Christopher Alexander - Patterns in Architecture

This presentation was recorded live in San Jose, California, October of 1996, at The 1996 ACM Conference on Object-Oriented Programs, Systems, Languages and Applications (OOPSLA).
A full transcript of this talk is available here: www.patternlanguage.com/archiv...
Video transcoded from VHS and provided by The Understanding Group (TUG): understandinggroup.com/2011/11...

[@gustp101]

Rest in peace to a truly great man

[@ccudmore]

I was in the audience at this presentation... To this day I still occasionally refer back to things he said that day.

[@KimMens]

Me too, still one of the 3 most influential speeches I ever saw life. It shaped some of my thoughts and partly even my career. However, if I look at it back today, the talk seems terribly slow. I guess the style of giving presentations and the attention pan of people has changed over the past decades.

[@Jackson-mi3dr]

@@KimMens good point, this video was great at 1.5x speed lol. Very different from modern presentations, even the most influential ones. For example, the 18 minute length of Ted Talks seems like a reasonable, balanced number that they probably put a lot of thought into in terms of audience attention span and how much information their brains can comprehend in one sitting. I randomly stumbled upon this lecture and I am glad I did, because I had not even been born yet in '96.

[@cryp0g00n4]

For the uninitiated, what are some of the take aways one should gather from this speech? I didn't get a whole lot and would like to have an open mind.

[@RossIshikawa]

@@cryp0g00n4 I studied with Chris at Berkeley a few years before this. I think a couple of 30,000’ takeaways for me are that the systems that were established during and after WWII were a radical departure from what came before. And the way the world works today no longer supports a genuine, human experience. As a kind of shorthand, and speaking within the context of architecture, CA would contend that the stuff that is real is the stuff of real beauty. And that “beauty” in the deep way he means it should be the driving force in all things. If you are not creating a thing of beauty (or wholeness, or authenticity, etc) you are wasting your time at best, and harming the planet at worst. It is a difficult concept to discuss coherently. We don’t really have the words to talk about it without sounding like hippies or cultists. Watching his plea at the end seems so quixotic and quaint, but part of me still holds out hope that we can still change for the better. My time with him did really help me to see the world, and design, with much more depth.

[@textjoint]

@@KimMens What are the other two?

[@tamara1f]

A talk from an architect to software programmers that captivates to the point of being moved to tears... spectacular video!

[@lilSnubby]

"The objects that are most profound, functionally, are the ones that promote the greatest feeling within ourselves"

[@worldsystema]

"Making wholeness heals the maker." CA will be remembered in the future in the same breath as galileo and descartes. He has shown the empirical connection between our environment and the human soul.

[@Sebastian37s]

I would like to read this sentence in Spanish but I can't find it anywhere.

[@worldsystema]

@@Sebastian37s Google translate is your friend xx collapse is coming 🖖🙂

[@Sebastian37s]

@@worldsystema Google Translator sucks, for your information

[@itshighmewn8174]

Alexander extolling the value of objectivity gives me ASMR tingles

[@radio_slv]

This is the best lecture I have ever seen.

[@petarpopovic6487]

This is much more than an architecture lecture. Thanks a lot

[@petarpopovic6487]

One of the best speeches I watched for sure.

[@duncanbirtwistle3161]

Thanks for uploading this! Saw they very beginning ages ago and always been looking for it since.

[@sabatheus]

I'm pretty sure that Christopher Alexander is a space alien, here to teach us (humans) the error of our ways. Well...I for one, am absorbing every syllable he utters.

[@vestfoldify]

Agree

[@latinboyyy305]

It's so refreshing!!!

[@jedjedjedjedjedjed]

Ooo, well I just discovered him, I'm stoked

[@findenlight]

Revisiting this after three years & it’s captivating as ever, with some deep implications that go way beyond the fields of architecture & programming. It’s dealing with the fundamental question of how do we create conditions for life to flourish 🌸 & yes his pace of talking is slow but I think it’s a charm that actually enhances the potency of the subject matter if you allow your self to pause 🍃 Bonus trivia - His three servings of water directly corresponds to the three chapters of the talk - the layers - a true gift for the curious 🤌

[@findenlight]

Reminiscent of 💡 Donella meadows Talk called Down to earth

[@ceooflonelinessinc.267]

Alexander was to humble. I live in a country, where architecture is highly valued, discussed and handled in the old fashioned way (competitions etc...). Every building which is considerd to be good architecture, boils down to the principles he manifested in his books.

[@lizvalente5817]

Thank you, Christopher. I'm humbled by this lecture and by your work.

