A PATTERN LANGUAGE TOWNS + BUILDINGS + CONSTRUCTIONA Pattern Language is the second in a series of books which describe an entirely new attitude to architecture and plan- ning. The books are intended to provide a complete working alternative to our present ideas about architecture, building, and planning—an alternative which will, we hope, gradually replace current ideas and practices. volume £ THE TIMELESS WAY OF BUILDING volume 2 A PATTERN LANGUAGE volume 3 THE OREGON EXPERIMENT Center for Environmental Structure BERKELEY, CALIFORNIAA PATTERN LANGUAGE TOWNS + BUILDINGS * CONSTRUCTION Christopher Alexander Sara Ishikawa Murray Silverstein with Max Jacobson Ingrid Fiksdahl-King Shlomo Angel NEW YORK OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1977Copyright © 1977 by Christopher Alexander Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 74-2874 ISBN-13 978-0-19-501919-3 printing, last digit: 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paperCONTENTS USING THIS BOOK A pattern language ix Summary of the language xviii Choosing a language for your project xxxv The poetry of the language xl TOWNS Using the language 3 Patterns 10-457 BUILDINGS Using the language 463 Patterns 467-931 CONSTRUCTION Using the language 935 Patterns 939-1166 + ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1167USING THIS BOOKA PATTERN LANGUAGE Volume 1, The Timeless Way of Building, and Volume 2, A Pattern Language, are two halves of a single work. This book provides a language, for building and plan- ning; the other book provides the theory and instruc- tions for the use of the language. This book describes the detailed patterns for towns and neighborhoods, houses, gardens, and rooms. The other book explains the disci- pline which makes it possible to use these patterns to create a building or a town. This book is the sourcebook of the timeless way; the other is its practice and its origin. The two books have evolved very much in parallel. They have been growing over the last eight years, as we have worked on the one hand to understand the nature of the building process, and on the other hand to construct an actual, possible pattern language. We have been forced by practical considerations, to publish these two books under separate covers; but in fact, they form an indivisible whole. It is possible to read them sepa- rately. But to gain the insight which we have tried to communicate in them, it is essential that you read them both. The Timeless Way of Building describes the funda- mental nature of the task of making towns and buildings.A PATTERN LANGUAGE It is shown there, that towns and buildings will not be able to become alive, unless they are made by all the people in society, and unless these people share a com- mon pattern language, within which to make these buildings, and unless this common pattern language is alive itself. In this book, we present one possible pattern language, of the kind called for in The Timeless Way. This lan- guage is extremely practical. It is a language that we have distilled from our own building and planning ef- forts over the last eight years. You can use it to work with your neighbors, to improve your town and neighbor- hood, You can use it to design a house for yourself, with your family; or to work with other people to de- sign an office or a workshop or a public building like a school. And you can use it to guide you in the actual process of construction. The elements of this language are entities called pat- terns. Each pattern describes a problem which occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to that problem, in such a Way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it the same way twice. For convenience and clarity, each pattern has the same format. First, there is a picture, which shows an arche- typal example of that pattern. Second, after the picture, each pattern has an introductory paragraph, which sets the context for the pattern, by explaining how it helps to complete certain larger patterns. Then there are three diamonds to mark the beginning of the problem. After the diamonds there is a headline, in bold type. ThisA PATTERN LANGUAGE headline gives the essence of the problem in one or two sentences. After the headline comes the body of the problem. This is the longest section. It describes the empirical background of the pattern, the evidence for its validity, the range of different ways the pattern can be manifested in a building, and so on. Then, again in bold type, like the headline, is the solution—the heart of the pattern—which describes the field of physical and social relationships which are required to solve the stated problem, in the stated context. This solution is always stated in the form of an instruction—so that you know exactly what you need to do, to build the pattern. Then, after the solution, there is a diagram, which shows the solution in the form of a diagram, with labels to indicate its main components. After the diagram, another three diamonds, to show that the main body of the pattern is finished. And finally, after the diamonds there is a paragraph which ties the pattern to all those smaller patterns in the language, which are needed to complete this pattern, to embellish it, to fill it out. There are two essential purposes behind this format. First, to present each pattern connected to other patterns, so that you grasp the collection of all 253 patterns as a whole, as a language, within which you can create an in- finite variety of combinations. Second, to present the problem and solution of each pattern in such a way that you can judge it for yourself, and modify it, without losing the essence that is central to it. Let us next understand the nature of the connection between patterns. xiA PATTERN LANGUAGE The patterns are ordered, beginning with the very largest, for regions and towns, then working down through neighborhoods, clusters of buildings, buildings, rooms and alcoves, ending finally with details of con- struction. This order, which is presented as a straight linear sequence, is essential to the way the language works. It is presented, and explained more fully, in the next section. What is most important about this sequence, is that it is based on the connections between the patterns. Each pattern is connected to certain “larger” patterns which come above it in the language; and to certain “smaller” patterns which come below it in the language. The pat- tern helps to complete those larger patterns which are “above” it, and is itself completed by those smaller pat- terns which are “below” it. Thus, for example, you will find that the pattern ac- CESSIBLE GREEN (60), is connected first to certain larger patterns: SUBCULTURE BOUNDARY (13), IDENTIFIABLE NEIGHBORHOOD (14), WORK COMMUNITY (41), and quieT Backs (59). These appear on its first page. And it is also connected to certain smaller patterns: posrTIVE OUTDOOR SPACE (107), TREE PLACES (171), and GARDEN WALL (173). These appear on its last page. ‘What this means, is that IDENTIFIABLE NEIGHBOR- HOOD, SUBCULTURE BOUNDARY, WORK COMMUNITY, and QUIET BACKS are incomplete, unless they contain an Ac- CESSIBLE GREEN; and that an ACCESSIBLE GREEN is itself incomplete, unless it contains PosrTIVE OUTDOOR SPACE, TREE PLACES, and a GARDEN WALL. And what it means in practical terms is that, if you xiA PATTERN LANGUAGE want to lay out a green according to this pattern, you must not only follow the instructions which describe the pattern itself, but must also try to embed the green within an IDENTIFIABLE NEIGHBORHOOD or in some sUB- CULTURE BoUNDARY, and in a way that helps to form quier Backs; and then you must work to complete the green by building in some positive ourpoor space, TREE PLACES, and a GARDEN WALL. In short, no pattern is an isolated entity. Each pattern can exist in the world, only to the extent that is sup- ported by other patterns: the larger patterns in which it is embedded, the patterns of the same size that surround it, and the smaller patterns which are embedded in it. This is a fundamental view of the world. It says that when you build a thing you cannot merely build that thing in isolation, but must also repair the world around it, and within it, so that the larger world at that one place becomes more coherent, and more whole; and the thing which you make takes its place in the web of na- ture, as you make it. Now we explain the nature of the relation between problems and solutions, within the individual patterns. Each solution is stated in such a way that it gives the essential field of relationships needed to solve the prob- lem, but in a very general and abstract way—so that you can solve the problem for yourself, in your own way, by adapting it to your preferences, and the local conditions at the place where you are making it. For this reason, we have tried to write each solution in a way which imposes nothing on you. It contains only those essentials which cannot be avoided if you really xiiiA PATTERN LANGUAGE want to solve the problem. In this sense, we have tried, in each solution, to capture the invariant property com- mon to all places which succeed in solving the problem. But of course, we have not always succeeded. The solutions we have given to these problems vary in signifi- cance. Some are more true, more profound, more cer- tain, than others. To show this clearly we have marked every pattern, in the text itself, with two asterisks, or one asterisk, or no asterisks. In the patterns marked with two asterisks, we believe that we have succeeded in stating a true invariant: in short, that the solution we have stated summarizes a property common to all possible ways of solving the stated problem. In these two-asterisk cases we believe, in short, that it is not possible to solve the stated prob- lem properly, without shaping the environment in one way or another according to the pattern that we have given—and that, in these cases, the pattern describes a deep and inescapable property of a well-formed en- vironment. In the patterns marked with one asterisk, we believe that we have made some progress towards identifying such an invariant: but that with careful work it will certainly be possible to improve on the solution, In these cases, we believe it would be wise for you to treat the pattern with a certain amount of disrespect—and that you seek out variants of the solution which we have given, since there are almost certainly possible ranges of solutions which are not covered by what we have written. Finally, in the patterns without an asterisk, we are certain that we