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 enlarge | Author: Christopher Alexander
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $65.00
Buy New: $34.99
You Save: $30.01 (46%)
New (48) Used (29) Collectible (1) from $32.49
Rating:  78 reviews
Sales Rank: 7360
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1216
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.8 x 2
ISBN: 0195019199
Dewey Decimal Number: 720.1
EAN: 9780195019193
ASIN: 0195019199
Publication Date: 1977
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
you'll have fun with this one August 4, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
my cousin built her thick walled adobe home in northern colorado using the ideas in this book. they work. the home is a delight to be in; cozy and warm and strong and earthy at the same time. the book is a very idealistic view of the world as it now stands; it's inspired by the basic drives in all of us for community and privacy and deals admirably with the trade-off. it's not just about spaces we live in and how to make them nurturing and compelling. it's also about how to create communities that entice rather than alienate. we all know strip malls are appalling at a very fundamental level. this book explains why and offers valid alternatives. unfortunately, builders and developers don't get it or make more money their way so to see healthy, working examples of a pattern language you have a much easier time finding examples in old europe (mediterrnaean villages in particular).
"One of the great books of the century". July 25, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Alexander tried to show that architecture connects people to their surroundings in an infinite number of ways, most of which are subconscious. For this reason, it was important to discover what works; what feels pleasant; what is psychologically nourishing; what attracts rather than repels. These solutions, found in much of vernacular architecture, were abstracted and synthesized into the "Pattern Language" about 20 years ago.
Unfortunately, although he did not say it then, it was obvious that contemporary architecture was pursuing design goals that are almost the opposite of what was discovered in the pattern language. For this reason, anyone could immediately see that Alexander's findings invalidated most of what practicing architects were doing at that time. The Pattern Language was identified as a serious threat to the architectural community. It was consequently suppressed. Attacking it in public would only give it more publicity, so it was carefully and off-handedly dismissed as irrelevant in architecture schools, professional conferences and publications.
Now, 20 years later, computer scientists have discovered that the connections underlying the Pattern Language are indeed universal, as Alexander had originally claimed. His work has achieved the highest esteem in computer science. Alexander himself has spent the last twenty years in providing scientific support for his findings, in a way that silences all criticism. He will publish this in the forthcoming four-volume work entitled "The Nature of Order". His new results draw support from complexity theory, fractals, neural networks, and many other disciplines on the cutting edge of science.
After the publication of this new work, our civilization has to seriously question why it has ignored the Pattern Language for so long, and to face the blame for the damage that it has done to our cities, neighborhoods, buildings, and psyche by doing so.
Masterpiece July 15, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a masterpiece. If you want to design your own home (as in my case), this book is indispensible. I am amazed how Christopher and company came up with such an amazing amount of design information. As one example, Christopher explains the "Zen View". In general, this is a small view that you are able to look through onto a different scene. Thinking this through, I absolutely agree! They explain this design quality, why it works, and how you can use it. This is just one gem of 100s.
Changed the way we look at designing our house April 10, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I borrowed this from the library first, since it's an expensive book but, after reading it, my wife and I both wanted to buy it. It is incredibly deep - the "patterns" weave together to make up a truly human whole. Alexander talks about the design process as organic. Reading through the patterns and implementing them as much or as little as one is compelled to do makes for buildings and towns that are truly a reflection of the people who have designed them.
This is a great "volume" of material and worth every penny. It will never be sold at one of our yard sales!
One of the most spiritual books I've read March 18, 2007
10 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book is one of the most spiritual books I've read in that in every passage it speaks to how to support the human spirit through design that considers body, mind, and spirit. What excites me about this work is the way in which each language element looks simultaneously at the human needs to be served and the essential tensions that need to be resolved by design. The focus of each language element is to bring about results that are the most enlivening to the human spirit.
This book encompasses both the external and internal dimensions of what it means to be human. Language elements such as:
- Carnival.Just as an individual person dreams fantastic happenings to release the inner forces which cannot be encompassed by ordinary events, so too a city needs its dreams.
- Scattered Work. The artificial separation of houses and work creates intolerable rifts in people's inner lives.
- Old People Everywhere. Old people need old people, but they also need the young, and young people need contact with the old.
- Sacred Sites. People cannot maintain their spiritual roots and their connections to the past if the physical world they live in does not also sustain these roots.
These are just a few of the 253 elements which describe patterns for designing and beautifying communities, regions, and structures that by their very design uplift the human spirit.
I remember which I first read this book, I would turn the page and see a photograph that was an example of lifeless design. The book is full of examples which illustrate the patterns - both good and bad designs - ones that are enlivening and those that are soul killing. As I would turn the page - even without reading the description - I would often have a visceral reaction to the soul-killing level of those photos that were examples of lifeless design.
I recommend this book on many levels:
- As a book of architecture for anyone wanting to bring a touch of their creative artistry to their community, neighborhood, city, and personal dwelling.
- As a book of exquisite information architecture, for anyone wanting to express information in a way that is eminently accessible.
- As a book of profound spiritual information that discusses the everyday elements of our common humanity and how we can bring that forward into the physical world.
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