Latest 5 Reviews Here is what people are saying about the A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)
"ALL TIME FAVORITE PILLOW BOOK"
2009-11-01
- Reviewed By User: AQEN4SHLK0T3G
An excellent book to peruse before sleeping, as its great wellspring of clear and concise ideas and examples consistently inspire dreams about how - in concrete, practical terms - we can improve the tenor of our daily lives at home and in community.
"the only building design primer you'll ever need"
2009-10-30
- Reviewed By User: A1GYU7X1DMEBTW
As an architect and a builder, Christopher Alexander's work is invaluable. As a sister volume to "The Timeless Way of Building", "A Pattern Language" is an indispensable addition to anybody's library. I reference this book for nearly every project. It explains over 250 patterns found in healthy built environments around the world. It is meant as a reference manual or compendium on building design, but is a great read, in general, and full of insight and years of research. The photographs used as examples are wonderful and get to the heart of the matter. If you only buy or read one book on building design - it should be this one. It makes a great gift for any student or practitioner engaged in building design, construction, or architecture.
"Idealism is wonderful"
2009-10-22
- Reviewed By User: A1W1PVMZ1ORF9L
A Pattern Language was probably ground-breaking for its time, it is certainly spoken about in some circles with reverence. I found that it contains many fascinating ideas and many that I thoroughly agree with, however is based on very slender or no evidence and a distinct world view, that tends towards the didactic. If your personal philosophy is in alignment with Alexander et al then you may be a very willing consumer of these ideas, however I do not think they area as universal and timeless as claimed. Several of them have been invalidated by the passage of time, for example, being based on (US) society in the 70s.
Still, it all certainly makes you think, and willl definitely infuence the way I look at places, and how I design my next house. I don't regret buying the book, I just don't care to agree with a good proportion of it.
The ideas in this book will forever change how you look at city and building design. Urban planners, architects, builders and interior designers who want to keep their jobs-- read up! This book will help you create low-cost solutions to the real estate downturns in your area. You have unprecedented opportunities to rethink your cities, towns, strip malls, etc. to make them more user-friendly and inviting while trimming the ugly wasted space that fills so many of our urban centers and McMansion neighborhoods.
More careful expansion of the cities along logical pathways, with rainwater harvesting, edible self-managed self-watered landscaping, and tree-shaded roads with neighborhood shops and small industry woven in would have created more jobs and more meaning plus kept people together in sustainable neighborhoods at a much lower cost, both initially and long-term. Now we face the prospect of bulldozing entire vacant blocks and turning them into the rural spaces that so many longed to be near to begin with. This is not good business sense-- it's pathology.
'A Pattern Language' is the perfect medicine for this sickness. Like a healthy diet, it gets down to basics: how the human body relates to space; how people 'feel' in certain environments; the criteria of places that draw people in as opposed to others that are left usused or avoided. These principles are classic patterns that have stood the test of time, and Mr. Alexander gives numerous examples from around the world, from entire regions down to the height of windowsills and the best designs for office space.
Anyone planning their own house needs this book! I designed a big house in Arizona for my large family using these principles and it's amazingly light and functional while being cool in summer and warm in winter. The kitchen is smaller than most custom homes, yet eight people can prepare food together comfortably while 3 more surf the internet and Dad reads his paper.
"A Pattern Language- A Gateway to Control a Powerful Tool"
2009-06-16
- Reviewed By User: A9MA435SRQ8YX
It's really awesome, this book. I experience how dense it is, the work of Christopher Alexander and other writers. Above all, it's extremely practical and helpful. This book does affect the way we mind about our lives and our world, positively.
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"Idealism is wonderful"