Go BackThe Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living World
“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, rooms, gardens, engineering structures, and construction techniques. All these examples include some 600 pages of illustrated material, and more than 200 color pictures.
All this is done in the context of Alexander’s attempt to demonstrate the kind of buildings, and the kind of world, which will necessarily follow from the application of the living processes he has defined in Book 2. The text not only describes the ways in which these many projects, and their form, follow necessarily from the living processes and techniques that Alexander advocates. At the end of each chapter, he presents a short summary in which the underlying morphological invariants, present in any living environment, appear as a consequence of the living processes he has described, and as they must arise in any use of living processes to create the world.
The book was exhibited at Locus Manifesto-exposition “Re-enchant the World: Architecture and the City facing society´s transitions”, together with others in Science Cabinet #1.
Authors:
Christopher Alexander
Publisher:
The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.
No of pages:
697 pp
Contents
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The Morphology of Living Architecture, 2 / A Collection of Examples
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:641-654 -
The Morphology of Living Architecture, 3 / Process and Geometry: The Origin of Archetypal Form
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:655-662 -
The Morphology of Living Architecture, 4 / Centers and Symmetries
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:662-668 -
The Morphology of Living Architecture, 5 / The Feeling-Symmetry Principle within these Examples
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:668-671 -
Chapter 10. "Belonging" in High-Density Housing
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:311-332 -
Chapter 11. Further Dynamics of a Growing Neighborhood, 1 / The Stuff of Life
Chapter 11. Further Dynamics of a Growing Neighborhood, 2 / The Essential Reason for Dynamic Thinking
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:334-335 -
Chapter 11. Further Dynamics of a Growing Neighborhood, 3 / Santa Rosa de Cabal, Colombia
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:336-338 -
Chapter 11. Further Dynamics of a Growing Neighborhood, 5 / Laying out a Larger Neighborhood by a Dynamic Process - A Fully Generated Plan
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:340-348 -
Chapter 11. Further Dynamics of a Growing Neighborhood, 6 / Moshav Shorashim in the Galilee
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:349-351 -
Chapter 11. Further Dynamics of a Growing Neighborhood, 7 / The Fort Mason Bench
Chapter 11. Further Dynamics of a Growing Neighborhood, 8 / Doing Work Together
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:352-359 -
Chapter 12. The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds: 10 / Office Layout Process
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:386-397 -
Chapter 12. The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds: 11 / Mass-Housing Where Each Family Make Their Own House Plan for Themselves
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:398-408 -
Chapter 12. The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds: 2 / Three Houses by Telephone
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:365-366 -
Chapter 12. The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds: 3 / A House for Geoffrey and Linda Gioja
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:366-371 -
Chapter 12. The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds: 4 / A House for Jim and Sylvia Heisey
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:371-375 -
Chapter 12. The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds: 5 / A House for Mike and Patricia Goddu
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:376-380 -
Chapter 12. The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds: 8 / Mass Housing with Unique Apartments
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:382-384 -
Chapter 12. The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds: 9 / A Factory and its Individual Workspaces
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:384-385 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 1 / What Makes a Good Room
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:412-413 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 10 / Tranquility even in the Huge
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:442-443 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 2 / Position: How Living Process May be Used to Shape a Room Through its Position
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:413-416 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 3 / Position: Starting with the Most Important Room
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:416-417 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 4 / Position: The Living Room of the Medlock House
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:417-420 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 5 / The Main Centers of a Room: Internal Elements which Create the Room's Life
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:420-424 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 6 / The Main Centers of the Carpet Gallery at the San Francisco Museum
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:425-427 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 7 / Fine Structure which Determines the Internal Coherence and Feeling in the Room
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:428-433 -
Chapter 13. The Character of Rooms, 8 / Fine Structure: The Berryessa Staircase
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:434-435 -
Chapter 14. Construction Elements as Living Centers, 6/ Unfolding Building Details from the Fundamental Process
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:456-476 -
Chapter 15. All Building as Making: 10 / Working on Integrated Wholes
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:506-507 -
Chapter 15. All Building as Making, 12 / Wabi-to-Sabi: The balance of Rough and Smooth
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:508-514 -
Chapter 15. All Building as Making, 4 / The Most Basic Feature of Living Structure
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:486-488 -
Chapter 15. All Building as Making, 6 / The Social Philosophy of Making
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:493-495 -
Chapter 15. All Building as Making, 7 / The Nearest Tenth of an Inch
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:495-499 -
Chapter 15. All Building as Making, 8 / Detailed Shape and Size of Capitals at Back-of-the-Moon
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:499-501 -
Chapter 15. All Building as Making, 9 / Money and Contracts
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:501-505 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 10 / The Paradigm of Smooth Unfolding as a Target for Every Construction Technique
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:551-555 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 11 / Monocoque Construction
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:556-557 -
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
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:520-523 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 4 / An Innovation for Village Construction - Stacked Tile Vaults
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:526-527 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 5 / Cheap and Beautiful Ways of Forming Concrete
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:528-533 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 5A / Wood and Concrete Combinations
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:533-537 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 6 / Heavy Wood Construction
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:537-543 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 7 / New Forms of Brick and Block Construction
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:544-545 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 8 / Sophisticated May Mean Adavanced or it May Mean Primitive in appearance but Advanced in Content
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:545-548 -
Chapter 16. Continuous Invention of New Materials and Techniques, 9 / Smooth Unfolding of Construction
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:548-550 -
Chapter 17. Production of Giant Projects Through High-Speed Adaptive Production, 10 / Fabrication of Luminous Glass Ceiling
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:576-577 -
Chapter 17. Production of Giant Projects Through High-Speed Adaptive Production, 2 / High-Speed Adaptative Production: Technical Problems that Must Be Solved
Chapter 17. Production of Giant Projects Through High-Speed Adaptive Production, 3 / Slowly Created Harmony in a Massive project: The Example of the Athens Megaron
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:562-566 -
Chapter 17. Production of Giant Projects Through High-Speed Adaptive Production, 4 / The Core of the Solution: A Combination of Large Numbers, High Speed, Minute Adaptation, Craft and Cost Control
Chapter 17. Production of Giant Projects Through High-Speed Adaptive Production, 5 / Adaptative Design Emerging within the Whole
Chapter 17. Production of Giant Projects Through High-Speed Adaptive Production, 6 / The Water- jet Cutter
Chapter 17. Production of Giant Projects Through High-Speed Adaptive Production, 7 / Prefabrication of Marble on Fberglass Mats Following by On-site Modification and Context Determined Design Adjustment
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:566-572 -
Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 10 / In a Living Building, Everything is Ultimately Ornament
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:610-613 -
Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 2 / Ornament as Detail Which Emerges Directly from the Process of Making
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:582-585 -
Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 3 / Black-and-White Marble Floors and Surfaces
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:586-589 -
18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 4 / Making a Colored, Ornamented Floor
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:590-594 -
Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 5 / Other Kinds of Ornament
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:594-598 -
Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 6 / Hand-Glazed Tilework
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:598-601 -
Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 7 / Making Lifelike Animals and Plants in the Fabric of the Building
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:602-606 -
Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 8 / Simplicity of Ornamental Human Figures
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:607-608 -
Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 9 / Structural Qualities Created by the Fundamental Process in all Ornament
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:608-610 -
Chapter 19. Color Which Unfolds from the Configuration, 1 / The Unfolding which Produces Inner Light
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:616-622 -
Chapter 19. Color Which Unfolds from the Configuration, 2 / The Painted Kitchen
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:622-626 -
Chapter 19. Color Which Unfolds from the Configuration, 3 / Paint and Color Materials
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:627-629 -
Chapter 19.Color Which Unfolds from the Configuration, 4 / The Surprising Nature of the Color that Unfolds
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:629-630 -
Chapter 19. Color Which Unfolds from the Configuration, 5 / The Blue of the Kaiser House
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:631 -
Chapter 19.Color Which Unfolds from the Configuration, 6 / Another case of the Surprising Nature of Color that Unfolds
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:632-633 -
Chapter 19. Color Which Unfolds from the Configuration, 7 / How Can it be that Color and Design Come from Unfolding
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:634-637 -
Chapter 2. Our Belonging to the World, 10 / Paintings and Photographs of the Blissful State
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:59-62 -
Chapter 3. The Hulls of Public Space, 4 / Shaped Public Space Forming Living Centers
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:75-77 -
Chapter 3. The Hulls of Public Space, 5 / The Spine Structure of the Eishin School
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:77-81 -
Chapter 3. The Hulls of Public Space, 6 / The Hulls of Public Space for a Community of Families in Texas: Unexpected Centers in a Piece of Land
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:82-85 -
Chapter 3. The Hulls of Public Space, 7 / Shaping the Hulls for Parts of a New Town in Greater Frankfurt
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:86-92 -
Chapter 3. The Hulls of Public Space, 8 / A New Approach to Urban Design: First Forming a Three Dimensional Plan of Hulls
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:93-94 -
Chapter 3. The Hulls of Public Space, 9 / The Hulls of Public Space: Implementation
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:95-98 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 11 / The Intricacy of Detail in a Living Process. Memos on Construction Method
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:127-131 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 12 / Conceptual Vision of a still Larger Process
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:132-147 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 13 / Setting up a Design / Management / Construction Organization for a $16 Million Building
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:148-150 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 14 / Conclusion. Geometric Features Follow from the Use of Living Process in the Making of Large Buildings
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:151-152 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 2 / The Great Hall: A Multitude of Living Centers
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:103-108 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 3 / Intimacy of Design Within the Huge
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:109-111 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 4 / Mountain View Civic Center: Differentiation of a Large Building as a Jewel, Made by Successive Transformations of the Space where it Exists
