The Oregon experiment
by Christopher Alexander, Murray Silverstein, Shlomo Angel, Sara Ishikawa, Denny Abrams · first published 1975
29% recommend64% neutral7% critical
Describes how the techniques in Alexander's timeless way of building were used to revise the the University of Oregon's campus master plan.
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…Alexander's work in systemizing collaborative design. If you're not familiar, i highly recommend these: http://www.google.com/books?id=Kh3T3XFUfPQC&printsec=fro... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Experiment and finally: http://web.archive.org/web/20070528030431/http://www.rainmag... basically, alexander pointed out back in the 60s/70s that the simplest design problems, when approached from a conscious…
on “What is a Design Attitude and Why Would a Manager Care? ” ↗…modular approaches to constructing space I agree the comparison is apt, but I much prefer Alexander's humane, bottom-up, anarchistic approach than Le Corbusier's authoritarian high modernism. Reading The Oregon Experiment is great context for A Pattern Language, seeing the way they envisioned the pattern language being used by a community. And the kinds of organisation they needed to couch it in, the way they needed to…
on “A Pattern Language” ↗…them both. The former book expounds the ideas. But it is a weird pile of ideas. Somewhat moral and ethical, also somewhat practical, and also rather mystical. The combination has a religious feel. The Oregon Experiment is a sort of prequel to The Timeless Way of Building and A Pattern Language. It's an account of the development and application of those ideas to building projects at the University of Oregon. It might…
on “Beautiful Software: Christopher Alexander's research initiative on computing” ↗+1 to The Oregon Experiment. It was the first I read and I think gave a great taste of a lot of the ideas in a way that was reasonably understandable. I wrote up some notes at https://www.garethrees.co.uk/2020/03/08/book-notes-the-orego...
on “Beautiful Software: Christopher Alexander's research initiative on computing” ↗I had heard this idea attributed to Christopher Alexander, from either "A Pattern Language" or "The Oregon Experiment". Possibly it originated from the University of Oregon? Regardless of the original source, this is a great explanation of the concept..
on “Let pedestrians define the walkways” ↗…Alexander's method (of which A Pattern Language is just one piece). I once wrote a review of The Timeless Way from a programmer's perspective: http://advogato.org/person/mbrubeck/diary/106.html (The Oregon Experiment, which I mention in that link, might also be of interest to programmers inside huge organizations.)
on “Do You See a Pattern?” ↗…cities that haven't worked out. I'm thinking of the original intent of what became the EPCOT theme park [1], and of the less-than-hoped-for success of Alexander's pattern langauge(s) represented by The Oregon Experiment [2] and its long-term lack of impact on Eugene, OR and architecture in general. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_%28concept%29 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Experiment
on “New Cities” ↗…for people interested in design patterns: > At the University of Oregon campus, outrage and vocal distaste for Brutalism led, in part, to the hiring of Christopher Alexander and the initiation of The Oregon Experiment in the late 1970s. This led to the development of Alexander's A Pattern Language and The Timeless Way of Building.
on “UX brutalism” ↗…designing and/or building. Though interesting, A Timeless Way of Building tends to be mostly useful for complaining about the way something has been built. Nobody talks about the third book in the trilogy The Oregon Experiment because the resulting buildings don't look like what people want to be the result of A Timeless Way of Building. Anyway, in the actual practice of architecture, A Pattern Language is by far the best…
on “A Pattern Language (1977) [pdf]” ↗Embodied in the books "A Pattern Language" and "The Oregon Experiment", pattern theory inspired many, but also failed to consistently lead to beautiful buildings. [...] Although most of his buildings have effectively supported his theories, Alexander has mainly influenced…
on “Christopher Alexander: An Introduction for Object-Oriented Designers” ↗Where did you read that? The book you are thinking of is "The Oregon Experiment" [0], the "small complex" is the University of Oregon [1], and the project was broadly successful. To quote WP: > In the late 1960s and early 1970s, students and faculty at the University of Oregon protested…
on “Some Notes on Christopher Alexander (2008)” ↗…architecture patterns, but I do think a lot of his patterns do specifically tell you how to design things. Also much of what he wrote isn't specific to large construction projects with many stakeholders ("The Oregon Experiment", which I haven't read, is an account of the process of designing the University of Oregon campus. However, "A Pattern Language" would also be of use to a person designing their own house by themself.)…
on ““Design Patterns” Aren't (2002)” ↗…users" of a building directly and intimately in the process of architectural design. Few architects have been as radically committed to making their field accessible and attainable as he. Vol. 1 "The Oregon Experiment" > It describes an experimental approach to campus community planning at the University of Oregon, in Eugene, Oregon which resulted in a theory of architecture and planning described in the group's later…
on “Notes on The Timeless Way of Building (2018)” ↗…actual people was (as you say) far less humane than Alexander. Alexander I think saw himself as a part of "the people" - from what I know of Le Corbusier, I don't imagine he did. I've not yet read The Oregon Experiment (it's in one of the waiting piles) but I've skimmed it. Funnily enough, the comparison you make around changing budgeting processes to enable smaller projects, having users working as part of planning,…
on “A Pattern Language” ↗