“Building Happiness. Explorations on the happiness of spaces” is the new book by Fondazione per l’architettura di Torino, published by Franco Angeli, and presented in a national preview on Tuesday, July 8 at Circolo Esperia in Turin. The book will be available in bookstores and online starting in September, and it stems from a question as simple as it is revolutionary: “Where does happiness live?”

The result of a year-long research journey, the volume gathers visions, experiences, and diverse contributions — from architects and urban planners to philosophers, sociologists, economists, activists, writers, and citizens — to explore the relationship between space and well-being. Through projects, quotes, drawings, photos, and narrative dialogues, the book offers a cross-disciplinary approach that speaks to different audiences and provides insights and tools useful both for design practice and everyday life.

“We believe happiness is a key indicator of people’s health and a territory’s attractiveness,” says Gabriella Gedda, President of the Foundation. “Building Happiness is an invitation to consider happiness as a concrete lever to regenerate the urban environment and build more inclusive, welcoming cities that respond to the deeper needs of those who inhabit them.”

A multidisciplinary and collective work, because — as Eleonora Gerbotto, Director of the Foundation, points out — “Happiness has many faces, like a diamond. And from this multiplicity, a shared truth emerges: we all long for a space where we can thrive. With Building Happiness we chose not to simplify, embracing different voices and complex imaginaries. Because designing for happiness means inhabiting complexity and recognizing plurality as a resource.”

By integrating architectural, neuroscientific, philosophical, economic, and social perspectives, the book highlights how the built environment directly affects emotional experience. It’s not just about creating pleasant or functional spaces, but about designing environments that meet people’s emotional needs, fostering psychological and social flourishing. In this sense, Building Happiness is an invitation to rethink design through the emotions that space can evoke.

Eight Relational Figures to Inhabit Space

At the heart of the volume are eight “relational figures”: spatial metaphors that help us understand the human-space relationship. They are not rigid formulas, but interpretive keys drawn from disciplines, life experiences, and personal narratives. Refuge, stair, roof, wall, threshold, street, square, and garden do not refer to architectural forms per se, but to different — and complementary — ways of inhabiting the world. No single figure captures the full complexity of space, and each space can contain more than one.

To explore the space-well-being link quantitatively, the Foundation also launched a survey, engaging 747 people. The aim was to collect perceptions and stories related to everyday places. One finding stood out clearly: 85.5% of respondents believe that the characteristics of space directly affect their mood.

Data That Speak of Well-being

We asked people to answer the question, “Where does your happiness live?” The qualitative and quantitative data collected intertwine with the eight relational figures, creating an open and diverse map of the spaces that make us feel good.

Family and social relationships represent the “happy place” for about 25% of respondents aged 26–65. This dimension is embodied by the figure of the square, a symbol of connection and collective participation. Nature follows, cited by 21.42% of the sample as a space of well-being. This environment is recognized across all age groups and is often associated with the roof — evoking protection and perspective — or the stair, a metaphor for introspection and inner exploration.

The home continues to play a central role in happiness, especially for its emotional and protective value. It is mentioned by 11.78% of respondents and linked to the refuge figure, which expresses a deep need for shelter and safety.

The youngest respondents (<18 years) tend to favor the street, cited by almost 30% of them. This figure represents identity formation, self-discovery, movement, and the exploration of passions. Other participants referred to the threshold, a space of change and openness to the unexpected, or to the garden, a place of creativity and desire translated into planning — metaphors that reflect a dynamic, future-oriented idea of happiness.

A small percentage of the sample did not indicate a specific place, confirming the fluid and subjective nature of happiness, which resists any attempt at definitive classification.