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The Architecture of Happiness [Paperback]

Alain de Botton
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

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Book Description

8 April 2008
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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Product details

  • Paperback: 280 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage International; Reprint edition (8 April 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0307277240
  • ISBN-13: 978-0307277244
  • Product Dimensions: 15.6 x 1.4 x 20.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 696,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Clever, provocative and fresh as a daisy (Literary Review )

Full of splendid ideas, often happily and beautifully expressed . . . an engaging and intelligent book (Independent ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Alain de Botton is the author of three works of fiction and five of nonfiction, including How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Consolations of Philosophy, and The Art of Travel. He lives in London.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Alain de Botton probes deeply into our thoughts and ideas about the buildings around us with amazing clarity. He puts words to feelings you might have had in the back of your mind but ignored because you didn't know whether they could be expressed. When you read his words you feel enlightened and grateful for the experience. You go back into the world with a more refined set of tools to process it with.
Most books on architecture are about history and appreciation of aesthetic and cultural details. His book cuts right through that layer. What we find beautiful is the promise of an intelligent kind of happiness. A home should be a setting that reminds us of our deepest, most genuine values, our concern for others and for the environment. What we search for in architecture is not so far from what we search for in a friend.
How wonderful to have these truths subtly and intricately revealed to us as a way of counteracting all the information about fashion and design, pumped into our brains on a daily basis. There are beautiful black and white photos and engravings throughout the book to illustrate his observations.
I loved this book, read it slowly and savoured it and will definitely be reading it again. If people of de Botton's calibre, with such depth, humour and insight, were running the world there would be hope for the human race.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Not a critic of modern architecture 9 Jan 2010
Format:Paperback
An interesting read, but rather than rock any architectural boats it is firmly on the modern architects side.

I suspect the title is specifically chosen to lure in those who wonder why beauty is such an anathema to modern architecture and artists. Alain de Botton seems to be happy to fall into the modern illness of searching for difference rather than asthetics.

Each chapter one gets lifted up by some relevation of why we think the way we do about Architecture only to be flattened by the assurance that we can't have such and such in our day and age.

It is surely not the problem of architecture that it can't produce great modern edifices but that it can't produce humane structures for the everyday person without resort to pastiche or brutalism. At the heart of this is the egotism of architecture which sees it self as an artform rather than a servant to humanity.
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55 of 60 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars All architecture students should read 15 Jun 2006
By Andrew
Format:Hardcover
This book can be considered a well balanced guide to the major philosophical and theoretical debates which affect every architect-in-training in forming their own opinions and which have been debated over the past centuries. Everything from "what is archtitecture" downwards.

Contains just enough of each point of view to enable ideas to be formed, or to guide further research, without telling you what to think. Its a composition rather than a manifesto. Every ten pages or so there is a gem of a quote. And just as you start thinking, "but what does that mean for..." you turn the page and there it is, with quotes and references and everything you need to start making up your own mind.

If as an undergrad you're only likely to read one book on theory this year, and want to avoid becoming a specialist on [insert obscure german author your tutor wants an essay on], read this for the whole picture. Its really accessibly written too. And has pictures (good heavens!). And big margins.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
I chose this as a gift and the recipient was completely delighted.It arrived quickly , a great book,and no problems at all.
Published 4 months ago by H. Haddon
1.0 out of 5 stars painfully boring to read
I think you'll enjoy this book if you know about architecture and design. It's more of short history guide, and boring one at that. Read more
Published 5 months ago by meera rajna
3.0 out of 5 stars Okay
The summary as written on line prepared one for this book. No great surprises. Enjoyable to read if this is your taste in literature
Published 7 months ago by pat neale
5.0 out of 5 stars A precious book
After some years pursuing a layman's interest in architectural styles and movements, I was looking for a basic primer to begin studying in earnest - "Architecture 101", if you... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Conrad
4.0 out of 5 stars Status? Anxiety? Moi?
Status. Anxiety. He begins by defining both then combining them to express what he sees as a basic human trait, that of defining ourselves by the names society attaches to us,... Read more
Published 21 months ago by RR Waller
5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I'd read it earlier
This is a beautifully written, erudite exploration of architecture in its broadest sense. As a 67 year old architect I wish I had been able to read it 40 years ago!
Published 21 months ago by Panhandle
4.0 out of 5 stars A verbal treat, byut not a serious contribution to the subject matter
I enjoyed this rather more than other AdB's that I've read recently. He has a lovely way with words, and he's good at both quoting aphorisms and making them up. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2011 by Jezza
4.0 out of 5 stars A book with a view
I thoroughly enjoyed Alain de Botton's book on the psychology and philosophy of architecture. As a book I read for pleasure, rather than associated with study, I found that the... Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2011 by Secret Spi
4.0 out of 5 stars Content vs Price
Excellent book which was a great resource during by 'Architectural Theory' module at university, but the price of the Kindle version is ridiculous.
Published on 21 Nov 2010 by BMJT
3.0 out of 5 stars A confused, but enjoyable attempt
De Botton's book was enjoyable to read, though I never really found any resolution to the questions he posed. Sometimes, he seems to contradict himself. Read more
Published on 18 July 2010 by M. Hamann
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