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The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough (American Institute Architects)
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Product Description
We are living in complex times, in a commodified, virtual, and overstimulated culture. One response to high levels of complexity and overstimulation is to look for yet another gadget or closet organizer to simplify our lives. But the answer lies somewhere else. The road to a simpler more satisfying life begins with a clear-eyed examination of the choices we are making for our time--and that includes choices about where we want to live.
The Simple Home presents six paths to simplicity, each illustrated by human-scaled, unadorned homes with straightforward floor plans and forms. These are open, light-filled homes (with rooms or spaces that are often multipurpose) that express their beauty in their utility and practicality. Simple homes are low maintenance and often green, designed for homeowners who wish to embody a different set of values in their housing choices than the run-of-the-mill starter castles littering the landscape.
The 6 Paths to Simplicity:
1. Simple is Enough
2. Simple is Thrifty
3. Simple is Flexible
4. Simple is Timeless
5. Simple is Sustainable
6. Simple is Refined
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #102333 in Books
- Published on: 2007-02-01
- Released on: 2007-02-27
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 249 pages
Editorial Reviews
Review
Oversized rooms, clutter and complexity are rejected in favor of simplicity and sustainability in the 21 homes examined through text and photos. From San Francisco to upstate New York, these homeowners have chosen eco-friendly, sustainable designs and turned away from mindless acquisition in a quest for a less frenetic lifestyle. --"New York Newsday"
If you want to live a greener life, live a simpler life - by spending and consuming less, especially when it comes to your home. "The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough," by architect Sarah Nettleton, showcases houses that embrace this ideology - including an 1,800-square-foot Brooklyn row house where minimalism triumphs over extraneous details, a Seattle farmhouse where materials and services were purchased locally, and a solar house in Taos. Nettleton offers strategies for building green, including using recycled, reclaimed and eco-friendly materials, and shows how good design can result in smart, earth-friendly living. --"New York Post
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One thing we all learned from Katrina: We can live with less. So Sarah Nettleton is preaching to the choir when she writes about "The Simple Home." We know that simplicity sells in today's fast-paced environment, that simple homes are more flexible, thriftier, more timeless, more sustainable. Yes, Sarah, simple is enough.Ultimately, the authorpoints out, it's not the items we place in our homes that bring us joy, but the ambiance we create there. Serenity lies not in architectural design or decorative style, but in the peace we feel when our surroundings suit us. And that's a simple but profound lesson indeed. --"Times-Picayune"
WHAT is simplicity in a home, and how can we achieve it? It's more spiritual than specific, these authors say. And they make some good points, in prose and pictures.The simple house is not explained by size, they write. A simple house can be big or small. It is not defined by architectural style: A simple house can be traditional or modern. And it is not determined by the amount or vintage of its furniture.Bottom line, forget the latest trends. You know the architectural style you love. You know what you and your family's needs are. So don't be fooled into building or buying something with too much of what you don't need, and too little of what you do. --"The Los Angeles Times"
About the Author
Sarah Nettleton, AIA, has been a registered architect in Minneapolis since 1987. Her firm, Sarah Nettleton Architects, focuses on house and landscape, with an emphasis on sustainable design. Sarah is Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota Architecture School and taught architectural technology at the Minneapolis Technical College for 11 years. This is her first book.
Customer Reviews
Not Too Simple.
The image on the cover is as "simple" as this book gets. While most of the homes in this book are beautiful, I did not find them to be particulalry simple. The image on the cover, as well as the editorial notes, conjure up notions of not only simplicity in home design, but a real departure in our thinking about the way we live. I already own several books on the subject, and was excited to learn something new - but nothing new here. While the homes generally lean towards cleaner lines and a BIT less clutter, they are quite elaborate and complex in terms of building materials, construction & application of those materials, and the costs involved. I was also disappointed that most of the homes are located in the country and with only a sparse representation of urban examples. Finally, when I looked at the list of architects and firms whose designs were featured in this book, I recognized some of the most famous names in the industry. This left me feeling somewhat mislead by chapters with titles such as "Simple is Thrifty" and "Simple is Enough" when this caliber of professionals and their respective price tags are involved.
Towards a new lifestyle
To me, the essence of this book is beautifully summarized in the photograph on the back cover. It shows a plain and simple room, tan/biege colored walls, a couple of windows, a painting on one wall and the only furniture is an easy chair, a small table beside it and a stack of books on the table.
Like most of you, I suppose, I've lived in a bunch of houses and apartments. I finally decided to move to a small town in Nevada. I bought a tiny house, less than a thousand square feet. It's old, I don't know how old, but at least a hundred years. As Ms. Nettleton says in one of her chapters, Simple is Timeless. It was cheap, $30,000 (plus another $12 for remodelling), As Ms. Nettleton says, Simple is Thrifty. And as she also says, 'Simple is: Enouth, Flexible, Sustainable, Resolved Complexity. As she quotes Albert Einstein (who wasn't talking about houses, but it's a very good quote) 'Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.'
Ms. Nettleton has grasped the essence of living a much simpler life. The homes presented here might not fit your ideal, but the ideas she presents are exactly what I wanted when I moved here from the East Coast. Beautiful book.
A surprising book
I bought this book because I liked the pictures, but what turned out to be the best thing about it is the philosophy behind it. I've been trying to streamline my life and reduce clutter, but I haven't been able to strip things down as far as I'd like. This book makes bold suggestions about how much we really need to live comfortably while doing as little damage as possible to our surroundings, and suggests specific ways to do it. It made me look at our house in a whole new way. This book is a great model for anyone trying to simplify their living space. It's also imaginative--one house has a ceiling like an overturned boat because the people who live there love the water. I like it so much I bought two more copies for gifts.
