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Christopher Alexander's Other Books

Rachel Lindsay

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posted 7 months ago

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I have read A Pattern Language and Timeless Way of Building. But I found out there's more.

I am particularly interested in reading these very pricey rare titles:

The Nature of Order Book 1: The Phenomenon of Life (2002)

The Nature of Order Book 2: The Process of Creating Life (2002)

The Nature of Order Book 3: A Vision of a Living World (2005)

The Nature of Order Book 4: The Luminous Ground (2004)

The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth: A Struggle between Two World-Systems, with Hans Joachim Neis and Maggie More Alexander (2012)

PatternLanguage.com Bookstore

Has anyone else read any and can recommend?

“If we are honest, we can still love what we are, we can find all the good there is to find, and we may find ways to enhance that good, and to find a new kind of living world which is appropriate for our time.” ― Christopher Alexander

Chris Clinton

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posted 7 months ago

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I have the Nature of Order volumes on my shelf and have been meaning to tackle it for a couple years. I enjoy dipping into it and feel confident in it's value as the magnum opus of his matured thoughts on design and Life. He did think those earlier books failed to lead to the kinds of built environs he wished for. These newer works are wiser, more philosophically bent. There is a focus on Wholes rather than assemblages of parts or patterns. Amongst a bunch of Alexander goodness in one place you can get some quotes from N.o.O here: https://makingpermaculturestronger.net/christopheralexander/

If I'm not taking my time, who is?

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Rachel Lindsay

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posted 7 months ago

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Here is a PDF of a summary of the books by the author (first in the list after you click this link): New Concepts in Complexity Theory arising from studies in the field of architecture an overview of the four books of the nature of order This will have to do until my inter-library loan gets here!

olaf fowles

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posted 7 months ago

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In my honest opinion, The Nature of Order is THE seminal work of Christopher Alexander, the brightest designer/thinker of our generation. Yes, A Pattern Language deserves full and undivided attention, as it has formulated a truly powerful way of thinking about 'things in space'. But... well, The Nature of Order is on another level entirely...

Nothing is out of bounds, nothing is beyond consideration; a cup, a car, a stool, a fence, a handle, a roof... In this series, Alexander searches for, and finds, the signature of beauty. The section on the 15 Properties on its own is a monumental achievement.

FWIW, I've attended, and presented, at a couple international pattern language conferences; there is an admittedly small, but awesome group of people continuing to explore and develop Alexander's ideas. Perhaps most-notably is Building Beauty. In fact, they hosted a webinar on The Nature of Order. It was pretty great. Each weekly meeting would discuss a section of the books, as the group read-along through the series. Here's their link: https://www.buildingbeauty.org/

As you can probably tell, I absolutely adore Christopher Alexander's approach to design. Indeed, I intend to host workshops so that more people can come into contact with this methodology, include it as another tool for design. So, if you ever want to talk more about any of this, yes please

If one person dreams alone... it is but a dream. When many people dream together... it is the beginning of a new reality.
~Friedensreich Hundertwasser

Andreas Scherman

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posted 7 months ago

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Big fan of Christopher Alexander. Timeless Way of Building is *so* good, and it extends so far beyond architecture.

I’m on the hunt for a copy of The Nature of Order, Book 1: The Phenomenon of Life. I’d be thrilled to buy one, and might even consider offering up a limb or a spare liver in exchange! I’d love to find someone in Europe who's looking to part with a copy. Shipping from the U.S. can be a bit of a hassle, but I’m open to figuring something out if needed. If you’ve got one gathering dust or know where I might find one, please let me know!

Josh Hoffman

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posted 7 months ago

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Yeah, wow, these books are selling at outrageous prices! Of course, they are not in the local library.

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Jay Angler

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posted 7 months ago

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Josh Hoffman wrote:Yeah, wow, these books are selling at outrageous prices! Of course, they are not in the local library.

Is it time to get on a first name basis with your library manager? Books like this are timeless, and everyone needs to read them!

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Josh Hoffman

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posted 7 months ago

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Jay Angler wrote:

Josh Hoffman wrote:Yeah, wow, these books are selling at outrageous prices! Of course, they are not in the local library.

Is it time to get on a first name basis with your library manager? Books like this are timeless, and everyone needs to read them!

