The Timeless Way of Building
by Christopher Alexander · first published 1979
65% recommend31% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Lays out the theory and philosophy behind Alexander's pattern approach, explaining what a pattern language is and why it matters. Suits programmers, designers, and architecture readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The theory of architecture implicit in our world today, Christopher Alexander believes, is bankrupt. More and more people are aware that something is deeply wrong. Yet the power of present-day ideas is so great that many feel uncomfortable, even afraid, to say openly that they dislike what is happening, because they are afraid to seem foolish, afraid perhaps that they will be laughed at. Now, at last, there is a coherent theory which describes in modern terms an architecture as ancient as human society itself. The Timeless Way of Building is the introductory volume in the Center for En
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In a similar topic of books about system design, someone on HN recommended A Pattern Language and The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander et. al. They're not about designing distributed software systems... they're a complete design language for the proper design of a city, from the grossest elements to the most…
on “A non-standard book list for software developers” ↗Quality without a definition, surely. Quality Without a Name was Christopher Alexander's idea, described in A Timeless Way of Building. Though the two are related. I've read both ZatAoMM and Lila, and can recommend both.
on “Robert M. Pirsig has died” ↗Books I'm glad I've read: The Inner Game of Tennis Impro by Keith Johnstone Seeing Like a State The Timeless Way of Building Linear and Geometric Algebra by Alan Macdonald Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (read this one thrice) The Tao of Pooh Science, Strategy and War: The Strategic Theory of John Boyd The Drama of the…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗I would actually recommend his "The Timeless Way of Building" [1] instead. :) This is the book that explains the philosophy and thinking behind all those patterns, and where I personally found the vast majority of his insight. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Timeless-Way-Building-Christopher-Ale...
on “Christopher Alexander – Patterns in Architecture (1996) [video]” ↗Related: There was a recent discussion on HN [1] of an article in which someone described their process for designing a new home, and the author recommended “The Timeless Way of Building” by Christopher Alexander as one of their inspirations. I’ve since started reading the book and found it very inspiring so far. I haven’t read “A Pattern Language” yet, but my impression is that “The…
on “Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]” ↗He was where the concept of Design Patterns came from. In the early days of Design Patterns (GoF, et al), he was often quoted. I purchased a couple of his books: A Pattern Language[0], and The Timeless Way of Building[1]. These books were very readable. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Pattern_Language [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Timeless_Way_of_Building
on “Christopher Alexander has died” ↗The Timeless Way of Building (and A Pattern Language) by Christopher Alexander is a great architecture book that was influential in computer science. Interdisciplinary books like this are a great way to connect the dots.
on “Ask HN: The Primers on different subjects” ↗And I would add, regarding Alexander, at least, start with his most recent series on The Nature of Order. Then, if you want more, go back and read The Timeless Way of Building, followed by A Pattern Language. But really, his most recent stuff is the most compelling, and the most profound.
on “City Layout Design: A programmer's perspective” ↗…affair is based on anything other than marketing. I would argue that the iPhone and indeed most Apple products embody a "Quality without a name" as originally described by Christopher Alexander in a "A timeless way of building" http://www.munnecke.com/islands/qwan.htm . Very few other companies are able to achieve this. I believe that it is for this reason that people develop a greater emotional attachment to Apple products…
on “Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone unveiled ” ↗…Programming Explained" as ways to learn about the systems themselves. Thinking about it, the book that actually taught me to understand what the early agile people thought was Christopher Alexander's book "The timeless way of building." The book is about architecture rather than software, but the underlying idea is right on. It starts by addressing what is the point of building? Some people try to optimize speed, or predictability,…
on “Manifesto for Half-Arsed Agile Software Development” ↗The book that inspired software patterns. I found it more interesting than GoF's "Design Patterns", and it feels less dated these days: The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Timeless_Way_of_Building The C2 wiki has interesting entries on software patterns and related ideas: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiPagesAboutWhatArePatterns…
on “Ask HN: How best to learn software design principles?” ↗Funny that you mentioned "Brutalist architecture" as it led to the development of Christopher Alexander's famous books A Pattern Language and The Timeless Way of Building. He is the "second" Dijkstra, and his work is a must read for both architecture and computer science students, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Alexander#Influence (influenced a lot in both…
on “Watching Them Turn Off the Rothkos” ↗Here are few that have influenced my work: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn - Richard Hamming The Timeless Way of Building - Christopher Alexander The Humane Interface - Jef Raskin The Visual Display of Quantitative Information - Edward Tufte The Art Spirit - Robert Henri
on “Ask HN: Are there any books that inspire or highly influence the way you work?” ↗The Nature of Order by Christopher Alexander (also The Timeless Way of Building) Lila by Pirsig (If you've read ZMM and left Lila unread you've left a lot on the table) The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutch Antifragile by Taleb Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality…
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander. He's an architect/philosopher who coined the term "design patterns". Beautiful book, got me thinking very hard about how to create artifacts and environments that make the people…
on “Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?” ↗