Palladio
Well, I still haven't been to Italy, haven't seen any of Palladio's villas. Nor have I written to Witold Rybczynsk, probably because I never quite finished his book about Palladio. It has been a while, indeed, since I've picked up The Four Books on Architecture, although it's very handily situated in our living room. Indeed, re-reading this page, I felt the anxiety that I've been suffering for weeks focus into a stab of pain. The month hasn't gone at all as planned. Never have I been more "social," and in few months have I ever been to so many plays and concerts. Long lunches, lengthy rambles and evenings out have left me feeling rather dissipated, and more than a little dizzy. I have christened this strange mood "Hellomoto," after the antic ringtone of that name that comes with my Razr phone. Perhaps an hour or two with Palladio would act, as I wrote, as a "tonic" to "restore jaded senses."
But of course I can't, not right now. I'm determined to finish another task. See the following entry, above.
Comments
Mr. Rybczynsk's book on Palladio's villas is wonderful; it should be required reading for all potential McMansion builders. Once read, a sense of the fitness of proportion and balance, public and private space, as explained by the author in his heartfelt tour of these seminal domestic structures, will give new home builders pause. The unending joy of a well-built home with timeless grace and utility will surely overcome the crazed desires for the fleeting ephemera of home theatres, flight deck-sized kitchens and other cheap effects currently in vogue but destined to go the way of the Dodo.
Posted by: LXIV | August 30, 2006 04:30 PM