The Oregon Experiment

The third volume of “The Center for Environmental Structure Series” on architecture published by Oxford University Press, “The Oregon Experiment” is the first of the series to describe in full detail how the theory presented in “A Pattern Language” and “The Timeless Way of Building” may be implemented.
It describes a new planning process for the University of Oregon, where an entire community of 15,000 persons are, through the means described in this book, taking charge of all future planning and design. It also shows how any community the size of a university or small town might go about designing its own future environment—with all members of the community participating personally. It is a concrete example of the Center’s theories in practice, demonstrating in simple detail, with numerous illustrations, how to implement six guiding principles: organic order, participation, piecemeal growth, patterns, diagnosis, and coordination.