have noz succeeded in defining a true xivA PATTERN LANGUAGE invariant—that, on the contrary, there are certainly ways of solving the problem different from the one which we have given. In these cases we have stil] stated a solution, in order to be concrete—to provide the reader with at least one way of solving the problem—but the task of finding the true invariant, the true property which lies at the heart of all possible solutions to this problem, re- mains undone. We hope, of course, that many of the people who read, and use this language, will try to improve these patterns—will put their energy to work, in this task of finding more true, more profound invariants—and we hope that gradually these more true patterns, which are slowly discovered, as time goes on, will enter a common language, which all of us can share. You see then that the patterns are very much alive and evolving. In fact, if you like, each pattern may be looked upon as a hypothesis like one of the hypotheses of science. In this sense, each pattern represents our current best guess as to what arrangement of the physical envi- ronment will work to solve the problem presented. The empirical questions center on the problem—does it occur and is it felt in the way we have described it?—and the solution—does the arrangement we propose in fact re- solve the problem? And the asterisks represent our degree of faith in these hypotheses. But of course, no matter what the asterisks say, the patterns are stil] hypotheses, all 253 of them—and are therefore all tentative, all free to evolve under the impact of new experience and observation. Let us finally explain the status of this language, whyA PATTERN LANGUAGE we have called it “A Pattern Language” with the em- phasis on the word “A,” and how we imagine this pat- tern language might be related to the countless thou- sands of other languages we hope that people will make for themselves, in the future. The Timeless Way of Building says that every society which is alive and whole, will have its own unique and distinct pattern language; and further, that every in- dividual in such a society will have a unique language, shared in part, but which as a totality is unique to the mind of the person who has it. In this sense, in a healthy society there will be as many pattern languages as there are people—even though these languages are shared and similar, The question then arises: What exactly is the status of this published language? In what frame of mind, and with what intention, are we publishing this language here? The fact that it is published as a book means that many thousands of people can use it. Is it not true that there is a danger that people might come to rely on this one printed language, instead of developing their own languages, in their own minds? The fact is, that we have written this book as a first step in the society-wide process by which people will gradually become conscious of their own pattern an- guages, and work to improve them. We believe, and have explained in The Timeless Way of Building, that the languages which people have today are so brutal, and so fragmented, that most people no longer have any language to speak of at all—and what they do have is not based on human, or natural considerations.A PATTERN LANGUAGE We have spent years trying to formulate this lan- guage, in the hope that when a person uses it, he will be so impressed by its power, and so joyful in its use, that he will understand again, what it means to have a living language of this kind. Tf we only succeed in that, it is possible that each person may once again embark on the construction and development of his own language— perhaps taking the language printed in this book, as a point of departure, And yet, we do believe, of course, that this language which is printed here is something more than a manual, or a teacher, or a version of a possible pattern language. Many of the patterns here are archetypal—so deep, so deeply rooted in the nature of things, that it seems likely that they will be a part of human nature, and human ac- tion, as much in five hundred years, as they are today. We doubt very much whether anyone could construct a valid pattern language, in his own mind, which did not include the pattern arcapks (119) for example, or the pattern aLcovzs (179). In this sense, we have also tried to penetrate, as deep as we are able, into the nature of things in the environ- ment: and hope that a great part of this language, which we print here, will be a core of any sensible human pat- tern language, which any person constructs for himself, in his own mind. In this sense, at least a part of the language we have presented here, is the archetypal core of all possible pattern languages, which can make people feel alive and human. xviiSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE A pattern language has the structure of a network. This is explained fully in The Timeless Way of Building. However, when we use the network of a language, we always use it as a segwence, going through the patterns, moving always from the larger patterns to the smaller, always from the ones which create structures, to the ones which then embellish those structures, and then to those which embellish the embellishments. . . . Since the language is in