The Quality Without a Name
Original term: The Quality Without a Name | Chapter/location: 2 | Chapter start page in the English edition’s table of contents: 19
Definition and core idea
A quality that is felt directly in a person, a building, a city or a landscape but which, in Alexander’s view, cannot be fully defined by a single word or criterion.
Explanation and elaboration
Alexander approaches this quality through seven overlapping descriptions: alive, whole, comfortable, free, exact, egoless and eternal. These descriptions are not independent parts to be added up mechanically; each illuminates one aspect of the overall experienced quality.
Notes and limits of interpretation
Caution in attribution
That this quality is objective and exact is Alexander’s claim and has been criticised in the research literature. Keep the theorist’s claim, users’ experience and observable indicators apart.
Relations to other concepts
- Alive, Whole, Comfortable, Free, Exact, Egoless, Eternal
- Self-Supporting Quality
- Multiplicity of Living Patterns
- Its Ageless Character
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?