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:111-115 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 5 / Tokyo Forum: Unfolding of a Massive Building
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:115-119 -
Chapter 4. Large Public Buildings, 8 / Even in the Biggest Building, People Must be the Core. The Building Genuinely Comes from the Inspiration and Deep Feeling of the Users
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:120-125 -
Chapter 5. The Positive Pattern of Space and Volume in Three Dimensions of the Land, 4 / The Millenium Church
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:156-158 -
Chapter 5. The Positive Pattern of Space and Volume in Three Dimensions of the Land, 5 / Emergenceof Complex Space and Volume on a Small Piece of Land in California
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:159-165 -
Chapter 5. The Positive Pattern of Space and Volume in Three Dimensions of the Land, 6 / Building a Five-Story Building in Tokyo to Make Harmonious Space and Volume
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:166- 173 -
Chapter 5. The Positive Pattern of Space and Volume in Three Dimensions of the Land, 7 / Laying out a Very Large Building Complex: The Eishin Campus
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:173-177 -
Chapter 5. The Positive Pattern of Space and Volume in Three Dimensions of the Land, 7A / The Completion of Design and Construction on the Eishin Campus
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:177- 181 -
Chapter 5. The Positive Pattern of Space and Volume in Three Dimensions of the Land, 8 / A Secondary Structure-Enhancing Process Which Further Forms the Shape of Spaces and Volumes
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:182-184 -
Chapter 5. The Positive Pattern of Space and Volume in Three Dimensions of the Land, 9 / Emergence of Building Volumes in a More Repetitive Project
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:184-188 -
Chapter 6. Positive Space in Engineering Structure and Geometry, 10 / Each Step uses the Fundamental Process to Unfold an Earlier Wholeness
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:219-223 -
Chapter 6. Positive Space in Engineering Structure and Geometry, 11 / Appropriate Structural Order for a Large Apartment Building
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:223-227 -
Chapter 6. Positive Space in Engineering Structure and Geometry, 5 / The Three-Dimensional Formation of Positive and Negative
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:199-206 -
Chapter 6. Positive Space in Engineering Structure and Geometry, 6 / The Great Hall at Eishin
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:206-210 -
Chapter 6. Positive Space in Engineering Structure and Geometry, 8 / Using the Fundamental Process to Get the Design of a Concrete Truss
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:211-214 -
Chapter 6. Positive Space in Engineering Structure and Geometry, 9 / Going on with the Unfolding Process for the Truss: Finite Element Analysis
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:214-219 -
Chapter 7. The Character of Gardens
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:228-256 -
Chapter 8. People Forming a Collective Vision of their Neighborhood, 4 / Start of a Collective Vision in Fort Lauderdale
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:262-264 -
Chapter 8. People Forming a Collective Vision of their Neighborhood, 6 / A Collective Vision Growing in Chikusadai
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:266-268 -
Chapter 8. People Forming a Collective Vision of their Neighborhood, 8 / A Collective Vision Achieved in Eishin
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:269-270 -
Chapter 8. People Forming a Collective Vision of their Neighborhood, 9 / We Created: They Created
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:270-273 -
Chapter 9. The Reconstruction of an Urban Neighborhood
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:283-310 -
Preface: Living Process Repeated Ten Million Times, 4 / Examples of Life-Creating Processes from our Era
Book title:
The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Three – A Vision of a Living WorldPages:8-20
SEE ALL Book Chapters
References
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The Process of Urban Design and the Formation of Larger Urban Wholes
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Structure Preserving TransformationsTheoretical basis and key assumptions for the process of urban growth, tested initially in the San Francisco Waterfront experimental project in 1979, in which the formation of larger urban wholes was highlighted as an overriding rule. This process was further ...
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The Unfolding of Public Space and Gardens as Positive Space
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Structure Preserving TransformationsOutdoor space is positive when it is shaped just as a room is shaped. It has a contained character, it is bounded by walls, fences, natural vegetation, enclosure of some kind. It looks into other positive spaces, some larger, some ...
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Geometry and Fifteen Fundamental Properties
Areas of focus:Structure of SpaceGuiding idea:Centers and Fields of CentersChristopher Alexander recognized the importance of the geometry of centers and for years he was looking for the common structural features among buildings, paintings, streets, carpets, doors, windows, etc. which have "life" and "wholeness". He identified fifteen structural features which ...
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Design and Construction is one Integrated Making Process
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Construction ProcessThe design process of a project and its construction process are united into one continuous and intertwined making process, unfolding in a step-by-step sequence. Design ends together with the completion of the construction process. "Making" is a conception of the ...
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The Layout Process of Buildings on the Land - Visualization at Full Scale on Site
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Step by Step ProcessEach act of building needs to have a positive effect on its surroundings; to complete them, preserve their structure, make them better, by creating strong centers in them and next to them. Each new building is more alive when it ...
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The Sequence of Unfolding - Generative Codes for the Design Process
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Structure Preserving TransformationsIn architecture, as in other things, the "right" sequence is of vital importance. It is a generative sequence of progressive differentiations, which allow space to unfold in the right order. Each differentiation acts on the product of the previous ...
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The Uniqueness of People's Individual Worlds, Always Respected and Manifested
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Participation of UsersIn the last two centuries "modular" design has produced identical apartments, arranged in typical apartment blocks. The same is true for mass-produced furniture. Uniqueness, which expresses personal needs and whiches, and which springs from the need to adapt and connect ...
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Emergence of Geometric Order in Building Structure
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Structure Preserving TransformationsFocusing primarily on the pure beauty of the geometric order, which comes, above all, from the building structure (columns, walls, beams, vaults and so forth), specifically from the aperiodic grids which form the abstract underpinning of the building structure.
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Color and Inner Light: The Eleven Color Properties
Areas of focus:Structure of SpaceGuiding idea:Centers and Fields of CentersChristopher Alexander postulated that centers and the field of centers they create are the building blocks from which wholeness is made. However, he further argued that geometry alone is not sufficient, and that color is the way wholeness comes to ...
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Ornament and Function as Products of Unfolding
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Structure Preserving TransformationsOrnament 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 ...
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Unfolding of Wholeness in Large Buildings by Successive Transformations of the Space
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Structure Preserving TransformationsLarge building are not easy to design and keep the feeling of intimay in them. The way a large building can be given this quality is by succeeding in the creation of living centers throughout its fabric. The profusion and ...
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Strong Centers in all Levels of Scale
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Structure Preserving TransformationsA building can only amount to something as a living thing when the various physical elements which appear in it are profound centers. The dominant feature of the process that is working correctly is that new centers are formed, and ...
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A New Approach to Design and Construction Management
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Construction ProcessA new kind of design/construction/management process, especially for large projects, is required, which will allow the building to be conceived, designed and built so that it comes to life. Below are the ground rules of such a process, already tried ...
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Innovative Construction Systems, Techniques and Materials
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Construction InnovationOne 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, ...
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Participation of the Users in the Design Process - Testing and Applying Pattern Languages and Layout Rules
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Participation of UsersChristopher Alexander believed that people have a right to determine and shape their environment. The genuine and wholehearted involvement of the users in the shaping of their buildings contributes positively to good architecture. It gives life, identity and personal qualities ...
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Dynamics of a Growing Neighborhood - Rules and Patterns for Laying out a Neighborhood
Areas of focus:Design and Building ProcessGuiding idea:Step by Step ProcessNeighborhoods and communities grow and change over time, and the effect of time on the process of its adaptation on real needs is huge, and leads to types and styles of order quite different from any planned arrangement, based on ...
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Sketches of a New Architecture; only in the form of manuscripts. It was reconfigured as Book Three of "The Nature of Order"
Authors:Christopher AlexanderPublisher:Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.The manuscripts of “Sketches of a New Architecture” present a timeline of Christopher Alexander’s works between 1961 and 1994, highlighting his main theoretical breakthroughs in parallel with the building projects, innovations in construction and works of art. “Projects and Essays”, ...
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The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book One - The Phenomenon of Life
2002
Authors:Christopher AlexanderPublisher:The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.No of pages:476 pp“The Phenomenon of Life”, the first volume of “The Nature of Order” series proposes a scientific view of the world in which all space-matter has perceptible degrees of life and sets this understanding of order as an intellectual basis for ...
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The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Two - The Process of Creating Life
2002
Authors:Christopher AlexanderPublisher:The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.No of pages:636 pp“The Process of Creating Life”, the second volume of “The Nature of Order” series presents a dynamic theory of living structure. It begins with an analysis of transformations, which occur in nature, and the distinction between structure-preserving transformations, responsible for ...
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The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Four - The Luminous Ground
2004
Authors:Christopher AlexanderPublisher:The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.No of pages:356 pp“The Luminous Ground” is the fourth and last volume of “The Nature of Order” series. In this volume, Alexander attempts to show the cosmological underpinning of the nature of order. The book has two goals. First, to show that the ...
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Etna Street Cottage
1974
Etna Street, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1974Client:Center for Environmetal StructureC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander with his students in the 1974 Spring studio class Arch. 209, including Walter V. Wendler and Donald CornerContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$3.000Project 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 methodsExperimental 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 ...
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Low Cost Houses for Mexicali
1975 to
1977
Mexicali, Baja California, MexicoLow Cost Housing, Realized , Construction completed in 1977Client:Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Mexicali - Mr. Jorge Nunez, Director of the School of ArchitectureC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Julio Martinez, Howard Davis, Donald Corner, students and familiesContractor:Built by the families and local subcontractors under the management of the Center for Environmental StructureSponsor:University of Baja CaliforniaProject cost:$70,000Project 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 inA 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 ...
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House
1977 to
1984
4207 Arthur Road, 94553, Martinez, CA, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1984Client:Center for Environmetal Structure - C.E.S. DirectorsC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Jonathan Fefferman, Harissos Tsiringas, Gary Black, David Dacus, Olasheni AgbabiakaContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$120,000Project 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 methodsThe 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 ...
