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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
We owe it to the fields that our houses will not be the inferiors of the virgin land they have replaced. We owe it to the worms in the trees that the buildings we cover them with will stand as promises of the highest and most intelligent kinds of happiness.
There were a few incredibly poignant lines in de Botton's offering. I enjoyed the poetic waxing about architecture and the humility we can find therein, but I'm not entirely sure of the book's coherence or path. I mostly enjoyed the historical tangents about Le Corbusier trying to build 60-story skyscrapers in the middle of Paris, Christopher Wren trying to save London from itself, etc. I'm not sure to whom I'd recommend this; not architects, likely.
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
I read this book years ago as homework, way way back at the beginning of college. So, as you might have predicted I didn’t paid as much attention as I should but now that I have re read it I’m feeling super inspired! It got me rethinking what I do what I do and find joy in it! :)
medium-paced
While very all supported with both data and images that render the architectural trip the more pleasurable, it's almost impossible not to sense a certain exaggeration on the interpretation of any design, even for the simplest of door knobs. de Botton's prose and style are both the pleasure and annoyance of this reading.
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
While I liked the topic of the book and thought it was extremely well researched - I was yawning the whole way through.
I loved reading about how we are affected by our surroundings and how we impose characteristics and even gender to inanimate objects. It was thought provoking to read about how we can read a nation’s history through looking at its architecture, or even assume things about people based on how they decorate their homes. However, the language of the book doesn’t flow and at times it goes in circles trying to make similar points to previous chapters within the same book.
The second chapter is all about the history of architecture, which was not needed. The author could have easily introduced some of the history of architecture as he went over specific points in the book but there was no need whatsoever to dedicate an entire chapter to it. Even with pretending the second chapter doesn’t exist, the book was unnecessarily long - could have easily removed another chapter. The topic is worth reading about and thinking about,but it went a little overboard and at times the author went on tangents that could have been their own book.
I loved reading about how we are affected by our surroundings and how we impose characteristics and even gender to inanimate objects. It was thought provoking to read about how we can read a nation’s history through looking at its architecture, or even assume things about people based on how they decorate their homes. However, the language of the book doesn’t flow and at times it goes in circles trying to make similar points to previous chapters within the same book.
The second chapter is all about the history of architecture, which was not needed. The author could have easily introduced some of the history of architecture as he went over specific points in the book but there was no need whatsoever to dedicate an entire chapter to it. Even with pretending the second chapter doesn’t exist, the book was unnecessarily long - could have easily removed another chapter. The topic is worth reading about and thinking about,but it went a little overboard and at times the author went on tangents that could have been their own book.
"The failure of architects to create congenial environments mirrors our inability to find happiness in other areas of our lives. Bad architecture is in the end as much a fialure of psychology as of design. In architecture, as in so much else, we cast around explanations to our troubles and fix on platidunious targets. We get angry when we should realise we are sad and tear down ancient streets when we ought instead to introduce proper sanitation and street lights. We learn the wrong lessons from our griefs while grasping in vain for the origins of contentment."