The Patterns, Construction, Sulphur Reinforcing and Topping

The second of Alexander’s early works published by the Center for Environmental Structure, lays out the process of creating the pattern language for a group of houses designed for an experimental housing competition in Lima, Peru in 1969. It ...

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, ...

The connecting surfaces of blocks which make up shear walls, bearing walls and columns are coated with molten sulphur and fiberglass for tensile reinforcement. Sulphur mixed with sand is placed on the bamboo/foam planks and beams for structural and functional ...