Home: A Short History of An Idea

Home: A Short History of An Idea is a book published in 1986 by Canadian architect, professor and writer Witold Rybczynski.

  • ISBN 978-0-14-010231-4 (paperback)
  • ISBN 978-0-670-81147-2 (hard cover)

Home won the 1986 Governor General's Award for non-fiction.

The book is an extended essay on the evolution of domestic living; rather than providing a technical treatise on architecture, Rybczynski recounts the history of the material and cultural influences (such as intimacy and privacy, domesticity, ease) as well as and ideas about light, air, and efficiency, all of which have helped shape the thoroughly modern idea that we call comfort.

Throughout the work, Rybczynski probes emphasizing cultural ideals as a basis for creating comfortable homes.

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