BOOK REVIEW: The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton

I picked this book this book for two reasons: one, it has images in it. Secondly, last year I remember reading Botton’s How Proust Can Change Your Life? which was a fascinating read on Marcel Proust with an evoking title.

The Architecture of Happiness is a completely different book and while reading it I observed the same essay-like writing style from Botton’s previous work. This book if full of images and involves short chapters. It revolves around one simple question: What is beautiful building? and to provide an articulate answer author takes his readers on a tour with focus on architectural psychology and talks about the way we think about our homes, our streets.

After reading this book I took some time and tried thinking about the way Botton tries to convince “us” to rethink the way we think about our dwellings. But I failed to understand the vibe behind psychology the Botton’s words tries to attain from an individual’s point of view. I still think it’s personal and totally individually dependent on understanding the beauty of architecture whether it’s a two storey building with scrapped paint or a monument or a football stadium.

This book is amusing if you are looking to read something completely different on a Sunday afternoon or on a Saturday night. You might manage to get something out of Botton’s words.