Introduction to Geometry: Properties of Form

Winter 1981

Ten theoretical topics accompanied by ten separate design problems, each lasting one week; results of student’s work to be submitted weekly on a single 20×30 board. The calendar of topics as presented was: 1) Order; 2) Mirror of the Self; 3) Fifteen Properties; 4) Centers; 5) Centers and Function; 6) The Centering Process; 7) The “Being” Nature; 8) Color and Inner Light; 9) Structure Preserving Transformations; 10) Not Separateness.

University Program:

Master of Architecture

Course type:

Graduate Design Studio

Course number:

Arch. 201

Instructors:

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King

Contents

Course Material

Arch. 201, Winter 1981 - Introduction to Geometry: Studio course syllabus 01/01/1981

Design Studio Course, Syllabus

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Course description with ten topics, to be presented progressively, one per week: 1) Order; 2) Mirror of the Self; 3) Fifteen Properties; 4) Centers; 5) Centers and Function; 6) The Centering Process; 7) The “Being” Nature; 8) Color and Inner ...
Arch. 201, Winter 1981 - Introduction to Geometry: Preparatory notes for the studio course 07/12/1981

Design Studio Course, Teaching Assignment

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Six versions of the ten topics of the design studio in further detail with notes and indications of the weekly tasks to be completed by the students for each one of them. The six versions, eleven pages in total, have ...
Arch. 201, Winter 1981 - Introduction to Geometry: "Dialogue on Ignorance" between C1 and C2 07/12/1981

Research Notes

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

15-page essay, an early attempt to clarify the different ideas and versions of the theory through posing questions and looking for their answers; it touches on practical issues of design as well .
Arch. 201, Winter 1981 - Introduction to Geometry: Three different typewritten texts with handwritten notes and corrections, all dealing with the ten topics of the studio class, or variations of them 07/12/1981

Research Notes

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Three sets of research notes on the following topics: a) three pages on “Fundamental Geometry of Space” with the 10 topics list; b) twelve pages on the ten topics with slight variations, with main points, definitions, lists of properties and ...
Arch. 201, Winter 1981 - Introduction to Geometry: Typewritten text on Order, with handwritten heading "Get Overall Questions?" 06/11/1981

Research Notes

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

20-page text in the form of outlines with bullet points, consists of four sequential sections with different dates, written within the span of 10 days. The first 10-page section was written on November 6, 1980; the second 2-page section was ...
Arch. 201, Winter 1981 - Introduction to Geometry: "Our Separation from the World" 07/12/1981

Research Notes

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

44-page text, which presents an outline –most probably for the design studio class, building an overall argument on the ten topics; each page contains a heading and one or two sentences.

SEE ALL Course Material

References

Scientific Research

Geometry and Fifteen Fundamental Properties

Areas of focus:

Structure of Space

Guiding idea:

Centers and Fields of Centers

Christopher Alexander recognized the importance of the geometry of centers and for years he was looking for the common structural features among buildings, paintings, streets, carpets, doors, windows, etc. which have "life" and "wholeness". He identified fifteen structural features which ...
Wholeness and the Theory of Centers

Areas of focus:

Structure of Space

Guiding idea:

Centers and Fields 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 ...

Books

The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book One - The Phenomenon of Life 2002

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

No of pages:

476 pp

“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 ...
The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Two - The Process of Creating Life 2002

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

No of pages:

636 pp

“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 Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Four - The Luminous Ground 2004

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

No of pages:

356 pp

“The Luminous Ground” is the fourth and last volume of “The Nature of Order” series. In this volume, Alexander attempts to show the cosmological underpinning of the nature of order. The book has two goals. First, to show that the ...