Saturday, October 10, 2009

A Place of My Own

this past week i've been reading A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan, and i think it's worth sharing. if you haven't heard of him, he is also the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, both excellent books about food & culture in America. i am not a professional book reviewer, so bear with me...

the basic premise of this book is the author (Pollan) going through the process of designing, planning and building (with his own hands) a small building on his property. along the way, he researches different methods & writings on architecture, design, construction... it's REALLY interesting to read about debates on foundation design in the words of an author turned DIYer! and i have not considered many of the issues he discusses- a building's position on it's property or the way it meets the ground as vital to its personality & energy. fascinating stuff! plus, i enjoy Pollan as an author, so reading about design & architecture in his words is just icing on the cake!

these are pictures of Pollan's Writing House, which is the subject of his book.
i found these pictures on his website.



*please note that Pollan is not a sponsor of my blog- look at my blog: i obviously have no sponsors! ha!

i am linking this to the last ever Hooked on Houses
"Hooked on Fridays," even though it's saturday... because i love her blog and my daughter's name is Julia, too!

2 comments:

Terry said...

Thanks, I hadn't heard about "A Place of My Own." It did remind me of "House" by Tracy Kidder. It's non-fiction about all the human processes involved in building a home in New England: Owner, architect, tradesmen. Interesting and touching.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like an interesting read. I hadn't thought of some of those things either. Hope you're having a good day!
pk @ Room Remix