Alain de Boutton recently wrote a book called Art as Therapy, where he asked: “What does art do for us?”  His answer is that art completes us — it gives us what we yearn for but are missing in our day-to-day lives.

For example, why does this painting, “A Courtyard of a House in Delft” by Pieter de Hooch, still appeal to us?

Is it because we yearn for a simpler life, one without all the complications of the modern world, yet neat and proud in its own way?   Most of us wouldn’t trade our real life for a 17th century one, but this painting still reminds us of how our life should be.   Maybe it could even get us to do a few things to live our ideal life.

We see this all the time in Los Angeles.  We all live in a giant modern city, but our homes reflect the life we wish for, not the one we actually lead.  And because Angelenos hail from all corners of the world, there is incredible diversity in the homes we build here. For example, could you believe that these houses are literally right next to each other?

This one reminds us that the future is still full of possibility:

Or maybe we just need a cup of tea . . . in the English countryside:

Here’s to America at its best — can you smell the apple pie baking?

Here we can escape to Andalusia, with its gnarled olive trees, trickling fountains, and cooling tiles:

Each house is in its way an antidote for the modern world.  We may all drive through traffic to spend a day in front of screens, but the life we yearn for is not lost.  We just have to design for it.

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