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Moshav Shorashim New Settlement - Master Plan, Clusters of Houses and Public Buildings
1977 to
1983
Galilee, IsraelMaster Planning, Residential, Realized , Construction completed in Jul-1983Client:The Jewish Agency of Israel; the Ministry of Housing; the Garin Sof Ma'aravC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Amos Gitai, Howard Davis, Artemis Anninou, Nili PortugaliContractor:Jewish Agency general contractor and subcontractorsProject cost:$3,000,000Project stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Generic rules for urban growth process Design Development drawings done after layoutMaster Plan for a new settlement for Jewish immigrants with the social structure of a community, where land and work profits are owned collectively, but still each family has its own house. Unlike other master plans, it describes the life, the ...
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Linz Café
1980
Linz , AustriaCommercial, Realized , Construction completed in Jul-1980Client:Forum Design; Österreichisches Institut für Visuelle Gestaltung - Angela HareiterC.E.S. staff:Christopher AlexanderContractor:Construction management by the Center for Environmental Structure with local subcontractorsProject cost:$35.000Project 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 decisionsBuilt 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 ...
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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-1989Client:Mr. & Mrs. John and Mara LightyC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Gernot MittersteinerContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$72,788Project 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 constructiTerraced 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 ...
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Housing Plan for Guasare New Town
1981 to
1983
Guasare, Maracaibo, VenezuelaNeighborhood Planning, Designed , Completed in May-1983Client:"Corpozulia", the Public Development Corporation of the State of Zulia - represented by Mrs. Rosario Giusti de Perez, Director of the New Town Development PlanC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Martine Weissmann, Hansjoachim NeisProject stages:Generative rules for urban growth process Generative rules for the neighborhood layout process Generative rules for house layout process by users Implementation processThe project focused on the housing component of the master plan for the new town of Guasare, in the state of Maracaibo, Venezuela, planned to accomodate several thousand workers. The design of its neighborhoods, each one for about 250 families, ...
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Sala House
1981 to
1983
700 Hillside, 94706, Albany, CA, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in Jun-1983Client:Mr. & Mrs. Andre and Anna SalaC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Bob Smith, David Turtle, Seth Wachtel, Andre SalaContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$180.000Design 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 decisThree-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 ...
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Sapporo Apartment Building
1981 to
1982
Minami-7-joh, Nish-2-chome, Chuo-Ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, JapanResidential, Designed , Not builtClient:Mrs. Keiko Inoue and familyC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Gary BlackProject cost:Expected construction cost: $2,000,000Project stages:Preliminary DesignTen-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 ...
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Eishin Campus - High School and College Complex
1982 to
1987
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , The first largest part was completed in 1985, the second part in 1988, and one more building was added in 1995Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander - Chief Architect, Hans-Joachim Neis - Executive Architect, Gary Black - Structural Engineer, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King - Architect, Artemis Anninou - ArchitectContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanDesign and construction process: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.Project stages: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 mThe project was envisioned to be a new combined High School and College Complex for the Eishin Gakuen Foundation, in Saitama prefecture, outside Tokyo, and was designed as such. The campus was to be the working environment of a population ...
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Eishin Campus - High School
1982 to
1995
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , The first largest part was completed in 1985, the second part in 1988, and one more building was added in 1995Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff: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 ShioharaContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject cost:$11,000,000 in 1985 $14,000,000 in 1988Design and construction process: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.Project stages: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 aThe High School is the part of the Eishin Campus that was constructed, with a total construction area of 12,000 square meters. It is a complex of thirty-five buildings, with pedestrian colonnaded streets, gates and gardens, and a lake with ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Central Hall
1982 to
1985
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1985Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-KingContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisions Innovative construction methodsThe Central Hall is located at the end of the homebase street. Α student gathering area with four-foot-thick concrete base walls and arched openings, with built-in benches, which double as entrances to the building. Arches and seats form alcoves, and ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Great Hall - Auditorium
1982 to
1986
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in May-1986Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-KingContractor:Structural contractor: Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan; Finish contractor: Center for Environmental Structure, JapanProject stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisions Innovative construction methodsA large ceremonial building located at the main square and forming one edge of the lake. The main bridge that crosses the lake starts next to its massive podium. Its floor area is 14,000 square feet and has a three-story ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Music School
1982 to
1985
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1985Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-KingContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisionsA small one-story building attached to the Great Hall, with its entrace set back from the main square. Its back side forms part of the lake edge.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Gymnasium
1982 to
1985
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1985Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Artemis AnninouContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisions Innovative construction methodsThe Gymnasium is a large, 11,340 square feet, wooden building, surrounded by the water of the lake and accessed through a bridge. The walls covered with black plaster, and the dark red metal roof give its exterior identity, and wood ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Judo Hall
1982 to
1985
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1985Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-KingContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisions Innovative construction methodsThe Judo Hall was initially part of the College Complex, located at the edge of the south ridge. It is a wooden building, with a floor area of 3,000 square feet, 80 feet long, 30 feet high, used for judo ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Campus Pedestrian Streets Network
1986 to
1989
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1989Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-KingContractor:Center for Environmental Structure, JapanProject cost:$1,500,000Design and construction process:The design of the landscape for the Eishin School Campus is created by, and influences the buildings on the site. The intent was to create a complete environment to compel learning and creativity in the most positive and beautiful way. Various elements designed into the landscape work to create this harmonious atmosphere, of which the following are examples. Gates were designed to invite the visitor to continue along the paths and streets of the site, as well as to create an act of entrance and passage. The main homebase street is formed by the individual homeroom buildings. It is a wide, lively, sunny street, which creates a forum where the students can come together outdoors, as a larger group, and where lively activity can unfold. In between the buildings, small gardens are created, separated from the activity of the street by fences. Other gardens are formed along the galleries which connect the rooms of the faculty hall. In front of the lounge is a teacher's garden for resting and enjoyment. The lake was created as a major element of the campus. In the early phase of design for the school, teachers and students indicated that one element they felt most important to be a part of the school, was a body of water. It is a focus for activity, with ducks and boats accessible by students, as well as for quiet reflection and beauty. A wooden bridge arches over the lake, making the entire campus accessible.Project stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. controlThe Eishin Campus pedestrian network includes a main square connected to the homebase wide street, narrow streets, arcaded alleys, paths and courtyards, fences, gates and terraces. It starts with a small square in front of the small gate, continues with ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Campus Gardens and Landscape
1986 to
1989
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1989Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-KingContractor:Center for Environmental Structure, JapanProject cost:$1,500,000Design and construction process:The design of the landscape for the Eishin School Campus is created by, and influences the buildings on the site. The intent was to create a complete environment to compel learning and creativity in the most positive and beautiful way. Various elements designed into the landscape work to create this harmonious atmosphere, of which the following are examples. Gates were designed to invite the visitor to continue along the paths and streets of the site, as well as to create an act of entrance and passage. The main homebase street is formed by the individual homeroom buildings. It is a wide, lively, sunny street, which creates a forum where the students can come together outdoors, as a larger group, and where lively activity can unfold. In between the buildings, small gardens are created, separated from the activity of the street by fences. Other gardens are formed along the galleries which connect the rooms of the faculty hall. In front of the lounge is a teacher's garden for resting and enjoyment. The lake was created as a major element of the campus. In the early phase of design for the school, teachers and students indicated that one element they felt most important to be a part of the school, was a body of water. It is a focus for activity, with ducks and boats accessible by students, as well as for quiet reflection and beauty. A wooden bridge arches over the lake, making the entire campus accessible.Project stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. controlThe 62-hectare Campus site is mostly covered by green areas and is organized with gardens, sport fields, trees, a grove, a lawn, and a large number of tea bushes in strategic positions, preserved as found on the site. A lake ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: College Buildings D and E
1982 to
1987
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in Jun-1987Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Artemis AnninouContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject cost:$1,500,000Project stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisions Innovative construction methodsThe two college buildings on the north side of the College Complex were incorporated into the High School; they are located to the right and left of the Central Hall, flanked by the Arts and Science buildings. Each two-storey college ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Single Homebase Buildings
1982 to
1985
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1985Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-KingContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisionsThe Homebase Buildings form the homebase street. They are two-story masonry buildings with pitched tiled roofs and concrete ornamental wall friezes. Each one has its own garden, with a stair leading to the second floor classrom. There are five such ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Double Homebase Buildings
1982 to
1985
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1985Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Ingrid Fiksdahl-KingContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisionsThe Homebase Buildings form the homebase street. They are two-story masonry buildings with pitched tiled roofs and concrete ornamental wall friezes. Each one has its own garden, with a stair leading to the second floor classrom. There are two double ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Administration Building
1982 to
1985
Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, JapanEducational, Realized , Construction completed in 1985Client:Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Gary Black, Artemis AnninouContractor:Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, JapanProject stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups Design Development and Construction Drawings done after layout Construction management along with on-site design decisions Innovative construction methodsThe administration building is located on the main suare, opposite from the Great Hall. It is a masonry building with an intricate ornamental lattice-like pattern on its second floor exterior wall. Within its 5,430 square feet floor area, it includes ...
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Farmers' Market
1982 to
1985
North Blackstone Avenue and West Shaw Avenue, Fresno, CA, U.S.A.Commercial, Realized , Construction completed in 1985Client:Mr. Richard ErganianC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Carl Lindberg, Jonathan Fefferman, Artemis AnninouContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$80,000Project 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 Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. control Innovative construction methodsA trellised structure to form the main spine for the weekly Farmer's open air market in Fresno, with 6,000 square foot floor area. Redwood arched trusses, on concrete block piers, 120 feet long, and 40 feet wide. Floor of grey ...
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Fresno Market
1983 to
1984
Fresno, CA, U.S.A.Commercial, Designed , Not builtClient:Mr. Richard ErganianC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, othersProject stages:Concept Design12-acre site, intended for a place for community and vivid life with commercial buildings that were to be built around the trellised structure of the Farmer's Market.