It is definitely worth asking, thanks for that idea! A pattern language was an amazing read. I bet these are even better from reading the descriptions.

"The genius of American farm experts is very well demonstrated here: they can take a solution and divide it neatly into two problems." -Wendell Berry

olaf fowles

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posted 7 months ago

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Josh Hoffman wrote:Yeah, wow, these books are selling at outrageous prices! Of course, they are not in the local library.

i've long been pining for a copy of Christopher Alexander's A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art: The Color and Geometry of Very Early Turkish Carpets... a 300usd paperback and upwards of 2.5k for a hardcover.

sigh. one of these days!

If one person dreams alone... it is but a dream. When many people dream together... it is the beginning of a new reality.
~Friedensreich Hundertwasser

John C Daley

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posted 7 months ago

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I see the books for sale from $A50-114 each.

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Kevin Olson

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posted 7 months ago

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John C Daley wrote:I see the books for sale from $A50-114 each.

Wow! That's actually reasonable. Over on this side of the world, the prices are exorbitant for Alexander's later work.

I'd really like to read them (interlibrary loan may be a possibility - my wife is the librarian, so if I ask very, very nicely...). I'm hoping that the emphasis on differentiating space may be more immediately implementable for me than the Patterns.

It's not at all obvious to me how one ought to go about using the Patterns when one approaches a design. And yet, if I look at old architecture - Italian hill towns or those on offshore Greek islands, or monastic structures or old manor houses, I can spot some of the patterns. Maybe this is a case of recognition versus recall, since I've experienced something like this when trying to learn new languages; that is, I can understand much more than I can say.

Strangely, I first encountered Alexander's "A Pattern Language" when tracking down a reference to it in a software book (I'm no programmer, but needs must!).

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Rachel Lindsay

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posted 6 months ago

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Well, my public library couldn't interlibrary-loan them, but I found out my alma mater has the whole set, and I checked out two of the volumes today. They are wonderful. Book II seems to be highly relevant to Permaculture: it exhaustively describes Alexander's views on the organic unfolding process of creating a structure, in comparison with how it is done in little and big ways in nature. So insightful and beautiful, it will take literally years to start getting my head around, but so far it is an enchanting view of things. I hope these books will be reprinted very soon.

Kevin Olson

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posted 6 months ago

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Rachel Lindsay wrote:Well, my public library couldn't interlibrary-loan them, but I found out my alma mater has the whole set, and I checked out two of the volumes today.

That's another good thought. My local university library may have them in the circulating collection. I haven't been in there for several years, at first due to strict pandemic regulations, now because I am out of the habit. I had a "courtesy card"; that is, I was allowed to borrow a few books (3? 4? I don't remember, now.) for a period of 2 weeks, with one renewal period.

They do have some other architecture-related goodies - Jacques Heyman's translation to English of "Coulomb's Memoir on Statics" (basically, an analysis of why stone arches and vaults don't fall down, or alternatively, under what circumstances they might), George Hauk's "The Aqueduct of Nemausus" (a fictionalized telling of the process of the building of the aqueduct that supplied potable water to ancient Nimes, including the Pont du Gard), Davidovits's book on geopolymers, several old graphical statics manuals (how to make vector diagrams to solve for forces in structural members, rather than "doing the sums" - I am still wrapping my brain around the details of this method, even though it was standard practice in civil or structural engineering prior to the advent of modern computers), etc.

I really ought to stop over there and check. I was also able, in the past, to use their courtesy computers to access electronic journal articles. They had subscriptions for academic access, which I was able to utilize as a "member of the community" - very helpful on occasion.

"Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?"
Andrea del Sarto by Robert Browning

Rachel Lindsay

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posted 6 months ago

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Christopher Alexander in The Process of Creating Life wrote: ...it is, ultimately, the process, not the design, which gives life to a building. Thus the issue of process is immense. In its impact on the quality of architecture, it is more important than the static structure of the design.

YES! I agree on this from my very tiny experience in garden design. Being a beginner, I always feel like the thing I should do is find the most relatable design I can replicate to copy from a book or website, and then I feel bad as I am looking for such a design. But whenever I build a bed from what's already there and what I have, everything works better. Because of this I am sure it is the same for buildings, as he wrote.

I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com