Home: A Short History of an Idea

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"The appearance of [the word] 'comfort' to signify a level of domestic amenity is not documented until the eighteenth century," writes author Witold Rybczynski. That's because, as he explains, until then no word was needed "to articulate an idea that previously had either not existed or had not required expression." The entire book is a historical examination of the evolution of domesticity, starting in the Middle Ages. And for the most part, it's fascinating.What? Were people uncomfortable until the 18th century? How could someone not-care about the sense that one's home was a private retreat from the world? Apparently, that question didn't really come up because privacy was unavailable for centuries. As the author explains, "What is unexpected about medieval houses, however, is not the emptiness of furniture ... but the crush and hubbub of life within them." Houses were meeting places and business environments, and households up to 25 people were not uncommon. "Since all these people lived in one or at most two rooms, privacy was unknown," the author says.It's a long way from that environment to today's expectations, and Rybczynski takes us from the Middle Ages to the precursors of "modern domesticity" in the homes of the 17th century Netherlands (including a new emphasis on furniture) to the evolution of the chair (such as the history of the Windsor chair) to Victorian books on architecture and household layout (I had never before considered the importance of ventilation in homes built for coal heat).I first encountered this book when my husband's woodworking class included it on the Recommended Reading list, and I understand why. Anyone designing furniture is doing it for the user's comfort, which means one needs to understand, "What do we mean by 'comfort' anyway?" If you enjoy books that follow a particular "ingredient" (such as  Nathaniel's Nutmeg: Or the True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History  or Kurlansky's  Salt: A World History ), I expect this book will appeal to you, too.If you had asked me about this book halfway through, I would have insisted that it was five stars. Rybczynski is opinionated, charming, and can make history come alive. But by the end... well, somewhere in there Rybczynski lost me. Maybe it's because he dispenses with my favored Arts & Crafts movement a little too hastily (sniff!). More likely, it was just that he had passed the historical era about which I was most curious (once we got to the 18th century I was pretty ho-hum about it all). I wandered away to other books and had to force myself to finish this. I don't mean to imply that the book is bad in any way; it's just a mix of 3 stars and 5 stars, and I expect its usefulness and fascination will be defined more by your own interest in these times than by his writing. Still, I'm very glad I picked up this book. If you have any interest in home design, architecture, or social evolution, it's worth the purchase price even for the marvelous first two-thirds (and probably the last part, too). It's also worthwhile for anyone who has to think about design in a larger sense, such as software user interface designers: What is it that makes someone feel satisfied with what you created? In other words, I may not love everything about this book, but what I like I REALLY like.

Traces the evolution of the European-influenced home from medieval times to our present age. Rybczynski describes how the home evolved from an uncomfortable, group dwelling-place into a private, comfortable, abode for family. As a professional designer it helped me gain a deeper appreciation for the social innovations that are necessary in order for design solutions to be accepted and incorporated into our daily lives.Each chapter features a painting or photograph to which Rybczynski makes reference within the chapter's text. This approach is highly informative, but leads to my only two complaints about the book (rationale for only 4 stars);1) Mediocre quality of the images.2) Only a single image per chapter. The text would have benefited from additional visual references to illustrate the chapter points.

The book is not just a book about houses. It examines the concept of privacy in the home from the Middle Ages to the present.

I needed the one with the blue cover which is pictured. The book with the blue cover is a newer edition and has an ISBN 10 as well as an ISBN 13. The book I received was an older edition which only has an ISBN 10 and has a yellow cover. I believe this copy will suffice but wanted to let others know.

A pretty disappointing read. I love houses--dream about them often, in fact--and was prepared by the blurb on the back to be fascinated. Didn't happen. For one thing, the book is now over 30 years old and the author's guesses about trends he thought would now be contemporary were way off. Also, his vision of home was entirely that of Western Europe, England, and the U.S. Do not other places in the world have homes also? Lastly, while I found the paintings he used to illustrate some of the chapters interesting, I would have appreciated much more actual photos and floor plans to illustrate the changes over time.The book was supposed to give us insight into how we "really want to live." That didn't work for me either aesthetically or psychologically.

This book contains a treasury of information useful in understanding home life in western civilization through the ages. All this is necessary for the understanding of our architecture, literature and our history in general. Rybczynski uses the concept ot comfort as it evolved in homes to tie it together. And comfortable is a good way to describe his writing style. An academically rigorous study set out in a very readable manner. Excellent.

I am loving this book! Fascinating well written and makes you understand where this sense of HOME comes from! Beautiful read...

a great book

やや画一的だが、要約出来ていて読みやすい。これとマリオ・プラーツの「カンヴァセーション」は一緒に読むべきである。

love it!!

One of the best books I have read on the changing styles of home life

Nice