Book Review: The Architecture of Happiness

"The question of what is beautiful is both impossible to elucidate and shameful and even undemocratic to mention," says author Alain de Botton with a dose of irony. In his latest book, The Architecture of Happiness, he does the impossible, the shameful and the undemocratic, and he does it beautifully. De Botton identifies beauty and explains our emotional reaction to it. His field of choice for this study of subjectivity is architecture, but his ideas expand to all the applied arts.

De Botton defines elegance in architecture as "a quality present whenever a work of architecture succeeds in carrying out an act of resistance -- holding, spanning, sheltering -- with grace and economy as well as strength; when it has the modesty not to draw attention to the difficulties it has surmounted." De Botton goes a step further: "In literature, too, we admire prose in which a small and astutely arranged set of words has been constructed to carry a large consignment of ideas." He could be describing his own book.

Few books about such ethereal subjects are written so accessibly or so, yes, elegantly. "It is easy enough to recognise when a room is properly lit and a staircase easy to navigate, but so much harder to convert this intuitive sense of well-being into a logical understanding of the reasons for it," de Botton writes in full awareness of the daunting task he has set for himself. "To describe a building as beautiful therefore suggests more than a mere aesthetic fondness; it implies an attraction to the particular way of life this structure is promoting through its roof, door handles, window frames, staircase and furnishings. A feeling of beauty is a sign that we have come upon a material articulation of certain of our ideas of a good life." By "a good life," de Botton does not necessarily mean comfortable, posh or easy. He offers the proposition that beautiful architecture can be uplifting not only structurally but spiritually. The belief is that "rather than corrupting us, rather than being an idle indulgence for the decadent, exquisite surroundings could edge us towards perfection. A beautiful building could reinforce our resolve to be good."

The Architecture of Happiness makes difficult things, such as abstracts, symbolism and ideals, appear easy. De Botton is an observant, erudite, witty and gentle guide who only asks that people be sentient to their surroundings. His beliefs are so astute, they seem not so much as opinions as principles. For instance, he disapproves of architectural novelty for the sake of novelty. "(A)n architect intent on being different may in the end prove as troubling as an over-imaginative pilot or doctor. However important originality may be in some fields, restraint and adherence to procedure emerge as the more significant virtues in a great many others." (Are you listening, Mr. Gehry, Mr. Koolhaas and Mr. Libeskind?)

Aiding tremendously in this journey is the prolific use of photographs and, more importantly, their perfect placement on the relevant page of text. It is a joy to have de Botton explain, for example, the balance of a Barbara Hepworth sculpture or the rhythm of the Doge's Palace facade with no more than an eye flick for reference.

We need such a book to remind us that beautiful buildings, at their best, have the power to improve us spiritually, or at their least, to make us happy.

The Architecture of Happiness
By Alain de Botton
Pantheon Books, 280 pages, $25