The Process of Urban Design and the Formation of Larger Urban Wholes

Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Artemis Anninou, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King

Oxford University Press, New York, NY, U.S.A.

251 pp

Christopher Alexander

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

636 pp

Christopher Alexander

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

697 pp

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

264-266

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

75-77

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

77-81

Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing Director

Christopher Alexander - Chief Architect, Hans-Joachim Neis - Executive Architect, Gary Black - Structural Engineer, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King - Architect, Artemis Anninou - Architect

Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

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.

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 m

Nihongi 112-1, Iruma-shi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan

Higashino High School - Hisae Hosoi, Managing Director

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 Shiohara

Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan

$11,000,000 in 1985 $14,000,000 in 1988

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.

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 a

Agate Street, Eugene, OR, U.S.A.

The University of Oregon - Mr. Chris Ramey, Campus Planner

Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, James Maguire, Gary Black, Chuck Han

Center for Environmetal Structure, …

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

Christopher Alexander

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Hansjoachim Neis

Αρχιτεκτονικά Θέματα / Architecture in Greece, Vol. 16, pp. 124-129

Orestis B. Doumanis, Athens, Greece

Greek, English

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Hansjoachim Neis

Αρχιτεκτονικά Θέματα / Architecture in Greece, Vol. 16, pp. 159-167

Orestis B. Doumanis, Athens, Greece

Greek, English

Alkmini Paka

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Engineering, School of Architecture, Thessaloniki, Greece

Master of Architecture

Graduate Design Studio

Arch. 203

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Howard Davis

Artemis Anninou, Colette Cage, Shohreh Daemi, Hermann Diederich, Hubert Froyen, Bruce Grulke, Ramzi Kawar, Hye Myoung Kim, Takeshi Kimura, James McLane, Leslie Moldow, Hansjoachim Neis, Mahn Oh, Carsten Schmunk, Alice Sung, Martine Weissmann

Master of Architecture

Graduate Design Studio

Arch. 291

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Howard Davis

Artemis Anninou, Colette Cage, Shohreh Daemi, Hermann Diederich, Hubert Froyen, Bruce Grulke, Ramzi Kawar, Hye Myoung Kim, Takeshi Kimura, James McLane, Leslie Moldow, Hansjoachim Neis, Mahn Oh, Carsten Schmunk, Alice Sung, Martine Weissmann

Master of Architecture

Graduate Design Studio

Arch. 202

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Howard Davis

Artemis Anninou, Colette Cage, Shohreh Daemi, Hermann Diederich, Hubert Froyen, Bruce Grulke, Ramzi Kawar, Hye Myoung Kim, Takeshi Kimura, James McLane, Leslie Moldow, Hansjoachim Neis, Mahn Oh, Carsten Schmunk, Alice Sung, Martine Weissmann

Yodan Rofe, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Artemis Anninou, Hubert Froyen, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Photocopy

8 1/2"x11"

Artemis Anninou, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Photocopy

8 1/2"x11"

Leslie Moldow, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Photocopy

8 1/2"x11"

Christopher Alexander, Chris Andrews, Shawn Bradbury, Saul Pichardo, Chris Sullivan, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Christopher Alexander, Randall Schmidt, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Christopher Alexander/C.E.S., Iruma-shi, Saitama, Japan

Digital

B&W

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

Digital

Color

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

Digital

Color

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

Hansjoachim Neis, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Hansjoachim Neis, University of California Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.