This book is about building houses, but it is more about life. There is joy, there is disappointment and sadness, but above all, there is hope. The Joy of Building For someone like me, who absolutely abhors construction sites and all the raw materials, Alexander brings them to life in a way that only he can. His “physical love for the buildings and the building materials, … the way a […]
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“The Timeless Way of Building” by Christopher Alexander
One of the most delightful and insightful books I’ve ever read. It is written with the fluidity of a poet and the preciseness of a mathematician. “There are those special secret moments in our lives, when we smile unexpectedly –when all our forces are resolved. … When we know those moments, when we smile, when we let go, when we are not on guard at all–these are the moments when […]
Read more“The Oregon Experiment” by Christopher Alexander
The Principle of Participation: The fundamental human needs: to create, to control, to identify with the environment in which they live and have a sense of ownership. The Principle of Diagnosis: The well being of the whole is protected by an annual diagnosis which explains, in detail, which spaces are alive and which ones dead, at any given moment in the history of the community. The Principle of Piecemeal Growth: […]
Read more“The New Theory of Urban Design” by Christopher Alexander
Vision “Every project must first be experienced, and then expressed, as a vision which can be seen in the inner eye (literally). It must have this quality so strongly that it can also be communicated to others, and felt by others, as a vision.” “This vision is a literal thing. It is not merely an idea or concept, but a thing seen and felt in the mind’s eye as in […]
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