Hello, I discovered your library when I read your review of the Road, the only book that ever made me lock my door, then open it and step outside to reorient myself. I share a mutual dislike of Mitch Albom's fare as well. I found several titles and tags of interest on your page because I'm a nature nut environmentalist who took a class in social geography years ago and it still fascinates me. Humans generally do poor jobs of designing the spaces they inhabit, on every scale. I type this as I sit in the sprawling suburbia of Chicago, needing to hop in my car to accomlish anything, and it unsettles me. Hope you don't mind my marking your page for future reference, good luck with the book, it looks very interesting.
Mel

posted by readaholic12 at 8:27 pm (EST) on Dec 29, 2007

Re De Botton, I agree that he uses Le Corbusier as a witty illustration, but I am frustrated that despite this example in plain view, he did not tackle the problem of different viewpoints (architect, builder, inhabitant, visitor). The happiness of the architect is often at odds with the others, eg the architect prevented my school from installing blinds fearing the loss of esthetic appeal of his renowned concrete monument (to the discomfort of the students). Also, De Botton treats architecture as a static endeavour whereas it has a strong dynamic component (see Alexander: Pattern Language; Brand: How Buildings learn; Jan Gehl: Life between Buildings). The book could have been so much better ... Great title, not enough depth - the Malcolm Gladwell effect.

posted by jcbrunner at 11:44 pm (EST) on Jan 29, 2007

I just finished my unfortunately negative review of De Botton's work where I read yours. You will probably already know about Rimbaud's colored vowels. In a Rimbaud exhibition in Zurich two years ago, they refered that there exist people who associate also sounds and tactile impressions with words.

posted by jcbrunner at 6:53 am (EST) on Jan 15, 2007

I enter a new, obscure find (In Praise of Slow) from a recent trip to Chapters and what do I find... Colin's already reading it.

posted by rakerman at 9:16 pm (EST) on Dec 14, 2006