The New Old House: Historic & Modern Architecture Combined

This beautiful book is about more than architecture – it’s about what home means. Marc Kristal is clearly a gifted writer and natural storyteller, and what he does is tell the stories of how architects didn’t just reinvent the old houses featured in this book, they reimagined how they could become homes again, for real people. After reading the stories that accompany the photographs, I felt I understood for the first time how architects see the world (a revelation, as I have no background in the field).The photographs themselves are spectacular, worth the price of admission alone. They seem to be deliberately thoughtful, and in fact I found myself spending time looking at each one, thinking about what it would be like to live in that space (I would live in any of these houses in a heartbeat).Mr. Kristal is an engaging tour guide, and brings both a personal and literary perspective to the stories he tells. I’m sure architects will love this book – it is really about achieving the grace they’re all after. And anyone who is thinking of redoing an old house will certainly be inspired, and see their own projects in a new way. But I think this book will also appeal to general readers, who like me will find themselves lost in the stories and pictures.Here’s an example of a line I really liked: “Few things are more personal, or more emotional, than the idea of home, and an old house can speak to us on what the novelist Ralph Ellison called “the lower frequencies” – those aspects of our nature, as often as not unconscious, that are attracted to certain engagements because of the possibilities they present.”

Architecture is fundamentally relational; its significance emanates from its engagement with the world. This includes its physical context, or site; its social context, or program; and its material context, or construction. Cutting across all of these broad categories is architecture’s relationship to time at every increment of experience: from the momentary duration of the body moving in space to the tracking of the sun across the sky to the weathering of materials to the evolution of forms in response to climatic and cultural conditions. Marc Kristal’s engaging book elaborates on the implications of these manifold relationships through the lens of domestic space which is explicitly conceived as a bridge between past and present. For him, new and old constitute a totality in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.Framed by a highly readable yet erudite introduction, Kristal demonstrates the vitality of his proposition through eighteen case studies of single-family homes throughout the world. These are what I would term “composites;” structures that are formed from the bond between existing historical building fabric and modern elements that recalibrate them to address their sites, the requirements of daily life and the aspirations of their inhabitants and architects. The richness of the layering of old and new is amply demonstrated through concise texts and extensive, beautiful photographic documentation of each project. Kristal’s astutely-curated examples vividly remind us of architecture’s remarkable potential to arouse our most basic emotions by connecting us to our place and time. Perhaps at its essence the home is the locus of our humanity.

I never buy books like this, but The New Old House popped onto my radar via a dear architect friend recently, and I am so deeply grateful.If you've ever known anyone to design or redesign an historic home, this is the greatest housewarming gift imaginable -- or perhaps more ideally, the ultimate pre-housearming/mid-house design and planning present!? This is an extremely smart and clever compilation, but doesn't read at all like an architecture book or a fluffy, mostly picture-driven coffee table snooze to be glazed over while waiting for a meeting.It just reads like a really good book. So refreshing. This quote from the introduction is my favorite, with its deeply personal tone and call-to-thought that carries throughout the following pages (with truly magnificent illustrations): "On my desk, as I write, are the tools of my trade -- elements belonging to the here and now -- and reminders of the past..."Kristal continues to take the reader into each home and neighborhood featured in such a gentle, mind-opening way that it makes it almost impossible not to want to meet him in person so that he can share all the other secrets that surely hide up his global architectural sleeve...I hope there are more of these kind of coffee table books published in the not too distant future. Best gift ever.

Great coffee table book. I love the juxtaposition of anything old and new. Wish the hard cover on the inside was the same image of the paper flap on the outside so I could do away with the paper flap.

I loved this book. First of all it it absolutely beautiful -- perfect for a coffee table in any home or office. But more than just gorgeous, it is enjoyable, thoughtful, and knowledgeable about renovating older houses or apartments with a modern eye, while maintaining the integrity of the original structure. Marc Kristal clearly knows his architectural history and theory, but unlike many books about design and architecture, Kristal captures the reader's imagination with his virtuoso writing.

the book is a beautiful balance of excellent writing and intelligent design. it's perfect for anyone considering buying an old house, preserving what's best about it and modernizing it in your own way. it's also a perfect book to dream about living in anyone of the residences. for the in-depth information or the coffee table it's worth owning.

We have an new old house, so it has been wonderful to look at pictures and get inspired by all the great way sot adapt, re-use and update our house without losing the charm. Marc's style is so engaging. I can open the book anywhere and be enthralled.

A staple for all architects who love combining old with new

I gave this to a friend as a gift, and he loved it.

Interesting

very informative

As described

Gran libro (en todos los sentidos: tamaño, cuidada edición y fotografía) que refleja la moderna tendencia que mantiene estructuras antiguas para, sobre y con ellas, edificar sorprendentes espacios.