About this title: This immensely popular, witty, and highly provocative book is changing people's attitudes about convenience, decor, and technology in home design and furnishing. 10 black-and-white illustrations.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Edition: Reprint.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books, london
Date Published: 1987
ISBN-13:9780140102314ISBN:0140102310
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 272 p. Audience: General/trade. High class ideas for humble abodes. read more
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Tight, clean copy. Browning. "Walk through five centuries of homes both great and small-from the smoke-filled manor halls of the Middle Ages to today's Ralph Lauren-designed environments-on a house tour like no other, one that delightfully explicates the very idea of 'home. ' You'll see how social and cultural changes influenced styles of decoration and furnishing, learn the connection between wall-hung religious tapestries and wall-to-wall carpeting, discover ... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Date Published: 1987-07-07
ISBN-13:9780140102314ISBN:0140102310
Description: Good. Dedication inside cover. Cover shows some wear or creases. Pages yellowed/tanned. No highlighting or underlining. This book really opened my eyes! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Date Published: 1987-07-01
ISBN-13:9780140102314ISBN:0140102310
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780140102314. read more
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Description: Good. Minimal damage to cover and binding. Pages show light use. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
Description: Good. Minimal damage to cover and binding. Pages show light use. With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, Best Prices. read more
"This book is amazing and makes my Top 10 desert island reading list. It's the most entertaining, readable, and comprehensive look at domestic architecture in the U.S. The fact that he even includes Ralph Lauren's lifestyle marketing in the discussion simply sealed the deal."
"Witold Rybczynski's HOME: A SHORT HISTORY OF AN IDEA traces the development of the idea of "home" from the medieval period to the present.
In the middle ages, the interiors of homes were primarily public and ceremonial spaces, but that concept eventually changes as notions of privacy and intimacy develop. Over time, gradually developing ideas of domesticity and a sense of family, convenience, comfort, and efficiency change our perceptions of home.
In the beginning era of this history, for example, chairs were uncommon and primarily served a public and ceremonial purpose. The most important person in the group sat in a chair (hence our term "chairman") while everyone else sat on the floor.
In the early 20th century, to take another example, the introduction of vacuum cleaners and other household tools helped develop ideas of efficiency, especially in the United States. Unlike the case in Britain and some other countries, the U.S. had a very small servant class, so all domestic work devolved onto the woman of the house, thereby stimulating innovation.
Rybczynski concludes by examining modernism, where style becomes divorced from comfort and practicality. He calls for a renewed emphasis on comfort and a sense of well-being, which amounts to a rejection of the fundamental basis of modernism.
I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in domestic architecture, culture history, or the history of ideas."
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