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Witold Rybczynski
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{{Short description|Canadian architect, professor, and writer}} {{BLP sources|date=May 2014}} {{Use British English|date=June 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}} {{Infobox architect |image= |caption= |nationality= Canadian-American |birth_date= {{b-da|1 March 1943}} |birth_place= [[Edinburgh]], Scotland |death_date= |death_place= |practice= |significant_buildings= |significant_projects= |significant_design= |alma_mater= [[McGill University]] |awards= {{nowrap|[[J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize]] (2000)<br> [[Vincent Scully Prize]] (2007)}} }} '''Witold Rybczynski''' (born 1 March 1943) is a [[Canadian American]] [[architecture|architect]], professor and writer. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor Emeritus of Urbanism at the [[University of Pennsylvania]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor Emeritus of Urbanism|url=https://www.design.upenn.edu/architecture/graduate/people/witold-rybczynski|publisher=University of Pennsylvania}}</ref> ==Early life== Rybczynski was born in Edinburgh of Polish parentage and raised in [[Surrey]], England, before moving at a young age to Canada. He attended [[Loyola High School (Montreal)|Loyola College]] in Montreal. He received [[Bachelor of Architecture]] (1966) and [[Master of Architecture]] (1972) degrees from [[McGill University]] in Montreal. ==Career== Rybczynski has written around 300 articles and papers on the subjects of [[House|housing]], 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 Atlantic Monthly]]'', and ''[[The New Yorker]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Authors: Witold Rybczynski|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/witold-rybczynski/|work=The Atlantic}}</ref> From 2004 to 2010, he was architecture critic for ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Authors: Witold Rybczynski|url=http://www.slate.com/authors.witold_rybczynski.html|work=Slate}}</ref> He taught at McGill University (1974β1993) and the [[University of Pennsylvania]] (1993β2012), and served on the [[U.S. Commission of Fine Arts]] from 2004 to 2012.<ref>Thomas E. Luebke, ed., ''Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts'' (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013): Appendix B, p. 554.</ref> He now lives in [[Philadelphia]] and is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the [[University of Pennsylvania]]. He was married to Shirley Hallam, who died in 2021.<ref>"[https://theamericanscholar.org/portrait-of-a-marriage-in-six-homes/ Portrait of a Marriage in Six Homes], ''The American Scholar'', Winter 2021. </ref> ==Awards and honors== Rybczynski's book ''[[Home: A Short History of an Idea]]'' was nominated for the [[1986 Governor General's Awards|1986 Governor General's Award]] for non-fiction, and ''[[A Clearing in the Distance|A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and North America in the Nineteenth Century]]'' won the [[J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize]]<ref name=Lukas>{{cite web|title=J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project winners|url=http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/NiemanFoundation/Awards/AwardsAtAGlance/JAnthonyLukasPrizeProject/Winners.aspx|publisher=Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard|access-date=16 March 2011}}</ref> and was short-listed for the [[Charles Taylor Prize]] in 2000. In 2007 Rybczynski was the recipient of the Seaside Prize and the [[Vincent Scully Prize]], awarded by the [[National Building Museum]]. Rybczynski is a Senior Fellow of the [[Design Futures Council]].<ref>[http://www.di.net/about/senior_fellows/ "Design Futures Council Senior Fellows"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106072349/http://www.di.net/about/senior_fellows/ |date=6 November 2007 }}</ref> 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]], 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]]. ==Works== {{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?151937-1/clearing-distance ''Booknotes'' interview with Rybczynski on ''A Clearing in the Distance'', 17 October 1999], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?123248-1/clearing-distance-speech Presentation by Rybczynski on ''A Clearing in the Distance'', 12 May 1999], [[C-SPAN]]| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?159212-1/one-good-turn Presentation by Rybczynski on ''One Good Turn'', 13 September 2000], [[C-SPAN]]}} *''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]]'' (1989) *''[[Waiting for the Weekend]]'' (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|A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and North America in the Nineteenth Century]]'' (1999) *''[[One Good Turn (Rybczynski book)|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]] *''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) {{ISBN|978-0374223212}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Book Review, Starred| url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-3742-2321-2|work=Publishers Weekly|access-date=26 May 2016}}</ref> * ''Charleston Fancy: Little Houses and Big Dreams in the Holy City'' (2019) * ''The Story of Architecture'' (2022) * ''The Driving Machine: A Design History of the Car'' (2024) ==See also== * [[Natalia Rybczynski]] ==References== '''Notes''' {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.witoldrybczynski.com}} *[http://www.penguin.ca/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000027963,00.html Author page at Penguin Canada] *[http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/rybczyn.html Faculty page at University of Pennsylvania] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041013224048/http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/rybczyn.html |date=13 October 2004 }} *[http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Witold-Rybczynski/652589 Author page at Simon & Schuster] *{{C-SPAN|59948}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rybczynski, Witold}} [[Category:1943 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Scottish people of Polish descent]] [[Category:Canadian architects]] [[Category:Canadian architecture writers]] [[Category:Canadian people of Polish descent]] [[Category:Architects from Surrey]] [[Category:Academics from Surrey]] [[Category:Scottish emigrants to Canada]] [[Category:Urban theorists]] [[Category:Writers from Montreal]] [[Category:New Classical architects]] [[Category:McGill School of Architecture alumni]] [[Category:McGill University alumni]] [[Category:Academic staff of McGill University]] [[Category:University of Pennsylvania faculty]]
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