Patterns Which Are Alive / Multiplicity of Living Patterns
Original term: Patterns Which Are Alive / Multiplicity of Living Patterns | Chapter/location: 6 and 7 | Chapter start page in the English edition’s table of contents: 101 and 123
Definition and core idea
The quality of a place is often the result of several related patterns cooperating at different scales; so patterns have to be judged both on their own and in relation to their surroundings.
Explanation and elaboration
A seating area may look suitable in itself while access, light, privacy or neighbouring activities are unsuitable. Choosing one local pattern affects its neighbouring patterns; design is not just sticking together a few independent solutions.
Notes and limits of interpretation
Caution in attribution
That one unsuitable pattern necessarily brings down the whole system is not an empirical law without exceptions; how strong the effect is depends on the context.
Relations to other concepts
Review questions
- What problem does this concept clarify?
- Which part is Alexander’s explicit claim and which part is analytical interpretation?
- What observations or evidence are needed to assess it in a real environment?