Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A Pattern Language

Have you ever read a book that was written in an odd way but just made complete sense to you? Like you knew it all along but couldn't put it into words? Your feelings and reactions had previously figured it out, but your brain hadn't translated it into words? Well, that's all fine and dandy when you are deciding what you like and what you don't like, but what if you have to create something you know you will like out of nothing?

When designing our house, I used The Not So Big House books quite a bit. Sarah Susanka referred to a book called A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, so I found that one at the library. Turns out that she used A Pattern Language on which to base almost all of her house ideas. I could see how her books came about. Her books are still very good to read, but to get down to the nitty gritty details of what makes a house a home, what makes it livable, comfortable, and welcoming, you really need to read A Pattern Language. Oh, and it would also help you design a city.

For those who don't know, A Pattern Language is about places. It starts big and gets smaller and smaller in scope as you go through the book. If you wanted to design a city, real or pretend, it would be really useful. If you want to design a neighborhood, again, very useful. A house, a room... It just gets smaller and smaller. About half of the book is applicable to house design, and it's been my biggest reference work for making sure the house will be a home. I highly recommend it to anyone, either for practical use, or just as an intellectual exercise.
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