LJ 9/1/86) does reveal some of what an architect does, albeit when the same person is architect, client, and builder, and it is simply written. More revealing, more detailed, more particular, and preferred is Tracy Kidder's House ( LJ 8/85).
- Jack Perry Brown, Ryerson & Burnham Lib., Art Inst. of Chicago
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0140105662
• ISBN 13: 9780140105667
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224