Christopher Alexander: A Primer
Ondra Sources
Christopher Alexander’s work is hard to get into. He’s written over 15 books, and there isn't one that serves as a general intro or overview for the rest.
In this livestream, Ryan Singer ('Shape Up' method) gives an informal introduction to what he sees as the most important ideas in his body of work. Outline with timestamps below...
0:00:00 Background and motivation
0:06:48 Plan of the talk
0:10:32 Form, Context, and Fit
0:16:40 Beyond Fitness: Life and a Better World
- 0:18:29 Example: Soviet style building vs a living courtyard
- 0:22:46 Example: Redesigning a tree planter in a plaza
0:27:43 Introducing centers and generative process
0:30:08 Centers — Coherent regions in spatial structure
- 0:32:50 Example: Human face, well adapted centers
- 0:34:31 Example: Entrance of a building
- 0:35:58 Strong centers and weak centers
0:37:22 Process — Step by step adaptation
- 0:37:22 Example: Nolli plan of Rome
- 0:39:41 Sequence and path-dependence
- 0:40:41 A pattern as a form/context pair and a generic set of centers
- 0:41:54 Example: 6-Foot Balcony
- 0:44:17 Knitting patterns together into a language
- 0:44:33 Example: Farmhouse kitchen
- 0:45:25 Sequence of the kitchen layout
- 0:47:31 Example: Sequencing a house and a garden
0:49:02 Project-Specific Pattern Languages
- 0:52:32 How pattern languages give freedom to unify design and construction
- 0:54:06 Example: Generating two kinds of classroom buildings
- 0:54:55 How different languages generate different designs
- 0:56:26 Example: Changing the position of a fireplace during construction
- 0:57:33 Example: Large scale patterns for the Eishen school
- 1:00:40 Centers: 15 properties as transformations
- 1:01:52 Example: Redesigning the people screen in Basecamp and creating a pattern language for the project
Books mentioned:
- Notes on the Synthesis of Form
- The Nature of Order, Book 1
- The Nature of Order, Book 2
- The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth
