Can architecture make you happy? Not the I-love-my-new-kitchen kind of happy, but the deep down, inner bliss kind of happy. The kind of happy that stirs your soul, because this house or that building somehow speaks to your core values and attitudes about life. The November issue of dwell asks the question — which has been pondered throughout history by the likes of Renaissance architects and, more recently, by architect/writer Christopher Alexander. Alexander penned a bible on the topic in the late 1970s with a book called “A Pattern Language” (Oxford University Press, 1,216 pages, $65). Alexander sought to decode the magic — what it is about a space or place that makes people feel good. Dwell puts a modern spin on the question and gives the floor to London-based writer (and self-styled observer of everyday life) Alain de Botton, whose latest book explores architecture and happiness. Dwell does a question-answer session with de Botton and lets him lay out his basic principles for architectural happiness, his belief that society harbors a “tedious overemphasis on the future” and his thoughts on the trouble with architects and, particularly, cutting-edge architects. That seems like a strange discussion in a design magazine that is devoted to all things modern and cutting-edge.
SPEAKING OF CUTTING-EDGE: Don’t miss the story “Garden Apartment” in the same issue of dwell. It features a fabulous vertical garden (translation: plants growing up the side of a wall) done by French botanist Patrick Blanc, who has been “bringing the wilds of the rainforests to Parisian walls for over 30 years” with installations on museum walls, restaurants and other public buildings. This plant wall is different, though. It’s installed inside a private home in Paris — in the “exotic living room cum garden” where a family that spent many years living in the countryside simply had to be close to the green stuff.
IN THE GENRE OF DO-IT-YOURSELF: There’s Craft, a new quarterly that mixes craft and technology, which hit newsstands in mid-October. Among the projects in this first issue: a Jet Age Garden (an irreverent, Asian-inspired corner garden meant to be done in a weekend for $100) with a dripping bamboo fountain and lots of rocks and an Ant Farm Room Divider (not with real bugs).
THE INFORMAL FORMAL COCKTAIL PARTY: For those itching to throw one, check out the fall/winter issue of InStyle Home. New York cosmetics executive Olivia Chantecaille shares her do-it-yourself recipe for such an event, which includes handwritten invitations, board games, Latin music from the 1950s, Budweiser served in the can and inside pretty silver-plated koozies, elegant plastic plates (her source is revealed; check out www.bongenre.com), Russian-style deviled eggs (that means caviar is present) and (our favorite) macaroni and cheese served in Parmesan cups.
AND FINALLY: Wondertime, a parenting magazine from Disney Publishing that launched in February, recently gathered child development and family experts for a summit on the state of parenting in the U.S. Among the most interesting findings came from a study conducted by the Families and Work Institute. The study asked children for one “wish” to improve their lives. Their answer: to feel less stressed and tired. Surely, that’s a commentary on something.
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