建筑的意義

在中國，房子一直都是許多人一輩子最重要的物質追求，而裝修則是住進新房前的頭等大事。建筑風格以及裝修風格、檔次，多少都與居住者的“幸福”相聯系，當然，這對于那些總念叨著“色即是空”的人除外。

這期向大家推薦一本頗值得閱讀的書——The Architecture of Happiness(《幸福的建筑》)，它講述的不是教科書式的西方建筑史，也非有關建筑的鑒賞手冊或裝潢指南，而是從一個極其獨特的角度，審視一個我們看似熟悉、其實頗為陌生的主題:建筑與我們的幸福之間的關系。人為何需要建筑?為何具有某種美的建筑會令你心生愉悅?為何你對建筑的鑒賞標準會發生改變?建筑與人的幸福之間到底有何關聯?作者Alain de Botton(阿蘭·德波頓)從哲學、美學和心理學的角度對這些問題作出的解答足以令你從根本上改變對建筑，進而對人生和幸福的既定態度與追求。

Alain de Botton，人稱“英倫才子”，1969年出生于瑞士蘇黎世，畢業于劍橋大學，現居倫敦。著有Essays in Love(《愛情筆記》)、The Consolations of Philosophy(《哲學的慰藉》)、The Art of Travel(《旅行的藝術》)、Status Anxiety(《身份的焦慮》)等作品。他的作品已被譯成二十幾種文字，單單在中國就有很多他的“粉絲”。

本期節選了該書第一章的部分內容供大家“享用”，節選的內容文學性強，難度不小，有點難啃，不過看在好文的份上，大家可要堅持到最后哦!^_^

1.

A 1)terraced house on a tree-lined street. Earlier today， the house rang with the sound of children’s cries and adult voices， but since the last occupant took off (with her 2)satchel) a few hours ago， it has been left to 3)sample the morning by itself. The sun has risen over the 4)gables of the buildings opposite and now washes through the ground-floor windows， painting the interior walls a buttery yellow and warming the 5)grainy-red brick 6)faccedil;ade. Within 7)shafts of sunlight， platelets of dust move as if in obedience to the rhythms of a silent waltz. From the hallway， the low murmur of accelerating traffic can be detected a few blocks away. Occasionally， the letter-box opens with a 8)rasp to admit a9)plaintive leaflet.

The house gives signs of enjoying the emptiness. It is rearranging itself after the night， clearing its pipes and cracking its joints. This dignified and seasoned 10)creature， with its coppery veins and wooden feet nestled in a bed of clay， has endured much: balls bounced against its garden 11)flanks， doors slammed in rage， headstands attempted along its corridors， the weight and sighs of electrical equipment and the 12)probings of inexperienced plumbers into its innards. A family of four shelters in it， joined by a colony of ants around the foundations and， in spring time， by 13)broods of robins in the chimney stack. It also lends a shoulder to a frail (or just 14)indolent) sweet-pea which leans against the garden wall， indulging the peripatetic courtship of a circle of bees.

The house has grown into a knowledgeable witness. It has been party to early seductions， it has watched homework being written， it has observed15)swaddled babies freshly arrived from hospital， it has been surprised in the middle of the night by whispered conferences in the kitchen. It has experienced winter evenings when its windows were as cold as bags of frozen peas and midsummer 16)dusks when its brick walls held the warmth of newly baked bread.

It has provided not only physical but also psychological sanctuary. It has been a guardian of identity. Over the years， its owners have returned from periods away and， on looking around them， remembered who they were. The 17)flagstones on the ground floor speak of serenity and aged grace， while the regularity of the kitchen cabinets offers a model of 18)unintimidating order and discipline. The dining table， with its 19)waxy tablecloth printed with large 20)buttercups， suggests a burst of playfulness which is thrown into 21)relief by a sterner concrete wall nearby. Along the stairs， small still-lives of eggs and lemons draw attention to the 22)intricacy and beauty of everyday things. On a 23)ledge beneath a window， a glass jar of 24)cornflowers helps to resist the pull towards dejection. On the upper floor， a narrow empty room allows space for restorative thoughts to hatch， its skylight giving out onto impatient clouds migrating rapidly over cranes and 25)chimney pots.

Although this house may lack solutions to a great many of its occupants’ 26)ills， its rooms nevertheless give evidence of a happiness to which architecture has made its distinctive contribution.

2.

Yet a concern for architecture has never been free from a degree of suspicion. Doubts have been raised about the subject’s seriousness， its moral worth and its cost. A thought-provoking number of the world’s most intelligent people have disdained any interest in decoration and design， equating contentment with27)discarnate and invisible matters instead.

The Ancient Greek 28)Stoic philosopher 29)Epictetus is said to have demanded of a heart-broken friend whose house had burnt to the ground， “If you really understand what governs the universe， how can you yearn for bits of stone and pretty rock?” Legend recounts that after hearing the voice of God， the Christian hermit Alexandra sold her house， shut herself in a tomb and never looked at the outside world again， while her fellow hermit Paul slept on a blanket on the floor of a windowless mud hut and recited 300 prayers every day， suffering only when he heard of another holy man who had managed 700 and slept in a coffin.

Such 30)austerity has been a historical constant. In the spring of 1137 the Cistercian monk31)St Bernard of Clairvaux travelled all the way around Lake Geneva without noticing it was even there. Likewise， after four years in his monastery， St Bernard could not report whether the dining area had a vaulted ceiling (it does) or how many windows there were in the 32)sanctuary of his church (three). On a visit to the 33)Charterhouse of 34)Dauphiné， St Bernard astonished his hosts by arriving on a magnificent white horse 35)diametrically opposed to the 36)ascetic values he professed， but he explained that he had borrowed the animal from a wealthy uncle and had simply failed to 37)register its appearance on a four-day journey across France.

3.

Nevertheless， such determined efforts to scorn visual experience have always been matched by equally persistent attempts to mould the material world to graceful ends. People have 38)strained their backs carving flowers into their roof beams and their eyesight embroidering animals onto their tablecloths. They have given up weekends to hide unsightly cables behind ledges. They have thought carefully about appropriate kitchen work-surfaces. They have imagined living in unattainably expensive houses pictured in magazines and then felt sad， as one does on passing an attractive stranger in a crowded street.

We seem divided between an urge to 39)override our senses and numb ourselves to our settings and a contradictory impulse to acknowledge the extent to which our identities are indelibly connected to， and will shift along with， our locations. An ugly room can 40)coagulate any loose suspicions as to the incompleteness of life， while a sun-lit one set with honey-coloured limestone tiles can lend support to whatever is most hopeful within us.

Belief in the significance of architecture is premised on the notion that we are， for better or for worse， different people in different places—and on the conviction that it is architecture’s task to render vivid to us who we might ideally be.

……

1.

那是一條林蔭道上的一幢聯排式房子。今早，房子內回蕩著孩子的哭聲及大人的說話聲，不過打最后一個住客幾小時前(背著書包)離開后，就剩它獨自細品這個清晨了。太陽已經升到對面樓房的山墻尖頂之上，陽光透過一樓的窗戶遍灑進來，給屋子內墻涂上一層奶油黃，粗粒紅磚外墻也給曬得暖洋洋的。