Go BackThe Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Two – The Process of Creating Life
“The Process of Creating Life”, the second volume of “The Nature of Order” series presents a dynamic theory of living structure. It begins with an analysis of transformations, which occur in nature, and the distinction between structure-preserving transformations, responsible for the living quality of traditional towns and villages, and the structure destroying transformations that dominate the construction of the modern world. The first part ends with an analysis of living structure as it has occurred in the 20th-century world.
The second part offers a detailed analysis of living process. It introduces a fundamental operation, seen to be the necessary atomic component of all life-creating processes. Most of part 2 shows the way in which a new profession of architecture, and a new society, may be built on the repeated use of living processes. The book ends with a vision of a society that is dominated by living process, and with examination of the way in which social change, towards living process, can be made to happen piecemeal.
The book was exhibited at Locus Manifesto-exposition “Re-enchant the World: Architecture and the City facing society´s transitions”, together with others in Science Cabinet #1.
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The Nature of Order: Response to request for bidding on the book printing and binding, quoting specifications and price for 5,000 and 7,500 copies of the book; handwritten notes by Christopher Alexander
27/10/1988
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The Nature of Order: Upon request, provision of breakdown of costs for 5,000 and 7,500 copies of the book
04/11/1988
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Re: Christopher Alexander - The Nature of Order: Response letter providing specifications and price quotations to the publishing house for the printing, binding and shipping for 6000, 7000 or 8000 copies of the book; also a duplicate of the letter with handwritten notes is included
07/07/1989
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The One; an early version of "The Nature of Order"
01/01/1977
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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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Geometry; an early version of "The Nature of Order"
01/01/1981
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The Nature of Order: Thoughts on the design and structure of the book through the course of its lengthy development
01/01/1993
12-page handwritten notes with thoughts regarding the overview of headings, content and organization of the books; connection between chapters and references to project material to be used as examples.
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The Nature of Order: Six Ideas for Christopher Alexander
30/06/1993
Outlines six ideas to be considered by Alexander for publishing “The Nature of Order”.
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"The Nature of Order" Press Kit
10/01/2005
Press Kit for the release of “The Nature of Order” includes a press release, Alexander’s short biography, reviews of the publications.
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The Nature of Order, Book Two: Book illustrations
01/01/2002
Seven CD discs with the complete image contents of Book One organized by book chapters.
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The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe; book cover photographs
01/04/2021
Photographs of the covers of the four books of “The Nature of Order”.
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The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Two - The Process of Creating Life: Book cover photographs
30/07/2022
Photographs of the cover of book “The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Two: The Process of Creating Life”.
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From 'The Nature of Order'
01/03/1989
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The Laws of Architecture From a Physicist’s Perspective
17/06/1995
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Christopher Alexander: Draft of a paper in five parts --Introduction, The Theory, The Practice, The Problem, The Promise-- intended to be published in "Preservation Magazine", accompanied with additional pieces of text for sidebars
25/11/1998
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Japanese Tea House Sequence: A generative sequence of steps through which new centers are formed and unfolded
01/01/1972
Generative sequence with 24 distinct steps for the making of a traditional Japanese tea house; studied in a seminar with Ph.D. students taught by Christopher Alexander.
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The Patterns of Structure in the Trobriand Islands
01/01/1975
Investigation which provides a complete and systematic description of the settlement and building patterns to be found in the Trobriant Islands, using the methodology and the theoretical ideas of Christopher Alexander; written in 1975, but formally approved in 1996.
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Arch 280, Winter 1977 - The Relative "Oneness": Student notes on how to determine and measure "Oneness"
01/03/1977
9-page student essay with the following headings: An Experiment to determine the Relative “Oneness” of a collection of structures; Further objective measure of oneness, possibly; Further Notes for an Experimental Determination of Oneness; Excerpts from “Altered States of Awareness: Reading ...