truth a network, there is no one sequence which perfectly captures it. But the se- quence which follows, captures the broad sweep of the full network; in doing so, it follows a line, dips down, dips up again, and follows an irregular course, a little like a needle following a tapestry. The sequence of patterns is both a summary of the language, and at the same time, an index to the patterns. If you read through the sentences which connect the groups of patterns to one another, you will get an over- view of the whole language. And once you get this over- view, you will then be able to find the patterns which are relevant to your own project. And finally, as we shall explain in the next section, this sequence of patterns is also the “base map,” from xviilSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE which you can make a language for your own project, by choosing the patterns which are most useful to you, and leaving them more or less in the ote you find them printed here. be We begin with that part of the language which defines 4 Lown or community. These patterns can never be “de- signed” or “built” in one fell swoop—but patient piece- meal growth, designed in such a way that every indi- vidual act is always helping to create or generate these lar ger global patterns, will, slowly and surely, over the years, make @ community that has these global patterns mit. I. INDEPENDENT REGIONS within each region work toward those regional policies which will protect the land and mark the limits of the cities; y . THE DISTRIBUTION OF TOWNS . CITY COUNTRY FINGERS AGRICULTURAL VALLEYS Fe . LACE OF COUNTRY STREETS . COUNTRY TOWNS wna |. THE COUNTRYSIDE xixSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE through city policies, encourage the piecemeal forma- tion of those major structures which define the city; 8. MOSAIC OF SUBCULTURES 9. SCATTERED WORK 10. MAGIC OF THE CITY II. LOCAL TRANSPORT AREAS build up these larger city patterns from the grass roots, through action essentially controlled by two levels of self-governing communities, which exist as physically identifiable places; 12. COMMUNITY OF 7000 13. SUBCULTURE BOUNDARY 14. IDENTIFIABLE NEIGHBORHOOD 15. NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARY connect communities to one another by encouraging the growth of the following networks; 16. WEB OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION 17. RING ROADS 18. NETWORK OF LEARNING 19. WEB OF SHOPPING 20, MINI-BUSES establish community and neighborhood policy to con- trol the character of the local environment according to the following fundamental principles; 21, FOUR-STORY LIMITSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE 22. 23. 24 25. 26. 27. NINE PER CENT PARKING PARALLEL ROADS SACRED SITES ACCESS TO WATER LIFE CYCLE MEN AND WOMEN both in the neighborhoods and the communities, and in between them, in the boundaries, encourage the forma- tion of local centers; 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. ECCENTRIC NUCLEUS DENSITY RINGS ACTIVITY NODES PROMENADE SHOPPING STREET NIGHT LIFE INTERCHANGE around these centers, provide for the growth of housing in the form of clusters, based on face-to-face human groups; HOUSEHOLD MIX |. DEGREES OF PUBLICNESS HOUSE CLUSTER . ROW HOUSES HOUSING HILL. . OLD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE xxiSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE between the house clusters, around the centers, and especially in the boundaries between neighborhoods, en- courage the formation of work communities; 4i. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. WORK COMMUNITY INDUSTRIAL RIBBON UNIVERSITY AS A MARKETPLACE LOCAL TOWN HALL NECKLACE OF COMMUNITY PROJECTS MARKET OF MANY SHOPS HEALTH CENTER HOUSING IN BETWEEN between the house clusters and work communities, allow the local road and path network to grow informally, piecemeal; 49. 50. jie 52. 53- 54. 55: 56. 57- LOOPED LOCAL ROADS T JUNCTIONS GREEN STREETS NETWORK OF PATHS AND CARS MAIN GATEWAYS ROAD CROSSING RAISED WALK BIKE PATHS AND RACKS CHILDREN IN THE CITY xxiSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE in the communities and neighborhoods, provide public open land where people can relax, rub shoulders and renew themselves; 58. 59. 60. 61. 66. CARNIVAL QUIET BACKS ACCESSIBLE GREEN SMALL PUBLIC SQUARES . HIGH PLACES . DANCING IN THE STREET POOLS AND STREAMS . BIRTH PLACES HOLY GROUND in each house cluster and work community, provide the smaller bits of common land, to provide for local ver- sions of the same needs; 67. 68, 69. 70. aha 72. 73- TA COMMON LAND CONNECTED PLAY PUBLIC OUTDOOR ROOM GRAVE SITES STILL WATER LOCAL SPORTS ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND ANIMALS within the framework of the common land, the clusters, and the work communities encourage transformation of xxiiiSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE the smallest independent social institutions: the families, workgroups, and gathering places. The family, in all its forms; 75: 76. 77: 78. 79. THE FAMILY HOUSE FOR A SMALL FAMILY HOUSE FOR A COUPLE HOUSE FOR ONE PERSON YOUR OWN HOME. the workgroups, including all kinds of workshops and offices and even children’s learning groups; 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. SELF-GOVERNING WORKSHOPS AND OFFICES SMALL SERVICES WITHOUT RED TAPE OFFICE CONNECTIONS MASTER AND APPRENTICES TEENAGE SOCIETY SHOPFRONT SCHOOLS CHILDREN’S HOME the local shops and gathering places. 