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Fort Mason Bench
1984
Marina District, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.Other, Realized , Construction completed in Jun-1984Client:CoEvolution Quarterly; Uncommon Courtesy, School of Compassionate Skills - Irmine Steltzner; Whole Earth Catalogue - Stewart BrandC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Rodney Moore, 22 workshop participantsContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureSponsor:Fort Mason Center, Marina Green, San Francisco - Mr. Mark Kasky, DirectorDesign and construction process:1) Apprentice workshop announced: The workshop was given under the auspices of "Uncommon Courtesy", a non-profit organization financed by the "Whole Earth Catalogue and Co-evolution Quarterly". Twenty "students" joined. 2) Making a mockup on site: The first design act was to place several hundered concrete blocks in a large arched shape. This mock-up was used to depict the general layout of the bench. 3) Construction commences: Having the location and the overall shape, construction proceeded with more and more refinements in the general shape and details of the bench going on during construction. 4) Refinements: Sophisticated new techniques developed by C.E.S. were used to provide green and white polished marble inserts of animals, flowers, and abstract ornamentsProject stages:Layout on the site by workshop particants No drawings were produced Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Built by the workshop participantsA three-tiered masonry public bench and centerpiece, on the Fort Mason pier, overlooking Alcatraz Island. It was built within three weeks as part of the "Spirit in Design" workshop, beginning on 24-Mar-1984 following an announcement in "CoEvolution Quarterly". The main intent ...
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Two Swimming Pools and House Extension
1984 to
1985
Sonoma, CA, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in Nov-1985Client:Mr. George SarloC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Mark Briner, Eleni Coromvli, othersContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$25,000Project stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Use of full scale mock-ups No drawings were produced Direct construction management and on-site design decisionsHot tub and cold tub hand-worked in yellow, green and white terrazzo, surrounded by a marble decked outdoor room with seats. Trellised walk, stairs and decking through the house gardens leading to the spa area.
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House for Ann Medlock and John Graham
1985 to
1988
Whidbey Island, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1988Client:Mrs. Ann Medlock and Mr. John GrahamC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, James Maguire, Gary BlackContractor:Center for Environmental Structure in Joint Venture with Dow Corporation, Seattle - Curt BrownProject cost:$250,000Project 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 Direct Construction management and on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors undAll wood 3,000 square feet house, with extended landscaping, gardens and driveways. Its exterior is heavy timber and cedar paneling. All interior structures with built-in furnishings, walls, floors, ceilings, lighting, cabinets, desks, chairs, tables, were custom fitted to user layout ...
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Offices and Workshops for Sweet Potatoes Children's Clothing Factory
1985 to
1986
1509A San Pablo Avenue, 94702, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.Offices & Workshops, Office Furniture, Realized , Construction completed in Apr-1986Client:Mrs. Anna Sala, Ms. Josie JurcivinaC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Mark BrinnerContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$20,000Design and construction process:1) Layout of the offices by "Sweet Potatoes" employees: They used a patented office furniture layout process developed by C.E.S. This process allowed users to work with C.E.S. staff to lay out all common areas and individual workstations for themselves. The result was a highly personalized plan of the office, generated entirely by "Sweet Potatoes" employees. 2) Design and fabrication of the individual pieces of furniture at the C.E.S. Workshop in Martinez 3) Installation of the furniture by C.E.S. Personnel: As pieces were completed, they were shipped to Sweet Potatoes, where the C.E.S. assembly crew installed the different items, including thick walls, columns, doorways, desks, lighting, ceilings, floors, cabinets, screens, chairs.Project stages:Office layout process used by clients Layout on site by clients and C.E.S. Design Development drawings done after layout Direct Construction management and on-site design decisions2,300 square feet of interior office space for the management and administrative staff for "Sweet Potatoes" clothing factory to accommodate two partners and eleven employees. All interior furnishings, walls, floors, ceilings, lighting, built-in cabinets, desks, storage, chairs, tables, custom fitted ...
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Neighborhood of Seventy Low Cost Houses
1986 to
1991
Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, ColombiaLow Cost Housing, Realized , Construction completed in 1993; C.E.S. involvement ended in 1991Client:The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) - John A. Neilson, Professional Advisor; "Construyamos" La Camara De Vivienda Popular Por Autogestion Communitaria - Mr. Hernan Mesa, PresidentC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Artemis Anninou, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou, Fanta Lawrence, Seth Wachtel, Jeannie RadcliffeContractor:Built by the families and local subcontractors under the management of Constuyamos and the Center for Environmental StructureSponsor:World Bank; Canadian Government (CETA); University of CaliforniaDesign and construction process: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.Project stages: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 DSeventy low-cost houses in 4,2 acres, designed by families, and partially built by families, as part of the self help construction process of Construyamos, the largest self help cooperative in Colombia, with a total construction volume of 50,000 houses per ...
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Emoto Apartment Building
1986 to
1989
Tokyo, JapanResidential, Realized , Construction completed in 1989Client:Mrs. Sugiko EmotoC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Miyoko TsutsuiContractor:Kibe Construction Company, with subsidiary management by Center for Environmental Structure, JapanProject cost:$1,500,000Project stages: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. controlAn apartment building laid out to enhance the two streets of the Komagone neighborhood, not far from downtown Tokyo. The site is surrounded with large buildings, and a local neighborhood behind, with lower buildings and much narrower streets. It is ...
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Julian Street Inn - Shelter for the Homeless
1986 to
1990
Julian St. & Montgomery St., San Jose, CA, U.S.A.Civic, Realized , Construction completed in 1989; final interior painting in 1990Client:Housing for Independent People - Al DiLudovico, Executive DirectorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Artemis Anninou, Carl Lindberg, James Maguire, Eleni Coromvli, Kleoniki TsotropoulouContractor:Oliver and Company, with Center for Environmetal Structure as major specialty subcontractorProject cost:$1,700,000Project stages: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.EDesign and construction of a shelter for homeless people, to serve 50 to 100 people, on a site of 13,000 sf. The building of 15,000 square feet includes offices, living areas with a dining hall, sleeping rooms, courtyards and gardens. ...
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Civic Center & Town Hall for Mountain View
1986
Mountain View, CA, U.S.A.Civic, Designed , Invited Competition, Not builtClient:City of Mountain View - Mr. Michael Freedman, c/o ROMA, urban design consultant to the cityC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Hansjoachim Neis, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Gary BlackProject cost:Expected construction cost: $17,000,000Project stages:Design DevelopmentInvited design competition entry. One of five invited entries and winner of first round selection process. The project with 100,000 square feet of total area of construction included: a) the new City Hall building 65,000 sq.ft.; b) Community Theater with ...
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The Personal Workplace - New System of Office Furniture
1988 to
1990
Zeeland, MI, U.S.A.Office Furniture, Designed , Two personal offices with furniture prototypes built by C.E.S.Client:Herman Miller, Inc. - Rob Harvey, Vice PresidentC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary BlackDesign and construction process:Theree design principles guided the development of the project: 1) Layout of the personal work space by their users in order to meet their own personal needs; this process is achievable through the use of a computer program developed at C.E.S. which carries a worker through the design process. 2) Use of flexible manufacturing techniques, which allow individualisation of each piece of furniture, without increasing costs; the purpose of this feature is to eliminate the modularity that is part and parcel of current systems. 3) The basis of design is the real human needs and desires, not on the latest trend.Project stages:Generic rules for office layout process Use of full scale mock-ups Fabrication of full size furniture prototypes and office rooms by C.E.S. Design Development drawings done after fabricationHerman Miller, the second largest manufacturer of office furniture in the United States, commissioned C.E.S. to develop the "personal workplace", a new system of furniture, which aimed at changing the nature of the American workplace completely. The emphasis was on ...
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Nyingma Buddhist Monastery
1988 to
1989
Kathmandu, NepalCivic, Designed , Not builtClient:Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center - David A. French Construction Mgr. and Ann M. Bergfors CoordinatorC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Ismet Khambatta, Keiko InoueProject cost:Expected construction cost: $1,500,000Project stages:Preliminary DesignTibetan Buddist Study Center, a monastic and educational facility for 300 monks, at the outskirts of Kathmandu, to be built by the monks themselves using 70% self help and 30% professional labor. Approximate area of construction 122,000 square feet, ...
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Plan and Process for Self-help Housing
1988 to
1991
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.Low Cost Housing, Designed , Completed in 1991Client:Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation - Mr. James MaguireC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, othersProject cost:$46,000Project stages:Generative rules for urban growth process Generative rules for house layout process by users Implementation processInnovative process, introducing a system of user participation for the production of affordable single family housing for ownership, as a basis for improving quality of life. This program was intended to bring the insights and successes of various C.E.S. overseas ...
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Tokyo International Forum: Conference Center for City of Tokyo
1989
3-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JapanCivic, Designed , Invited Competition, Not builtClient:Tokyo International Forum Project Office, Bureau of Citizens and Cultural Affairs, Tokyo Metropolitan GovernmentC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Hansjoachim Neis, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Eleni Coromvli, Gary BlackProject cost:Expected construction cost: $750,000,000Project stages:Preliminary Design drawings Construction innovation methodsInvited design competition entry for a complex of conference halls, auditoria, exhibition halls, and other public facilities at a central site in downtown Tokyo, occupied by the City Hall, which was to be razed to make way for this project. ...
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House for Chris Upham and Stephanie Upham
1989 to
1994
37 Poppy Lane, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1994Client:Mr. & Mrs. Christopher and Stephanie UphamC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Carl Lindberg, Gary Black, James MaguireContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$439,000Project 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 decisionsTwo-story family house, with 2,400 square feet floor area, designed with the participation of the clients. The construction of a massive 15 high foot high retaining wall and sewer reconstruction caused by unusual hill condition added $96,000 to the house ...
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Agate Street Married Student Housing
1990 to
1993
Agate Street, Eugene, OR, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1993Client:The University of Oregon - Mr. Chris Ramey, Campus PlannerC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, James Maguire, Gary Black, Chuck HanContractor:Center for Environmetal Structure, …Project stages:Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisionsStudent Housing including four buildings with twenty apartments for married student families; first phase of construction of the Amazon Plan.
