Witold Rybczynski (born 1 March 1943) is a

Canadian American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadia ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, professor and writer. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor Emeritus of Urbanism at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Early life

Rybczynski was born in Edinburgh of Polish parentage and raised in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England, before moving at a young age to Canada. He attended Loyola College in Montreal. He received

Bachelor of Architecture The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the world. Australia Architectural education in Australia varies depending on the university offering th ...

(1966) and

Master of Architecture The “Master of Architecture”(M.Arch or MArch) or a “Bachelor of Architecture” is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation (internship, exams) that res ...

(1972) degrees from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

in Montreal.

Career

Rybczynski has written around 300 articles and papers on the subjects of

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

, architecture, and technology, many of which are aimed at a non-technical readership. His work has been published in a wide variety of magazines, including ''

The Wilson Quarterly ''The Wilson Quarterly'' is a magazine published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The magazine was founded in 1976 by Peter Braestrup and James H. Billington. It is noted for its nonpartisan, non-ideolog ...

'', ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', and ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. From 2004 to 2010, he was architecture critic for ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

''. He taught at McGill University (1974–1993) and the

(1993–2012), and served on the

U.S. Commission of Fine Arts The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction with ...

from 2004 to 2012. He now lives in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the

. He was married to Shirley Hallam, who died in 2021.

Awards and honors

Rybczynski's book '' Home: A Short History of an Idea'' was nominated for the 1986 Governor General's Award for non-fiction, and '' A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and North America in the Nineteenth Century'' won the

J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book that exemplifies, "literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern.” The prize is given by the Nieman Foundation and by the Columbia ...

and was short-listed for the

Charles Taylor Prize The RBC Taylor Prize (2000–2020), formerly known as the Charles Taylor Prize, is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Charles Taylor Foundation to the best Canadian work of literary non-fiction. It is named for Charles P. B. Taylor, a ...

in 2000. In 2007 Rybczynski was the recipient of the Seaside Prize and the

Vincent Scully Prize The Vincent Scully Prize was established in 1999 to recognize exemplary practice, scholarship or criticism in architecture, historic preservation and urban design. Created by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., the award first honored ...

, awarded by the

National Building Museum The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, and is a private Non-profit org ...

. Rybczynski is a Senior Fellow of the

Design Futures Council The Design Futures Council is an interdisciplinary network of design, product, and construction leaders exploring global trends, challenges, and opportunities to advance innovation and shape the future of the industry and environment. Members inclu ...

. In 2014 he received a National Design Award for Design Mind from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Rybczynski is an honorary fellow of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

, and an honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He has received the AIA Collaborative Honors, and the Pennsylvania AIA President's Award. He holds honorary doctorates from McGill University and the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

Works

*''Paper Heroes: Appropriate Technology: Panacea or Pipe Dream?'' (1980) *''Taming the Tiger: The Struggle to Control Technology'' (1983) *'' Home: A Short History of an Idea'' (1986) *''

The Most Beautiful House in the World ''The Most Beautiful House in the World'' is a book published in 1989 by Canadian architect, professor and writer Witold Rybczynski Witold Rybczynski (born 1 March 1943) is a Canadian American architect, professor and writer. He is currentl ...

'' (1989) *''

Waiting for the Weekend ''Waiting for the Weekend'' is a book published in 1991 by Canadian architect, professor and writer Witold Rybczynski. In ''Waiting for the Weekend'', Rybczynski recounts the evolution of the seven-day week, which came into being with the Babyl ...

'' (1991) *''McGill: A Celebration'' (1991) *''Looking Around: A Journey Through Architecture'' (1992) *''A Place for Art/Un lieu pour l'art: The Architecture of the National Gallery of Canada'' (1993) *''City Life: Urban expectations in a new world'' (1995) *'' A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and North America in the Nineteenth Century'' (1999) *'' One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw'' (2000) *''The Look of Architecture'' (2001) *''The Perfect House: A Journey with Renaissance Master Andrea Palladio'' (2002) *''Vizcaya: An American Villa and Its Makers'' (2006), co-written with

Laurie Olin Laurie Olin (born 1938, Marshfield, Wisconsin) is an American landscape architect. He has worked on landscape design projects at diverse scales, from private residential gardens to public parks and corporate/museum campus plans. Early life Olin g ...

*''Last Harvest: How A Cornfield Became New Daleville: Real Estate Development in America'' (2007) *''My Two Polish Grandfathers: And Other Essays on the Imaginative Life'' (2009) *''Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas About Cities'' (2010) *''The Biography of a Building: How Robert Sainsbury and Norman Foster Built a Great Museum'' (2011) * ''How Architecture Works: A Humanist's Toolkit ''(2013) * ''Mysteries of the Mall: And Other Essays'' (2015) * ''Now I Sit Me Down: From Klismos to Plastic Chair: A Natural History'' (2016) * ''Charleston Fancy: Little Houses and Big Dreams in the Holy City'' (2019)

References

Notes

External links