Construction Innovation

Second Sala House: Leopard molds

1987

Work of Art for Project, Ornament

Yellow painted wooden molds for the manufacturing of the clay leopards to be used as inserts in the colored concrete floor.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander

Content of

Project

Sala House Addition 1986 to 1988

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

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in Jan-1988

Client:

Mr. & Mrs. Andre and Anna Sala

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Steven Duff, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$80,000

Project stages:

Layout on the site by clients and C.E.S. Design Development and Building Permit drawings done after layout Use of full scale mock-ups Direct Construction management along with on-site design decisions Budget and subcontractors under C.E.S. control

Two-storey 700 square feet addition to the exisitng house, connected with it at the west facing wall. The extension includes a living room, a bedroom and a bathroom with hot tub. Wood post and beam interior with pine paneling ...

Contents

Models & Mock-ups

Photographs

Second Sala House: Leopard molds used during the pouring of the concrete floor - Photographs of mold 01/01/1987

Construction Experiment & Mock-up

Photographer:

Christopher Alexander/C.E.S., Albany, CA, U.S.A.

Source:

Digital

Characteristics:

Color

The wooden leopard mold.

References

Scientific Research

Ornament and Function as Products of Unfolding

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Structure Preserving Transformations

Ornament 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 ...

Books

The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Three - A Vision of a Living World 2005

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

No of pages:

697 pp

“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, ...

Book Chapters

Chapter 18. Ornament as Part of all Unfolding, 7 / Making Lifelike Animals and Plants in the Fabric of the Building

Publication,

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 World

Pages:

602-606