Rybczynski, Witold

A clearing in the distance : Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the nineteenth century by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
10 editions published between 1999 and 2003 in English and held by 1,830 libraries worldwide
"In a collaboration between writer and subject, the author of Home and City life illuminates Frederick Law Olmsted's role as a major cultural figure and a man at the epicenter of nineteenth-century American history." "We know Olmsted through the physical legacy of his stunning landscapes - among them, New York's Central Park, California's Stanford University campus, Boston's Back Bay Fens, Illinois's Riverside community, Asheville's Biltmore Estate, and Louisville's park system." "Olmsted's contemporaries knew a man of even more diverse talents. Born in 1822, he traveled to China on a merchant ship at the age of twenty-one. He cofounded The Nation magazine and was an early voice against slavery. He wrote books about the South and about his exploration of the Texas frontier. He managed California's largest gold mine and, during the Civil War, served as general secretary to the United States Sanitary Commission, the precursor of the Red Cross."--Jacket.

Home : a short history of an idea by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
17 editions published between 1986 and 2007 in 3 languages and held by 1,768 libraries worldwide

One good turn : a natural history of the screwdriver and the screw by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
20 editions published between 2000 and 2005 in 3 languages and held by 1,480 libraries worldwide
"... a story of mechanical discovery and genius ..."--Dust jacket.

Waiting for the weekend by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
11 editions published between 1991 and 2011 in 4 languages and held by 1,342 libraries worldwide
Explores the origin, history, and meaning of leisure time.

The most beautiful house in the world by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
17 editions published between 1989 and 2003 in English and Polish and held by 1,171 libraries worldwide
Witold Rybczynski takes us on an extraordinary odyssey as he tells the story of designing and building his own house. His project began as a workshed, but through a series of "happy accidents," the structure gradually evolved into a full-fledged house. In tracing this evolution, he touches on matters both theoretical and practical, writing on such diverse topics as the ritualistic origins of the elements of classical architecture and the connections between dress and habitation. He discusses feng-shui and considers the theories of such architects as Palladio, Le Corbusier, and Frank Lloyd Wright. An examination of the links between being and building, The Most Beautiful House in the World offers insights into the joys of "installing ourselves in a place, of establishing a spot where it would be safe to dream."

City life : urban expectations in a new world by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
9 editions published between 1995 and 1998 in English and held by 1,167 libraries worldwide
In City Life, Witold Rybczynski looks at what we want from cities, how they have evolved, and what accounts for their unique identities. In this vivid description of everything from the early colonial settlements to the advent of the skyscraper to the changes wrought by the automobile, the telephone, the airplane, and telecommuting, Rybczynski reveals how our urban spaces have been shaped by the landscapes and lifestyles of the New World.

The look of architecture by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
8 editions published between 2001 and 2007 in English and Chinese and held by 955 libraries worldwide
What is style in architecture? "Style is like a feather in a woman's hat, nothing more," said Le Corbusier, expressing most modern architects' low regard for the subject. But Witold Rybczynski disagrees, and in The Look of Architecture, he makes a compelling case for the importance of style to the mother of the arts. This is a book brimming with sharp observations--that form does not follow function; that the best architecture is not timeless but precisely of its time; that details do not merely complement the architecture--details are the architecture. But the heart of the book illuminates the connection between architecture, interior decoration, and fashion. Style is the language of architecture, Rybczynski writes, and fashion represents the wide--and swirling--cultural currents that shape and direct that language. The two, style and fashion, are intimately linked--indeed, architecture cannot escape fashion. To set these ideas in sharp relief, he shows us how style and fashion have been expressed in the work of major architects--including Frank Gehry, Mies van der Rohe, Charles McKim, Allan Greenberg, Robert Venturi, Enrique Norten, and many others. He helps us see their works anew and ultimately to look afresh at our surroundings. Style is one of the enduring--and endearing--aspects of architecture, Rybczynski concludes. Furthermore, an architecture that recognizes the importance of style would not be as introspective and self-referential as are so many contemporary buildings. It would be part of the world--not architecture for architects, but for the rest of us.

Taming the tiger : the struggle to control technology by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
7 editions published between 1983 and 1985 in English and held by 920 libraries worldwide

Looking around : a journey through architecture by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
10 editions published between 1992 and 2009 in English and held by 908 libraries worldwide
An inspired, engrossing look at what architecture is and how we live and work in it.

Last harvest : how a cornfield became New Daleville : real estate development in America from George Washington to the builders of the twenty-first century, and why we live in houses anyway by Witold Rybczynski( Book )
4 editions published between 2007 and 2008 in English and held by 836 libraries worldwide
Traces the creation of a Pennsylvania residential subdivision from its planning stage to the residence of its first owners, in an account that offers insight into the long process of development and how it is related to sprawl and ex-urban growth.