Whether the wrong wallpaper could upset you more deeply than a death in the family was certainly something to think about.

A good building, Alain de Botton said, tells us all something about our values. He insisted we are trying to get back to the things we lack - such as calm and order or contact with rural life - through our choice of kitchen cabinets.

Architecture can be a dry subject but de Botton's talk about his new book, The Happiness Of Architecture, was far from that. It was a fascinating insight into the power of buildings to affect who we are, how we feel and the mood we are in.

So, next time you are in the Travelodge feeling depressed, de Botton told us, his book might give a clue on where to go to lighten any depression.

If you were hoping to hear more about de Botton's views on either the Frank Gehry proposal for Hove seafront, or Brighton architecture generally, you would have been disappointed.

But the hinted-at forthcoming series for Channel 4 about building a model village, perhaps to rival Prince Charles's Poundbury, was tantalising.