Witty, personal, and engaging, this cri de coeur from an esteemed critic takes on the age-old question of what elevates a mere building into an art formWhat is it about architecture that distinguishes it from ordinary building? Frustrated with the many cookie-cutter buildings going up around his home in downtown Philadelphia, eminent architectural historian and critic Witold Rybczynski offers an immersive meditation on the...

The prize-winning scholar's "expert, holistic, down-to-earth guide" to the beauty and function of architecture ( Booklist , starred review).We spend most of our days and nights in buildings. They are the setting of our everyday lives as well as a public art form. Yet architecture remains a mystery to most of us. In How Architecture Works, Witold Rybczynski, a renowned critic and winner of the Vincent Scully Prize f...

**“[A] compact epic.… Brisk, lucid and enjoyable.” —Richard Snow, Wall Street JournalThe renowned design writer on the extraordinary history of car design.**In this lively and entertaining work, Witold Rybczynski—hailed as “one of the best writers on design working today” by Publishers Weekly—tells the story of the most distinctive cars in history and the artists, engineers, dreamers, and gearheads who created them. Delving into more than 170 years of inge...

A deep exploration of modern life that examines our cities, public places, and homes.Following How Architecture Works, Witold Rybczynski casts a seasoned critical eye over the modern scene with Mysteries of the Mall. His subject is nothing less than the broad setting of our metropolitan world.In thirty-five discerning essays, Rybczynski ranges over subjects as varied as shopping malls, Central Park, the Paris opera house, and America's shrin...

A study of the life, work, and extraordinary influence of an innovative architectAlbert Simons came of age during the vibrant years of the Charleston Renaissance in the early twentieth century. His influential social circle included artists, musicians, writers, historians, and preservationists, many supporting the cultural revival that was reshaping the city. Through his architectural design and passion for preservation, Simons contributed tremendously to the cultu...

Have you ever wondered where rocking chairs came from, or why cheap plastic chairs are suddenly everywhere?In Now I Sit Me Down, the distinguished architect and writer Witold Rybczynski chronicles the history of the chair from the folding stools of pharaonic Egypt to the ubiquitous stackable monobloc chairs of today. He tells the stories of the inventor of the bentwood chair, Michael Thonet, and of the creators of the first molded-plywood chair, Charles and Ray Eames. He re...

An inviting exploration of architecture across cultures and centuries by one of the field’s eminent authorsIn this sweeping history, from the Stone Age to the present day, Witold Rybczynski shows how architectural ideals have been affected by technological, economic, and social changes—and by changes in taste. The host of examples ranges from places of worship such as Hagia Sophia and Brunelleschi’s Duomo to living spaces such as the Katsura Imperial Villa and the ...

A captivating chronicle of building in modern-day Charleston, making a case for architecture based on historical precedent, local context, and the ability to delightCharleston, South Carolina, which boasts America’s first historic district, is known for its palmetto-lined streets and picturesque houses. The Holy City, named for its profusion of churches, exudes an irresistible charm. Award-winning author and cultural critic Witold Rybczynski unfolds a series of sto...

'Has the power to change the way you look at the world' Steven Bartlett'The heir to Oliver Sacks' David BaddielA FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2024AN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTHGluttony. Greed. Sloth. Pride. Envy. Lust. Anger.These are the seven deadly sins, the vices of humankind that define immorality, the roots of all evil in the world. Or so some believe.

Tour the history of human invention—and its attendant breakthroughs and busts—in this history book from the New York Times-bestselling author of How the World Really Works.A BILL GATES RECOMMENDED BOOK: “Every Smil book that I own is marked up with lots of notes that I take while reading. Invention and Innovation is no exception.”The world is never finished catching up with Vaclav Smil, author of New York Time...

Entertaining word problems that let verbal types master the language of math!Math is a universal language, but it's also the least understood and most undervalued subject taught in school. Two Trains Leave Paris: Number Problems for Word People offers an opportunity to experience math like never before.You must use the Pythagorean Theorem to figure out how far apart two ex-lovers are when they simultaneously realize that they cannot live without ea...

"[A] timely book . . . a wonderfully entertaining trip around the board, through 4,000 years of game history." — The Wall Street JournalBoard games have been with us even longer than the written word. But what is it about this pastime that continues to captivate us well into the age of smartphones and instant gratification?In It's All a Game, Tristan Donovan, British journalist and author of Replay: The History of Video Games, opens...