Photograph

West Dean College Gardens Visitor’s Center – Coffered Ceiling: Photographs

01/01/1996

Interior View

Interior view of the dining room in which the finished ceiling pattern is seen.

Photographer:

Christopher Alexander/C.E.S., Near Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.

Source:

Print

Characteristics:

4"x6", Color

Content of

Construction Innovation

West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center: Coffered ceiling 1995

Work of Art for Project, Coffered Ceiling

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, John Hewitt

Dining room coffered ceiling with ornamentral features.

References

Scientific Research

Ornament and Function as Products of Unfolding

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Structure Preserving Transformations

Ornament arises as part of the design process, when a person is making and seeks to embellish this "something" while making it. It arises as a result of the latent centers in the uncompleted thing requiring still more centers, requiring ...

Projects

West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center 1994 to 1996

Near Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.

Civic, Realized , Construction completed in Nov. 1995

Client:

Edward James Foundation

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, John Hewitt, students from "The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture", students from Portsmouth University

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure, as Management Contractor and General Contractor of record, with John Hewitt as Project Manager

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 Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. control Innovativ

The West Dean Center is a simple one-story masonry building with a large red-tiled roof and intricate brickwork for its thick walls. The building is surrounded by gardens, and its south facing wall has large arched windows overlooking the garden ...