A Pinoy Blog About Nothing

Where exactly did the idea of home come from? ‘Home’ - that physical place we go to at the end of the day of work. That place where we entertain guests but close off to strangers? What makes a home comfortable? These are just some of the ideas explored in Witold Rybczynski’s Home: A Short History of an Idea

This was a book given by a friend before I left the Philippines (hi Carrie!) and I finally got around to reading it in the past few weeks. Two to be exact. It’s not that it’s a difficult book to read rather it’s a book full of ideas on things that we take for granted since we’re surrounded by it everyday.

An excerpt from the first chapter:

I am sitting in a creaky old swivel-type wooden armchair of the sort that used to be found in newspaper offices; it has l a battered foam cushion. When I use the telephone, I tilt back and feel like Pat O’Brien in The Front Page. Since the chair is on casters, I can roll around and reach the books, magazines, papers, pencils, and paperclips that surround me. Everything necessary is close to hand, as in any well-organized workplace, whether it is a writer’s room or the cockpit of a jumbo jet. Of course, the kind of organization required to write a book is not the same as is needed to fly a plane. Although some writers find comfort in a neatly organized desk, my own is covered three-deep with a jumble of halfopened books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, magazines, sheets of paper, and newspaper clippings. Finding something in this precarious pile is like playing pick-up-sticks. As the work progresses, the pile grows taller and the open space on which I write shrinks further. Even so, there is comfort in this confusion; only when a chapter is finished, and my desk is once again immaculately empty, do I feel a sense of unease. Like a blank page, a neat desk can intimidate.

Hominess is not neatness. Otherwise everyone would live in replicas of the kinds of sterile and impersonal homes that appear in interior-design and architectural magazines. What these spotless rooms lack, or what crafty photographers have carefully removed, is any evidence of human occupation. In spite of the artfully placed vases and casually arranged art books, the imprint of their inhabitants is missing. These pristine interiors fascinate and repel me. Can people really live without clutter? How do they stop the Sunday papers from spreading over the living room? How do they manage without toothpaste tubes and half-used soap bars in their bathrooms? Where do they hide the detritus of their everyday lives?

Take for example the idea of ’spring cleaning.’ More so in these parts, spring cleaning is that seasonal ritual where households shake down the entire house and discard their unwanted stuff accumulated throughout the year. Alas, this activity serves only to make room for more stuff. The original intent behind spring cleaning according to Witold Rybczynski, was that during Victorian era, before electricity was used for lighting a house, the lamps and the fireplaces used to warm the house would emit smoke and soot and they would cling to the walls and the draperies. Once a year, they would take down these drapes and give the entire place a thorough scrubbing, hence the spring cleaning.

Bits like that, while interesting, are discussed in passing. What Rybczynski explores more are how the home evolved as such. How, for example, did rooms become specialized in functions? During the time when cities were emerging, the house functioned as much as an office or a place of business as it was a place to sleep and eat with the family. Business was conducted at the main room. At the end of the day, a table was set-up for dinner and once that’s done the tables are converted to bunks. You still see this somewhat in Manila where you have small business at the ground floor of building and the family lives on the 2nd or 3rd floors. The book discusses how the home evolved into something of a private domain of the family from its very business-like origins.

The book also traces the evolution of furniture. How the design and the idea of the chair was ‘lost’ and rediscovered is a fascinating look at the history of man filtered through such a humble piece of furniture. The chair was once considered a place of importance - a throne really - and not very comfortable in its original design. As function and fashion changed, so did the design of the chair. Seats and backs were padded and upholstered. Arms and legs were designed and redesigned whether it’s for playing cards in a French court or as a stool for dressing.

Home: A Short History of an Idea by Witold Rybczynski is an enjoyable read. It’s something one could savor over a long period of time. You don’t rush through a book like Home like you would a paperback thriller. After reading the book, you’ll definitely see your home in a whole different perspective.