The Architecture of Happiness | 
| Category: Book
Buy New: $21.01
New (8) Used (2) from $21.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 1427080
Media: Audio CD
Pages: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0141806753
EAN: 9780141806754
ASIN: 0141806753
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 Imperfect, but Still Marvelous July 27, 2008
The author opens with a marvelous question, "If architecture is important, then how can we ever be unhappy in a home with good architecture." It is a truly breathtaking question to ask. Unfortunately, I'm still waiting for the answer.
Happily, the author does offer great compensations for his failure to resolve his key question. He provides a well-rounded and insightful look at how we interact psychologically with architecture. I didn't agree with every observation he made, but I found all of them interesting, provocative, and worthy of my time. It is a book that I will read again and which has more to teach me. Especially when I'm not looking for an answer that isn't there.
 My son is enjoying it June 9, 2008
I bought this book for my son who just declared his major in college to be architecture. He has been reading it for a few days and when I asked him if he liked it he said it was pretty good and that is good enough for me.
If a philospher had eyes May 27, 2008
I have given copies to a Zen priest and an award winning architect thinking they would both be exhilerated if not inspired. The Architecture of Happiness lends insights and provocation enough to raise new questions, new slants on how one practices...whatever field you are in.
 Opens doors to creative thought May 21, 2008
The Architecture of Happiness, written by Alain de Botton, outlines the historical evolution of architecture over the past century and the reciprocal effects that architectural surroundings may have on one's mood and overall outlook in life. The author offers an in-depth exploration of the cultural, political, and social influences which have been important in shaping the evolution of architectural design.
The book begins with a discussion about the relative historical and political factors that have influenced the appearance of architectural design. He also offers an in-depth look at how the details of one's surroundings can subtly influence one's feelings about the environment and the self. In choosing or designing one's environment, he philosophizes that one chooses a reflection of his or her ideal self, or internal world.
The psychological interpretations made by the author are mostly subjective and philosophically based, without any empirical research being used to support his opinions. Some of the reasoning that the author uses to support the importance of architectural details seems fundamentally flawed. For example, he uses the importance of one millimeter's difference in the human lip to explain how important architectural detail is to a building. However, the human ability to recognize slight differences in human faces is a survival mechanism that enables us to differentiate each of the billions of faces that exist in the world, and it is not likely that this capability generalizes to building architecture.
The writing style and lexicon in this book make for an informative read, but may be difficult to absorb by those looking for entertainment. Readers with professional careers in architecture, art history, or philosophy, may find that this book opens the door to creative thought about the connection between one's environment and psychological factors.
Armchair Interviews says: Book most important to someone in the architectural field.
thought provoking February 17, 2008
de Botton always writes dense thought provoking reviews often on things we know about but don't ruminate about. So it was with his Proust book. Of course since Lehrer has told us that Proust was a neuroscientist Proust is now more widely mentioned, though probably not read. One would need to take to his bed.... The architecture of happiness in a like manner encourages one to think about how design works on us and throughout time has influenced us. It encourages us to ruminate about the things we make and see. I have given a copy to a young girl who wants to go into architecture as I believe it will widen her horizon. I highly encourage reading of this short tome and studying the pictures for any who can sit in a comfortable chair.
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