apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This book is more of an essay really - it's a short and easy read.

I enjoyed it very much when it was first published several years ago, as well other books he's written such as "The Most Beautiful House in the World" and "The Look of Architecture"

That's one of my favorite books! I don't think it's nerdy at all, or maybe I'm a nerd. A related book, and another one of my favorites, is The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard.

How is this nerdy? What kind of reaction is AT expecting? If you really want to have a discussion about books about domestic spaces, let's have a forum for AT commenters.

Thanks for reminding me that I need to pick this up. I always enjoy Rybczynski's articles for Slate.

It was mandatory reading in my first year of architecture school and a real eye-opener.

If you like that one, I'd also recommend Michael Pollan's "A Place of My Own", which he wrote before he got into food. It's even a bit nerdier, with more references to architectural theory, but written in Pollan's narrative and easy-to-digest style.

It's "nerdy" because people tend not to analyze historical significances (if they are aware of it) of things. It's not nerdy-nerdy because this site does have a lot of readers. The saturation of the topic here tends toward the shopping/drooling and the placement decisions and the decluttering rallies, in case you haven't noticed. Wants and needs and haves and photographic inspirations and not infrequent punches to the gut. People think about their home and what it does, and homes they've known, but not as much to philosophize as to feel comfort and function and accomplishment. Taking in a subject profoundly is definitely nerdier than asking you to join the list of how often you change your sheets. Taking a recommendation for this book is to accept awareness of a new perspective.

I wish I'd read the book so I know what it's about. I'm basing the example on people like my mother, who likes stuff, and tries to force me to watch HGTV trash when I go visit, but will use phrases like "too intellectual" if I have anything to say beyond helping her pick a paint color. This site is no different, demographically, which is to say, it needs mostly quick topics so people click more. If it's too much into the subject, fascinating and educational though it may be, they won't be able to get their fix at work under the radar, and visit less; AT loses clicks, advertisers, etc. Note that the article only recommended the book, we're not discussing the topic. Nerds and nerdy discussions are welcome throughout the site though.

A consistent area of interest of his has been affordable housing (he was required reading in environmental design school). Along with another McGill professor, he developed The Grow Home.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DE153AF937A25755C0A966958260

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/inpr/afhoce/tore/afhoid/cohode/buhoin/buhoin_005.cfm

http://www.dianaswednesday.com/2007/10/the-grow-home/

But here is a recent article of his that AT should be discussing in a forum:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-rybczynski_05edi.d8338fb3.html

Witold Rybczynski is someone AT should have been focussing on all along...