"A Pattern Language": This Book Changed the Way I Think
This post is part of a series in which Influencers describe the books that changed them. Follow the channel to see the full list.
Several years ago, after reading a cryptic reference to it in something else I was reading, I got my hands on Christopher Alexander's book, A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction.
Few books have made such an impression on me and the way that I think.
This strange, brilliant, fascinating book uses architecture, sociology, psychology, and anthropology to describe the most satisfying architectural environments.
It sets forth an archetypal “language” of 253 patterns (I love the specificity of that number!) that make the design of towns, buildings, and–most interesting to me–homes the most pleasing.
This book doesn’t need to be read from front to back; I often just flip through it and study the parts that resonate with me–and look at the pictures, too, of course.
I’m a very text-centric person, and not very visual, and this book helps me enormously to identify the elements about spaces that I like, or don’t like. I’m able to see the world in a new way, and as a consequence, I’ve been able to do some things differently in my own home and work spaces, to make them more enjoyable.
Here’s a list of some of the “patterns” that I love most–and I even love the aptness of the phrases used to describe them:
- Half-hidden garden–this is an example of something that I love but just can’t put into practice in New York City, alas.
- Light on two sides of every room–after I moved to New York City, I became acutely aware of the importance of light, and it’s true, having light on two sides of a room makes a huge difference.
- Six foot balcony–this pattern explained something that had always puzzled me: why people in New York City apartment buildings seemed so rarely to use their balconies. It turns out that when a balcony is too narrow, people don’t feel comfortable on it. It needs to be at least six feet deep.
- Sitting circle–odd to me how many people place their furniture in ways that don’t make for comfortable conversation.
- Ceiling height variety–I was astonished to notice how much more I enjoy places that have ceilings at different heights.
- Things from your life–in Happier at Home, I “cultivated a shrine” to my passion for children’s literature, as a way to make a special place for certain things from my life (for instance, my old copies of Cricket magazine, my complete set of The Wizard of Oz books, my Gryffindor banner that a friend brought me from the Harry Potter Theme Park.
- Child caves–so true that children love to play in small, low places. My sister had the “Cozy Club” with a friend, and my younger daughter now plays in an odd little space she has decorated.
- Secret place–ah, this is my favorite. Again, as I write about in Happier at Home, I was inspired to create my own secret places in our apartment. I couldn’t stop with just one. As Alexander writes, “Where can the need for concealment be expressed; the need to hide; the need for something precious to be lost, and then revealed?”
- there’s a wall behind you (so no one can sneak up behind you).
- there’s a wall to one side (too much openness makes you feel exposed).
- there’s no blank wall within 8 feet in front of you (or you have no place to rest your eyes).
- you work in at least 60 square feet (or you feel cramped).
- your workspace is 50-75% enclosed by walls or windows (so you have a feeling of openness).
- you have a view to the outside (no matter how large your office, you will feel confined in a room without a view).
- you are aware of at least 2 other people, but not more than 8 people, around you (less than 2, you feel isolated and ignored; more than 8, you feel like a cog in a machine).
- you can’t hear workplaces noises that are very different from the kind of noises you make at work (you concentrate better when the people around you are engaged in similar tasks, not very different tasks).
- no one is sitting directly opposite you and facing you.
- you can face in different directions at different times.
- you can see at least 2 other people, but not more than 4.
- you have at least one co-worker within talking distance.
- to make the space more attractive, incorporate Windows Overlooking Life, a Half-Open Wall, Thick Walls, Open Shelves, Pools of Light (over the workspace), and a nearby Sitting Circle.
Most of us can’t change much about the design of our offices, but these elements at least furnish a few ideas.As I mentioned, when I decided to work on making my home a happier place, as I was writing Happier at Home, I was very influenced by the ideas in A Pattern Language--both in shaping my home office and my home, generally.
How about you? Have you identified some “patterns” in the design of the places you love?
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