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From Publishers Weekly
With this entertaining and stimulating book, de Botton (How Proust Can Change Your Life) examines the ways architecture speaks to us, evoking associations that, if we are alive to them, can put us in touch with our true selves and influence how we conduct our lives. Because of this, he contends, it's the architect's task to design buildings that contribute to happiness by embodying ennobling values. While he makes no claim to be able to define true beauty in architecture, he suggests some of the virtues a building should have (illustrated by pictures on almost every spread): order combined with complexity; balance between contrasting elements; elegance that appears effortless; a coherent relationship among the parts; and self-knowledge, which entails an understanding of human psychology, something that architects all too often overlook. To underscore his argument, de Botton includes many apt examples of buildings that either incorporate or ignore these qualities, discussing them in ways that make obvious their virtues or failings. The strength of his book is that it encourages us to open our eyes and really look at the buildings in which we live and work. A three-part series of the same title will air on PBS this fall. (Oct. 3)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
"De Botton is a lively guide, and his eclectic choices of buildings and locations evince his conclusion, that “we should be as unintimidated by architectural mediocrity as we are by unjust laws.”
—The New Yorker
The next time I'm at a party, and the conversation turns to "serious topics," like what the stock market did today, I think I'll suggest we talk about something more important: architecture. I'll ask the investment banker why he bought the house he did and insist he answer the question. And then I'll start quoting Alain de Botton.
—The National Post
If this book were a building, it would be a contemporary reading room, I think, with big windows, and clean, built-in bookshelves with a fold-out step ladder just right for fetching slim volumes from the top shelf. The elegant clarity and brisk humour of his style, accompanied by pages of photos, opens your eyes to the rich possibility of thinking about your home, and your city, in a new way.
—The Toronto Star
"De Botton's books are the literary equivalent of the Slow Food movement. They demand to be lingered over, not because the concepts are difficult but because they are rich and deep. Be prepared to put down your book frequently and turn his last few sentences over in your mind, testing his theses against the rooms and buildings you know well."
—The Globe and Mail
"In this simple, entertaining and brilliant book, Alain de Botton explores how architecture speaks to us and why it affects all aspects of human life. His great strength is to explain things we always knew but never understood."
—Christopher Hume, Architecture Critic, Toronto Star
“How did we ever manage without de Botton?”
— Sunday Times (U.K.)
“[de Botton] deals with questions of style, ideas of beauty, notions about why certain structures appeal to us. The author argues that we love beautiful buildings because they solidify ideas we have about ourselves and our world. They put into concrete form our aspirations; they compensate for our human weaknesses; in short, they make us happy. Virtually every page contains a sentence any essayist would be proud to have written. A lyrical and generously illustrated monograph about the intimate relationship between our buildings and ourselves.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Singlehandedly, de Botton has taken philosophy back to its simplest and most important purpose: helping us live our lives.”
— Independent
From the Hardcover edition.
—The New Yorker
The next time I'm at a party, and the conversation turns to "serious topics," like what the stock market did today, I think I'll suggest we talk about something more important: architecture. I'll ask the investment banker why he bought the house he did and insist he answer the question. And then I'll start quoting Alain de Botton.
—The National Post
If this book were a building, it would be a contemporary reading room, I think, with big windows, and clean, built-in bookshelves with a fold-out step ladder just right for fetching slim volumes from the top shelf. The elegant clarity and brisk humour of his style, accompanied by pages of photos, opens your eyes to the rich possibility of thinking about your home, and your city, in a new way.
—The Toronto Star
"De Botton's books are the literary equivalent of the Slow Food movement. They demand to be lingered over, not because the concepts are difficult but because they are rich and deep. Be prepared to put down your book frequently and turn his last few sentences over in your mind, testing his theses against the rooms and buildings you know well."
—The Globe and Mail
"In this simple, entertaining and brilliant book, Alain de Botton explores how architecture speaks to us and why it affects all aspects of human life. His great strength is to explain things we always knew but never understood."
—Christopher Hume, Architecture Critic, Toronto Star
“How did we ever manage without de Botton?”
— Sunday Times (U.K.)
“[de Botton] deals with questions of style, ideas of beauty, notions about why certain structures appeal to us. The author argues that we love beautiful buildings because they solidify ideas we have about ourselves and our world. They put into concrete form our aspirations; they compensate for our human weaknesses; in short, they make us happy. Virtually every page contains a sentence any essayist would be proud to have written. A lyrical and generously illustrated monograph about the intimate relationship between our buildings and ourselves.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Singlehandedly, de Botton has taken philosophy back to its simplest and most important purpose: helping us live our lives.”
— Independent
From the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Reading -,
By
This review is from: The Architecture of Happiness (Paperback)
It is a third book I read from Alain de Botton's publications.This time also, the book didn't turn down my expectation of his work. The book reflects Botton's a tranquil and poetic observation towards our built environment along with his signature dry wit. I can assume that generel public who's not really involved with related professions (architect or engineer) might find it bit boring, as they probablly wouldn't think that serious about buildings and given the fact that the points he's making are very subtle. But - there are many interesting analysis and authentic insights of 'Why' we think some buildings beautiful and moving. This helped me to see architecture (I'm a intern architect) in a broader scope, through a eye of non-professional architect but intellectural general public who really cares about our houses and buildings.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Charming, but not as funny as some of his previous writing.,
By Kelly Rossiter (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Architecture of Happiness (Hardcover)
After tackling such diverse topics as Proust, status and love, Alain de Botton has turned his erudite eye to architecture in his new book The Architecture of Happiness. Using a bit of history, a bit of pop psychology and a lot of his own opinions, this book talks about how and why buildings make us feel the way we do. This is a charming little book filled with photographs of the buildings and paintings he discusses. This book isn't as funny as some of his previous writing, but it is an interesting diversion.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant,
By John in Montreal (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Architecture of Happiness (Paperback)
First time I've read something from de Botton, and he lives up to his reputation as articulate and insightful. While architects might argue that everything he says is well-known among architects, it is not well-known among 'civilians', who generally can only express their requirements by square footage and generic 'style'... which results in soul-less McMansions and spawling suburbs. The book reviews some history, explains why a cookie-cutter approach to architecture cannot work, and proposes some interesting metrics.
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