garden/reading alexander.md

Reading Alexander

• a book club
  • pull patterning

2021-05-26

• I read what we agreed to read :)
  • patterns
  • pattern chosen
• proposal: design a space following the example in the introductory material? 10-20 patterns combined.
  • xxxv for example
  • xxxviii for procedure
  • code a generator?
    • fit between patterns seems represented by recommended patterns at higher and lower level?
  • armengol some problems perhaps
    • we need to imagine a need for building something? what would be the context for the exercise?
• andreas
  • would probably recommend people just go to a pattern language directly, it seems to be self-contained
  • did something with a pattern language ~1y ago
  • it just seems like previous reading wouldn't help learning how to write your own patterns?
    • jonathan what would you recommend?
    • the ideological component sometimes doesn't resonate; the patterns themselves, which can be used and changed regardless of ideology, seem more generally useful.
  • simon this is framed as one big project (the three books). what's interesting: there is some goal of trying to provide a set of tools to shape one's environment.
    • notsof could almost be computed by a machine
    • whereas apl is very much grounded
      • abstract -> concrete
    • topic: what is timeless and beautiful. how the environment shapes us as much as we shape the environment.
    • the weakest patterns are the strongly utilitarian. the stronger ones are "spiritual"
    • some contradictions between patterns
      • he loves dense cities and lively areas
      • but he wants height limits and only building on 50% of the area
    • units per building
    • in a contemporary context a lot of the patterns are very difficult to achieve
    • aside: would be interesting to model fit/misfit between patterns even as we swap in/out some of them
  • pattern: filtered light
    • mentions how the perception of light gets softened if it's filtered; less high contrast, which is a nice quality. for living spaces softness is nice.
    • film makers think it makes objects more lively: e.g. leaves casting moving shadows.
    • third reason: speculative. stimulates us biologically (?)
      • could be socialized aesthetics instead.
    • when planning windows, this pattern is recommended.
• armengol
  • pattern: window place
  • q when trying to differentiate between the list of patterns
• jonathan
  • four stories limit
    • ideology aside: main thing that bothered me in general. trying to justify things as natural.
    • "want to find a pattern that looks ridiculous"
    • in zurich: like hardau towers
    • some justification for this pattern has to do with mental health issues
    • people who live in high rises are less likely to go out into the world
      • sky bridges
    • feeling connected to the city life
    • andreas it seems very opinionated, it depends on one's preferences. you might not care about the misfits and have fits with your lifestyle.
    • simon four floors doesn't seem high density enough for city life. attitude towards skyrises changes a lot across cultures. singapore for example has a very different disposition towards them.
      • most sustainable density is about six floors.
      • the most antisocial aspect of high rises is to have parking-lot-to-living-floor.
      • isolation in high rises is a big problem though.
    • andreas there is a huge grey area between four floors and high rises
      • zurich proposed having public rooftops and bike lanes between them
• simon
  • bus stop
    • liked: both describing a set of objects and activity/life that emerges around those objects
• alice
  • interior windows
  • pedestrian street
    • social glue in society
    • streets that are "too wide" are antisocial -- but of course nowadays with covid-19 that might be outdated
• eduardo
  • independent regions

2021-05-12

• ttwob
• lorand
  • found himself reading in a less analytical way
  • armengol
    • the structure itself seems to encourage this
    • "I need to read it fast" yields a different kind of reading too, perhaps
  • lorand some pieces seem to be a bit rough. but interesting questions
    • the observation that people feel calm in nature -> homogeneity in aesthetics
    • ad hoc/rushed at the end: processes for using patterns for differentiation of space. differentiation vs accumulation
    • some vagueness
  • a bit tragic perhaps: towards the end, neighbors working together to make their houses beautiful. seemed a bit utopian in a modernist sense.
• a pattern has a context, a problem and a solution that resolves the set of conflicting forces.
• embodiment as crucial vs the software patterns
• kowloon walled city
• tokyo 1960
• wabi sabi

• lorand

april

• notsof
• ttwob

2021-03-17

• ttwob

2021-02-28

• participants
  • jonathan
  • alice
    • architecture!
  • andreas
    • mtr graphic design
    • urban spaces
  • simon
    • architecture!
    • netherlands
  • ekin
    • mtr design visual arts
    • interested in mapping!
  • daniel
    • graphic design, artistic practice
    • designed physical spaces
    • interested in translation between disciplines
  • eduardo
    • note taking ok?
      • yes for now :)
    • background: comp sci + linguistics
    • cooperative/group projects, mapping, modelling and abstraction, translation
  • katherine
    • artist in london