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Shiratori Plan - Low-Rise High-Density Housing
1990 to
1991
Nagoya, JapanNeighborhood Planning, Designed , Not builtClient:City of Nagoya and Nagoya Forum for Living Environment - Mr. Tokio Kamiya, Director of Urban Improvement ProjectC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Miyoko TsutsuiProject cost:Expected construction cost: $45,000,000Project stages:Preliminary Design stage completedThe Shiratori Plan in Nagoya asked for an integrated neighborhood for 500 families, at a density of 80 families per acre, on a 6.24 acres site, with an average area of 72 square meters per unit and total area of ...
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Sullivan House
1990 to
1994
Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1996Client:Mr. & Mrs. Steve and Susie SullivanC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Eleni Coromvli, Katalin BendeContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$260,000Project 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. controlHouse reconstruction design and construction management. Concrete, redwood, fruitwood, plaster, terrazzo tiled floors and hand made metal detailed interiors.
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Exhibition Galleries: Ancient Color and Geometry, De Young Museum
1990
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.Other, Realized , Construction completed in Oct-1990Client:Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum - Mr. Harry Parker IIIC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Bob Theis, Annie der BedrossianContractor:Center for Environmetal StructureProject cost:$7,000Project stages:Layout on the site by C.E.S. Preliminary Design drawings done after layout Direct construction management and on-site design decisions.Four gallery reconstruction and installation in the De Young Museum, San Francisco, including interior construction, color, lighting, and installation and hanging of the carpets.
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Student Housing for the University of Oregon
1991 to
1992
Eugene, OR, U.S.A.Master Planning, Educational, Residential, Designed , Not builtClient:University of Oregon - Mr. Chris Ramey, Campus PlannerC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim NeisProject cost:Expected construction cost: $13,000,000; unit cost: $39,000/apartmentProject stages:Preliminary Design stage in progessMaster plan for 300 units of low-budget student housing on the campus of the University of Oregon -- called the Amazon Plan, to be developed on a 7.5 acres of flat land by replacing 243 existing units. The project basic ...
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Mary Rose Museum
1991 to
1993
Portsmouth, Hampshire, U.K.Civic, Designed , Not builtClient:The Mary Rose Trust - Mr. John Vimpany & Dr. Brian HansonC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Miyoko Tsutsui, Annie der BedrossianProject cost:Expected construction cost: $15,000,000Design and construction process:The following are the major sequential steps of the design process: 1) Defining a word-picture of generic centers 2) Structure preserving emergence of the building volume from the urban landscape 3) The rough sketch design 4) Obtaining the structural design 5) Money distribution 6) Distribution of the main mass concrete of the building 7) Working through the finer materials, concrete, brick and stone with special regard for light and colorProject stages:Design Development stage in progress Construction management rules and process Innovative construction methodsMuseum for Henry VIII's ship, sank in 1547, raised in 1982, and then preserved in a dry dock next to HMS Victory. The museum, with an area of construction of about 8,000 square meters, was to be built over dry ...
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New Ryde Community
1991 to
1993
New Ryde, CA, U.S.A.Development Plan, Designed , Not builtClient:The Grand Island Company - Ms. Eleanor MoellerC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, othersProject stages:Preliminary DesignLocated outside of Sacramento, California, in the Delta region, this community was intended to be an integrated development of affordable, middle-income residential and commercial buildings and public spaces, focused on creating a sense of community and cohesion.
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New City Center for Samarkand
1993
Samarkand, UzbekistanCivic, Designed , Design Competition, Not builtC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Robert M. Walsh, Hansjoachim Neis, studentsSponsor:Aga Khan FoundationDesign and construction process:Christopher Alexander wrote the following ‘‘poem’’ — a list of partially formed centers — at the very beginning of the work on the Samarkand city center, almost the day they began, long before they had worked it through. 1. It is a sequence of public squares, gardens, and buildings, which will form the new center of the city of Samarkand, uniting historic and traditional buildings and quarters. 2. There is a new dimension here, a center of spiritual life. It is not a commercial center, not a cultural center, not a religious center in the old idea. It is not a convention center. Somehow, this new center of the city of Samarkand, unites old and new, weaves together the thread of the silk road, the tomb of Timur the Great, with the modern world, and a vision of the world in which comfortable human concern, and a spiritual awareness of the importance of life, is visible, felt, and active. 3. It is an inspiring place to go. A place of pilgrimage, which will receive visitors from the five continents, in increasing thousands. 4. A network of beautiful paths, formed by columns, colonnades, brick walls, buildings, gardens. This network of paths, which passes across the whole area, is formed by the building masses which arise out of it, and by formal gardens. 5. Do the paths open into courtyards, ponds, gardens, hidden places? Are they formed only by mysterious buildings, rising in color, tile, and marble? Are there figures, statues, animals, Gods, people, statues standing at the places where the paths cross? 6. Are the animals themselves covered with mysterious animals? 7. Is there any reference to voyages? 8. The main thing one is aware of is a network of green and beautiful jewel-like streets. Each has lush trees, seats, platforms, streams. 9. These green streets, made by their trees, benches, sitting platforms, and edges, form a lacework of places to walk. They are like parks, long and narrow, you can explore for many hours, walking around these streets. 10. Each one of the streets arrives on some new treasure. Each building is like a treasure, arrived at by the green streets. 11. Samarkand, historically, and in the time of Ulugh Beg, was a crossroads of the world. In the Tang dynasty period, every conceivable exotic substance, or idea, or artifact, or art on earth, came through Samarkand. No matter where it went, or where it came from, it went through Samarkand. 12. Somehow, then, one may imagine these green heavenly paths, as a network—almost a mythical bazaar in which reference to these many exotic substances exists. 13. The blue tile work of the Timurids, the hand-painted blue tiles, with small black, yellow, and white detail, on mud brick—these tiles, and the yellow bricks are in evidence on walls, domes, courtyards throughout the center. It is a thread which connects. 14. The whole network of paths is almost like a forbidden city. A place which is walled, punctured at very occasional places which allow one to enter, a special area that contains its own magic.Project stages:Pattern language for project by C.E.S. Concept DesignAga Kahn design competition for the new cultural center for the ancient city of Samarkand; the competition called for the reconstruction of a central city area about 1000 meters by 500 meters, which was to contain a great variety of ...
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Plan for Chikusadai - Low-Rise High-Density Housing
1992
Hazama & Kusunoki areas, Nagoya, JapanNeighborhood Planning, Designed , Not builtC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Miyoko Tsutsui, Hiroshi Nakano, Keiko OnoProject stages:Preliminary Design stage completedHigh-density and low-rise housing for 800 families, in the Hazama and Kusunoki areas of Nagoya.
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Neighborhood of Five Houses
1992 to
1995
Lake Travis, Austin, TX, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1995Client:Representative - Mrs. Linda GiojaC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall SchmidtContractor:Center for Environmetal Structure with Carl LindbergProject cost:Total project price: $800,000Project 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. controlCluster of five houses with common land and communal structures, located on Lake Travis, outside Austin, Texas; only three out of the initial five houses were built. The three house designs were made in close consultation with each family, which ...
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Neighborhood of Five Houses: Gioja House
1992 to
1996
Lake Travis, Austin, TX, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1995Client:Mr. & Mrs. Geoffrey and Linda GiojaC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall SchmidtContractor:Center for Environmetal Structure with Carl LindbergProject 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. controlDesign and construction of a family house for Geoffrey and Linda Gioja, with an area of 2.100 square feet.
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Neighborhood of Five Houses: Heisey House
1992 to
1996
Lake Travis, Austin, TX, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1995Client:Mr. & Mrs. James and Sylvia HeiseyC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall SchmidtContractor:Center for Environmetal Structure with Carl LindbergProject 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. controlDesign and construction of a family house for Jim and Sylvia Heisey, with an area of 2.000 square feet.
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Neighborhood of Five Houses: Goddu House
1992 to
1996
Lake Travis, Austin, TX, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1995Client:Mr. & Mrs. Michael and Patricia GodduC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall SchmidtContractor:Center for Environmetal Structure with Carl LindbergProject 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. controlDesign and construction of a family house for Mike and Patricia Goddu, with an area of 2.500 square feet.
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West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center
1994 to
1996
Near Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.Civic, Realized , Construction completed in Nov. 1995Client:Edward James FoundationC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, John Hewitt, students from "The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture", students from Portsmouth UniversityContractor:Center for Environmetal Structure, as Management Contractor and General Contractor of record, with John Hewitt as Project ManagerProject 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 InnovativThe 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 ...
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Frankfurt Parkstadt Housing Project
1995 to
1996
Hoechst, Frankfurt, GermanyResidential, Designed , Not builtClient:Hoechst Pharmaceutical Company, Housing Department - Dr. Harald KloetschC.E.S. staff:Christopher AlexanderDesign and construction process:Innovations in user participationProject stages:Generative rules for urban growth process Generative rules for layout on the site by users Preliminary Design stage completedThe Frankfurt Parkstadt Unterliederbach project included the development of a new urban neighborhood in a landscaped setting, for Hoechst Pharmaceutical in Frankfurt West, close to the international airport and the river Main, a housing project both for Hoechst employees and ...
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Reconstruction of an Urban Neighborhood
1996
Progresso, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, U.S.A.Neighborhood Planning, Designed , Completed in 1996Client:City of Ft. LauderdaleC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Chris Andrews, Shawn BradburyProject stages:Generative rules for urban growth process Generative rules for the neighborhood layout process Implementation processPlan for the rejuvenation of the Flagler Heights/Progresso community, an urban neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a congested slum-like, unprepossessing and disordered quite large area of the city, about half a mile by three-quartes of a mile. The project proposal ...
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George House
1997 to
1998
Pleasant Hill, CA, U.S.A.Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1998Client:Mr. & Mrs. Brian and Xilin GeorgeC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Randall SchmidtHouse and cottage with large outdoor terraces with custom concrete walls.
