Flutterby™! : The most beautiful house

Next unread comment / Catchup all unread comments User Account Info | Logout | XML/Pilot/etc versions | Long version (with comments) | Weblog archives | Site Map | | Browse Topics

The most beautiful house

2008-09-05 18:34:05.269978+00 by Dan Lyke 5 comments

I think it was Nancy, the signature is a little tough to decipher, mailed us a copy of Witold Rybcyzynski[Wiki]'s The Most Beautiful House In The World[Wiki], a light little piece by an architect about starting to build a workshop in which to construct a boat, and ending up with a home. It's an interesting ramble by an architect about architectural considerations of house design, but in the end felt a little bit light, a dilettante dabbling in construction and an architect who, like, it seems, most architects, has never really delved into what makes a space livable, more what makes a space "pretty".

There are a few insights, I'm not sorry to have read it, but I still want to find that book on architecture that goes deeper.

[ related topics: Books Space & Astronomy Graphic Design Boats Machinery Cryptography Fabrication Architecture Real Estate Model Building ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2008-09-05 19:57:12.265197+00 by: Nancy

A light little piece? That makes me laugh. It's a small book but I couldn't wade through it. Just didn't hold my interest at all. But somehow I thought you might enjoy it, so yes, it was I who sent it. Did it show up not long ago? Because I mailed my mom (in Alaska) a magazine at the same time (I think) and she's still waiting for it...just curious.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-09-05 20:43:47.771086+00 by: spc476

You might like reading Stewart Brand's How Buildings Learn. It's all about usability and adaptability in buildings and a large rant against what Stewart calls "magazine architecture."

#Comment Re: made: 2008-09-05 20:48:41.083858+00 by: spc476

Oh, and part one of a series based off How Buildings Learn, narrated by Stewart Brand.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-09-05 21:27:37.486804+00 by: Dan Lyke

Yep, Nancy, it was something on the order of a month ago, I've just been remiss in getting to it and acknowledging it. And in saying "light", I don't necessarily mean that it was always easy reading, just that it seemed to skim a lot of territory with out delving too deeply.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-09-05 22:25:16.152412+00 by: crasch [edit history]

Second spc476's recommendation of How Buildings Learn.