---
product_id: 1699828
title: "The Architecture of Happiness"
price: "€ 30.45"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.de/products/1699828-the-architecture-of-happiness
store_origin: DE
region: Germany
---

# The Architecture of Happiness

**Price:** € 30.45
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- **What is this?** The Architecture of Happiness
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The Architecture of Happiness [De Botton, Alain] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Architecture of Happiness

Review: Typography of Happiness? - Alain de Botton's Architecture of Happiness is a humanist's guide to understanding built environments. Finding room to appreciate both classical and contemporary architecture, de Botton resolves the quarrel between the ancients and the moderns by suggesting that every architecture strives to provide the conditions for happiness. "What works of design and architecture talk to us about is the kind of life that would most appropriately unfold within and around them. They tell us of certain moods that they seek to encourage and sustain in their inhabitants." (72) Although the book is dedicated to the pursuit of happiness, its best moments are shot through with midlife melancholy. De Botton reflects on the ache inspired by an eighteenth-century ornament: "The ceiling is a repository of the qualities the man would like to have more of in himself: it manages to be both playful and serious, subtle and clear, formal and unpretentious ... it has a profound unsentimental sweetness, like that of a smile breaking across a child's face" (148-9). The book itself is founded on the double premise that our surroundings affect our moods and modes of living, yet "will only ever constitute a small, and imperfect protest against the state of things" (25). De Botton, that is, believes deeply, very deeply, that architecture matters, but he does not suffer from the self-importance of the professional architect. Phew. What excites me most about de Botton's work, however, is his ability to weave design, literature, and philosophy into a mode of discourse that speaks with an eye to illumination, not obscurity. The writing is too beautiful to be reduced to a set of "take-aways," the emerging tin standard for public speech, yet de Botton uses page breaks and illustrations to escape the mesmerizing movement of his own syntax. Could this be ... the typography of happiness?
Review: Fantastic Read - Alain is a great writer and this is a must read for anyone who has ever questioned " Do architects really care " Erudite / Wonderful / Superb. I use several books to explain GOOD system design to clients ( Don Normans The Design of Everyday Things, called the coffee pot book ) ( Alan Coopers The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity - the jail book ) and now this classic. Good design leads to happiness. De Botton makes a great case and his history checks on this theory are very good I especially liked the instance with Le Corbusier's first major client screaming at him that her house is leaking like a sieve and her son in in hospital as a result, with pneumonia, and he responds " But MADAM the design was so well received in the architectural press " I nearly fell of my seat laughing. Thank you Alain for a great contribution to man and his understanding of how things SHOULD work. I have now ordered ALL of his other works

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #51,484 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #7 in Philosophy Aesthetics #17 in Small Homes & Cottages #1,360 in Arts & Photography (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,577) |
| Dimensions  | 8.02 x 6.06 x 0.6 inches |
| Edition  | Reprint |
| ISBN-10  | 0307277240 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0307277244 |
| Item Weight  | 14.4 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 280 pages |
| Publication date  | April 8, 2008 |
| Publisher  | Vintage |

## Images

![The Architecture of Happiness - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81wLY6f9mAL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Typography of Happiness?
*by A***R on July 31, 2008*

Alain de Botton's Architecture of Happiness is a humanist's guide to understanding built environments. Finding room to appreciate both classical and contemporary architecture, de Botton resolves the quarrel between the ancients and the moderns by suggesting that every architecture strives to provide the conditions for happiness. "What works of design and architecture talk to us about is the kind of life that would most appropriately unfold within and around them. They tell us of certain moods that they seek to encourage and sustain in their inhabitants." (72) Although the book is dedicated to the pursuit of happiness, its best moments are shot through with midlife melancholy. De Botton reflects on the ache inspired by an eighteenth-century ornament: "The ceiling is a repository of the qualities the man would like to have more of in himself: it manages to be both playful and serious, subtle and clear, formal and unpretentious ... it has a profound unsentimental sweetness, like that of a smile breaking across a child's face" (148-9). The book itself is founded on the double premise that our surroundings affect our moods and modes of living, yet "will only ever constitute a small, and imperfect protest against the state of things" (25). De Botton, that is, believes deeply, very deeply, that architecture matters, but he does not suffer from the self-importance of the professional architect. Phew. What excites me most about de Botton's work, however, is his ability to weave design, literature, and philosophy into a mode of discourse that speaks with an eye to illumination, not obscurity. The writing is too beautiful to be reduced to a set of "take-aways," the emerging tin standard for public speech, yet de Botton uses page breaks and illustrations to escape the mesmerizing movement of his own syntax. Could this be ... the typography of happiness?

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic Read
*by P***N on October 25, 2006*

Alain is a great writer and this is a must read for anyone who has ever questioned " Do architects really care " Erudite / Wonderful / Superb. I use several books to explain GOOD system design to clients ( Don Normans The Design of Everyday Things, called the coffee pot book ) ( Alan Coopers The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity - the jail book ) and now this classic. Good design leads to happiness. De Botton makes a great case and his history checks on this theory are very good I especially liked the instance with Le Corbusier's first major client screaming at him that her house is leaking like a sieve and her son in in hospital as a result, with pneumonia, and he responds " But MADAM the design was so well received in the architectural press " I nearly fell of my seat laughing. Thank you Alain for a great contribution to man and his understanding of how things SHOULD work. I have now ordered ALL of his other works

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Accidental Architect
*by D***L on April 2, 2007*

Like Tom Wolfe before him (see "From Bauhaus to Our House"), De Botton has produced one of the finest books of architectural theory and criticism by a non-architect. By that I don't mean that "he did all right for an amateur and a dilletante;" rather I mean that De Botton has written one of the best books of architectural criticism in recent memory, period. The fact that he is not an architect or critic only enhances this book's appeal, because it is written in plain language, with lovely illustrative phrases that allow the reader to inhabit his prose in the imagination. This is not "Architecture for Dummies," by any means, but De Botton's argument is accessible and understandable to architects and non-architects alike. This book is richly illustrated to bring home the salient points, and De Botton seems to have traveled enough to speak with authority about the places he writes of. This charming volume should be read and studied by every architect, would-be architect, architecture student, client, and design review board on the planet. Humanity would be well served if it became a standard text.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The Architecture of Happiness
- Towards a New Architecture (Dover Architecture)

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*Store origin: DE*
*Last updated: 2026-02-03*