An introduction to housing in the United States:
its characteristic forms and its environmental implications.
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What are the basic requirements for a home? Christine Hunter looks at how legal, cultural, and technological standards have developed, and examines current criteria for a "minimum standard" family home, in three possible forms: freestanding house, attached house, and apartment. She discusses interior spaces, connections to the outdoors, mechanical and plumbing connections, and connections to a larger community. She emphasizes varied and often conflicting environmental concerns, and examines how homes are grouped and combined with other building types and open spaces into neighborhoods.
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First published in 1999, the book was re-issued in paperback in 2008 and may be ordered directly from W. W. Norton & Company.
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"For book collectors and those with an interest in the residential landscape, it belongs on a shelf with J.B.Jackson, Kenneth T. Jackson, and Amos Rapoport. If you don't buy one copy you should consider buying two. It is a great book to give to anyone who wants to understand the forces that shape our houses and neighborhoods."
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Architecture Boston
“Should be required reading for architects, planners, developers, and all those who love history and seek a wider understanding of the social landscape and environmental concerns”
Ginny Graves,
Center for Understanding the Built Environment
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