[@ruthclaireweintraub2071]

Interesting to re-encounter CA after being introduced to Saligaros, post-Soleri. "The architect as poet-philosopher/mathematician-artist" returns architecture to the realm of frozen music.

[@DavidIng]

There's an evolution of this content from the original talk and transcript into a 1999 article by Christopher Alexander, 1999. “The Origins of Pattern Theory: The Future of the Theory, and the Generation of a Living World.” IEEE Software, 16 (5): 71-82. doi:10.1109/52.795104. dx.doi.org/10.1109/52.795104. Following through the video and aligning to the revised text, there's significant divergence starting at 46 minutes. Some of that is captured at ingbrief.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/19961008-christopher-alexander-patterns-in-architecture-oopsla-96/ .

[@IanCrozier]

thanks for the links!

[@ewm4266]

Thank you so much for this

[@wincentylowicki9831]

Thank you for uploading!

[@ilyasqureshi5767]

The presentation is nicely structured and Alexander's long pauses are quite likeable!

[@hypertectonics7009]

He was truly ahead of his time, and prescient in the way he saw how computers would change things. Sadly nobody listened to him, and even today software's ability to create generative living structure is not something that has really developed, and so many programmers are still 'mercenaries' not taking the lead in how to shape the world.

[@goranmatic]

Awesome!.. a living legend -

[@craignunnallypurcell]

When one creates "living structure" and "wholeness" the next generation takes care in its modification and ultimately the built structure escapes the hammer of demolition and destruction. The core question is : What lasts past the needs of the current generation in the cyclic sense of life and death ?

[@hyretech]

Stewart Brand wrote a book called "How Buildings Learn", which touches on some of these topics as well.

[@kubes8388]

@14:51 he mentioned there's a fundamental issue in the programming field of what has been attempted to preserve moral... well, there's a preliminary problem to discuss about in our human society that end up choosing the behavioral implementation for doing building and programming, which is basically one kind of work is paid in smaller sum for the production that can be duplicated and deleted easily, while other encompass a community of systems that we reuse everyday. I mean for me, this talk was indeed great for learning some ideas of the human living quality, though for his audience I felt that it couldn't have been less inspiring for seeing the ecosystem of how software companies develop and structure their services today. First to fix structure design in the non-computing world, it's only a small hand of governing people that can direct to maintain and create structure of living world things into existence, hence your all the more likely to find a balancing solution for each space domain argument of structure (more specifically referring to the idea Chris mentioned of breaking structure down to living/non-living). But in the technology and software world, more often than not a product's earning depends on money (in what drives ppl's direction within a production), so unless that's let go in any industry - all this is still sadly inapplicable human theory to building a far better living as the one we wish to one day take place within our human society. Again, think back in the war time when the poverty line is far equal thus you can have ppl working to restructure great buildings, as compare to nowadys where money are thrown at the big tables in public for 'showing innovative ballz' or something along that line, almost like it's deflating the real work that people do; and in having to deal with such negative living working environment, it's highly difficult and over our minds nature to think how we attempt to judge both side of the values in retaining wholesome beauty and efficiency to survive within states of happiness (EDIT: and I'm certainly not trying to advocate that only war like blood shed of movements can generate living improvement for some of the ecosystem structure, rather that people need to remember of the forgotten strength of unity under hardship that had once certainly proven it does make a large state of living cultures move forward)

[@dan9948]

So basically, even if the right kind of "better" is desired and would benefit all, the fact is that money is what drives success in software? I don't disagree, though it's unfortunate. But I also think it's rare that CA's principles are actually applied in a meaningful way in software. If they were, the benefits would more than pay for themselves, in every sense.

[@Melizarts]

unfolding wholeness.

[@dgetzin]

There is a new Architecture Masters program Founded on Christopher Alexander's principles offered at Benincasa Uni in Naples, Italy: www.buildingbeauty.net It is set up with Chris' green light by Sergio Porta, Maggie Alexander and others. Students learn the process of unfolding and about the process of creating life by building works themselves.

[@tapanpratap]

Thats a important one, contributor ever.

[@TheBloxDev]

An absolute genius.

[@PipFoweraker]

Outstanding.

