Home: A Short History of an Idea

‰ЫПThe notion that what is artless must be better than what is not requires a precarious leap in reasoning, but for all that it carries great weight ‰Ы_ It is a shallow conceit. A little reflection shows that all human culture is artificial, cooking no less than music, furniture no less than painting. Why prepare time-consuming sauces when a raw fruit would suffice? Why bother with musical instruments when the voice is pleasant enough? Why paint pictures when looking at nature is satisfying? Why sit up when you can squat? The answer is that it makes life richer, more interesting, and more pleasurable.‰Ыќ

‰ЫПImagine yourself on a winter afternoon with a pot of tea, a book, a reading light, and two or three huge pillows to lean back against. Now make yourself comfortable. Not in some way which you can show to other people, and say how much you like it. I mean so that you really like it, for yourself. You put the tea where you can reach it: but in a place where you can‰ЫЄt possibly knock it over. You pull the light down, to shine on the book, but not too brightly, and so that you can‰ЫЄtsee the naked bulb. You put the cushions behind you, and place them, carefully, one by one, just where you want them, to support your back, your neck, your arm: so that you are supported just comfortably, just as you want to sip your tea, and read, and dream.‰Ыќ (Quoted from Christopher Alexander)