The Center for Environmental Structure: Portfolio of Projects

4207 Arthur Road, 94553, Martinez, CA, U.S.A.

Center for Environmetal Structure - C.E.S. Directors

Christopher Alexander, Jonathan Fefferman, Harissos Tsiringas, Gary Black, David Dacus, Olasheni Agbabiaka

Center for Environmetal Structure

$120,000

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 methods

Tarrytown, NY, U.S.A.

Mr. Robert Schwartz

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black

Expected construction cost: $4,000,000

Preliminary Design

Linz , Austria

Forum Design; Österreichisches Institut für Visuelle Gestaltung - Angela Hareiter

Christopher Alexander

Construction management by the Center for Environmental Structure with local subcontractors

$35.000

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 decisions

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

Mr. & Mrs. Andre and Anna Sala

Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Bob Smith, David Turtle, Seth Wachtel, Andre Sala

Center for Environmetal Structure

$180.000

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.

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 decis

Minami-7-joh, Nish-2-chome, Chu­o-Ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan

Mrs. Keiko Inoue and family

Christopher Alexander, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Gary Black

Expected construction cost: $2,000,000

Preliminary Design

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

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

Structural contractor: Fujita Corporation, Tokyo, Japan; Finish contractor: Center for Environmental Structure, Japan

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 methods

Marina District, San Francisco, CA, U.S.A.

CoEvolution Quarterly; Uncommon Courtesy, School of Compassionate Skills - Irmine Steltzner; Whole Earth Catalogue - Stewart Brand

Christopher Alexander, Rodney Moore, 22 workshop participants

Center for Environmetal Structure

Fort Mason Center, Marina Green, San Francisco - Mr. Mark Kasky, Director

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 ornaments

Layout on the site by workshop particants No drawings were produced Direct construction management and on-site design decisions Built by the workshop participants

Holland, MI, U.S.A.

Haworth Manufacturing, Inc. - Tom Hench

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Mark Brinner

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.

Pattern language for project by C.E.S. Generic rules for office layout process Use of full scale mock-ups Fabrication of full size furniture prototypes by C.E.S. Design Development drawings done after fabrication

1509A San Pablo Avenue, 94702, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Mrs. Anna Sala, Ms. Josie Jurcivina

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Mark Brinner

Center for Environmetal Structure

$20,000

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.

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 decisions

Tokyo, Japan

Mrs. Sugiko Emoto

Christopher Alexander, Hansjoachim Neis, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, Miyoko Tsutsui

Kibe Construction Company, with subsidiary management by Center for Environmental Structure, Japan

$1,500,000

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. control

Julian St. & Montgomery St., San Jose, CA, U.S.A.

Housing for Independent People - Al DiLudovico, Executive Director

Christopher Alexander, Gary Black, Artemis Anninou, Carl Lindberg, James Maguire, Eleni Coromvli, Kleoniki Tsotropoulou

Oliver and Company, with Center for Environmetal Structure as major specialty subcontractor

$1,700,000

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.E

Mountain View, CA, U.S.A.

City of Mountain View - Mr. Michael Freedman, c/o ROMA, urban design consultant to the city

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

Expected construction cost: $17,000,000

Design Development