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Church of the Holy Trinity
1997
London, England, U.K.Civic, ProposalC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Demetrius GonzalesProject stages:The project did not proceed beyond the initial stage of negotiationsProposal for the design of the Church of the Holy Trinity, on the South bank of the Thames, between the railroad tracksleading out from Victoria Station and Chelsea Bridge. The church was to capable of holding 500 people, and capable ...
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San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
1999
San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.Civic, Designed , Not builtClient:Mayor of OaklandC.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Randall SchmidtProject stages:Concept DesignNew east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Design is based on a system of prefabricated, precast, thin concrete shell elements.
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Megaron Mousikis Athinon - Opera House
2001
Athens, GreeceCivic, Designed , Not builtClient:OMMA (Organismos Megarou Mousikis Athinon)C.E.S. staff:Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Demetrius Gonzales, Bankoku SasagawaProject stages:Concept DesignIn 2002 Megaron Mousikis Athinon was the largest Concert Hall in Athens and was in the process of being extended further by a vast extension, including underground opera house, conference center, library and so on. Christopher Alexander was approached by ...
SEE ALL Projects
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Tile with white slips on black glaze
1980
Personal Work of Art, Hand-glazed TileworkCreated by:Christopher AlexanderPorcelain tile glazed in black with white slips; made at the same tile with the Linz café and resembles the painting on its interior walls.
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Black and white terrazzo floor
1981
Personal Work of Art, Terrazzo WorkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gernot MittersteinerThe first experiment for a marble-dust floor that Christopher Alexander had conducted.
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Painted wooden carved dolls
1984
Personal Work of Art, WoodworkingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderFour hand-carved dolls painted in gouache.
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Tile with dark bluish glaze and green eyes
1984
Personal Work of Art, Hand-glazed TileworkCreated by:Christopher AlexanderOrnamental repeating tiles from Christopher Alexander's workshop; ceramic paint on white porcelain tile.
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Blue carved horse with yellow stars
1985
Personal Work of Art, WoodworkingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderHand-carved horse painted in gouache.
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Watercolor sketches for the projects related with "The Personal Workplace - New System of Office Furniture": Six full page watercolor sketches from Christopher Alexander's notebook, conveying the form and feeling of personal workplaces
1985
Personal Work of Art, PaintingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderThe watercolor sketches by Christopher Alexander were inspired by the sought after qualities for the "Sweet Potatoes" project and then set a milestone for the feeiling of spaces to be achieved in the projects for a "New System of Office ...
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Color sketch for the marble terrazzo pools project
1985
Personal Work of Art, PaintingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderWatercolor sketch by Christopher Alexander, on real size, depicting his work for finding colors and pattern to be used in the construction of the marble terrazzo pools.
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Painting of the main courtyard for the "Mountain View Civic Center" competition entry
1986
Personal Work of Art, PaintingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderPen, ink and gouache final painting for the main interior courtyard of the Mountain View Civic Center, prepared for the invited design competition. The dominant feature of the painting is the frieze of the blue ceramic bas-relief horses around the ...
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Tile panel with green and red Seljuk pattern
1986
Personal Work of Art, Hand-glazed TileworkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Kleoniki TsotropoulouGreen and red Seljuk pattern tiles, on a 2' X 3' panel, hand-painted and hand-glazed in the Martinez office workshop; ceramic paint on white porcelain tile.
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Tile panel with green, red, yellow and blue star pattern
1986
Personal Work of Art, Hand-glazed TileworkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Seth WachtelTile panel with green, red, yellow and blue star pattern tiles, hand-painted and hand-glazed in the Martinez office workshop; ceramic paint on white porcelain tile.
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The Living Room, painting
1990
Personal Work of Art, PaintingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderOil painting on board, 38cm x 55cm.
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Repeating tiles with white flowers
1990
Personal Work of Art, Hand-glazed TileworkCreated by:Christopher AlexanderHand-painted and hand-glazed repeating tiles with white flowers on dark bluish background; ceramic paint on white porcelain tile.
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The Green Bird, painting
1991
Personal Work of Art, PaintingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderOil painting on wooden panel.
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Caribbean Light, painting
1992
Personal Work of Art, PaintingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderOil painting on board.
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The Blue Cupboard, painting
1993
Personal Work of Art, PaintingCreated by:Christopher AlexanderOil painting on wooden panel, 45"x65".
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Series of drinking glasses for Dutch Glassworks
1997
Personal Work of Art, GlassworkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Katalin Bende, Henk WervegSeries of drinking glasses commissioned by Stichting Glasmanifestatie at Leerdam in The Netherlands in 1996, following an international glass event focused on the drinking glass.
SEE ALL Works of Art
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Bavra Village School: Domed vault made from layers of cone-tile stacked to form arches, and laid together to form a spherical vault
1962
Construction System, Vaulted Roof & CeilingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Village bricklayersFabrication of roof truncated cylindrical tiles and development of the vaulted roof ribs for the construction of the school roof. The guna-type roof ribs are made by cone-shaped tiles, each one about a foot long and 4" to 5" ...
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Etna Street Cottage: Basket vault with layers of ultra-lightweight concrete laid over burlap
1974
Construction System, Vaulted Roof & CeilingCreated by:Christopher Alexander with his students in the 1974 Spring studio class Arch. 209Construction of an ultra-lightweight concrete vault, built over box columns and beams filled with concrete. Two different methods were used; lightweight concrete over woven basket, lath and burlap for solid vaulted roofs, and burlap impregnated with fiberglass resin, over woven ...
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Etna Street Cottage: Hollow wooden structure filled with lightweigth concrete
1974
Construction System, Timber FrameworkCreated by:Christopher Alexander with his students in the 1974 Spring studio class Arch. 209Flexible and low-cost construction techniques consisted of a hollow wooden structure of columns and beams, filled with lightweigth concrete, and a simple foundation made of concrete blocks, with rebars embeddedand ready to receive slab mesh.
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Etna Street Cottage: Ornament in door frame
1974
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher AlexanderS's cut with jig-saw after being drawn on one-inch planks; then filled with plaster.
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Low Cost Houses for Mexicali: Production of earth-cement interlocking blocks
1975
Construction System, Cement Interlocking BlocksCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Julio Martinez, Howard Davis, Donald CornerProduction of earth-cement blocks in the builder's yard, vibrated and compressed in a block-making machine, and fabricated on the basis of specially designed and made steel molds for four different shapes of blocks; cylindrical blocks for free standing columns, corner ...
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Low Cost Houses for Mexicali: Step-by-step construction process using cement interlocking block for foundation and walls and light-weight concrete for vaults
1976
Construction System, Cement Interlocking Blocks, Vaulted Roof & CeilingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Julio Martinez, Howard Davis, Donald CornerTwentry three building operations, as an example of a step-by-step construction process, capable of allowing mass production of large number of houses which are all different without increasing costs. These operations are so defined that can be applied to each ...
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Low Cost Houses for Mexicali: Basket vault with pumice concrete laid over burlap and chicken-wire
1976
Construction System, Vaulted Roof & CeilingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Julio Martinez, Howard Davis, Donald CornerConstruction of basket and groin vaults with light weight pumice concrete laid over woven basket and applied on top of burlap and lath, both stapled into the wooden ribs of the interwoven basket.
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Construction Yard: Experiments in spayed concrete
1977
Construction System, Sprayed Concrete, Sloped Roof & Vaulted CeilingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, UCB studentsSpayed 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 .
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Outdoor walls and seat with balustrade in arches
1979
Construction System, Sprayed ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, David DacusThe seat with its balustrade, built next to the tile workshop in Martinez, were built solely with sprayed concrete. Styrofoam or polysterene cut-outs to shape were used and placed against a backing of sheetrock, providing an ultra-low-cost formwork. Then concrete ...
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Martinez Tile Glazing Workshop: The first experimental all-gunite concrete building, with vaulted ceiling and pitched roof
1979
Construction System, Sprayed Concrete, Sloped Roof & Vaulted CeilingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Harissos TsiringasBarrel vault ceiling and pitched roof, both made by using the gunite technique, constructed in six basic steps: 1) Fabrication of a full scale mockup of a section of the ceiling formwork, out of metal and plywood; 2) Construction of ...
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Construction experiment of octagonal freestanding concrete columns, with low-cost formwork, shot in gunite
1979
Construction System, Sprayed ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Harissos TsiringasConstruction 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, ...
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Martinez Tile Glazing Workshop: The first experimental all-gunite concrete building - construction of columns and beams
1979
Construction System, Sprayed ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Harissos TsiringasWalls, columns, vaults, 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 ...
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Linz Café: Hand-painted walls with flowers as ornament
1980
Work of Art for Project, Hand-painted InteriorCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Pamela AlexanderExterior walls painted yellow with some white and a touch of orange to light the orange of the canopy; hand-painted interior walls in green, apricot, yellow, red and green, with ornamental frieze and white flowers on the walls painted by ...
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Gunite all-concrete building
1980
Construction System, Sprayed ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Jonathan Fefferman, Harissos Tsiringas, Gary Black, David Dacus, Olasheni AgbabiakaWalls, 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 ...
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Berryessa Terraced House: Wooden post and beam, load bearing structural frame combined with sprayed concrete exterior walls
1981
Construction System, Combination of Timber Framework and ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Artemis AnninouTimber frame and concrete combination system: the vertical loads are taken by the interior post and beam system system, where columns and beams are simply pinned together by invinsible steel pins. All shear forces are taken by a one and ...
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Fireplace
1981
Work of Art for Project, All Concrete FireplaceCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Jonathan FeffermanCount Rumford all concrete fireplace, has a flat and broad fire chamber, a very wide opening and a curved fire back; the flatness results form the exceptionally narrow hearth, which is the cause for the high heat effectiveness.
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Wooden plank roof construction details
1981
Building Detail, Roof & EaveCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Jonathan Feffermann, Leonidas PakasThe "Russian" type plank roof consists of two layers of long boards running from ridge to eave, with two grooves milled in each board; before being built on the house, its construction method and detailing was tried on the small ...
