Philosophy of the Home: Domestic Space and Happiness

A bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom - are these rooms all that make a home? Not at all, argues Emanuele Coccia. The buildings we inhabit are of immense psychological and cultural significance. They play a decisive role in human flourishing and, for hundreds of years, their walls and walkways, windows and doorways have guided our relationships with others and with ourselves. They reflect and reinforce social inequalities; they allow us to celebrate and cherish those we love. They are the places of return that allow us to venture out into the world.

In this intimate, elegantly argued account, Coccia shows how the architecture of home has shaped, and continues to shape, our psyches and our societies, before then masterfully leading us towards a more creative, ecological way of dwelling in the world.

Emanuele Coccia is a philosopher teaching at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He has lectured and taught courses at several universities, including Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Harvard and Columbia, and collaborated on many art exhibitions in France and Italy. He is the author of numerous books translated into several languages, including The Life of Plants (2018). He is a columnist for Libération and collaborates with Le Monde and La Repubblica. He is currently writing a book on the relationship between fashion and philosophy with Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele.

I have been waiting for Philosophy of the Home. Coccia’s reflections take you through the complexity of the notion of home – not merely as a place, but as a space of philosophy, history, politics, and art
Hans Ulrich Obrist

A precious guide … There is so much more at stake than the material quality of a place for living … For us human beings, the house represents the universe
Chris Dercon

An insightful book that illuminates the rooms you live in and makes you understand what they mean
la Repubblica

A hymn of praise for the home
Die Presse

I absolutely DEVOURED this book and have been recommending it to every architect and academic I know
Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer