The Architecture of Happiness

When I was a child I used to have long walks with my parents (both architects) along the streets of my home town and listen to them discuss almost every building, every design choice and ornament we passed. Since then I got used to walking the streets looking up at the buildings (this resulted in st......more

First read January 2008 Casa P, Sao Paulo, by Marcio Kogan That most of this feels like something I might myself have written, I take to be an indictment of my own education. I am going to an attempt a highly critical reading, because I am suspicious of how comfortable I feel in it. Technically, it is......more

Years ago I listened to a lecture by the Muslim scholar Sayyid Hossein Nasr that described the philosophy of traditional Islamic city planning, some of which still survives today in places like Fez and Esfahan. As Nasr described, these cities and their component parts were designed with the explicit......more

(500) Days of Summer is one of my favorite movies. Being a real life embodiment of Tom Hansen, I thought I would give this book a try. It was impossible for me to watch the movie and not be curious as to why he was reading it and why he enjoyed it so much that he felt the need to give it to Summer. W......more

"Güzellik bir mutluluk vaadidir. Kaç çeşit mutluluk varsa güzelliğin de o kadar çeşidi vardır." Demiş Stendhal, Alain de Botton da alıntılamış Mutluluğun Mimarisi'nde, hatta kitabı bu cümle üzerine inşa ettiğini bile söyleyebiliriz. Ne iyi etmiş, ortaya nefis bir metin çıkmış. Benim gibi estetik şeyl......more