Christopher Alexander and Contemporary Architecture

Structure of Space

Centers and Fields of Centers

Minami-7-joh, Nish-2-chome, Chu­o-Ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

Mrs. Keiko Inoue and family

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Gary Black

Expected construction cost: $2,000,000

Preliminary Design

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

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

Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing Director

Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Artemis Anninou, Astrid Chwoika, Neville Mathias, Eleni Coromvli, Ken Petermann, Robert M. Walsh, Randall Schmidt, Hajime Odagiri, Kohsuke Izumi, Hiroshi Nakano, Takeshi Ishikubo, Tamio Shiohara

Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

$11,000,000 in 1985 $14,000,000 in 1988

The work on the design and construction of the project performed by C.E.S. was divided in five phases. 1) Creation of a pattern language; 2) Layout on the site; 3) Design of the individual buildings; 4) Working drawings; 5) Construction 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. 5) In the construction phase of the project C.E.S. worked with Fujita Construction Company, the sixth largest construction company in Japan. During this phase, C.E.S. kept a full scale on-site office in place throughout the work, and had its own staff working closely with the details of the buildings, every single day. Many on-site changes, decisions and details of the buildings were made as the construction proceeded. Because of our method of cost accounting, these changes were made without increasing the cost of the finished project.

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 Construction management a

Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia

The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) - John A. Neilson, Professional Advisor; "Construyamos" La Camara De Vivienda Popular Por Autogestion Communitaria - Mr. Hernan Mesa, President

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Artemis Anninou, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou, Fanta Lawrence, Seth Wachtel, Jeannie Radcliffe

Built by the families and local subcontractors under the management of Constuyamos and the Center for Environmental Structure

World Bank; Canadian Government (CETA); University of California

The step-by-step process on design consisted of discrete design phases, in the following order. 1) Site: The overall configuration of the project arose from the qualities and features of the land.The layout was done directly on the site, working with stakes and earth-moving equipment, in parallel to working with models. Common space in the form of central terraces, formed the central axis across the contours. Roads run on contours, perpendicular to the axis. The final layout was surveyed and presented as an initial subdivision map. 2) Streets: The forming of the streets was tightly connected to the "contribution" of each house to the formation of a larger whole, this being a public space --street, alley, terrace. Simple rules were followed with regards to the location of the main volume of each house and the determination of main levels -- sidewalk, front garden and main floor. As a result, the house volumes form a continuous street wall behind a front garden, while both house volume and width of parcel vary. The result of this phase was, besides giving shape to the streets and open public space, the plan and sections of foundation and retaining wall for each lot, and consequently the levels of the streets. This process was conducted with stakes on the site by the members of C.E.S. with representatives of Construyamos and the housing group. The detailed layout and lot subdivision was surveyed and presented. 3) House Design: Individual families working with a C.E.S. "layout coordinator" took over, working with stakes for the layout of their house directly on the individual site. Phase One of the House Layout: The first phase involves designing "five major centers": garden, veranda, comedor, final configuration of exterior volume, final configuration of front yard. Phase Two of the House Layout: The second phase is devoted to the interior layout of the house in detail: entering sequence, kitchen, sala, main stair, etc. 4) Construction: Members of the families were involved in the construction of the project. The first house was completed in Nov. 1990 to serve as a prototype house for the project as a whole.

Pattern language for the project by clients and C.E.S. Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Layout on the site by the families and C.E.S. Generative rules for urban growth process Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout D

Tokyo, Japan

Mrs. Sugiko Emoto

Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Miyoko Tsutsui

Kibe Construction Company, with subsidiary management by Center for Environmental Structure, Japan

$1,500,000

Use of full scale mock-ups Preliminary Design and Design Development drawings Direct Construction management along with on-site design decisions Subcontractors under C.E.S. control

Julian St. & Montgomery St., San Jose, CA, U.S.A.

Housing for Independent People - Al DiLudovico, Executive Director

Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Artemis Anninou, Carl Lindberg, James Maguire, Eleni Coromvli, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou

Oliver and Company, with Center for Environmetal Structure as major specialty subcontractor

$1,700,000

Pattern language for project by clients and C.E.S. Layout by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Building Permit drawings Direct Construction management and on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E