Go BackWholeness and the Theory of Centers
Christoper Alexander defined and described wholeness as an idea to view and shape space, and searched for ways to formulate and represent wholeness in precise terms, as a structure. He idenfied the entities with 'strength' give structure to what is defined as wholeness. These entites, the building blocks of wholeness, are the Centers; each center exists because it gets its life form other centers. He explored and proposed ways in which centers become living and can be built from other centers; a step by step process, by resursively and gradually introducing other centers to intensify the field effect and create the center's life.
Thoughts and Arguments Explored and Developed
Wholeness as a fundamental structure of space
Life comes directly from wholeness
The multiplicity of centers and degree of wholeness
Recursive definition of a center
Each center as a field
The subtlety of centers
References
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A New Theory of Urban Design
1987
The sixth volume of “The Center for Environmental Structure Series” on architecture published by Oxford University Press, “A New Theory of Urban Design” attempts to recapture the process by which cities develop organically. The venerable cities of the past, such ...
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A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art - The Color and Geometry of very Early Turkish Carpets
1993
The seventh volume of “The Center for Environmental Structure Series” on architecture published by Oxford University Press is a book about carpets. Alexander assembled what many believe to be one of the finest collections of early Turkish carpets in the ...
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The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book One - The Phenomenon of Life
2002
“The Phenomenon of Life”, the first volume of “The Nature of Order” series proposes a scientific view of the world in which all space-matter has perceptible degrees of life and sets this understanding of order as an intellectual basis for ...
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The Role and Use of Color in Ornamentation and Building Systems for Creating Wholeness in Structures
1976
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The Relative "Oneness"
1977
On “Oneness”, as wholeness was initially approached; introduction of the centering process and the geometric properties. Tasks focused on definition of properties and their relationship to patterns; on the process for making a good rug; and on the process ...
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Introduction to Geometry
1979
Three part course: 1) Structure of space with harmony and order in it; 2) Fundamental properties of space, the necessary and sufficient preconditions for this order to occur; 3) Designs which have this harmony and order in them.
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Lecture on "The Nature of Order", given during Fall 1991
05/09/1991
Cassette tape of the fourth Fall semester lecture by Christopher Alexander on “Structure of Space – Centers & Wholeness”, part of a series of lectures on “The Nature of Order”; the duration of the lecture is about one hour and ...
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Lecture on "The Nature of Order", given during Fall 1991
12/09/1991
Cassette tape of the fifth Fall semester lecture by Hansjoachim Neis on “Seeing and Perceiving Wholeness”, part of a series of lectures on “The Nature of Order”; the duration of the lecture is about one hour and ten minutes.
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Lecture on "The Nature of Order", given during Fall 1991
17/09/1991
Cassette tape of the sixth Fall semester lecture by Yodan Rofe on the “Structure of Space – Centers & Wholeness”, part of a series of lectures on “The Nature of Order”; the duration of the lecture is about one hour ...
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The Nature of Order: A New View of the Nature of the Universe Inspired by Certain Basic Questions in the Art of Building
01/01/1981
111-page early discussion on the concept of “Order” and what its elements are. Includes: 1. Introduction; 2. Part One: The Nature of Order; 3. Part Two: Deeper Version – The “Being” Nature and 4. Conclusion: Outline of a New Cosmology.
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The Nature of Order and the Nature of the Universe - An Essay on the Art of Building: Chapters 1-13 with content summaries
01/03/1983
Various drafts summarizing the contents of each of the thirteen chapters of “The Nature of Order”, 63 pages in total. Contents: 1. Architecture and Cosmology; 2. The Phenomenon of Wholeness; 3. The Mirror of the Soul; 4. Fifteen Types of ...
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The Nature of Order - An essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe: Sep. 1984 version. It is organized in three parts; I. Cosmology, II. Foundations of the Art of Building, and III. Cosmology
01/09/1984
55-page sketch of a draft; clear copy with no corrections. It states “This is a summary of a book expected to be about 1000 pages long. The book contains thirteen chapters.” Table of Contents is organized in three parts as ...
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New City Center for Samarkand: Photographs of drawings
01/04/1993
Two colored axonometric drawings for a new city center for central Samarkand, on unbuilt land. The drawings show the essential spatial envelope of the central section of Samarkand. It concentrates only on the key spaces, their shapes, building volumes, paths ...
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New City Center for Samarkand: Photographs of project model
01/04/1993
Photograph of the rough study model, focusing on just a section of it.
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Seljuk Prayer Carpet: Photographs
01/01/1993
Seven photographs, one color of the whole carpet, and another one with emphasis on details; also five black and white photos of sketches depicting carpet details and its overall structure, with emphasis on its field of centers.
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Arch 280, Winter 1977 - The Relative "Oneness": Centering Process, Second Draft, March 3 1977: Part I - Overview; Part II - The Operation; Part III - The Definition of a Center
03/03/1977
7-page paper on first attempt to define the Centering Process; also a copy of the same with a note by Christopher Alexander.
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Arch 280, Winter 1977 - The Relative "Oneness": Review of Results, Axioms, Assumptions
01/03/1977
8-page notes with 60 bullet points starting with the statement “There are some buildings which have more feeling than others” and through a series of sequential statements introduces certain recognizable geometric properties, and further continuing the trail of thought on ...
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Arch. 207 Winter 1979 - Seminar on Theory of Urban Design: The Centering Process, with shirt-tail design example, dated Fall 1978
01/09/1978
13-page text with doodling and sketches, focusing on the speed and not the thinking aspect of the process.
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