Product Description

"Palladio is the Bible," Thomas Jefferson once said. "You should get it and stick to it." With his simple, gracious, perfectly proportioned villas, Andrea Palladio elevated the architecture of the private house into an art form during the late sixteenth century -- and his influence is still evident in the ample porches, columned porticoes, grand ceilings, and front-door pediments of America today.

In The Perfect House, bestselling author Witold Rybczynski, whose previous books have transformed our understanding of domestic architecture, reveals how a handful of Palladio's houses in an obscure corner of the Venetian Republic should have made their presence felt hundreds of years later and halfway across the globe. More than just a study of one of history's seminal architectural figures, The Perfect House reflects Rybczynski's enormous admiration for his subject and provides a new way of looking at the special landscapes we call "home" in the modern world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85206 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Italian Renaissance architect and architectural theorist Palladio (1508-1580), whose superb and influential buildings helped define the renaissance, has been lucky in his commentators. Palladio's unique way of relating art to nature and architecture to surrounding natural forms in order to reinvent ancient classicism has been well described in such previous books as Vincent Scully's The Villas of Palladio. Now Rybczynski (The Look of Architecture, etc.), the University of Pennsylvania professor of urbanism and Wharton Business School professor of real estate, offers a confident look at his own touristic visits to the surviving Palladian villas: 17 out of around 30 remain, such as the Villa Rotunda in Vicenza and the Villa Foscari at Malcontenta. In 10 concise chapters devoted to these and other villas, Rybczynski proves a deeply able and aptly enchanted guide. Actually renting Villa Saraceno at Finale di Agugliaro, he describes in detail how careful proportions foster a sense of "well-being" and make the small villa seem "palatial" "almost like being outside." While Rybczynski doesn't quite generate the personal interest that normally drives a travel diary, his careful observations of everything from climatic conditions to fender benders will have readers eagerly following in his footsteps and finding traces of Palladio everywhere. Illus. not seen by PW.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
One of our most original, accessible, and stimulating writers on architecture builds on some of his earlier, and more personal, publications (e.g., Home: A Short History of an Idea) to offer an appreciation of the residential work of Andrea Palladio (1508-80). Pointing out in the preface that much of the most persistent architectural symbolism associated with houses derives from Palladio's villas, the author provides a detailed analysis, both historical and architectural, of ten of the 30 villas attributed to the architect. With its intriguing biographical detail, precise descriptions of design elements, and engaging insights into daily life in the 16th century, Rybczynski's book is a small but lasting gift to the reader. Despite the sparse illustrations, which consist of plans and elevations from Palladio's own publications and of fine freehand drawings by the author, this volume is an excellent companion to James S. Ackerman's Palladio. For more illustrated material, Manfred Wundram's Andrea Palladio, 1508-1580: Architect Between the Renaissance and the Baroque and Andrea Palladio: The Complete Illustrated Works are essential. Nevertheless, any collection with titles on Palladio or residential architecture should acquire this. Paul Glassman, New York Sch. of Interior Design Lib.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Modern architects are more and more often finding fame as builders of personal houses, instead of from the building of public buildings and spaces. Perhaps the very first architect who found fame almost exclusively through the building of privately owned homes was Palladio, who designed villas in the countryside around Venice and Vicenza, Italy, in the sixteenth century. Rybczynski, a professor of architecture, finds himself smitten with Palladio and the greatness of his work. He takes a tour of his villas, carefully describing each one, and deftly interweaves the story of Palladio's life. And Palladio's villas, though generally small in scale, have had a big influence on some of the best known landmark buildings (and grand private residences) around the world: the White House, Buckingham Palace, and Monticello--all of them derive some of their architectural motifs from Palladio's influence. Rybczynski's fascination comes from the fact "that a handful of houses should have made their presence felt hundreds of years later and halfway around the globe is extraordinary. It makes Palladio the most influential architect in history." Michael Spinella
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

The Most Influential Architect
Who is the greatest architect who ever lived? It's an impossible question, of course. Perhaps one that might get closer to a real answer is, Who is the most influential architect who ever lived? Witold Rybczynski has an answer, and it is a convincing one: Palladio. In _The Perfect House: A Journey with the Renaissance Master Andrea Palladio_ (Scribner), Rybczynski looks at the villas Palladio produced around the mainland of Venice in the sixteenth century, not as historic monuments but as useful and beautifully architectured homes. He places Palladio firmly within his times, but drawing on the classical architecture of Rome and drawn on by Inigo Jones, Thomas Jefferson, and countless others. It is hard to disagree with Rybczynski's conclusion about Palladio's influence, and after this book, a reader is likely to see Palladian themes not only in grand homes, but in diminished form in modern suburban ones as well.

