The book of houses

150 Pages·1973·27.361 MB·0\150

by  Geoffrey Hindley

Of
The Book
HOUSES
Geoffrey Hindis
A
pictorial
exploration of
how we make
and use
the homes
in
we
which
live
Amachineforlivingin-thischalleng-
ing description of a house is said to have
been coined by the great 20th-century
architect Le Corbusier-but as author
Geoffrey Hindley writes, 'people are
untidy and passionate, their homes are
homes of love and anger, worry and
achievement and of unpredictable people
both young and old. No machine has yet
been devised that will really serve for
living in.'
In more than 200 fascinating pictures
this book explores homes as they really
are. from all periods, m all parts of the
world.

The Book
of
HOUSES
Thepublishersgratefullyacknowledgethefollowingwhohavesupplied theillustrations
forthisbook:
J. Allan Cash. London 14/. 16/. 24*. 26/. 364. 37/. 39*. 39/. 52.54/. 56/. 58/.58c 65/.68,
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Bavaria-\>rlag 12. 28//. 28W,29*/: 29*r.40. 102. 114*, 119//. 128*:Stefan Bu/as.
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Haarlem 34r:John R. Freeman. London 129/r: PhotographicGiraudon. Paris 18. 19;
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London6/. 17/.20f. 32, 36/. 77/. 82/r. 83/r.84.90/. 122. 126/. 130*. 141/. 143/;
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and Hudson. Ltd.. London97*: .AgenceTOP. Paris 106. 107. 108*. 110. Ill: \ictoria
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London 18*,21. 22*. 24/, 31/,46/,46A,47/,47*. 50/.*; Weidenfelda-d Nicolson Ltd,
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ISBN 85674025 \
Published by
Triune Books. London, England
© Trewin Copplestone Publishing Ltd 1973
Printed in Spain by
Printer IndustriaGraficaSA, Tuset 19. Bariclona
San X'icentedels Horls
Dep<')sitolegal B 18974 1973
MohnGordon Ltd. London
Allrightsrescr\ed. Nopart ofthis publication Page 7 The remarkable rococo chinoiserie
maybereproduced, recordedor transmitted decorations around the door in the Chinese
inanyformorbyan\ means, whether Room, Claydon, which were executed by the
electronicormechanical,includingpholocopv. local craftsman, Luke Lightfoot.
microfilm, recordingorany information
storageand retriexal system, without Page 3 The rustic kitchen complete with pine
permission inwriting from [rewin Coppleslime furniture and open fireplace at Monticello, near
Publishing Ltd, London Charlottesville, Va., the homeofThomasJefferson.
Contents
Machines for Living In 6
Homes in a Landscape 21
Towns, Cities and Space 34
At the Big House 44
Homes fit for Gentlemen 56
The Residence of Princes 88
Ritual and Refinement 120
Homes in the New World 133
Machines for Living In
'A machine for living in': it is certainly a chal-
lenging definition of a house. The quotation is
generally attributed to the Swiss-horn architect.
Le Corbusier, though he has disclaimed author-
ship. E\en so, it is ohxiously an architect's phrase
intended to shock people into a complete rethink
ofwhat they expect ofa house. Is it merely a form
ofconvenient accommodation or is it .something
more? So we start this book with an investigation
ofsome ofthe functions ofthe house throughout
history and some ofthe qualities ofdomestic life
in the past.
The house has ne\er l)ecn merelyashelter. The
cave paintings of pre-historic man show us that
when men settle in even the most primitive form
ofshelter, it becomes something more than that.
.\ house is a permanent dwelling, often inhabited
by thesame familyand itsdescendantsoveralong
period of lime. We shall be seeing a number of
'machines for li\ing in" in this book; they range
from the grandiose to the humble, but they have
this incommonthat lhe\ allha\c toaccommodate
that variable and awkward commodity, human
nature.
Shortly after the Second World War, Le
Corbusierreceived a commission from the French
Ministry of Reconstruction to build a block of
flats in Marseilles in southern France, intended to
house 1500 people. The result was a building
which some feci revolutionized the direction of
modem architecture. This is partly becauseofthe
exciting way in which the architect handled the
technical problems posed by post-war shortages
both in materials and skilled labour. The genius
of Le Corbusier was able to create architectural
poelr\- in the textured surfaces he got from rough Le C^orbusier was also determined to give the
and often clumsily cast concrete. low income families lor whom the place was
For us the social concept ofthe Unite d'Habita- designed, thesenseofspaciouslivingandgrandeur
lion ('Dwelling Unit"), is even more interesting. i()und in the lofty rooms ofa mansion. Each flat
The whole building rests on massive pillars. Le has a two-storeyed living room with a gallery
