Christopher Alexander
Architect and design theorist (1936 to 2022); author of A Pattern Language and The Timeless Way of Building.
Christopher Alexander did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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The timeless way of building brings order out of ourselves and cannot be attained, only allowed to happen
It is a process which brings order out of nothing but ourselves; it cannot be attained, but it will happen of its own accord, if we will only let it.
books.google.comSaid c. 1979This on korrents
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A design pattern describes a recurring problem and the core of its solution, usable a million times without repeating itself
Each pattern describes a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice.
books.google.comSaid c. 1977This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 23 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
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The timeless way of building brings order out of ourselves and cannot be attained, only allowed to happen
It is a process which brings order out of nothing but ourselves; it cannot be attained, but it will happen of its own accord, if we will only let it.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
Working in the timeless way, a town can grow without architects or planners
Without the help of architects or planners, if you are working in the timeless way, a town will grow under your hands, as steady as the flowers in your garden.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
Wanting to bring a building or a town to life is a fundamental human instinct
Each one of us wants to be able to bring a building or part of a town to life like this. It is a fundamental human instinct, as much a part of our desire as the desire for children.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
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There is a central quality, objective and precise but nameless, that is the root criterion of life in buildings, towns and people
There is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit in a man, a town, a building, or a wilderness. This quality is objective and precise, but it cannot be named.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
A lifeless place almost always has a mastermind behind it whose will leaves no room for its own nature
When a place is lifeless or unreal, there is almost always a mastermind behind it. It is so filled with the will of its maker that there is no room for its own nature.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
The more living patterns a room, building or town has, the more it comes to life as a whole
The more living patterns there are in a thing — a room, a building, or a town — the more it comes to life as an entirety, the more it glows, the more it has this self-maintaining fire, which is the quality without a name.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
A place comes alive not through one isolated pattern but through a whole interdependent system of patterns
The quality without a name occurs, not when an isolated pattern occurs, but when an entire system of patterns, interdependent, at many levels, is all stable and alive.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
The quality that makes places alive cannot be made, only generated by a process
Indeed the main thing we shall deal with in these next nine chapters, is the fact that the quality without a name cannot be made, but only generated by a process.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
The process that makes towns alive must let their people shape rooms, houses, streets and churches for themselves
In the case of buildings and of towns, this process must be one which lets the people of a town shape rooms, and houses, streets, and churches, for themselves.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
Patterns decide not only a building's shape but how far it comes to life
The patterns are responsible not only for the specific shape a building has, but also for the extent to which the building comes to life.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
Pattern languages are the source of beauty and of ugliness in buildings
Pattern languages are the source of beauty and of ugliness.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
To let a pattern form itself in design, you must give up control and let the pattern do the work
To do it, you must let go of your control and let the pattern do the work.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
To make a building egoless, the builder must let go of willful images and start with a void
To make a building egoless, like this, the builder must let go of all his willful images, and start with a void.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
Used well, the method of pattern languages ends by freeing us from all method
Indeed it turns out, in the end, that what this method does is simply free us from all method.
The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979) Said c. 1979
A design pattern describes a recurring problem and the core of its solution, usable a million times without repeating itself
Each pattern describes a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
Towns and buildings can only become alive if all the people make them, sharing a common pattern language that is itself alive
It is shown there, that towns and buildings will not be able to become alive, unless they are made by all the people in society, and unless these people share a common pattern language, within which to make these buildings, and unless this common pattern language is alive itself.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
No design pattern is an isolated entity
In short, no pattern is an isolated entity.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
Metropolitan regions will not come to balance until each is small and autonomous enough to be an independent sphere of culture
Metropolitan regions will not come to balance until each one is small and autonomous enough to be an independent sphere of culture.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
Individuals have no effective voice in a community of more than 5,000 to 10,000 people
Individuals have no effective voice in any community of more than 5000-10,000 persons.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
There is abundant evidence that high buildings make people crazy
There is abundant evidence to show that high buildings make people crazy.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
People use green open spaces when they are close, but not when they are more than three minutes away
People need green open places to go to; when they are close they use them. But if the greens are more than three minutes away, the distance overwhelms the need.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
The more monolithic a building is, the more it prevents people from being personal and making human contact
In short, the more monolithic the building is, the more it prevents people from being personal, and from making human contact with the other people in the building.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
Everybody loves window seats, bay windows and big low-silled windows with chairs drawn up to them
Everybody loves window seats, bay windows, and big windows with low sills and comfortable chairs drawn up to them.
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Oxford University Press, 1977; with 5 co-authors) Said c. 1977
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