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← People and their mental models

Christopher Alexander's mental models

4 claims Christopher Alexander made fit 1 mental model. Most often: Emergence. Everything they said here.

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Emergence

Whole systems do things none of their parts do, and nobody has to design that order for it to appear.

Used by 22 others

A place comes alive not through one isolated pattern but through a whole interdependent system of patterns

  1. Christopher Alexander Architect and design theorist (1936 to 2022) The quality without a name occurs, not when an isolated pattern occurs, but when an entire system of patterns, interdependent, at many levels, is all stable and alive. The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)books.google.com · c. 1979All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsThe quality without a name occurs, not when an isolated pattern occurs, but when an entire system of patterns, interdependent, at many levels, is all stable and alive.

    ↗The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)books.google.com

    c. 1979

Working in the timeless way, a town can grow without architects or planners

  1. Christopher Alexander Architect and design theorist (1936 to 2022) Without the help of architects or planners, if you are working in the timeless way, a town will grow under your hands, as steady as the flowers in your garden. The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)books.google.com · c. 1979All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsWithout the help of architects or planners, if you are working in the timeless way, a town will grow under your hands, as steady as the flowers in your garden.

    ↗The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)books.google.com

    c. 1979

To let a pattern form itself in design, you must give up control and let the pattern do the work

  1. Christopher Alexander Architect and design theorist (1936 to 2022) To do it, you must let go of your control and let the pattern do the work. The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)books.google.com · c. 1979All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsTo do it, you must let go of your control and let the pattern do the work.

    ↗The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)books.google.com

    c. 1979

The quality that makes places alive cannot be made, only generated by a process

  1. Christopher Alexander Architect and design theorist (1936 to 2022) Indeed the main thing we shall deal with in these next nine chapters, is the fact that the quality without a name cannot be made, but only generated by a process. The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)books.google.com · c. 1979All korrents from this piece
    Their wordsIndeed the main thing we shall deal with in these next nine chapters, is the fact that the quality without a name cannot be made, but only generated by a process.

    ↗The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)books.google.com

    c. 1979