The Good Life by Iñaki Abalos uses seven iconic 20th-century houses — built, imagined, and cinematic — to map the philosophical underpinnings of how modernity conceived of dwelling, from Heidegger's Black Forest cabin to Warhol's New York loft.
About This Book
Rather than treating the house as a technical problem, Abalos reads it as a philosophical artefact. Moving through seven radically different domestic environments — among them Mies van der Rohe's House with Three Patios, Picasso's house in Cannes, and the film sets of Jacques Tati and Buster Keaton — he traces the deep connections between architectural thinking and philosophical schools of the 20th century. The result is an intellectual history of inhabitation that resists the triumphalism of mainstream modernism, foregrounding instead the century's radical pluralism. Essential reading for architects, theorists, and anyone serious about the relationship between space, philosophy, and domestic life.
Key Features
- 256 pages of philosophically grounded analysis of iconic domestic spaces, spanning built works, unbuilt projects, and cinematic sets
- Authors: Iñaki Abalos & Paul Hammond
- Case studies include: Mies van der Rohe's House with Three Patios, Heidegger's Black Forest cabin, houses from Jacques Tati's Mon Oncle, Picasso's house in Cannes, Andy Warhol's New York loft and the Factory, Buster Keaton's One Week, and David Hockney's A Bigger Splash
- Published by Park Books, 2001 (new and revised edition)
What You'll Discover
- How architectural concepts map onto specific philosophical traditions — each house in the book is read as an embodiment of a distinct modern way of living
- Why the 20th century's domestic imagination cannot be reduced to positivist modernism, and how film, painting, and autobiography expand the disciplinary archive
- The relationship between constructed and imagined space: how unbuilt and cinematic houses carry as much architectural meaning as realised ones
- A critical method for reading domestic space that moves fluidly between philosophy, cultural history, and architectural analysis
About the Author
Iñaki Abalos is an architect and theorist whose work engages the intersection of philosophy, technology, and architectural form. The Good Life, first published in 2001 by Gustavo Gili, has remained a key reference in architectural theory education. Paul Hammond is credited as co-author on this revised edition.
Specifications
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 256
- Dimensions: 210 x 155mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783038600510
- Publisher: Park Books
- Publication Date: 2001
Perfect For: Architecture students and academics engaged with theory and criticism, practitioners interested in the philosophy of dwelling, and readers who approach domestic space as a cultural and intellectual problem rather than a purely technical one.