Pattern (architecture)

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Pattern in architecture is the idea of capturing architectural design ideas as archetypal and reusable descriptions. The term pattern in this context is usually attributed to Christopher Alexander, [1] an Austrian born American architect. The patterns serve as an aid to design cities and buildings. The concept of having collections of "patterns", or typical samples as such, is much older. One can think of these collections as forming a pattern language, whereas the elements of this language may be combined, governed by certain rules.

Contents

This may be distinct from common use of pattern books, which are collections of architectural plans which may be copied in new works.

Alexander's idea of patterns

Alexander's patterns seek to provide a source of proven ideas for individuals and communities to use in constructing their living and working environment. As such their aim is both aesthetic and political: to show how beautiful, comfortable and flexible built environments can be constructed, and to enable those people who will inhabit those environments to challenge any solution forced upon them.

A pattern records the design decisions taken by many builders in many places over many years in order to resolve a particular problem. Alexander describes a problem in terms of the so-called forces that act in it, and the solution is said to resolve those forces. If there are still unresolved forces, then additional patterns may be needed to balance these remaining forces.

Pattern language

Patterns may be collected together into a pattern language that addresses a particular domain. A large body of patterns was published by Alexander and his collaborators as A Pattern Language . The patterns in that book were intended to enable communities to construct and modify their own homes, workplaces, towns and cities.

Other than Alexander's own projects, few building projects have tried to use Alexander's patterns. Those that have done so have met a mixed response from other architects, builders, architectural critics, and users. Alexander has come to believe that patterns themselves are not enough, and that one needs a "morphogenetic" understanding of the formation of the built environment. He has published his ideas in the four-volume work The Nature of Order .

While the pattern language idea has so far had limited impact on the building industry, it has had a profound influence on many workers in the information technology industry.

See also

Architecture

Computer science

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<i>A Pattern Language</i>

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction is a 1977 book on architecture, urban design, and community livability. It was authored by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein of the Center for Environmental Structure of Berkeley, California, with writing credits also to Max Jacobson, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King and Shlomo Angel. Decades after its publication, it is still one of the best-selling books on architecture.

The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe (ISBN 0-9726529-0-6) is a four-volume work by the architect Christopher Alexander published in 2002–2004. In his earlier work, Alexander attempted to formulate the principles that lead to a good built environment as patterns, or recurring design solutions. However, he has come to believe that patterns themselves are not enough to generate life in buildings and cities, and that one needs a "morphogenetic" understanding of the formation of the built environment as well as a deep understanding of how the makers get in touch with the creative process.

<i>The Oregon Experiment</i>

The Oregon Experiment is a 1975 book by Christopher Alexander and collaborators Murray Silverstein, Shlomo Angel, Sara Ishikawa, and Denny Abrams. It describes an experimental approach to campus community planning at the University of Oregon, in Eugene, Oregon which resulted in a theory of architecture and planning described in the group's later published and better-known volumes A Pattern Language and The Timeless Way of Building.

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Nikos Salingaros

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<i>A Theory of Architecture</i>

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A debugging pattern describes a generic set of steps to rectify or correct a bug within a software system. It is a solution to a recurring problem that is related to a particular bug or type of bug in a specific context.

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Architectural drawing Technical drawing of a building (or building project)

An architectural drawing or architect's drawing is a technical drawing of a building that falls within the definition of architecture. Architectural drawings are used by architects and others for a number of purposes: to develop a design idea into a coherent proposal, to communicate ideas and concepts, to convince clients of the merits of a design, to assist a building contractor to construct it based on design intent, as a record of the design and planned development, or to make a record of a building that already exists.

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of "objects", which can contain data and code: data in the form of fields, and code, in the form of procedures.

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Parametric design is a process based on algorithmic thinking that enables the expression of parameters and rules that, together, define, encode and clarify the relationship between design intent and design response.

References

  1. Alexander, Christopher (1977). A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction . Oxford University Press, USA. p.  1216. ISBN   0-19-501919-9.

Further reading