I have not read Alain de Botton's The Architecture of Happiness but Katherine Ashenburg's review at the Globe and Mail makes it seem like an interesting read. Interesting also to see if he deconstructs dominant assumptions about what physical and sensory functionalites are available to users of buildings.
She writes...
Alain de Botton only takes on the biggest subjects. Still in his 30s, the Swiss-born author has written eight books on such topics as love, romance, status, the consolations of philosophy and how literature (in his case, Proust) can change your life. Clearly a student of philosophy, but of the most appealing and accessible sort, de Botton always goes back to the basics. In his bestselling The Art of Travel (2002), he asked, why do we want to go to unfamiliar places? What does travel give us? How can we maximize our chances for more delightful voyaging? Now, in The Architecture of Happiness, he considers the connection between our feelings and the buildings in which we work, pray and live.
For more discussion on this book see Wheelchair Dancer's Spetmebr 23, 2006 post, Architecture & Happiness.
Posted by rollingrains at September 24, 2006 11:43 PM