Books like Morality and architecture by David Watkin

Alain de Botton explores how the quality of our physical surroundings shapes happiness, combining philosophy, aesthetics, and psychology to ask what makes a building beautiful.

A critique of modernist architecture focusing on figures like Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius.

A comprehensive portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright (1869–1959) that explores his pioneering influence on modern and domestic architecture, his mastery of glass and ornamentation, and his enduring impact on American design.

A comprehensive, illustrated survey of Western architecture that treats the field as a continuous, living tradition, emphasizing the enduring relevance of Classical language from ancient Athens to modern New York.

In a series of cogent and balanced arguments, Harries questions the premises on which architects and theorists have long relied - premises that have contributed to architecture's current identity crisis and marginalization. He first criticizes the aesthetic approach, focusing on the problems of decoration and ornament. He then turns to the language of architecture. If the main task of architecture is indeed interpretation, in just what sense can it be said to speak, and what should it be speaking about? Expanding on suggestions made by Martin Heidegger, Harries also considers the relationship of building to the idea and meaning of dwelling. Architecture, Harries observes, has a responsibility to community; but its ethical function is inevitably also political. He concludes by examining these seemingly paradoxical functions.