Most Beautiful House in the World

by Witold Rybczynski

A book about architecture: what architects do, how they get it right, what an architectural genius can see, and what distinguishes architecture from other arts. Illustrated.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Design, Art, Memoir, Biography Memoir, History

211 pages, Library Binding

First published April 4, 1989

About the author

Witold Rybczynski was born in Edinburgh, of Polish parentage, raised in London, and attended Jesuit schools in England and Canada. He studied architecture at McGill University in Montreal, where he also taught for twenty years. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also co-edits the Wharton Real Estate Review. Rybczynski has designed and built houses as a registered architect, as well as doing practical experiments in low-cost housing, which took him to Mexico, Nigeria, India, the Philippines, and China.

(From www.witoldrybczynski.com)

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like a conversation with an architect and as conversations sometimes go, Rybczynski goes on many rabbit trails, some interesting, some tedious.

And then he will land upon a nugget of real value to someone interested in designing a house. Things like, "A building has to be simple enough to grasp and remember," and "Determining the shape of the roof is the most important decision the designer of a building must make," and a classic rule to remember, "reduce the size of elements as the eye moves up the facade."

The pleasure of a window is a function not only of its proper disposition in the room and of the view that it presents but also of its orientation with respect to the sun:
north facing allows an even and clear illumination
east facing lets in cheerful morning rays
west facing admits the glowing light of the late afternoon
south facing receives "pure sun, and a clear light" It permits the low winter light to warm the interior.

The book was written to tell the story of Rybczynski's barn-cum-home and that is mildly interesting. The real interest is in the information he gives the reader about building and designing in general.

If you are interested in just the facts of architecture, buy a text book. If you are looking for a conversation about architecture you will enjoy this book.

[Ioana Johansson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just lovely. The whole project sounded awesome from the beginning and I simply loved how all architects and writers were weaved in the narration. This is a gem.

[phil breidenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every so often I find a book that is exceptionally good, to me at least. A couple weeks ago while rummaging through a couple boxes of books at my favorite book store, (City Books) I came across a book with a nice looking dust cover, pebbled paper with a watercolor of a house on it. It was entitled The Most Beautiful House in the World. The paper was ivory colored and there were small pencil drawings that accompanied the story. I added it to the pile, never realizing that it would be the best book in the pile.
At home, I started looking through the books reading a little bit of each of them. When I picked up this book, I stuck with it until I had finished it. The others were forgotten.
Witold had visions of building a boat, something a bit larger than a row boat or a canoe, something seaworthy. He had spent years drawing up designs, changing them as his desires changed. He decided that he would need a place to build this craft and so, being an architect he started designing a boat house.
This wonderful book takes from his early days of designing his boat through the design and construction of a place to build it and eventually, the changing the shop into a home. As he tells this story, he also tells us about how buildings are designed and how they are made to fit in and sometimes, not fit into the neighboring buildings. He explains to us how cathedrals are basically just large barns. He explains about feng-shui and how it is important to make a house that fits into the landscape , spending 5 or 6 pages describing it and giving examples. He tells us about famous architects and how they put their ideas onto paper and eventually into the ground.
He explains the things that make a house a home. It isn’t so much the size, shape or design of the building as it is the way it is lived in. He writes about how houses are personalized and eventually start to resemble their owners. He takes us to a small house built by a man in Los Amusgos, Mexico. The place was small and it started out just a concrete slab in a tight community. The owner and builder slowly started with walls and a roof, some of the walls just plastic. Over time the house became more solid and the outside was decorated with plants, spices and flowers which helped give the house a lived in look and also shielded it from the street that sat beside it. The inside was decorated with pictures of the children and by the children. The house is still being built, it is a process in the works but still, it is a beautiful house, it is a home!
In this book Witold has taken us from Ludwig’s castle, Neuschwanstein, to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, a small house in a crowded city and to his own house, not to mention many, many others. In the process he explains quite elegantly how a house becomes a home.