87. 88. 89. go. ol. 92. INDIVIDUALLY OWNED SHOPS STREET CAFE CORNER GROCERY BEER HALL TRAVELER'S INN BUS STOP xxivSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE 93. FOOD STANDS 94. SLEEPING {N PUBLIC This completes the global patterns which define a town or a community. We now start that part of the language which gives shape to groups of buildings, and individual buildings, on the land, in three dimensions, These are the patterns which can be “designed” or “built?” —the patterns which define the individual build- ings and the space between buildings ; where we are deal- ing for the first time with patterns that are under the control of individuals or small groups of individuals, who are able to build the patterns all at once. The first group of patterns helps to lay out the overall! arrangement of a group of buildings: the height and number of these buildings, the entrances to the site, main parking areas, and lines of movement through the com- plex; 9§- BUILDING COMPLEX 96. NUMBER OF STORIES 97- SHIELDED PARKING 98. CIRCULATION REALMS 99. MAIN BUILDING 100. PEDESTRIAN STREET IO1, BUILDING THOROUGHFARE 102, FAMILY OF ENTRANCES 103. SMALL PARKING LOTS 2XxvSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE fix the position of individual buildings on the site, within the complex, one by one, according to the nature of the site, the trees, the sun: this is one of the most important moments in the language; 104. SITE REPAIR 105. SOUTH FACING OUTDOORS 106. POSITIVE OUTDOOR SPACE 107, WINGS OF LIGHT 108, CONNECTED BUILDINGS 109. LONG THIN HOUSE within the buildings’ wings, lay out the entrances, the gardens, courtyards, roofs, and terraces: shape both the volume of the buildings and the volume of the space be- tween the buildings at the same time-—remembering that indoor space and outdoor space, yin and yang, must always get their shape together; TIO. MAIN ENTRANCE III, HALF-HIDDEN GARDEN 112. ENTRANCE TRANSITION 113. CAR CONNECTION I14. HIERARCHY OF OPEN SPACE 115, COURTYARDS WHICH LIVE 116, CASCADE OF ROOFS II]. SHELTERING ROOF 118. ROOF GARDEN xxviSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE when the major parts of buildings and the outdoor areas have been given their rough shape, it is the right time to give more detailed attention to the paths and squares between the buildings; 419. ARCADES 120. PATHS AND GOALS I2I. PATH SHAPE 122. BUILDING FRONTS 123. PEDESTRIAN DENSITY 124. ACTIVITY POCKETS 125. STAIR SEATS 126, SOMETHING ROUGHLY IN THE MIDDLE now, with the paths fixed, we come back to the build- ings: within the various wings of any one building, work out the fundamental gradients of space, and decide how the movement will connect the spaces in the gradients, 127. INTIMACY GRADIENT 128, INDCOR SUNLIGHT 129, COMMON AREAS AT THE HEART 130, ENTRANCE ROOM I3i., THE FLOW THROUGH ROOMS 132. SHORT PASSAGES 133. STAIRCASE AS A STAGE 134, ZEN VIEW 135. TAPESTRY OF LIGHT AND DARK xxviiSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE within the framework of the wings and their internal gradients of space and movement, define the most im- portant areas and rooms. First, for a house; 136. 137 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. COUPLE’S REALM CHILDREN’S REALM SLEEPING TO THE EAST FARMHOUSE KITCHEN PRIVATE TERRACE ON THE STREET A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN SEQUENCE OF SITTING SPACES BED CLUSTER BATHING ROOM BULK STORAGE then the same for offices, workshops, and public build- ings; 146. 147. 148. 149. 150. Ist. 152, FLEXIBLE OFFICE SPACE COMMUNAL EATING SMALL WORK GROUPS RECEPTION WELCOMES YOU A PLACE TO WAIT SMALL MEETING ROOMS HALF-PRIVATE OFFICE add those smal! outbuildings which must be slightly in- dependent from the main structure, and put in the access from the upper stories to the street and gardens; xxviiiSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE 153. 154. 155s 156. 157» 158. ROOMS TO RENT TEENAGER’S COTTAGE OLD AGE COTTAGE SETTLED WORK HOME WORKSHOP OPEN STAIRS prepare to knit the inside of the building to the outside, by treating the edge between the two asa place in its own right, and making human details there; 159. 160, 161, 162, 163. 164. 165. 166. 3167. 168. LIGHT ON TWO SIDES OF EVERY ROOM BUILDING EDGE SUNNY PLACE NORTH FACE OUTDOOR ROOM STREET WINDOWS OPENING TO THE STREET GALLERY SURROUND SIX-FOOT BALCONY CONNECTION TO THE EARTH decide on the arrangement of the gardens, and the places in the gardens; 169. 170. 171. TERRACED SLOPE FRUIT TREES TREE PLACES xxixSUMMARY OF THE LANGUAGE 172. 173. 174. 175. 176. 177. 178. GARDEN GROWING WILD GARDEN WALL TRELLISED WALK GREENHOUSE GARDEN SEAT VEGETABLE GARDEN COMPosT go back to the inside of the building and attach the neces- sary minor rooms and alcoves to complete the main rooms; 179. 180, 181, 182, 183. 184, 185. 186. 187. 188. 189. ALCOVES WINDOW PLACE THE FIRE EATING ATMOSPHERE WORKSPACE ENCLOSURE COOKING LAYOUT SITTING CIRCLE COMMUNAL SLEEPING MARRIAGE BED BED ALCOVE DRESSING ROOM fine tune the shape and size of rooms and alcoves to make them precise and buildable; 190. CEILING HEIGHT VARIETY Xxx