Color, Interiors and Office Furniture – Christopher Alexander Ces Archive

Scientific Research

Color and Inner Light: The Eleven Color Properties

Areas of focus:

Structure of Space

Guiding idea:

Centers and Fields of Centers

Christopher Alexander postulated that centers and the field of centers they create are the building blocks from which wholeness is made. However, he further argued that geometry alone is not sufficient, and that color is the way wholeness comes to ...

Projects

Eishin Campus - High School: Great Hall - Auditorium 1982 to 1986

Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Educational, Realized , Construction completed in May-1986

Client:

Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing Director

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King

Contractor:

Structural contractor: Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan; Finish contractor: Center for Environmental Structure, Japan

Project stages:

Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisions Innovative construction methods

A large ceremonial building located at the main square and forming one edge of the lake. The main bridge that crosses the lake starts next to its massive podium. Its floor area is 14,000 square feet and has a three-story ...
New System of Office Furniture for Haworth, Inc. 1985 to 1986

Holland, MI, U.S.A.

Office Furniture, Designed , Furniture prototypes built by C.E.S.

Client:

Haworth Manufacturing, Inc. - Tom Hench

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Mark Brinner

Design and construction process:

Theree design principles guided the development of the project: 1) Layout of the personal work space by their users in order to meet their own personal needs; this process is achievable through the use of a computer program developed at C.E.S. which carries a worker through the design process. 2) Use of flexible manufacturing techniques, which allow individualisation of each piece of furniture, without increasing costs; the purpose of this feature is to eliminate the modularity that is part and parcel of current systems. 3) The basis of design is the real human needs and desires, not on the latest trend.

Project stages:

Pattern language for project by C.E.S. Generic rules for office layout process Use of full scale mock-ups Fabrication of full size furniture prototypes by C.E.S. Design Development drawings done after fabrication

The new system of office furniture, intended for mass production, was designed in such a way as to be capable of creating the environment for millions of workers, in an endless variety of specific configurations. The line of furniture provided ...
Civic Center & Town Hall for Mountain View 1986

Mountain View, CA, U.S.A.

Civic, Designed , Invited Competition, Not built

Client:

City of Mountain View - Mr. Michael Freedman, c/o ROMA, urban design consultant to the city

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Hansjoachim Neis, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Gary Black

Project cost:

Expected construction cost: $17,000,000

Project stages:

Design Development

Invited design competition entry. One of five invited entries and winner of first round selection process. The project with 100,000 square feet of total area of construction included: a) the new City Hall building 65,000 sq.ft.; b) Community Theater with ...
House for Daniel Potash and Maureen McCabe 1986 to 1988

1341 Butterfield Road, San Anselmo, CA, U.S.A.

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1988

Client:

Mr. Daniel Potash and Ms. Maureen McCabe

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Artemis Anninou, Chester Cervellino, Mark Brinner, Stephen Duff, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$150,000

Project stages:

Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisions

Complete reconstruction of existing house, with emphasis on the house kitchen. Hand painted interiors, hand-plaster work, furniture, and garden terraces; benches, seats, table, fireplace and floor of kitchen --all built and painted by C.E.S. Total construction 2,500 square feet.

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Articles

Toward a Personal Workplace: Portfolio of Interiors and a New System of Office Furniture 15/09/1987

Publication, Article

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, John Rheinfrank

Published in:

Architectural Record, No. 1501, pp. 130-141

Publisher:

McGraw Hill Inc., New York, NY, U.S.A.