[Talbot Hook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beginning in whimsy and dream, Rybczynski was one day called upon to begin sailing, and, not only to sail, but to build the craft of his dreams. To that end, he needed a location; finding land, he found that, through the twists of fate, he and his wife accidentally ended up with their dream home. The narrative is simple, though the route circuitous, with dalliances into fengshui, building-toy histories, and barn styles. These jaunts are usually delightful, and all of them relate, at least in minor ways, to the evolution of his house. While the prose is nice, liquid, and sentimental (all things I appreciate), what I really found myself wanting was some pictures. There are rough sketches here and there (though too few), but they don't do anything other than to highlight aspects of various styles. In the end, we're not perfectly sure what the house itself looked like, which was, I suppose, one of the functions of this book. Another goal, this one mostly accomplished, was to highlight certain aspects of an architect's life: especially in navigating the relationship between client and designer. In the end, the standard history, at least in perception, outweighed the personal history, which threw the balance off in what could have been an even more charming book.

[Jenifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Rybcynski's writing. And I loved reading his personal account of the evolution of his home. Setting out to build a shed for his true heart's project, building a boat, he details the sometimes sublime, sometimes demoralizing process. In the end, the shed becomes a home and Rybcynski talks about that process, which applies to anyone who makes and loves a home. Also, interesting passages about famous homes around the world, facts from history, and tutelage from an honest-to-goodness architect.

Not for everybody, but right up my alley.

[Jan Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the world of architecture. Rybczynski is an architect himself and in this book he tells the story of building what was to be a boat building shed that morphs into a house for he and his wife. Along the way he makes several digressions into the history of architecture.

[Tim Slavin]

eh.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rybczynski writes clearly and well about stuff and what it means. By focusing on the little house he builds he can expound on a lot of issues related to building.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last summer I went to visit one of my best friends in her neck of the woods, and she took me to Jacksonville's Chamblin Bookmine, the largest used bookstore in the state of Florida. If you imagine a map of the Lower 48 pinned at the corners with NYC's Strand, Portland's Powell's, and LA's The Last Bookstore, Chamblin-- although not as Instagrammable as the others, is a worthy pin the southeast corner. (And if you think about it, if any of these pins were to be removed, the map would roll into itself and shroud the land in darkness.) Anyway, it was there that I found Witold Rybczynkski's delightful memoir and reflection on architecture, "The Most Beautiful House in the World". In it he recounts how his strong desire to build a boat lead to him deciding to build a boathouse, which then became just a house. Which, if you're thinking about writing a memoir, is your permission to write your memoir about anything. Rybczynski takes us on a meditative journey beyond the concrete foundation of his house into what makes architecture architecture. What differentiates "noble" buildings from the vernacular ones? Why do some survive and others don't? How do different cultures determine how and where to build? He delves into feng-shui, barn roofs, the homes of great authors, to how homes relate to the cosmos and memory. He finds inspiration from a variety of sources, like viewing the history of Western art to discover when children began building with blocks and making house of cards. The most interesting part for me was how there is "architectural rhetoric" and how buildings serve as metaphors. It made me want to revisit every grand home and cathedral and building I have ever seen. He also discussed the challenges of toggling from being the architect and the builder with his toughest client: his wife. There were a couple of chapters that dealt with more technical aspects of barns and their roofs that nearly put me to sleep (pictures would have been helpful). Overall, though, I really enjoyed reading this mash-mash of his nerdy foray into all that delights him. If you are looking for something delightful that will shed new ways of looking at the world, I highly recommend this book!

[jazthedigital · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really entertaining book on the spirit of homebuilding, a place we can call home and creative process.
Rybczynski as an engineer and architect touches on theorethical and practical elements of these things. He explains and comments on theories of architects like Le Corbusier or Palladio. Such comments bring character of Rybczynski but also teach the reader many things. Sometimes the architectural jargon can be a little puzzling, but it's also a position that architects could enjoy, so there's that.

Really interesting publication for those interested in design and architecture.
Rybczynski has a steady pace and inject many emotions into his thoughts, advice and recalling of his process of building a house.
The self-deprecating tone of the novel, really brings humanity and humour of the author.

Quite interesting read. I'm sure I'll return to it, after some time.

[David Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rybczynsli begins with an urge (at age 40) to build a boat. He initially buys a pastoral lot intended for a workshop/shed. Then follows many extended modifications to the structure. Over a couple years, he eventually nixes the idea of a boat after all. Then follow more modifications, converting the structure to a house. And even more modifications to the interior and exterior. All the while, he comments on historic building styles and elements, homes of the famous, and not-so-famous. It becomes a lesson of "seeing in context." You'll have to read it to find the answer to the title.

