Houses for Sale - by Michael Meredith & Hilary Sample (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Journey with architects Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample through the history of architecture on their quest to find a perfect home

In Houses for Sale, architects Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample of MOS Architects invite readers on their family's quest for a new home through the annals of architectural history, exploring details and peculiarities from some of the greatest names in architecture. When they realize that there isn't any one house that suits them perfectly, they decide to design their own. In doing so, Meredith and Sample come to the conclusion that no building is perfect and that architecture is an exciting, ever-evolving project in which the process of bringing a new building to life through design and construction can be even more satisfying than the final product itself.Published in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Houses for Sale is a charming and thoughtful introduction to architecture's varied history, with full-color illustrations and simple text that are suitable for aspiring young designers and experienced architects alike.

Review Quotes

Although sparse in words, the book is some 126 pages--a length that gave me pause before first reading it with my toddler. Another false idea about children's books is that the stakes are low--why bother with quality if your readers are aesthetically unsophisticated? On the contrary, the stakes are enormously high...More than a few kid's books that didn't make the cut have been quietly purged from our shelves. Happily, this is a book that's delightful for both kids and parents--especially if those parents are architects.--Elsa Lam "Canadian Architect"

What's in a house? According to Hilary Sample and Michael Meredith of MOS, and their first illustrated children's book for the CCA, quite a lot. From Lina Bo Bardi's Casa de Vidro to Toyo Ito's White U and beyond, the authors trace a family's search for the ideal home - from the depths of architecture history to the construction site in question - that culminates in the realization that, though the perfect house may not exist, it's in the journey to find such a structure where the real joy of building lies--Evan Pavka "AZURE"

Houses for Sale decidedly avoids debating the definition of what defines a desirable home: without even the slightest consideration of the interior spaces, the book seems to assert that true meaning resides in the imagination.--Tiffany Lambert "PIN-UP"