Home: Century of Change

The Center for Urban History is offering its own take on the theme of “The Home” with its inaugural publication entitled: “Home: Century of Change.” The book’s publication caps the efforts that went into the “Home: Century of Change” exhibition, which ran at the Center in 2011-2012. While capturing the exhibition’s core, the book contains additional materials that cannot be included in the various exhibits. The book’s first section discusses general topics such as modernization, housing policy, and design. Part two addresses the five main working areas of the modern home from the perspective of the main socio-cultural aspects: the foyer is examined in the context of public and private space; the living room — of comfort; the kitchen — of gender roles and concepts; the bathroom — of hygiene; the bedroom — of intimacy. The book’s final section deals with 20th-century conceptualizations of the housing of the future. The text includes focuses on selected home appliances — from the television to the vacuum cleaner — and illustrates their effect on the function and aesthetics of domestic life.