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Sala House: Ornaments on the east and south facing walls of the house
1982
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher AlexanderWhite precast concrete ornaments embedded in the rose colored concrete walls; secured on the formwork during the concrete pouring. A series of small ornaments spaced in equal intervals in the rose perimeter concrete band running on top of the windows; ...
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Sala House: Concrete bracket and its formwork
1982
Building Detail, Low-cost FormworkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary BlackLow-cost formwork for concrete brackets to support a bay window, made by attaching to the concrete formwork styrofoam fillers with the negative shape of the bracket.
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Sala House: Wooden post and beam, load bearing structural frame combined with red and grey cast concrete exterior walls
1982
Construction System, Combination of Timber Framework and ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary BlackTimber frame and concrete combination system: the vertical loads are taken by the interior post-and-beam system system, where columns and beams are simply pinned together by invinsible steel pins. All shear forces are taken by a one and a half ...
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Sala House: Wooden post and beam, load bearing structural frame combined with red and grey cast concrete exterior walls
1982
Construction System, Combination of Timber Framework and ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary BlackTimber frame out of 6"x6" douglas fir columns and beams for vertical loads only, which require pin connections only with 1/2'' rebars; wood corbels cut from six-by-six stock also enable beam to post connections with 1" bolts. The framework exposes ...
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Sapporo Apartment Building: Structural order in the concrete-encased steel load bearing structure
1982
Construction System, Steel StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Gary BlackThis innovative structural scheme arose from the careful unfolding of the design with respect to user requirements, the impact of surrounding buildings, coupled with the fact that there was an untouchable small clinic on the site which had to be ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Great Hall with massive columns and rather small space between them.
1983
Construction System, Reinforced ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Hansjoachim Neis, Gary BlackThe size and spacing of the columns in the Great Hall was determined primarily by working out the solid-void relationship, which was done in a 1:20 scale model of the building. The space between the columns came to play an ...
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Ornamental concrete layers on the exterior wall envelope
1983
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Seth WachtelOrnamental concrete layers, both vertical and horizontal, painted white, in contrast to the blue of the wall large surfaces. The vertical concrete layers were incorporated in the formwork of columns and shear walls, while the horizontal concrete layers were shot ...
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Interior beams, columns, column capitals and ceiling patterns
1983
Construction System, Sprayed ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Seth WachtelShaping building elements by shooting gunite into lightweigh open formwork; styrofoam fillers on a plywood form were used for details and ornaments.
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Sala House: Hand-painted children's bedroom alcoves
1983
Work of Art for Project, Hand-painted InteriorCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Andre SalaThe painting of the children's room with two bed alcoves, involved both Christopher Alexander and Andre Sala; it started with discussions about color between the two and continued with testing bits of cardboard painted and pinned up in the walls. ...
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Sala House: Concrete balustrade and its formwork
1983
Building Detail, Low-cost FormworkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary BlackRose colored concrete balustrade made by pouring concrete into a low-budget assembly of two sheets of sheetrock, braced, and with hand-cut styrofoam fillers shaped to the form of the void in-between.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Dining Hall heavy timber structure with moment resisting frames
1984
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Gary Black, Artemis AnninouDining Hall wooden structure with moment resisting frames due to unusually large windows.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Central Hall exterior wall X-truss, connected to the interior roof truss
1984
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim NeisLongitudinal X-truss on the long direction exterior wall of the building below the roof, connected to the interior curved truss of the building with moment connections. .
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Eishin Campus - High School: Judo Hall heavy timber stepped truss
1984
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Hansjoachim NeisJudo Hall trusses stepped in form, following the line of a stepped flat ceiling.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Central Hall heavy timber truss with curved members
1984
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Hansjoachim NeisDouglas fir horse-shoe-shaped truss, a pure compression truss, with no interior bracing, but with a longitudinal exterior X-truss. The truss is connected to the massive concrete piers at the base with moment connections.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Gymnasium heavy timber hammerbeam trusses
1984
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Hansjoachim Neis, Artemis AnninouGymnasium hammerbeam roof trusses, spanning 53 feet, with mortise and tenon connection details, and specially fabricated steel connections for joints.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Gymnasium window shaping and details
1984
Building Detail, Window ShapingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Artemis AnninouA row of unsual shaped windows, creating positive space in alternation with the beautifully shaped wall segments, and coherent individual centers, small and large.
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Fresno Farmers' Market: Ornamental concrete tiles
1984
Work of Art for Project, Concrete TileworkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Carl Lindberg, Jonathan Fefferman, Artemis Anninou6.000-square-foot ornamental concrete slab with special hand made fish-tail tiles. Each tile is about 15 inches long and 6 inches wide, in thin dense concrete about 1/2 inch thick. made by precasting 1/2" thick light blue fishtail tiles, cast on ...
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Fresno Farmers' Market: Redwood arched roof trusses
1984
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Carl Lindberg, Jonathan FeffermanFresno Farmer's market redwood arched roof trusses with concrete columns. The timber arched trusses were prefabricated in the C.E.S. warehouse near Berkeley, about 200 miles from the site, then moved to the building site and raised and fixed to get ...
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Blue and white color for exterior walls
1984
Work of Art for Project, Hand-painted ExeriorCreated by:Christopher AlexanderChristopher Alexander started to work on the color of the building from the early stages of its construction, when the concrete formwork was completed. He started mixing and testing different blues on the Martinez site to get the right wall ...
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C.E.S. Office - Martinez House: Terrazzo floor with squares, diamonds and crosses
1984
Work of Art for Project, Terrazzo WorkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Eleni CoromvliRed, yellow and blue polished terrazzo floor with squares, diamonds and crosses made on a 400 sq. ft of a living room; with styrofoam lost form technique.
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Fort Mason Bench: Ornamental terrazzo panels
1984
Work of Art for Project, Terrazzo WorkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Rodney MooreHand-made ornamental terrazzo panels with animal figures on the vertical surfaces of an outdoor bench.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Great Hall interior colored plasterwork
1985
Work of Art for Project, Hand-painted InteriorCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Miyoko Tsutsui, Ishiguro-sanBlack, red, grey, purple and pale green interior plasterwork to cover 40.000 sq. ft of hand etched plasterwork for columns and beams, screen, walls and ceilings for the interior of the Great Hall.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Central Hall massive concrete piers
1985
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing Structure, Reinforced ConcrteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim NeisFour-feet thick concrete base walls with arched openings create an alternating repetition between massive piers and deep openings, with positive space and good shape both on the piers and the arches. Arches and seats form alcoves, and the piers support ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Ornamental wall frieze for the homeroom buildings
1985
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, othersCast concrete ornaments on the wall frieze of the Homeroom buildings.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Roof eave detail for the homeroom buildings
1985
Building Detail, Roof & EaveCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, othersHeavy concrete cornice on the Homeroom buildings, when roof meets wall.
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Eishin Campus - High School: Gymnasium black shikkui plastered walls and roof detail
1985
Building Detail, Plasterwork, Roof & EaveCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Artemis AnninouGymnasium black shikkui plastered exterior walls, unusual shaped windows, roof eave and orange-painted steel bracket plates holding the roof rafters.
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Haworth New Office Furniture System: Upright desk / Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Executive desk
1985
Work of Art for Project, Office Furniture PrototypeCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary BlackRed automobile laquer sprayed over MDF to create high gloss surfaces for the desk frame and its upstand with shelves and pigeonholes, combined with a brown leather slightly sloping writing surface; available in prescribed colors in three sizes. Furniture prototype ...
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Haworth New Office Furniture System: Rolling Cabinet with Drawers
1985
Work of Art for Project, Office Furniture PrototypeCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary BlackRolling cabinet made of black lucite and heavy brass castors. Furniture prototype incorporated in the Center for Environmental Structure office.
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Haworth New Office Furniture System: Floor pattenrs / Sweet Potatoes Offices and Workshops: Floor pattenrs
1985
Work of Art for Project, Office Space Element, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary BlackFloor constructed of varnished pine blocks in a variety of patterns. Two different paterns were initially built for the Sweet Potatoes floors, and then developed as an office space element for the Haworth New Office Furniture System, with ornamental qualities.
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Martinez Heavy Timber Carpentry Workshop: Heavy timber load bearing frames and trusses
1985
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Seth Wachtel, Lance DomHeavy Timber Loading Bearing Frames and Trusses; 12"x12" columns and 8"x14" beams and trusses; all wood.
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Martinez Heavy Timber Carpentry Workshop: Heavy timber construction details
1985
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Seth Wachtel, Lance DomConcrete column base and timber column connection; timber capital where column, beam and braces meet and other timber connection details.
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Hot spa with marble terrazzo pools
1985
Work of Art for Project, Terrazzo WorkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Eleni CoromvliHand worked marble terrazzo pools, in yellow, green and white.
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Experiments and mock-ups for low-cost heavy timber house of 80 m2
1986
Construction System, Heavy Timber Load Bearing StructureCreated by:Christopher AlexanderExploring the possibilities for developing a cost-effective and sustainable heavy timber construction system, using a three-dimensional truss for the construction of the whole house.
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Eishin Campus - High School: College Buildings classroom window shaping
1984
Building Detail, Window ShapingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Hansjoachim Neis, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Artemis AnninouWindows in the largest classrooms of the College Buildings, with harmonious internal organization in panes and glazing bars. Full-size mockups with various soft materials were developed until shapes and sizes worked harmoniously.
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Martinez Heavy Timber Carpentry Workshop: Giant white star
1986
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher AlexanderGiant white star on the exterior wall of the carpentry workshop made of enamel painted wood.
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Pasadena Waldorf School: Plastered concrete on column for the application of ornament
1986
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou, Randall Schmidt, Seth WachtelSketch model for the Waldorf Kindergarten Project, with "ropy" spiral columns to be made in plastered concrete .
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Pasadena Waldorf School: Blue archaic bird
1986
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher AlexanderShaped tile fragments hand-molded out of clay and glazed, set into red plaster, for insert into wall panel.
