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Title: A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein ISBN: 0-19-501919-9 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 1977 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $65.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.81 (52 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Placemaking Guide
Comment: One can find the answers to most of life's little (and big) problems in this classic work. It does everything from helping one determine why the backyard just doesn't feel right to describing the problems with sprawl. I hesitate to label it as an architectural work because it can be so much more. Certainly, it illustrates how architecture can play a much larger role in shaping our lives than it has during the past fifty years.
The format of the book is effective in that it allows one to follow the connections between various design rules/patterns that might otherwise not be obvious. The use of these "links" within the book could have been a source of inspiration for web designers. This book will appeal just as much to the lay person as it does to the legions of architectural professionals who use it as a guide on a frequent basis.
Rating: 4
Summary: wealth of positive design concepts
Comment: Do take the time to peruse all reader reviews. This is a valuable book.
It is a bit enormous, though, and there is no index. This means that if the reader has to hunt for some little reference or fact, he or she is in for a long trek through these pages. Although it is designed with many short chapters, each devoted to a design element, the sheer amount of data is somewhat daunting. Alexander does write clearly, and in an informal, second or first-person manner. But there is little summarizing. Probably an excellent book to read cover-to-cover as part of a large study project. So read this book and know it well BEFORE you talk to your architect, contractor, designer... don't do as I did and start speed reading it when the architect hands over the blue prints.
Note: Whereas feng shui is a little more mystical, Alexander's suggested design tactics make practical sense. (I gently encourage any reader trying to choose between feng shui and this book to go with the latter). Very useful concepts for anyone who wants to make the most of their living space.
Rating: 5
Summary: Required reading for anyone who wants to build!
Comment: This book is quite simply The Rules for architectural common sense - how to design useful and appealing spaces for people. (For example: "Don't make a balcony less than six feet deep, or it won't get used much". "People walking on the sidewalk feel threatened by cars whizzing past a few feet away". "If the roof appears to be supported only by spindly little posts it'll make people nervous")(I'm paraphrasing these). It's truly shocking to see how such simple and indubitable factors are ignored in modern design, in favor of cost-cutting and fashion. Please check out the hundreds of patterns given here, with photos, diagrams, examples, and most importantly, the "language" of how they coordinate together into a whole.
(Also take a look at Hildebrand's THE WRIGHT SPACE for another great look at "what makes a building feel good")
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Title: The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander ISBN: 0195024028 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 1979 List Price(USD): $55.00 |
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Title: Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design by Max Jacobson, Murray Silverstein, Barbara Winslow ISBN: 1561585335 Publisher: Taunton Press Pub. Date: 27 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: The Phenomenon of Life: The Nature of Order, Book 1 by Christopher Alexander ISBN: 0972652914 Publisher: Center For Environmental Structure Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $75.00 |
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Title: Notes on the Synthesis of Form by Christopher W. Alexander ISBN: 0674627512 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: June, 1970 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Production of Houses by Christopher Alexander, Howard Davis, Julio Martinez ISBN: 0195032233 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: June, 1985 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
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