The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton

I was attending a jazz jam session at a bookstore a few weeks ago and was browsing the shelves between sets when this book caught my eye. The title first, and then its cover, and then its back description. I recall feeling a certain amount of …misgiving? skepticism? at the time, for surely a book with such a pompous title would struggle to provide me with a good meal. And now that I’m halfway through, I think that skepticism has been borne out.

Upon reexamination, the accolades that decorate its cover inside and out speak of the author’s ability to write provocatively, accessibly, and beautifully, but say little of the book itself. I don’t disagree: these are true statements about the author, and I am enjoying reading their writing. But, as I phrased it to my partner the other day, I have yet to see them ‘get to the point’—they seem preoccupied with discussions of ‘beauty’; how its ideals differ across and throughout spacetime; and how the world’s architects continue their attempts to embody and manifest those ideals to various ends. But this book is ~250 pages long, and I am 150 pages into it, and I can’t remember them mentioning the word ‘happiness’ more than twice. If this book had been called “The Architecture of Beauty” I would be far happier with it. But alas beauty prevails, and this book seems mistitled. (Though, if it had been titled as such, I would not have bought it to begin with, so perhaps I should be thankful for the misnomer. But I’m not.)

I had hoped to be reading a book about the role of architecture in making us feel happy in a space. Indeed the reason for that hope is my Ambition of crafting such a space one day, and I want to learn more of what my species has discovered that may help me with that purpose. Beauty is not my goal—happiness is.

~ Daniel.
25 days ago