A Pattern Language: Creating Sustainable Towns, Buildings, and Construction

dg- cal.: does your built world affect mental happiness? yes. very clear. part by part. problem, research, solution. small to large scale. this led to so many amazing books by all these authors.

United States on Sep 10, 2023

MISSCDN: If you want your new home to be comfortable and welcoming (and who doesn't?) - this is a must-read. The focus is really how to make a house .... a home, starting with the big picture. While I don't necessarily agree with a few of the concepts (from a lens 50 years forward) the 'patterns' (or qualities) truly will make a difference. There is a deep understanding of human nature/behaviour and how the minutiae of our surroundings profoundly impacts us. One thing they suggest is to list all 253 of the patterns and then systematically go through the ones within your control (e.g. you typically can't control the build of a town or transportation infrastructure). I did this on a spreadsheet for our new build and, wow, does it make you really think through your build design and what you really want in the end. Yes, it does take quite a while but so worth it when you see how your home can embrace family and friends in such a complete way. I recently read that, 50 years later, this book still sells thousands of copies a year and I can understand why; it is such a human-oriented point of view. Highly recommend this book!

Canada on Sep 08, 2023

Rogereti: We first read this almost 25 years ago when we were dreaming of building a house on a small island in the Pacific Northwest.

In those days the book was a hefty 5 cm thick and cost $99, so it’s delightful to have a Kindle copy as we look forward to our next housing adventure and avoid the perils of retirement “living”😱.

Canada on May 13, 2023

Antonio Pastor: Si te gusta la arquitectura es un libro muy interesante. Los conceptos están muy bien ordenados y explicados. Me resultó una delicia de libro. Y es un libro al que volveré, y utilizaré muchas de sus ideas.

Spain on Jan 27, 2023

Client d'Amazon: Reçu avec des pages repliées a l intérieur et le dos du livre un peu marquer

France on Oct 24, 2022

JLJ: This book is insightful and fun to read. It is also a book that is easy to pick up and read a bit, and put it
down and come back later to pick up where you left off, because it is broken into many very short chapters,
each of which contain a key idea. It's hard to describe this book, because it is so unique in its approach
to telling the reader "how things ought to be" concerning everything from civil planning and city layout,
to floor-plans, to architectural design, to furnishing. The author is very opinionated and does not shy away
from boldly telling you what is wrong with the physical constructs of our urban, suburban, and rural areas,
and how all of that should be properly done in his imagined ideal world.

In some ways, this book is like reading the professional diary of your crazy uncle who is constantly ranting
about what's wrong with the world, and how he thinks it should be set right. However, after reading it for
a while, you get the impression that the author is not really crazy, so much as he is a brilliant eccentric
whose experience and understanding is based on an extremely broad appreciation of how human beings choose
to craft...

United States on Aug 12, 2015

Jeremiah Jobling: I really wanted this to be a stunning book. Certainly many of the "patterns" that are presented make perfect sense. The patterns often articulate things that you already know at a subconscious level, so there are lots of "oh, of course!" moments (in a good way). I got a *lot* from the building patterns themselves.

What it really, really needs, though, is updating for the 21st century. The construction section, in particular, is laughably out of date. It suggests avoiding the use of wood as a construction material because it's such a scarce and expensive resource. It talks about building vaulted structures out of resign reinforced burlap and lightwateight aggregate concrete. Good luck getting building regs to sign off on that. Basically, it's probably safe to ignore the entire section on construction.

The format really need updating. It's a small, very thick book with thin pages. If the pages were twice the size, there'd be room for more pictures (which would also be an opportunity to update the hideous, unclear black-and-white examples presently used), while allowing better quality paper and a thinner volume.

Finally, it's too expensive. I rarely begrudge...

United Kingdom on Apr 16, 2013

B. McKeon: i first learned about alexander through my study of software engineering. i'm an artist working on generative/evolutionary digital art, both visual and sonic, and i'm also in the process of studying to build a house. alexander's books have been an inspiration to me in all of these fields. i won't expound on the positives, as others have already done so, and my five stars give you an idea of how i feel about these books. there are quite a few negatives though:

a) the price of these books is outrageous, why are they not available in a cheap paperback edition. if mr. alexander really wants to change the world he would do well to look at the open source software movement, specifically the ideal of open documentation. mr. alexander has a website on which he talks about freedom and idealism, etc... however, the book is not free, instead, it is very expensive, but more importantly, is not free to copy and redistribute. one gets the feeling that there is an element of the california guru in all of this. that he is peddling utopia to the hyper-comfortable. ok that sounds really harsh, but it makes me very angry that such a resource is not distributed freely, especially in the...

United States on Aug 28, 2004