This book takes the reader on a tour of ten villas built by
Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Palladio's buildings married
the influences of civilized Roman antiquity with the functional
rusticana of 16th-century Italian country estates; they were so
loved by Goethe that he wrote of them: 'there is something divine
about his talent... comparable to the power of a great poet'. Their
impression on the history of architecture has been vast (Buckingham
Palace and the White House are both obviously Palladian), their
impression on Rybczynski even more so: he extols the virtues of
these perfectly formed dwellings with infectious zeal. One might
think that a book describing the form and construction of what are,
essentially, fairly unremarkable Italian homesteads would be
massively uninteresting - and one would be right, were it not for
the ease with which Rybczynski evokes the time, place, and, most
importantly, subtle perfection of Palladio's work. This is done
most effectively by the absence of photographs: the reader is
encouraged to flesh out original plans with the aid of Rybczynski's
competent prose and sketches. The buildings are thus presented in
terms of increasing complexity: first, a plan; a brief description;
next, a wandering discourse on rooms, levels, materials,
construction; and, finally, the embellishments - the frescoes and
friezes. All of this is helped by a glossary of architectural
terms, which though not completely comprehensive is certainly
robust. The book is emphatically not a biography of the architect;
rather, it is an attempt to identify that which Goethe so admired:
an excellence that has caused these 16th-century villas to be
echoed in some of the grandest structures of modern times. One
thing is for certain: after reading this book, you'll spot
Palladian buildings everywhere. (Kirkus UK)
Renaissance master Andrea Palladio's architectural DNA can be seen
on modern-day icons from Buckingham Palace to the White House, from
numerous English stately homes to Virginian plantation houses. In
THE PERFECT HOUSE Witold Rybczynski travels along the Brenta River
in north-eastern Italy to experience the surviving original
Palladian villas for himself. He sets out to discover how a rustic
sixteenth-century stonemason, born Andrea di Pietro, first had to
become 'cultured' before he could be one of the most respected
architects of all time, and how Palladio managed to bring the
elegance of Ancient Rome to the Venetian countryside. Out of the
chaos of hired cars and cheap flights, towns packed with
'Ristoranti Palladio' and herds of tourists, Rybczynski savours
moments of epiphany as he contemplates Palladio's perfect houses.
Part travelogue, part historical biography, part architectural
guide, THE PERFECT HOUSE is a delightful and enlightening
exploration of the birth of domestic architecture and the man who
spawned it.
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