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The Timeless Way of Building (Oxford University Press, 1979)

Christopher Alexander · c. 1979

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14 korrents from this book ↓

Christopher Alexander did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this book, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The book prints chapter headings its extracted text does not preserve, so the claims below are in the book's order but not grouped. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    The timeless way of building brings order out of ourselves and cannot be attained, only allowed to happen

    Their wordsIt is a process which brings order out of nothing but ourselves; it cannot be attained, but it will happen of its own accord, if we will only let it.

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  2. Our reading

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

    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.

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  3. Our reading

    Wanting to bring a building or a town to life is a fundamental human instinct

    Their wordsEach one of us wants to be able to bring a building or part of a town to life like this. It is a fundamental human instinct, as much a part of our desire as the desire for children.

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  4. Our reading

    Used well, the method of pattern languages ends by freeing us from all method

    Their wordsIndeed it turns out, in the end, that what this method does is simply free us from all method.

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  5. Our reading

    There is a central quality, objective and precise but nameless, that is the root criterion of life in buildings, towns and people

    Their wordsThere is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit in a man, a town, a building, or a wilderness. This quality is objective and precise, but it cannot be named.

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  6. Our reading

    A lifeless place almost always has a mastermind behind it whose will leaves no room for its own nature

    Their wordsWhen a place is lifeless or unreal, there is almost always a mastermind behind it. It is so filled with the will of its maker that there is no room for its own nature.

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  7. Our reading

    The more living patterns a room, building or town has, the more it comes to life as a whole

    Their wordsThe more living patterns there are in a thing — a room, a building, or a town — the more it comes to life as an entirety, the more it glows, the more it has this self-maintaining fire, which is the quality without a name.

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  8. Our reading

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

    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.

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  9. Our reading

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

    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.

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  10. Our reading

    The process that makes towns alive must let their people shape rooms, houses, streets and churches for themselves

    Their wordsIn the case of buildings and of towns, this process must be one which lets the people of a town shape rooms, and houses, streets, and churches, for themselves.

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  11. Our reading

    Patterns decide not only a building's shape but how far it comes to life

    Their wordsThe patterns are responsible not only for the specific shape a building has, but also for the extent to which the building comes to life.

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  12. Our reading

    Pattern languages are the source of beauty and of ugliness in buildings

    Their wordsPattern languages are the source of beauty and of ugliness.

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  13. Our reading

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

    Their wordsTo do it, you must let go of your control and let the pattern do the work.

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  14. Our reading

    To make a building egoless, the builder must let go of willful images and start with a void

    Their wordsTo make a building egoless, like this, the builder must let go of all his willful images, and start with a void.

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