Upham House: Hand-made, painted and glazed lily tiles

1991

Work of Art for Project, Hand-made Tilework

Low relief clay tiles produced from the plaster mold of the first successful original tile; four different variations of color combinations were tested on the site. The ones embedded in the stem wall of the foundation were the yellow lily tile on red background.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Lizabeth Chester

Content of

Project

House for Chris Upham and Stephanie Upham 1989 to 1994

37 Poppy Lane, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Residential, Realized , Construction completed in 1994

Client:

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher and Stephanie Upham

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Carl Lindberg, Gary Black, James Maguire

Contractor:

Center for Environmetal Structure

Project cost:

$439,000

Project 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

Two-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 ...

Contents

Models & Mock-ups

The Upham House: Hand-made, painted and glazed lily tiles; plaster mold 01/01/1991

Construction Mold

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Lizabeth Chester, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA

Medium:

Array

Size:

8 5/8x11 1/4"

Scale:

1'=1'

A plaster mold of a lily flower pattern, made for casting low relief ceramic tiles to be embedded in the stem wall of the house foundation.

Photographs

SEE ALL Photographs

References

Scientific Research

Books

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 Alexander

Publisher:

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 ...

Book Chapters

Appendix. A Small Example of a Living Process, 24 / The Lily Tiles

Publication,

Book title:

The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Two – The Process of Creating Life

Pages:

596-599

Visual & Audio Materials

Lecture on "The Nature of Order", given during Fall 1991 24/10/1991

Academic, Audio, Tape

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Cassette tape of the sixteenth Fall semester lecture by Christopher Alexander on “First Example of Building Process”, explaining the importance of a dynamic step by step process used in a specific building from its initial conception and through continuous corrections, ...