Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 3 / What Matters is that we Have Techniques of Construction Which Help us Make Living Centers

“A Vision of a Living World”, the third volume of “The Nature of Order” series, presents, for the first time, a full spectrum of Alexander’s and CES built and unbuilt works. The book describes hundreds of buildings, plans, neighborhoods, drawings, ...

One of the main topics of research, included in every building project, was to identify, early on in the design process, the material and techniques of construction. This would re-establish building as an art, and allow rapid shaping and adaptation, ...

Spayed concrete experiments and mockups, conducted with graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, as a special study course. The mockups included the construction of vaults, walls, columns, floors, beams, arches, in sprayed concrete over steel armature .

Construction technique for concrete columns, with base, capital and an elegant flare where the shaft meets the base, shot in gunite into a low-cost open form. The corners of the column shaft, with a flare where it meets the base, ...

Walls, columns, beams, ceilings, all made by gunite shot on a light weight and low cost guidework of lightweight wooden frame. Gunite is a high-strength concrete made of sharp sand and concrete, carried in air under high pressure, shot dry ...