Christopher Alexander

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Christopher Alexander 2012

Christopher Wolfgang John Alexander (born October 4, 1936 in Vienna ) is an American architect and architectural theorist of the 20th century. His theories about the nature of human-centered design have influenced areas beyond architecture, including urban design, software, sociology, and others. Alexander designed over 300 buildings.

Life

Christopher Alexander was born in Vienna in 1936 and grew up in Oxford and Chichester , England. He graduated from the renowned University of Cambridge , where he studied mathematics and architecture . He received a PhD in architecture from Harvard University ; for his dissertation, later published under the title Notes on the Synthesis of Form , he was awarded the first gold medal for research by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 1963 he became a professor of architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and founded the Center for Environmental Structure (CES). In 1980 Professor Christopher Alexander was appointed a member of the Swedish Royal Academy. In 1996 he was accepted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ). In 2001 he retired after 38 years of continuous teaching. In 2009 he received the Vincent Scully Prize .

Christopher Alexander is also one of Prince Charles' trustees for Wales's Institute of Architecture.

science

Christopher Alexander is an architectural theorist with the trilogy The Oregon Experiment (1964, p. University of Oregon ), A Pattern Language ( A Pattern Language , 1977) and A Timeless Way of Building (1979) emerged. The books were created at the same time. They deal with the theoretical derivation, practical implementation and experimental implementation of his ideas. His theses are mainly discussed in the English-speaking world. Alexander's positions in the field of planning methodology have received worldwide attention.

Christopher Alexander is the father of the so-called design patterns (design patterns). This approach tries to logically bring together differently complex architectural aspects and structures. Structures are divided into patterns and linked. In the scientific methodology, the complexity can be illustrated very well. Alexander's ideas were first taken up by Kent Beck and Ward Cunningham , later by the so-called Gang of Four, who transferred the approach to computer science and thus significantly influenced today's methodology of software development.

Christopher Alexander's approaches to architectural theory are controversial in specialist circles; For some they are considered postmodern in the reactionary sense, for others as still the most comprehensive contemporary approach to the further development of building.

Philosophy and systems theory

Alexander's late work The Nature of Order has a philosophical and systems analytical character and develops a comprehensive theory of living systems. Important elements are a holistic view, the empirical approach (typical system properties, patterns), the focus on generative processes or structure-preserving transformations, the orientation towards nature and the withdrawal of the role of the architect in favor of codecision by those directly affected.

effect

The principles developed by Alexander, especially the concept of the pattern language , have been adopted and further developed in many areas outside of architecture.

Examples:

  • Software development - Design Patterns (see above), Extreme Programming
  • Music - Jazz Patterns , Blues Patterns
  • Communication systems - Wiki
  • Habitat design - permaculture
  • Pedagogy / Didactics - Pedagogical Patterns , Educational Patterns
  • Human Computer Interface (HCI) Design - Web Design
  • Organizational development - innovation processes
  • Project management - especially in software projects
  • Social Activism - Liberating Voices Patterns

Awards

  • 1961–64: Elected to the Society of Fellows at Harvard University
  • In 1972 he received the first research medal from the American Institute of Architects
  • In 1980 he was elected a member of the Swedish Royal Academy
  • In 1985 he received the award for the best building in Japan
  • 1986 and 1987 he won the ACSA (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture)
  • 1994: awarded the Seaside Prize
  • Fellow of: 1996 American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected
  • 2006: one of the first two recipients of the Athena Prize, awarded by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU)
  • 2009: Awarded (in absentia) the Vincent Scully Prize by the National Building Museum
  • 2011: Award of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Urban Design Group
  • 2014: Winner of the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture

Works (selection)

  • Christopher Alexander: Notes On The Synthesis Of Form. Oxford University Press, New York 1964, ISBN 0-674-62750-4
  • Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein (1974). 'A Collection of Patterns which Generate Multi-Service Centers' in Declan and Margrit Kennedy (eds.): The Inner City. Architects Year Book 14, Elek, London. ISBN 0-236-15431-1 .
  • Christopher Alexander: The Oregon Experiment , with Murray Silverstein, Shlomo Angel, Sara Ishikawa and Denny Abrams, Oxford University Press, New York 1975, ISBN 0-19-501824-9
  • Christopher Alexander: A Pattern Language. Towns, Buildings, Construction , with Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, Max Jacobson, Ingrid F. King and Shlomo Angel, Oxford University Press, New York 1977, ISBN 0-19-501919-9
    • Christopher Alexander: A model language. Cities, Buildings, Construction , with Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, Max Jacobson, Ingrid F. King and Shlomo Angel, Löcker Verlag, Vienna 1995, (German translation of A Pattern Language , edited by Hermann Czech ), ISBN 3-85409- 179-6
  • Christopher Alexander: The Timeless Way of Building. Oxford University Press, New York 1979, ISBN 0-19-502402-8
  • Christopher Alexander: The Linz Café / Das Linz Café (English and German), Oxford University Press, New York / Löcker, Vienna 1981, ISBN 0-19-520263-5 / ISBN 3-85409-021-8
  • Christopher Alexander: The Production of Houses , with Howard Davis, Julio Martinez and Don Corner, Oxford University Press, New York 1985, ISBN 0-19-503223-3
  • Christopher Alexander: A New Theory of Urban Design , with Hajo Neis, Artemis Anninou and Ingrid King, Oxford University Press, New York 1987, ISBN 978-0-19-503753-1
  • Christopher Alexander: Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art: The Color and Geometry of Very Early Turkish Carpets , Oxford University Press, New York 1993, ISBN 0-19-520866-8
  • Christopher Alexander: The Mary Rose Museum , with Miyoko Tsutsui and Gary Black, Oxford University Press, New York 1995, ISBN 0-19-521017-4
  • Christopher Alexander, Hans-Joachim Neis, Maggie More Alexander: The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth: A Struggle between Two World-Systems, Oxford University Press, New York 2012, ISBN 0-19-989807-3

literature

  • Helmut Leitner: Pattern theory - introduction and perspectives in the footsteps of Christopher Alexander , Verlag Nausner & Nausner, Graz 2007, ISBN 3-901402-50-0
  • Stephen Grabow: Christopher Alexander: The Search for a New Paradigm in Architecture , Routledge & Kegan Paul, London and Boston, 1983.

Web links


Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christopher Alexander. February 16, 2016, accessed July 23, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Christopher Alexander and his theory. Retrieved July 23, 2020 .
  3. ↑ christopher alexander - father of the design pattern • iconstorm. In: iconstorm. August 3, 2017, accessed on July 23, 2020 (German).
  4. ↑ Archives: Keynote Speech to the 1996 OOPSLA Convention. Retrieved July 23, 2020 .
  5. ↑ https://www.architectmagazine.com/practice/scully-prize-goes-to-christopher-alexander_o. Retrieved July 23, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Alexander, Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alexander, Christopher Wolfgang John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American architect and architectural theorist
DATE OF BIRTH 4th October 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna