Leonardo Caffo's 'Quattro capanne' Examines Simplicity as Resistance

Philosopher Leonardo Caffo's book 'Quattro capanne o della semplicità' (Nottetempo, 2020) explores four historical cabins as symbols of simplicity and resistance to modernity. The narrative begins with Henry David Thoreau, who on July 4, 1845, built a cabin on Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts, as a manifesto of simple living and a critique of industrial capitalism. Caffo then examines Theodor Kaczynski (Unabomber), who constructed a cabin in Lincoln, Montana, in 1971 without water or electricity, living there until his arrest on April 3, 1996. Kaczynski's violent rejection of technology is presented as a contradictory embrace of simplicity. Next, Le Corbusier designed a Cabanon for his wife in 1951, built in 1952, as an escape from fame and wealth, where he ultimately became 'architecture itself.' Finally, Ludwig Wittgenstein retreated to a small cabin in Skjolden, Norway, seeking not escape but entry into reality. Caffo argues that simplicity is not easy but involves self-violence and liberation from unnecessary obligations. The book invites readers to confront the complexity of the present while maintaining vigilance against false needs and conventions.