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The First House: Myth, Paradigm, and the Task of Architecture
In the first century B.C., Vitruvius Pollio narrated a myth of the origins of dwelling. In a forest clearing, previously isolated and savage people gathered about the embers of a dying fire; from this gathering emerged political institutions, human language, and the construction of permanent shelters. R. D. Dripps finds in this story the foundation of an extensive theory of architecture still able to offer guideposts for architectural practice. Against any tendency toward theoretical disengagement or self-referentiality, Dripps argues that architecture must continue to address important political, cultural, and ecological issues. Ultimately, the role of architecture is to provide the structures that enable us to interpret the world and make it habitable.
Throughout, Dripps's intensive meditations on Vitruvius are supplemented by extensive notes that establish points of contact with a wide array of modern writers on myth, language, political theory, and the arts.
Throughout, Dripps's intensive meditations on Vitruvius are supplemented by extensive notes that establish points of contact with a wide array of modern writers on myth, language, political theory, and the arts.
154 pages, Paperback
First published July 11, 1997
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January 7, 2026
"our world is desperately in need of elaboration. it is a world in need of a public realm with an engaged public..."
nice read! never thought about the intrinsic value of architecture not only to our daily lives but our collective existence. according to vitruvius, when man first shambled and sat next to the fire next to another, they knew not what they were doing. they didn't know they were different at first. it was with this meeting that man knew that they were meant for more. they sat around each other so long that they began to want to communicate, to mingle. living is a public act, and must be experienced together. being born into a home you are blessed with such a thing that you can go your entire life taking it for granted. you never really sit there and think what it means to be able to call someone a "home". an interesting point made is that to have a center of something you have to have an edge. the center of a home is a person and the edge is the walls. "consider the moment when a person grasps the handle to open a door. at this instant the human's measure is placed upon the building." all parts of a house are obvious to us now. the threshold marks the acceptable entrance, the clear beacon that separates the inside "human world" to the outside "natural world". the center of the first hints of a civilized world was the fire, and the edge was the edge of the forest. anything beyond that is unknown and barbarous. today, that boundary has gotten smaller.
by revisiting our humble beginnings of mankind, dripps is showing us what it means to begin again. we are placed in the shoes (or lack thereof) of our long distant ancestors and are made to understand what it means to truly understand being a human and the role it plays today. even if vitrivius' hypothesis isn't sound, it still gives us a stepping stone of that first human light.
*within the first chapter it is mentioned how man didn't know it was different until it was able to gaze at the stars. this ability is described by the author as the "implicit consequence of the vertical condition" and i will be using that forever now.
nice read! never thought about the intrinsic value of architecture not only to our daily lives but our collective existence. according to vitruvius, when man first shambled and sat next to the fire next to another, they knew not what they were doing. they didn't know they were different at first. it was with this meeting that man knew that they were meant for more. they sat around each other so long that they began to want to communicate, to mingle. living is a public act, and must be experienced together. being born into a home you are blessed with such a thing that you can go your entire life taking it for granted. you never really sit there and think what it means to be able to call someone a "home". an interesting point made is that to have a center of something you have to have an edge. the center of a home is a person and the edge is the walls. "consider the moment when a person grasps the handle to open a door. at this instant the human's measure is placed upon the building." all parts of a house are obvious to us now. the threshold marks the acceptable entrance, the clear beacon that separates the inside "human world" to the outside "natural world". the center of the first hints of a civilized world was the fire, and the edge was the edge of the forest. anything beyond that is unknown and barbarous. today, that boundary has gotten smaller.
by revisiting our humble beginnings of mankind, dripps is showing us what it means to begin again. we are placed in the shoes (or lack thereof) of our long distant ancestors and are made to understand what it means to truly understand being a human and the role it plays today. even if vitrivius' hypothesis isn't sound, it still gives us a stepping stone of that first human light.
*within the first chapter it is mentioned how man didn't know it was different until it was able to gaze at the stars. this ability is described by the author as the "implicit consequence of the vertical condition" and i will be using that forever now.
Displaying 1 of 1 review