The Architecture of Happiness (Vintage) | 
|  | | | Title: | The Architecture of Happiness (Vintage) | | Author: | Alain De Botton | | Publisher: | Vintage | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 08 April, 2008 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0307277240 / 9780307277244 | | List Price: | $16.95 | | You Save: | $5.42 | | Amazon Price: | $11.53 | |
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Product Description
The Achitecture of Happiness is a dazzling and generously illustrated journey through the philosophy and psychology of architecture and the indelible connection between our identities and our locations.
One of the great but often unmentioned causes of both happiness and misery is the quality of our environment: the kinds of walls, chairs, buildings, and streets that surround us. And yet a concern for architecture is too often described as frivolous, even self-indulgent. Alain de Botton starts from the idea that where we are heavily influences who we can be, and argues that it is architecture's task to stand as an eloquent reminder of our full potential.
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Customer Reviews:
• The Author Reflects On Architecture 13 January, 2008
Considering the significance of architecture, the author remarks that beautiful houses falter as guarantors of happiness and can also be accused of failing to improve the characters of those who live in them and proceeds by explaining why this is so. Karl Friedrich Schinkel for example stated that to turn something useful, practical, and functional into something beautiful is the architect's duty. Architecture should thus be the decoration of construction as distinguished from mere building. The architects of the Modernist movement, like all their predecessors, wanted their houses to speak and express emotions. Indeed buildings speak. They speak of democracy or aristocracy, openness or arrogance, welcome or threat, sympathy for the future or a hankering for the past.
Interestingly enough what we search for in a work of architecture is not so far from what we search for in a friend because the objects we describe as beautiful art versions of the people we love. The buildings we admire are those which extol values we think are worthwhile: through their materials, shapes and colours they express qualities such as friendliness, kindness, subtlety, strength and intelligence. As Stendhal wrote, "Beauty is the promise of happiness."
We are vulnerable to what the spaces we inhabit are saying. In a drab hotel room our optimism and sense of purpose are liable to drain away. We look to our buildings to hold us, like a kind of psychological mould, to a helpful vision of ourselves. We need a home in the psychological sense as much as we need a home in the physical sense: to compensate for vulnerability, we need a refuge.
We may feel joy at the architectural perfection we see before us and at the same time melancholy at an awareness of how seldom we are sufficiently blessed to encounter anything of its kind. And sadness is conducive to receptivity: our downhearted moments provide architecture and art with their best openings because it is at such times that our hunger for their ideal qualities is at its height.
Such thoughts and many other are contained in this study of architecture and make for a valuable and interesting read.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2FQWV725FGE8S
• Thought Provoking 17 February, 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.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A6EBO995QFHJ2
• My Son Is Enjoying It 09 June, 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.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AHEDV7AG7SKD3
• If A Philospher Had Eyes 27 May, 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.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1NZGLKY5UDDNV
• Opens Doors To Creative Thought 21 May, 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.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A21NVBFIEQWDSG
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