[John Dunham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful account of an architect coming to realize truths about the building process that the modern movements do not understand.

Buildings must fit, be useful, and be beautiful.

I hope to build my own house someday (not alone, most likely) and this small, simple little book will remain close at hand in the future.

I can't recommend it highly enough. Not everything is easy and in agreement with my beliefs, but it is truly a good book.

[Lauren Csaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading and loving Michael Pollan’s book A Place of my Own, I was recommended this similar book by Witold Rybczynski. It indeed had a similar premise—an architect, Rybczynski sets out to design and build his own little structure, and muses about various themes and histories of architecture along the way. I enjoyed the story and many of his insights, although overall I found Pollan’s book a bit more engaging.

[Clint Wardlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rybczynski has a great story to tell but it gets muddled in the many tangents and superfluous information. It was very hard to finish this book but I'm glad I did. The under riding story of how he built his house is great, but like I mentioned, there are too many tangents that I lost focus.

If you are into architecture and specifically the history of architecture, you would like this book.

[Nancy Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had heard of this author and was eager to read his book. I did like it, although I skimmed quite a bit - i was more interested in his story of building his house, rather than all the historical detail. Still, a fun journey through his thought processes - going from building a boat to building a house. I'm glad I read it.

[Arvid Johansson · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Rybczynski has the ability to mix personal experience with scholarly reflection, to delight as well as inform, and to bring arcane topics into the compass of humane understanding.'

I once read something equivalent, and I must say he has done it again.

Witold Rybczynski asks important questions about what architecture is and what a beautiful house is. Throw a personal building journey and scholarly reflection you and the author discover more questions and aim to find answers to the questions. In the end, you will have an understanding of Rybczynski's point of view and I agree with him, a truly timeless bok.

[Alexander Dennison · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The most beautiful house in the world is one that you build yourself”

Another interpretation of optimal house meaning that carries with me is that a home is place to elicit day dreaming. While the woods and water also come to mind, these are not always accessible. A house can be a place that represents our innermost thoughts.

Something that only true calm can create.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this short book on a long drive. The author, an architect, decides to build a boat. But he needs to have a place to work on it so decides to build a shed. Eventually, his plans change and he ends up building a house. Subtly humourous. The author crams a lot of architectual history in this book.

[Jim Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this as a gift 34 years ago and finally read it after admiring it from afar all these years (it’s a handsome little book, if a little mildewy after years of my less than careful moving it around). I’m glad I did. It’s a quirky exploration, both personal and wide-ranging, of what architecture is and why it matters. Thanks, David and George.

[Katra · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The most beautiful house is the one you build yourself."

Following Rybczynski's saga containing history and criticism of architecture along with sometimes humorous anecdotes of what began as a workshop for a boat was insightful of both him and the human condition in general.

p-n, s-n, v-n, a-English

[Raina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet little book about designing and building one's own home, and about the evolution process that both the design and the designer undergoes. A bit rambling, and a bit too archi-dorky for a non-architect reader?

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I might have enjoyed this book if I wasn’t expecting a totally different book. This is mostly a series of essays about the author’s architecture life. And the life of other architects and authors. Oh yes, there is a house finally.

[Paul Cloutier · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun informative story of the author building a workshop that eventually turns in to his house. Feels familiar to many of my own experiences.

[Steven Yenzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and brief; I wish it had been a little briefer and more focused.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful; just wish there were illustrations.

[Zeb Hermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book. Some sections can drag on and be boring. I wish he had focused more on the actual building of his house.

[Laura Narbutaite Marbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected more given the grand title. But for people interested in architecture it can be an easy, atmospheric read.

[Sebastian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the philosophy of architecture but it was repeatedly culturally insensitive So I refuse to finish.

[DPK · Rating 3 out of 5]

He seems A bit insecure and trying to justify his less-than-architect impressive house.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous tribute to the most beautiful house in the world, one which is built by the inhabitant, and roots one’s life in place. Dreamy. Lovely.