The Unified Building Process: Variables which Produce a Coherent Structure of Space

Galilee, Israel

The Jewish Agency of Israel; the Ministry of Housing; the Garin Sof Ma'arav

Christopher Alexander, Amos Gitai, Howard Davis, Artemis Anninou, Nili Portugali

Jewish Agency general contractor and subcontractors

$3,000,000

Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Generic rules for urban growth process Design Development drawings done after layout

2675 Harness Drive, Berryessa Estates, Pope Valley, Napa County, CA, U.S.A.

Mr. & Mrs. John and Mara Lighty

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Gernot Mittersteiner

Center for Environmetal Structure

$72,788

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

Guasare, Maracaibo, Venezuela

"Corpozulia", the Public Development Corporation of the State of Zulia - represented by Mrs. Rosario Giusti de Perez, Director of the New Town Development Plan

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Martine Weissmann, Hansjoachim Neis

Generative rules for urban growth process Generative rules for the neighborhood layout process Generative rules for house layout process by users Implementation process

700 Hillside, 94706, Albany, CA, U.S.A.

Mr. & Mrs. Andre and Anna Sala

Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Bob Smith, David Turtle, Seth Wachtel, Andre Sala

Center for Environmetal Structure

$180.000

1) Personal vision: C.E.S. worked with the Sala family to gain an understanding of their needs and to derive from them a deep and personal vision of their house. 2) Layout on the site: several sessions on the site, laying out the exterior edges of the house volume along with outside courtyards, completed by C.E.S. staff working with the Salas. The interior rooms of the ground floor were also laid out on the site. 3) Preparation of drawings: At the end of the layout process it was possible for C.E.S. to prepare a set of drawings for the building permit from the City of Albany. 4) Construction commences and design continues; C.E.S. was the general contractor, and so the design process which had been begun in the first phase was carried through the construction phase, with many crucial on-site design decisions being made weekly, even daily, while the house was under construction. 5) Finishing touches: Hand-painted woodwork, color, details, furnishings, were done by C.E.S. staff and construction crews.

Pattern language for the project by clients and C.E.S. Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Use of full scale mock-ups Direct Construction management along with on-site design decis

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

Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing Director

Christopher Alexander - Chief Architect, Hans-Joachim Neis - Executive Architect, Gary Black - Structural Engineer, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King - Architect, Artemis Anninou - Architect

Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

The work on the design of project performed by C.E.S. was divided in four phases. 1) Creation of a pattern language; 2) Layout on the site; 3) Design of the individual buildings; 4) Working drawings 1) The first step in the project was to create a pattern language for the school. This was achieved by spending a total of 1200 man-hours discussing the many requirements with the various teachers, professors and staff of the Eishin School. The results of these interviews and discussions were condensed into a coherent vision, which was written up in the form of patterns (a written documentation that describes a physical reality). A copy of the pattern language that was created had been included as part of the submission to the client. 2) The next step in the process was to lay out the various buildings and outdoor spaces on the site. The main goal in this step was to position the buildings so that they form positive outdoor spaces, and to use stakes to mark the corners so that all of the concerned parties can get an actual physical sense of how the site will feel when the buildings were built. When the site felt as though it was laid out just right, the position of each building was recorded. From this record an overall site plan was drawn. At the same time that this process was going on, a large-scale site model was under continuous development in the C.E.S. office in Japan, where the users could see it and discuss it, day by day, as the work proceeded. This played an important role in helping to establish a direct connection between the users, and the site plan of the finished campus. 3) The third step in the process was the design of the individual buildings. In the Eishin School project, 35 buildings in all were designed. During this phase, various types of construction were considered which could capture the vision of the project. Some of the buildings were designed as concrete block, some were plastered concrete, and others were constructed out of heavy timber. 4) In the fourth stage, preparation of working drawings and permission, C.E.S. did its own engineering and construction estimation. Many of the buildings have unique engineering behavior, which was developed on the C.E.S. computer programs by the C.E.S. engineering staff. C.E.S. also did extensive full-scale mock-ups of crucial materials and construction details during this stage, to guarantee that the final buildings would have the emotional reality with project staff was seeking.

Pattern language for the project by clients and C.E.S. Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Generic rules for urban growth process Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Innovative construction m

Marina District, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

CoEvolution Quarterly; Uncommon Courtesy, School of Compassionate Skills - Irmine Steltzner; Whole Earth Catalogue - Stewart Brand

Christopher Alexander, Rodney Moore, 22 workshop participants

Center for Environmetal Structure

Fort Mason Center, Marina Green, San Francisco - Mr. Mark Kasky, Director

1) Apprentice workshop announced: The workshop was given under the auspices of "Uncommon Courtesy", a non-profit organization financed by the "Whole Earth Catalogue and Co-evolution Quarterly". Twenty "students" joined. 2) Making a mockup on site: The first design act was to place several hundered concrete blocks in a large arched shape. This mock-up was used to depict the general layout of the bench. 3) Construction commences: Having the location and the overall shape, construction proceeded with more and more refinements in the general shape and details of the bench going on during construction. 4) Refinements: Sophisticated new techniques developed by C.E.S. were used to provide green and white polished marble inserts of animals, flowers, and abstract ornaments

Layout on the site by workshop particants No drawings were produced Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Built by the workshop participants