Sketches of a New Architecture

01/01/1984

Book Contribution

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Published in:

Architecture in an Age of Skepticism: A Practitioners' Anthology, pp. 8-27

Editor:

Denys Lasdun

Publisher:

Heinemann, London, U.K.

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References

Projects

Stanislaus County Mental Health Center 1970 to 1973

Modesto, CA, U.S.A.

Civic, Realized , Construction completed in 1973

Client:

Stanislaus County Mental Health Services - Dr. Hewitt F. Ryan, County Director of Psychiatric Services

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Murray Silverstein

Contractor:

Beuving Construction, Oakdale, California

Project cost:

$1,500,000

Design and construction process:

1) Creation of a pattern language for the new mental health center, which defined the general spatial layout and conditions required by the psychiatric services. 2) Layout on the site: C.E.S. worked intensively on the ground with the team of users; in a period of about one week, the layout of the building on the site, according to the pattern language, was completed. 3) Final drawings: The plan laid out on the site with stakes, was then recorded on paper, and the final building drawings prepared directly from this data, with few changes. 4) Users were brought in again, while final decisions about structure and materials were made.

Project stages:

Pattern language for the project by clients and C.E.S. Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Development Design and Construction Drawings done after layout

A community mental health center for outpatients and outpatient care with seven buildings, including clinics, outpatient facilities, therapeutic departments for adults, teenagers and children, staff facilities, administrative offices, gardens, courts and walkways, with total area 24,000 square feet. The key ...
Canary Island Tourist Resort 1973

Fuerta Ventura, Canary Islands, Spain

Commercial, Designed , Completed in 1973

Client:

Development Consortium, Rueger and Associates, Stuttgart, Germany

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Halim Abdelhalim, Lisa Heschong

Project stages:

Pattern language for the project by C.E.S. Generic rules for urban growth process Preliminary design

Development plan for a tourist resort for 80,000 people. Formulation of a project specifc pattern language for creating real and active communities all year round; it included 45 patterns which defined the preservation of land, the sites for building, relative ...
Etna Street Cottage 1974

Etna Street, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1974

Client:

Center for Environmetal Structure

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander with his students in the 1974 Spring studio class Arch. 209, including Walter V. Wendler and Donald Corner

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$3.000

Project stages:

Pattern language for the project by C.E.S. Layout on the site No drawings were produced Users involved in the construction Innovative construction methods

Experimental building project, two-story 400 sq. ft. cottage, with a hollow wooden structure filled with concrete and featherweight concrete vaults. Completed in ten weeks, without a building permit at the back of the C.E.S. office on Etna Street, and was ...
User Designed Apartment Building 1974 to 1975

St.Quentin-en-Yvelines, Paris , France

Residential, Designed , Not built

Client:

French Ministry of Housing - Francois Choay

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Walter V. Wendler

Project stages:

Preliminary Design Construction Schedule

Design and construction of prototype apartment complex outside Paris. The project was initiated by Francoise Choay, the Minister of Housing in France, in November 1973, when she invited the Center for Environmental Structure to join her analysis of poor quality, ...
Low Cost Houses for Mexicali 1975 to 1977

Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico

Low Cost Housing, Realized , Construction completed in 1977

Client:

Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Mexicali - Mr. Jorge Nunez, Director of the School of Architecture

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Julio Martinez, Howard Davis, Donald Corner, students and families

Contractor:

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

Sponsor:

University of Baja California

Project cost:

$70,000

Project stages:

Pattern language for the project by C.E.S. Layout on the ground by clients and C.E.S. Preliminary Design drawings done after layout Direct Construction management along with on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. control Users in

A cluster of houses for large families, with a builders yard, built by the families themselves with the help of students from the Universidad Autonoma of Mexico, and a team of builders from the Center for Environmental Structure. Each house ...
C.E.S. Office - Martinez House 1977 to 1984

4207 Arthur Road, 94553, Martinez, CA, U.S.A.

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1984

Client:

Center for Environmetal Structure - C.E.S. Directors

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Jonathan Fefferman, Harissos Tsiringas, Gary Black, David Dacus, Olasheni Agbabiaka

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$120,000

Project stages:

Layout on the site by C.E.S. Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Users involved in the construction Innovative construction methods

The second building completed on the Martinez site, was a 2,000 square feet house. A gunite all-concrete building as well, it was the first sizable and fully functional project in which C.E.S. used gunite, while applying all permit and specification ...
Hudson River Restaurant 1979 to 1980

Tarrytown, NY, U.S.A.

Commercial, Designed , Not built

Client:

Mr. Robert Schwartz

C.E.S. staff:

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

Project cost:

Expected construction cost: $4,000,000

Project stages:

Preliminary Design

A multi-level restaurant complex on the Hudson river above New York City, with a main restaurant, cafes, small restaurants, discotheques, and docking facility for boats. The total area of buildings was 24,000 square feet. The entire complex to be built ...
Tarrytown Conference Center Extension 1979 to 1980

Tarrytown, NY, U.S.A.

Civic, Designed , Not built

Client:

Mr. Robert Schwartz

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, David Dacus

Project stages:

Preliminary Design
Linz Café 1980

Linz , Austria

Commercial, Realized , Construction completed in Jul-1980

Client:

Forum Design; Österreichisches Institut für Visuelle Gestaltung - Angela Hareiter

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander

Contractor:

Construction management by the Center for Environmental Structure with local subcontractors

Project cost:

$35.000

Project stages:

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

Built as part of the international exposition "Forum Design" and designed to be "portable". Wooden building overlooking the Danube, with the first floor of the building raised to clear the ten-foot-high river embarkment. Yellow and red exterior, three stories, 2,300 ...
House for Mr. and Mrs. Anderson 1981 to 1982

Bodega Bay, CA, U.S.A.

Residential, Designed , Not built

Client:

Mr. & Mrs. Anderson

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Leonidas Pakas

Project stages:

Preliminary Design

One-story family house with a generous courtyard at its center, with 2,050 square feet floor area.
House for John and Mara Lighty 1981 to 1989

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

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in Aug-1989

Client:

Mr. & Mrs. John and Mara Lighty

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Gernot Mittersteiner

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$72,788

Project stages:

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

Terraced house built for a couple; the house consists of six building volumes, gracefully positioned on a wooded slope among white oak trees, and includes the living room - kitchen volume, the studio volume, the bedroom - library volume, a ...
Sala House 1981 to 1983

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

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in Jun-1983

Client:

Mr. & Mrs. Andre and Anna Sala

C.E.S. staff:

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

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$180.000

Design and construction process:

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.

Project stages:

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

Three-story tower, 20 feet by 20 feet in plan on each floor, on a wooded, sloping site. The interior structure of the house is wood post and beam with pine panelling and hand-painted surfaces, and the exterior is a red ...
Sapporo Apartment Building 1981 to 1982

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

Residential, Designed , Not built

Client:

Mrs. Keiko Inoue and family

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Gary Black

Project cost:

Expected construction cost: $2,000,000

Project stages:

Preliminary Design

Ten-story apartment building, with forty-five one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, with shops and offices on the first three floors. The building, of concrete-encased steel, was to be built over an existing clinic. The structural frame consists of twenty enormous columns ran all ...