Witold Rybczynski

Author profile

born

in Edinburgh, The United Kingdom

March 01, 1943

gender

male

website

http://www.witoldrybczynski.com/

twitter username

witoldr

genre

Nonfiction, Arts & Photography

About this author

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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)

112 posts
Witold Rybczynski's Blog

Witold Rybczynski isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but he does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from his feed.

TWISTED THINKING

Cayan Tower, Dubai

SOM’s 75-story Cayan Tower in Dubai now has the dubious honor of being the tallest twisted tower in the world. According to the designer, one of the aims of this complicated exercise was to produce a “memorable” form. It is memorable, since we have become used to orthogonal high-rises. I haven’t seen the Cayan Tower, but I have seen Calatrava’s so-called Turning Torso in Swed...

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Witold Rybczynski's Books

Average rating: 3.73 · 2,199 ratings · 349 reviews · 32 distinct works · Similar authors

	Home: A Short History of an Idea 3.87 of 5 stars 3.87 avg rating — 459 ratings — published 1986 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century 3.9 of 5 stars 3.90 avg rating — 318 ratings — published 1999 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw 3.63 of 5 stars 3.63 avg rating — 218 ratings — published 2000 — 12 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Most Beautiful House in the World 3.82 of 5 stars 3.82 avg rating — 192 ratings — published 1989 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville: Real Estate Development in America from George Washington to the Builders of the Twenty-First Century, and Why We Live in Houses Anyway 3.53 of 5 stars 3.53 avg rating — 201 ratings — published 2007 — 6 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture 3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 avg rating — 143 ratings — published 1992 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	City Life: Urban Expectations In A New World 3.61 of 5 stars 3.61 avg rating — 195 ratings — published 1995 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas About Cities 3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 avg rating — 150 ratings — published 2010 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Look of Architecture 3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 avg rating — 108 ratings — published 2001 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Waiting for the Weekend 3.53 of 5 stars 3.53 avg rating — 97 ratings — published 1991 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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April 2012, Witold Rybczynski
" What Readers want to know... SS: How would you describe perfect happiness? WR: A glass of grappa at the end of the day SS: What’s your greatest fear? WR: Blindness SS: If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be? WR:..." ...More

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Quotes by Witold Rybczynski

“I enjoy visiting building sites. Unlike the ordered anonymity of office bureaucracy or the featureless regularity of a factory assembly line, a building site appears disorderly and chaotic. In fact, there is organization, but it is a loose orchestration of many separate trademen, working side by side but not necessarily together.”
― Witold Rybczynski, Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture

3 people liked it

“There may be fewer people in the American house of the nineties, but there are a lot more things.”
― Witold Rybczynski, Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture

3 people liked it

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