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 “Each pattern describes a problem which occurs over and
over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem… …no pattern is an isolated entity. Each pattern can exist in the world, only to the extent
that it is supported by other patterns: the larger patterns in which it is embedded, the patterns of the same size that surround it, and the smaller patterns which are embedded in it.” (Christopher Alexander, A Pattern Language, Introduction, pp. x, xiii.)- “A pattern language consists of a cascade or hierarchy of parts, linked together by patterns, which solve generic recurring problems associated
with the parts. Each pattern has a title and collectively the titles form a language for design. In a pattern language individual patterns are not isolated. The structure of the
language is composed of the links from larger patterns to smaller patterns, together creating a network.” (Anatomy of a Pattern Language, info@designmatrix.com,
original URL no longer active.
- “Discovery consists in the perception of relations existing in nature that were not previously recognized. Strictly speaking the arrangements exist independently of our
minds though obscured in many ways by the complexity of the phenomena. The perception of such relations turns largely upon eliminations and simplifications of the items
of experience that may distract attention from the orderly patterns that are finally recognized.” (Usher, A History of Mechanical Inventions, p. 10.)
- “Invention finds its distinctive feature in the constructive assimilation of preexisting elements into new syntheses, new patterns, or new configurations of behavior…
Invention thus establishes relationships that did not previously exist. In its barest essence, the element of innovation lies in the completion of an incomplete pattern of behavior or in
the improvement of a pattern that was unsatisfactory and inadequate.” (Ibid., p. 11)
[see Memes, Paradigm, Life as Art, Symbolism, Composition]
 This may be one of the most important books of the 20th century. A Pattern Language revolutionized thinking about city planning, community organization,
and building houses as an integral part of the environment.
Click here to purchase A Pattern Language
Click here to purchase A History of Mechanical Inventions
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