[@mauropainter]

Places which are themselves living or alive Get a handle on physical structures that make the environment nurturing Do it on a large scale Every part is adapted to its particularities Under what circumstances is the environment good? Is the thing created morally profound? When present did patterns make people more whole in themselves? Many pattern languages do not generate coherent ideas /entities Through 19

[@OlgaSokolovaMandodari]

The most interesting is that his amazing intuition parallels to some ancient Hindu theory of architecture which explains that the patterns are the representations of conscious processes (inner meaning) embedded into patterns. Universal consciousness vibrates specific meaning of its own thought into the pattern seen in nature. Each pattern represents vibrating substance 1. Meaning (purpose - luminosity, light) 2. Vibration (word - sound) 3. Archetypal form 4. Physical form (pattern is a cross section of the form) - Architecture 5. Color The beauty in pattern is a necessity to make it alive. I am looking for Christopher's contact information for my PhD study. If anyone could help me to connect, I would greatly appreciate that.

[@andrija.radica]

Could you please provide some references? Sounds interesting.

[@tantalus_complex]

I'm not sure whether this is still relevant for you, but Christopher Alexander died in early 2022, sadly.

[@OlgaSokolovaMandodari]

@@tantalus_complex I am so sorry. I really wanted to connect with him as he was in India and referred to his trip and revelations regarding patterns and their meaning.

[@Xavyer13]

Maybe the richness of the architectural experience resides in the correct interpretation and application of khora throughout the composition of space

[@cryp0g00n4]

For the uninitiated, what are some of the take aways one should gather from this speech? I didn't get a whole lot and would like to have an open mind.

[@nthnbraga]

que cara bom

[@ericanderson3879]

here is working link to transcript of talk: www.patternlanguage.com/archive/ieee.html?__s=qvxigh6mxn492q6epahk#

[@elmutmagdaresha5154]

He really is a musician

[@bitomaxsp]

Jim is so young

[@archibrios]

¿how can I communicate with architect Alexander?, i need email him, thanks

[@samuelbarnes8208]

+Barney Rios he teaches at berkeley and probably has his email listed on the site

[@dgetzin]

He has not taught at Berkeley for some years now. He is quite enjoying retirement living in the south of England. There is a new school starting though that has his green light in Naples, Italy. Follow us on Twitter @_buildingbeauty

[@fredericwiper5123]

Did he say: you shall build AI !? (system that recognizes and generate coherent pattern!)

[@ramkumarr1725]

Good you are in. RPA

[@MegaPetchi]

And then they came up with agile scrum

[@IanCrozier]

holy shit

[@profrahulsett9893]

Did he just predict the IoT and smart cities, buildings, and structures back in 1996?

[@niallosullivan8001]

16:23

[@myronplatte8354]

RIP

[@melblock1882]

There is a reason for having a mic on the podium

[@authorizedblock2373]

#Twenty-three -#Block23

[@JeremyHelm]

Folder of time

[@JeremyHelm]

6:31 his "sad assumption"

[@JeremyHelm]

7:35 we are so ignorant about how to do this (the creation of a human environment) - this lack of nurturance affects everyone (so to speak)

[@JeremyHelm]

11:40 the format of a pattern: context, problem, solution

[@JeremyHelm]

12:31 where are these features? The continuous moral preoccupation, rather

[@JeremyHelm]

12:46 "of course in our field, that means something" throwing some shade? That there is so much room for a gap here tells the whole thing

[@johnhilbert7640]

yo this dude trippin. i like him

[@xjazz666]

l like him but I hope you get a good sleep before watching that :-)

[@dustinwatkins7843]

if it's left in the hand of the inevitably a-moral, single task rather than whole oriented, technical, gun for hire computer programmers then we're 100% SOL. Bye bye humanity... or should I say 'hackable animals', goodbye.

[@DougGrinbergs]

Suggestion for potential viewers: skip to 6:00 and play at 1.25x

[@RogerBarraud]

Or... develop an attention span.

[@g41g32]

@@RogerBarraud What he says is incredibly interesting and deep, but he speaks like he's on diazepam. His pauses are long, excessive, and frankly annoying when I'm trying to rewatch this multiple times for a project.

[@s_kosik]

With all respect, it seems like Alexander is not familiar with dialectical method

[@dan9948]

Here's a great presentation on how to apply Chris's stuff to software development: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJu6e3WvlJ53hZI

[@tomaud]

Chemtrails or confidence trick trails (con-trails) add a lot to removal of the "spirit", "soul", "vibe" or "energy" (genius loci) of the place or the object or the entire city, forest, valley etc.

[@gamestheory]

Such a disappointment.

[@lancsFrogger]

yeh, a bit. but his contribution was never for being a dazzling speaker

[@osamab814]

Gamestheory probably wrong audience

[@ramkumarr1725]

Good you are in. RPA