Home - Couverture souple

Rybczynski, Witold

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0743404432 ISBN 13 : 9780743404433

Editeur : Pocket Books, 2001

Synopsis

Book by Rybczynski Witold

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

'A powerful plea in favour of comfort... A lot of sense' HUDDERSFIELD DAILY EXAMINER
'Rybczynski's glimpses of the first steps towards creaing private spaces capture all the pleasure and yearning involved: it's like reading the late classic food writer, Elizabeth David, who would approve of his views on kitchens ... This book will generate ideas for teaching humanities, history of art, design and technology, PSHE and more, but it is meant to be read in a favourite chair, while whatever needs doing around the house is blissfully neglected' THE EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
'A close and entertaining look at the place we all know ... This is an interesting and provocative book which will force you to question all the things that you took for granted in your domestic space' IRISH NEWS
'Fascinating' LIVERPOOL ECHO
'An entertaining trawl through our own little (and sometimes grand) worlds' DORSET ECHO
'Not only eminently readable but full of original ideas' GUARDIAN
'A stimulating book' THE ECONOMIST
'Full of delicious information' Maureen Howard, VOGUE
'Mr Rybczynski is particularly good at describing the effects, and sometimes the surprising ineffectuality, of invention - whether the water closet, gas jet, electric lamp, window sash, or whatever' THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
'HOME is serious, historically minded, and exquisitely readable. It is a triumph of intelligence' THE NEW YORKER
'Exceptionally interesting and provocative' WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD
'A warm, erudite book aglow with common sense' KIRKUS REVIEWS
'If we're lucky, it will become required reading at architectural schools throughout the land' USA TODAY
'Provocative and engaging ... His book suggests a history of the human spirit conceived in terms of its lodgings' LOS ANGELES TIMES
'HOME is a fascinating short intellectual history of the idea of home and the way the idea has been realised in Western dwellings' THE BOSTON GLOBE
'Consistently intelligent and stimulating' THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Our need for domestic well-being is deeply-rooted, and home is the unique phenomenon that answers that yearning. Witold Rybczynski takes a close and entertaining look at the place we all know, and which is such an elusive mixture of house and household, dwelling and refuge, of notions of ownership and affection.
From Jane Austen's homely novels to the sleek lines of Art Deco, from luxurious Rococo to the nostalgia of Ralph Lauren, Rybczynski peels away the layers of design, technology and habit to reveal something of the true nature of home.
Using vivid historical examples to conjure lifestyles as distant as the Dutch domesticity of Vermeer and the aristocratic excess of Versailles, HOME takes us on a journey, inviting us to visit the houses of people throughout time and across the world. Modernity is here too, in all its electrical, gas-heated, vacuum-cleaning glory, but there is also recognition of the desire for personal touches and individual comfort that resist the logical progression towards efficient minimalism.
Le Corbusier called a house 'a machine for living in', but Rybczynski's writing asks us to reclaim our homes from the architects, whose plans surely need to live in harmony with less easily categorised ideas like pleasure and ease, domesticity and intimacy. HOME opens a rare window into our private lives - and how we really want to live.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Pocket Books
• Date d'édition: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0743404432
• ISBN 13: 9780743404433
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 272