The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book 1 - The Phenomenon of Life (Center for Environmental Structure, Vol. 9)
Category: Books,Engineering & Transportation,Engineering
The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book 1 - The Phenomenon of Life (Center for Environmental Structure, Vol. 9) Details
About the Author Christopher Alexander is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, architect, builder, and author of many books and technical papers. He is the winner of the first medal for research ever awarded by the American Institute of Architects, and after 40 years of teaching is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. Read more
Reviews
Alexander’s way of seeing is the best description of how spatial relationships create meaning—how they create life—that I have come across. It anchors on centers and wholes: “When I think of them as centers, I become more aware of their relatedness … The flower is not made from petals. The petals are made from their role and position in the flower.” His concluding 15 fundamental properties identify “structural features which tend to be present in the examples which have more life, and tend to be missing in the ones which have less life.” Some of my favorites are levels of scale, local symmetries, and roughness.
