Last year, we heard a little about Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language from Meditation: On Patterns. We wanted to bring it up again here since it's such a good resource for anyone wanting to make sense of their surroundings...
A Pattern Language touches on seemingly simple aspects of design that everyone can consider and create in their own home. These points range from natural light to arrangement of furnishings; from heating and cooling to outdoor space and plantings. It's all covered in the book and reading A Pattern Language has a soothing effect on the reader. It makes you slow down and contemplate even the smallest details of your home.
The photos shown throughout this post are of self-designed projects by readers of A Pattern Language.
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It is heartening to realize that after forty years, Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language is continuing to enlighten people. As an architect I've been surprised and pleased by the number of non-architects who've found the book and benefitted from it. AT readers might also want to explore Alexander's Das Linz Cafe. And thank you for the photographs - easy-on-the-eyes-and-soul spaces are always a delight on a Friday afternoon.
This book has been on my to-read list for years (though I guess it has to get off my to-buy list before the reading part can happen). The only thing that's been standing in my way has been the price tag, but I just noticed that it seems to be marked down on a few online booksellers' sites. I may just get around to finally picking it up...
Also equally relevant are the series of books on the "Not So Big House" by Sarah Susanka, who talks about the best ways of maximising small space and the details that can escape our attention. Her idea of spending less money on big grandiose spaces and instead to build smaller and concentrate on the furnishing makes sense.