Palladio was merely the son of a miller or maker of millstones; the historical record is not clear. He was trained as a stonemason, and early showed enough talent that Count Giangiorgio Trissino, of an old Vicenza family, noticed his ability. This was his introduction to higher things, especially his ticket to Rome, where the ancient buildings proved a continuing inspiration for his villas. He designed about thirty of them, several of which never were started and if started were not completed; clients of architects then and now faced over-optimism and reversals of fortune. Seventeen survive, some in excellent preservation and some a bit seedy. They are Palladio's main legacy, and remain beautiful and durable; most are still lived in. Rybczynski gives a wonderful introduction to the tools at Palladio's disposal - pediments, porches, entablatures, apses, and more. These were all juggled and adjusted in each specific case. And while there is a unity to the composition of the villas, Rybczynski demonstrates that there is no such thing as a "typical" Palladian villa: "Some of his designs incorporate temple fronts, some do not; some have pedimented windows, some have plain openings; some porticoes are supported by elaborate Corinthian columns, others by unadorned piers. His fertile imagination brimmed with ideas." Architects and artists have been learning from Palladio ever since. The book has the author's line drawings of each of the buildings, and some reproductions of Palladio's sketches or plans, but they are really not sufficient to understand the massings of space Palladio so expertly managed. When I read the book, I checked up on various websites to get fuller pictures.

Rybczynski has lived for a short time in one of the villas, and his words on what make them special are worth reading, although no one will fully be able to explain it. He gives enough examples from all over the world (in America, Monticello, the White House, local courthouses and countless southern mansions are Palladian buildings) to make entirely sufficient his argument about the architect's influence. It is easy to catch Rybczynski's enthusiasm. Those who don't know Palladio will find this book, which is a capsule biography, travelogue, and architectural appreciation, a fine introduction. Those who are already Palladians will rejoice in the clear descriptions and the first hand accounts, coming from an experienced observer and an entertaining storyteller.

Rybczynski phoned this one in...
This is a surprisingly lazy effort for Rybczynski, whose other writing on architecture I've found to be quite good, even exceptional. "The Perfect House" is a travelogue and collection of notes on the work of the 16th century Veneto architect Andrea Palladio, with a handful of sketches and photos sprinkled in to illustrate the works discussed. While Rybczynski does get an important point right -- that Palladio's work ought to be experienced first hand to be properly appreciated -- his pedestrian observations and low-key, easygoing style seem drastically mismatched to the drama of Palladio's architecture. And if Palladio must be directly experienced to be understood, why not provide proper photographs and drawings of the buildings to support the argument?

It's unclear who the audience is for this book since its discussions (while well written and earnest) are introductory, yet the few postage stamp black and white images don't give much of a sense of the material to a newcomer. I imagine only in architecture could one get away with such laziness, where chatting about the friendliness of an historic house's current owner has some place, perhaps. I can't imagine there would be any use for a book on Rembrandt, for instance, that would describe a visit to a painting, maybe the coffee one had afterward with its owner, and then include a quick little sketch instead of reproducing the painting itself.

This book conveys the author's enthusiasm for Palladio's work, but the repeated assertions that Palladio made houses that are well-built and comfortable to live in can hardly be counted as a great insight. If you want a decent introduction to Palladio's work, "Palladio" by James Ackerman is a classic, and Taverner's "Palladio and Palladianism" is good too.

Very good book. Needs more illustrations.
Excellent prose. Fantastic selection of villas. It would be helpful if subsequent editions had more illustrations. I found myself constantly flipping back to try to determine what the author was mentioning. All in all, though, a worthwhile read.