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Berryessa Terraced House: Hand-painted exterior walls of entrance
1987
Work of Art for Project, Hand-painted ExeriorCreated by:Christopher AlexanderHand-painted entrance walls in light purplish blue, light blue and white door.
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Julian Street Inn - Shelter for the Homeless: Exterior wall made of repetitive recessed bays framed by massive columns
1987
Building Detail, Wall TreatmentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Carl Lindberg, James MaguireA long wall along the main street; the first floor wall is organized as an alternating repetition of cast concrete columns and plain recessed wall bays, all on a thick wall base, in contrast with the second floor wall, all ...
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Julian Street Inn - Shelter for the Homeless: Column capitals with ornamental details
1987
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher AlexanderHand-made cast-concrete column capitals with ornamental details, his mouth being the water flow hole.
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Potash-McCabe House: Hand-painted farm-house kitchen
1987
Work of Art for Project, Hand-painted InteriorCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Steven Duff, Kleoniki TsotropoulouHand-painted walls and built-in furniture in pale sea green, light transparent yellow, pale blackish red, very pale blue, and light yellowish green. Varnished gouache applied on wood surfaces prepared with gesso.
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Second Sala House: Concrete floor with leopard inserts
1987
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Steven DuffRed concrete floor with yellow ceramic leopard inserts for the interior of second Sala House.
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Second Sala House: Leopard molds
1987
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher AlexanderYellow painted wooden molds for the manufacturing of the clay leopards to be used as inserts in the colored concrete floor.
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Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Wall lights & reflectors
1988
Work of Art for Project, Office Furniture PrototypeCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary BlackSystem of wall lights placed at the wall-celing interface, to form a lighting cornice. The wall lights are supplied with computerized colored reflecting surfaces, that can be installed either below or above the wall light. Full scale functioning light fixture ...
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Julian Street Inn - Shelter for the Homeless: Courtyard fountain with lion's head
1988
Work of Art for Project, OrnamentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Robert M. WalshCast-concrete lion's head on the back wall of the tiled fountain located in the courtyard of the Julian Street Inn.
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Julian Street Inn - Shelter for the Homeless: Lacework concrete trusses with curved members shot in the air
1988
Construction System, Sprayed ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Carl Lindberg, Avery Miller, James MaguireThe dining hall of Julian street inn is the higher building volume of the complex; the hall, a sigle room, 30 feet wide and 50 feet long, was intended to seat about 100 people. When the shape of the volume ...
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Julian Street Inn - Shelter for the Homeless: Courtyard fountain with hand-painted and hand-glazed tilework
1988
Work of Art for Project, Hand-glazed TileworkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou, Robert M. WalshTilework with diagonal squared pattern with four-petal flower in interchanging green and salmon, cladding the base wall of the fountain.
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House for Gail Kaiser and Mark Anderton: Choice of color for the house exterior
1990
Work of Art for Project, Hand-painted ExeriorCreated by:Christopher AlexanderThe choice of the color for the Kaiser house was a long process; the chosen color was a deep intense blue with a touch of green in it.
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Nyingma Buddist Monastery: Compound enclosure wall
1990
Building Detail, Wall TreatmentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Ismet Khambatta, Keiko InoueTen-foot high battered shape perimeter wall, made of bricks with cross reinforcements, plastered with medallion ornaments and colored; built as a full scale mockup ...
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House for Roger and Karuna Hodgson: New kind of wall construction
1991
Construction System, Structural WallCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, James MaguireMockups for innovative block techniques used the construction of structural walls made of concrete blocks laid out in a way allowing a fine line of marble to be inlaid in a chase.
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Mary Rose Museum: Arched trusses to span the 30-meter wide dry-dock where the ship was to be permanently housed
1991
Construction System, Reinforced ConcreteCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Miyoko TsutsuiArched trusses, conceived and design early in the design process along with the foundation design. Deep pile foundationa on either side of the dry dock were designed to carry the arched trussesThe main arches were to be pierced tracery made ...
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Upham House: Wooden stair with complex shape
1991
Building Detail, Stair ShapingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Randall SchmidtStair built in fir and pine board, cut and fitted in situ to complete and fit the complex shape.
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Upham House: The living room fireplace cladded with hand-glazed tiles
1992
Work of Art for Project, Hand-glazed TileworkCreated by:Christopher AlexanderHand-painted and hand-glazed green tiles with red asterisks used for cladding the fireplace front.
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West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center: Exterior wall with exposed herringbone brick pattern, alternating with exposed concrete bands and grey flint stones
1994
Building Detail, Wall TreatmentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, John HewittThe exposed surface of the perimeter thick wall is made of a combination of red bricks, exposed concrete and flint stones. there are several patterns of alternating repetition, the predominant one being the alteration between concrete bands and the herringbone ...
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West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center: Massive thick structural walls with poured concrete, blocks and bricks
1994
Construction System, Structural WallCreated by:Christopher Alexander, John HewittConstruction of perimeter and transverse structural walls, eighteen inches to two feet thick. The materials used was an integrated poured combination of bricks, concrete, flint, stone and massive blocks and insulation working together as a single structural wall, because of ...
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Back-of-the-Moon Community: Heisey house roof eave detail
1994
Building Detail, Roof & EaveCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall SchmidtLight rafter and sub-rafter structure for the roof eave. Shaped rafter tails form the roof edge and eave; the eave is more complex and makes a better center by the shape of the tails.
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Back-of-the-Moon Community: Column capital shape and size, built in the porch of the three houses
1994
Building Detail, Column ShapingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall SchmidtTimber thick columns and shaped capitals were developed after a series of cardboard mock-ups until size, proportions and shape got right.
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West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center: Stone and tiles floor surface details
1995
Building Detail, HardscapeCreated by:Christopher Alexander, John HewittThe paving combined red color floor tiles in the shape of a fleur de lys against grey stone in different sizes; fitting them together, strong centers were formed. The gutter in the paths, at its edge with the grass, was ...
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West Dean College Gardens Visitor's Center: Door and window shaping
1995
Building Detail, Window ShapingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Derek BonnerThe window shapes in relation to the treatment of surrounding wall formed strong centers. The window itself, beautifully shaped and specially made with curved sash. The window surround, cast concrete; beyond the cast concrete herringbone brickwork. Below the window, emphasizing ...
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Eishin Campus - High School: Club House new form of hollow, composite, wood and plywood columns and beams
1995
Construction System, Monocoque ConstructionCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, othersConstruction system with structural members which are large, yet light, efficient and structurally sound; it is based on massive hollow beams and columns, about 24" by 24", built out of plywood and small section lumber, with frequent interior collars, thus ...
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Back-of-the-Moon Community: Gioja house window detail
1995
Building Detail, Window ShapingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Saul Pichardo, Randall SchmidtGioja house dining room bay window subdivision and detailing.
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Sullivan House: Blue and white terrazzo floor
1995
Work of Art for Project, Terrazzo WorkCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Randy Schmidt, Katalin Bende850 hand-made tiles with flower, cast in blue and white terrazzo, ground and polished for the terrace floor; mockups and experimentation for developing the flower mold and the way of making them were developed in a construction course, and the ...
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Sullivan House: Fireplace nook details
1995
Building Detail, Wall TreatmentCreated by:Christopher Alexander, David SoffaA wood-paneled fireplace nook, where upholstery is built into the hardwood arms of the structure.
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New Town for Hoechst Parkstadt-Unterliederbach: New kind of wall construction
1996
Construction System, Structural WallCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Eileen TumlinMockups for innovative block techniques used the construction of structural walls made of a mixture of concrete blocks and bricks. Normal concrete blocks used together with cast blocks which have special treatment with chases, reveals and ornaments in them.
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Megaron Mousikis Athinon - Opera House: Colored glass panels for the curved vaulted ceiling of the concourse areas
2001
Work of Art for Project, Luminous Glass CeilingCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Larry BerkFabrication of experimental glass panels, for a ceiling 25 meters by 50 meters, made directly by a computer-model mechanical fabrication technique from a hand-drawn sketch, then transferred to Photoshop for further processing.
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Megaron Mousikis Athinon - Opera House: Multi-colored marble floors, consisting of various sizes and different color marble pieces in geometric and ornamental patterns
2001
Work of Art for Project, Prefabricated Marble FloorCreated by:Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Demetrius Golzalez, Larry Berk, Bankoku SasagawaPrefabrication of marble floors for the concourse areas of about 8.000 m2, in sections of about two feet by four feet, assembled on a fiberglass matt, with the marble pieces being glued with epoxy to the mat. Individual pieces were ...
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Building Process Area of Emphasis: Series of lectures on "The Nature of Order" - Foundations of Architecture
1991
Academic,University Program:Bachelor of Architecture, Master of ArchitectureCourse type:Lecture CourseCourse number:Arch. 160Instructors:Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Yodan RofeLecture course for both graduate and undergraduate students. Twenty-four lectures to determine the foundation of all architecture, both on a theoretical and practical level. The intent of the course was to define the basic structure needed by any environment, which ...
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Building Process Area of Emphasis: Series of lectures on "The Nature of Order" - Foundations of Architecture
1992
Academic,University Program:Bachelor of Architecture, Master of ArchitectureCourse type:Lecture CourseCourse number:Arch. 160Instructors:Christopher Alexander, Yodan Rofe, James MaguireLecture course for both graduate and undergraduate students. Twenty-four lectures to determine the foundation of all architecture, both on a theoretical and practical level. The intent of the course was to define the basic structure needed by any environment, which ...
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Building Process Area of Emphasis: The Nature of Order - An Introduction to the Design and Building Process
1999
Academic,University Program:Master of ArchitectureCourse type:Lecture CourseCourse number:Arch. 160Instructors:Hansjoachim NeisLecture class for both graduate and undergraduate students, to provide students with a complete underpinning for the theory and practice of architecture. The intent of the course was to define the basic structure needed by any environment, which supports ...