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"To deny the validity of self-expression is akin to not believing in democracy—it’s a basic value—if you believe in democracy then you must allow for personal expression."

-- Frank Gehry (source)

Will Alsop's Sharp Center, Toronto. (Photo source)

"Beauty" is a word that many of us would feel cautious about discussing it publicly - thus making it an almost-taboo subject in architectural discourse. "What is a beautiful building," asks Alain de botton in the beginning of his book, "Architecture of Happiness" which he then goes on to question whether or not the structure of buildings can affect human happiness. What I like about this book is that it encourages us to see and experience architecture as it truly is without putting name between our mind and the image that conjures up in it.

The book has since spurred numerous debates and interests in the subjects of beauty and architecture after it was published four years ago. The most recent one, written by Yael Reisnar, "Architecture and Beauty: Conversations with Architects about a Troubled Relationship" attempts to establish a relationship between architecture and beauty, through discussions with 16 top architects, including Frank O Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn and Lebbeus Woods.

There is one thing that all of the interviewed architects have in common; each of them contemplates beauty as they see it. And as such, I couldn't agree more with what David Hume - a Scottish empiricist- had argued centuries ago that "beauty in things lies in the mind that contemplates them.” Ed.