phenomenon paperbacks experiment construction

books:

A Vision of a Living World: The Nature of Order, Book 3

1 review
Christopher Alexander

Center for Environmental Structure, 2004

A practical approach to reinventing human habitats
Alexander's long-awaited third book in the four-volume Nature of Order series finally provides a practical guide to creating great places based on his concepts of "centers", "wholeness" and "structure-preserving transformations." Page after page of photos and diagrams give weight to Alexander's process-oriented approach to building. This tome should be required reading for anyone who has ...

Notes on the Synthesis of Form (Harvard Paperbacks)

9 reviews
Christopher Alexander

Harvard University Press, 1964

The first book of design for all designers
Design is a difficult process that is often associated more with art than science. With principles of style, concerns about how design works. While many wring their hands about this, Alexander breaks the problem down, organizes it and then provides a framework for design that is relatively design neutral. That is a feat in deed. By thinking about how one structures a problem space and ...

The Oregon Experiment (Center for Environmental Structure Series)

4 reviews
Christopher Alexander

Oxford University Press, USA, 1975

Building an educational community
The Oregon Experiment is one of a series of influential volumes on architecture and social design published by Christopher Alexander and his colleagues in the 1970s. While the most well-known volume in the series, A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, and Construction, develops general principles for the design of social spaces at all scales, The Oregon Experiment applies those principles to a ...

The Phenomenon of Life: Nature of Order, Book 1: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the ...

13 reviews
Christopher Alexander

Center for Environmental Structure, 2004

This book changed the way I look at everything...
As a total amateur, I have no design training. I am fascinated by architecture and design, but really only "know what I like". I read "A Pattern Language" when working on object oriented computer systems and find it fascinating - I still re-read it. So, when I saw this book, I was hoping that it would be interesting. It is way beyond interesting. It completely changed the way I look at the ...

A New Theory of Urban Design (Center for Environmental Structure Series, Vol 6)
Christopher Alexander

Oxford University Press, USA, 1987

The venerable cities of the past, such as Venice or Amsterdam, convey a feeling of wholeness, an organic unity that surfaces in every detail, large and small, in restaurants, shops, public gardens, even in balconies and ornaments. But this sense of wholeness is lacking in modern urban design, with architects absorbed in problems of individual structures, and city planners preoccupied with local ordinances, it is almost impossible to achieve. ...

A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)

76 reviews
Christopher Alexander

Oxford University Press, USA, 1977

Not just for architects - good for software engineers too
This book talks specifically about what works and doesn't work when building cities and towns and how to take the human element into consideration when doing so. However, I found its conclusions and most of its patterns applicable to software engineering. There are good books on software design patterns such as "Head First Design Patterns", and there are some good books on user interface design ...

The Timeless Way of Building

26 reviews
Christopher Alexander

Oxford University Press, 1979

Tao Te Ching of Architecture
In many ways, The Timeless Way of Building remains the best book by Alexander, as it is easily accessible to all readers and provides a wonderful, thought provoking look into building traditions. Alexander searches for examples of a more humane architecture that took its proportions from the nature of building materials and the context in which these structures were built. The book is ...

The Process of Creating Life: Nature of Order, Book 2: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the ...

4 reviews
Christopher Alexander

Center for Environmental Structure, 2004

A Landmark Book
Review by Nikos A. Salingaros. PART A. REVIEW FOR ARCHITECTS. Contemporary architecture is increasingly grounded in science and mathematics. Architectural discourse has shifted radically from the sometimes disorienting Derridean deconstruction, to engaging scientific terms such as fractals, chaos, complexity, nonlinearity, and evolving systems. That's where the architectural action is -- at least ...

After Thoughts Café
Christopher Alexander Hall

iUniverse, Inc., 2005

Growing up in the inner city, Chris seen and heard a lot, only in his early twenties, he’s what most might call an old soul. By his teenage years, he had a maturity and sincerity in his writings that were both thought provoking and heart warming. Early joy and pain have helped him to write about love, life and everything in between. Follow him in his journey from boy to young man as he expresses his life’s trails and tribulations, up rises ...

The Production of Houses (Center for Environmental Structure Series)

1 review
Christopher Alexander, Howard Davis, ...

Oxford University Press, USA, 1985

Christopher Alexander's principles put into practice
If, after reading Christopher Alexander's earlier books, you were wondering if he ever actually built a house in the real world, here's your answer. Yes, he did. Yes, the people owning the houses love the results. Yes, they feel the special connection with their homes that is the hallmark of Alexander's ideas. No, the powers that be, who agreed to temporarily suspend building codes for his ...

Growth and Intimacy for Gay Men: A Workbook (Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies) (Haworth Gay & Lesbian Studies)

1 review
Christopher Alexander

Routledge, 1997

another great edition from the Hawthorne series
This is definitely more for pro-gay therapists than their gay male clients. It's a lifespan text, ranging from childhood memories to the aging process. One of the last sections is on gay men and aging. This ads to the growing and needed literature on older gay men. This book is full of exercises and thus might not go as in depth as readers who want to delve deeply into various topics. Key ...

The Luminous Ground: The Nature of Order, Book 4

4 reviews
Christopher Alexander

CES Publishing, 2003

A Profoundly Eloquent Glimpse of Life's Depth...
*** Original review: May 20, 2004 *** Those who know me know that I am not prone to making either quick judgements or vacuous statements, so my friends (at least) will know that both the title of this mini-review and the few words that follow are far from whimsical: Alexander's Nature of Order, and in particular this fourth volume which I have recently received and simply cannot put down, are ...

Gay and Lesbian Mental Health

1 review
Christopher J. Alexander

Routledge, 1997

Variety of viewpoints, perhaps a bit too freudian in places
The chapter on eating disorders was especially fascinating, and while some portions were a bit more psychodynamic than is in accord with my tastes, still a good read. It's worth noting that this is geared towards practitioners treating members of the gay & lesbian community and is *not* (thankfully) a guide to "conversion therapy".

The Bleeding Rainbow

4 reviews
Christopher Alexander Berg

Jones Harvest Publishing, 2007

Delivers Again!!
Chris gets more personal in this book than he did in his previous. In "The Spider's Egg" he wrote beautifully about the inner demons he was dealing with and the truth hurts, reality of this world. This book is both similar and different mixed together. Sounds weird, right? Well, that's what you should come to expect from this writer. There are certain poems in this book that almost bring tears to ...

Thumbnail Falling

4 reviews
Christopher Alexander Berg

Fideli Publishing Inc., 2008

Sad to see it go
This truly is a remarkable trilogy and i'm sad to see it end. I hope I come across another book as wonderful as Chris Berg's.

Welcome Home: A Guide for Adoptive, Foster, and Treatment Foster Parents

2 reviews
Christopher J. Alexander

Mountain West Publishing, 2005

A Must-Have for Adopted Parents
This is truly a unique book in the adoption category. While most books on the subject offer good advice, much of what they share falls in the area of common sense. This book, on the other hand, takes us into the real world experience of adopted kids and their parents. The chapter on attachment is the best I've come across, and the author tackles those hard-to-deal with topics (sexual behavior in ...

search for books
construction, environmental, experiment, paperbacks, phenomenon

Impressum / about us