
By Marc Denhez
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Publication Date: 1996-07-25
ISBN-10 / ASIN: 1550022024
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9781550022025
Book Description:
Would you want to live in a factory-moulded cube made of
plastic, asbestos, and UFFI? With an "H-bomb shelter" and
the nuclear furnace underneath? Or a house designed by God
to harmonise with the cosmic Muzak? The Canadian Home
explains how our housing came to be including the pagan
origins of "colonial" homes, why "Tudor" is not Tudor, and
where so many predictions went wrong. But the book is not
just about tastes and floor plans; it also celebrates
technological innovation, from prehistoric Inuit windows
(of stretched seal guts) to the R-2000 house and habitation
in space. For the first time, records of the Canadian Home
Builders' Association have been opened to reveal the power
plays of bureaucrats, developers, architects, and financiers
and how they affect the quality, affordability, and choice
of our housing today. Fiery debates over the sublime and the
ridiculous (e.g. 1940s architectural articles on whether
Toronto should be bombed) are set against the backdrop of
Canadian politics and industrial history. Whether the reader's
interest is in construction, politics, or home decor, this
book explains why the roof over our heads is the way it is."
Pierre Berton "In his fascinating study of Canadian shelter,
Marc Denhez takes us on a 20,000-year journey from the days of
the cave, the tipi, and the igloo, to the H-bomb shelter and
the mobile home. This is, in short, a lively as well as an
erudite study of the development of housing . [It] deserves a
permanent position on any library shelf." "If you live in a
house or own one or build one if you have a roof over your head
read this book. A housing book with punch and humour immensely
enjoyable." Charles Lynch author, journalist and former
governor of Heritage Canada.
29,1 MB
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