Corbusier, in the 1940s far ahead of the current round it at first floor level for the bed. Stretching
environmental fashion, regarded land as a scarce back from it through the width ot tlic building
resource, so at Marseilles children play in the were long narrow second i)edroom. kiulien and
open air and drivers park their (ars under a bathroom. These dwellings, shaped like an L' on
vertical township. For, besides the residential its back overlapped one another so that two Hals
flats, stacked 'like bottles in a rack", there is also a took up three storeys. Ihe idea was brilliant and
huge shopping precinct halfway up the building enlightened, but for a large family, where those
and evena hotel. ()n the roofthereisagymnasium sleepingin thelivingroom gallery arebound tobe
and swimming pool as the architect aimed to disturbed ifothers want to sit uj) late, there arc-
provide all the services ofa town in his Unite. obvious practical disadvantages. The same sort
The Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier built his 'pilotis'. The roof, with its sensational view of the
Unite d'Habitation at Marseilles, France, to neighbouring mountains, was used to the full,
provide low cost housing for about 1500 with play areas for children and sports facilities.
people. Because he regarded land as a scarce Below right The interior of a flat by Le Corbusier.
resource he raised the building on pillars, called
ofthing has been found in many other flats.
'Housing' and 'accommodation' arc the words
we tend to use today instead of 'house". People
have to be put somewhere and the answer is often
these high rise flats to make the maximum use of
land and materials. But li\ingat great heightscan
be psychologically disturbing while the fact that
children may have to go the whole height ofthe
building to reach their playgrounds and that the
entrances to the dwelling units are on long and
usually dark corridors, breaks up the sense of
community that is to be found in a conventional
city street of family houses. P'or many people a
houseoftheirown is the ideal. Ahouseis notjusta
form ofaccommodation, it is something more.
In every- civilisation it is the great houses that
have set the fashions which others have followed
where they can. In the West, the Roman villa
was for centuries the ideal of the house for the
rich and powerful. 'My dear Gallus. you may
wonder why my Laurentine place is such a jo\
to me. but once you reali.se the attractions ofthe
hou.se itself, the amenities ofits situation, and its
extensive seafront, you will have your answer.'
The writer is Pliny the Younger and in the letter
that follows he sets out the beauties of the ideal
country place near Rome in about the year
.\D 100. It was the city man's dream, only se\en-
tcen miles from the capital so it was possible to do
a full day'swork and ride back in time fordinner.
The main dining room was, in Pliny's \icw.
"realK- rather fine." It ran out towards the sea so
that when the wind was in the right direction
light plumes ofspray came into the terrace; when
the weather was colder or rougher one simpK
had to close the folding glass doors so as to enjoy
the luxury of a modern waterside restaurant.
Leading offfrom the dining room was a suite of
bedrooms and a library set so that the ra\s oftlie
morning and evening sun streamed in on them;
behind them were the rooms of the slaxes and
freedmen. .Along the sea-front from the dining
room was the ball court and the iieatcd swimming
pool, "much admired and Irom which the
swimmers can see the sea." On the land side was a
small dining room overlooking a quiet garden
and a pergola forvines where thesoil was soft and
gentle e\en to bare feet; in the corner between
this and the dining room was the well stocked
kitchen garden. The far side of the vine garden
was bounded by an arcade witli windows looking
out onto the sea, which led out to tlie suite of
rooms that Pliny built onto the house as his
personal retreat. Here was a sun room facing the
terrace on one side and the sea on the other with
next to it a beautiful alcove divided from the sun
room byglass partitionsand curtains which could
be drawn to make a single charming room. l"he
letter is so detailed that a modern scholar has
been able to build a scale model of Plinv's place
in the country.
The description also contains a numl)cr of
themes that will recur in this book. The wealthy
Roman certainly did not look on his hou.se a.s a
machine for living in. Pliny was a bus\- imperial
administrator and Laurcnlia pro\idcd lor him a
peaceful retreat from the cares of the (iu. I h,
city dweller's yearning for the comitiAside is as
old as civilisation. Excavation has re\ealed
handsome country villas on the fringes ofancient
8