A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)

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The second of three books published by the Center for Environmental Structure to provide a "working alternative to our present ideas about architecture, building, and planning," A Pattern Language offers a practical language for building and planning based on natural considerations. The reader is given an overview of some 250 patterns that are the units of this language, each consisting of a design problem, discussion, illustration, and solution. By understanding recurrent design problems in our environment, readers can identify extant patterns in their own design projects and use these patterns to create a language of their own. Extraordinarily thorough, coherent, and accessible, this book has become a bible for homebuilders, contractors, and developers who care about creating healthy, high-level design.

Book Description

"Brilliant....Here's how to design or redesign any space you're living or working in--from metropolis to room. Consider what you want to happen in the space, and then page through this book. Its radically conservative observations will spark, enhance, organize your best ideas, and a wondrous home, workplace, town will result"--San Francisco Chronicle. This classic handbook presents a language which ordinary people can use to express themselves in their own communities or homes, and to better communicate with each other.

Customer Reviews:

a patatern language.......2007-10-03

This is an amazing book for anyone interested in building, remodeling or buying a home. It points out basic tenents of architecture that go across cultural lines. It is easy to read and retain.

A must-read for the custom home builder........2007-09-14

I knew nothing about this book before the purchase other than it was something I might want to read in preparation for building a house.
Originally published in 1977 by the Center For Environmental Structure, Berkeley, Calif, A Pattern Language is #2 in a series of 3 and reviewed as a working document for a new theory of architecture, building and planning.

It definitely is that and so much more. In fact, the total tonnage of information contained in this book would stop a team of oxen in it's tracks.

As a practical purchase, this book definitely fills the bill. At half the cost at publication, you can't go wrong.

A Pattern Language.......2007-09-05

A must read for anyone designing their own house. I talks about the functional relationships in a house rather than the construction itself. Every community or home architect should read this book.

you'll have fun with this one.......2007-08-04

my cousin built her thick walled adobe home in northern colorado using the ideas in this book. they work. the home is a delight to be in; cozy and warm and strong and earthy at the same time. the book is a very idealistic view of the world as it now stands; it's inspired by the basic drives in all of us for community and privacy and deals admirably with the trade-off. it's not just about spaces we live in and how to make them nurturing and compelling. it's also about how to create communities that entice rather than alienate. we all know strip malls are appalling at a very fundamental level. this book explains why and offers valid alternatives. unfortunately, builders and developers don't get it or make more money their way so to see healthy, working examples of a pattern language you have a much easier time finding examples in old europe (mediterrnaean villages in particular).

"One of the great books of the century"........2007-07-25

Alexander tried to show that architecture connects people to their surroundings in an infinite number of ways, most of which are subconscious. For this reason, it was important to discover what works; what feels pleasant; what is psychologically nourishing; what attracts rather than repels. These solutions, found in much of vernacular architecture, were abstracted and synthesized into the "Pattern Language" about 20 years ago.

Unfortunately, although he did not say it then, it was obvious that contemporary architecture was pursuing design goals that are almost the opposite of what was discovered in the pattern language. For this reason, anyone could immediately see that Alexander's findings invalidated most of what practicing architects were doing at that time. The Pattern Language was identified as a serious threat to the architectural community. It was consequently suppressed. Attacking it in public would only give it more publicity, so it was carefully and off-handedly dismissed as irrelevant in architecture schools, professional conferences and publications.

Now, 20 years later, computer scientists have discovered that the connections underlying the Pattern Language are indeed universal, as Alexander had originally claimed. His work has achieved the highest esteem in computer science. Alexander himself has spent the last twenty years in providing scientific support for his findings, in a way that silences all criticism. He will publish this in the forthcoming four-volume work entitled "The Nature of Order". His new results draw support from complexity theory, fractals, neural networks, and many other disciplines on the cutting edge of science.

After the publication of this new work, our civilization has to seriously question why it has ignored the Pattern Language for so long, and to face the blame for the damage that it has done to our cities, neighborhoods, buildings, and psyche by doing so.

A Pattern Language Towns, Buildings, Construction

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A Pattern Language Towns, Buildings, Construction
Christopher Alexander
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7IA3O

Pattern Language, A: Towns, Buildings, Construction

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Pattern Language, A: Towns, Buildings, Construction
Christopher; etc. Alexander
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKC97S

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A Pattern Language, Towns, Buildings, Construction
Christopher Alexander
Manufacturer: Oxford
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQC4KK

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A PATTERN LANGUAGE: TOWNS, BUILDINGS, CONSTRUCTION
Christopher; Ishikawa, Sara; Silverstein, Murray Alexander
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M0K4JK

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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English Portrait Miniatures
Graham Reynolds
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521339200

Book Description

The first edition of this general survey on the art of portrait miniatures, published by A & C Black in 1952, became the standard work on the subject and is referred to in all the subsequent literature. In a thoroughly revised edition, published by the Press in 1988, the author entirlely re-wrote the early chapters to take account of recent research and has made revisions and corrections throughout. This edition is now published in paperback for the first time. '... a most judicious assessment of prevalent opinion in the light of a lifetime's experience.' -- Times Literary Supplement 'This painstakingly researched book provides an excellent resource for anyone interested in the miniaturists. The quantity and quality of the illustrations add greatly to the value of this text.' -- Antiques and Auction News '... bound to become once again the standard work on the subject.' -- Susan Foister, National Portrait Gallery, Burlington MagazineThe first edition of this general survey on the art of portrait miniatures, published by A & C Black in 1952, became the standard work on the subject and is referred to in all the subsequent literature. In a thoroughly revised edition, published by the Press in 1988, the author entirlely re-wrote the early chapters to take account of recent research and has made revisions and corrections throughout. This edition is now published in paperback for the first time. '... a most judicious assessment of prevalent opinion in the light of a lifetime's experience.' -- Times Literary Supplement 'This painstakingly researched book provides an excellent resource for anyone interested in the miniaturists. The quantity and quality of the illustrations add greatly to the value of this text.' -- Antiques and Auction News '... bound to become once again the standard work on the subject.' -- Susan Foister, National Portrait Gallery, Burlington Magazine

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The English Miniature
John Murdoch
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
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British Portrait Drawings, 1600-1900: Twenty-Five Examples from the Huntington Collection

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British Portrait Drawings, 1600-1900: Twenty-Five Examples from the Huntington Collection
Robert R. Wark
Manufacturer: Huntington Library Press
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Binding: Paperback

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The Huntington collection of British art includes not only the unrivaled full-length, life-size portrait paintings, but also many examples of the less familiar, more informal, but charming side of British portraiture--the drawings. In this book, twenty-five of these drawings are reproduced, each accompanied by a facing page of commentary. There are works in pencil, pen, wash, pastel, watercolor, and various combinations thereof. Some are presentation works intended to fill a more private and intimate function than the life-scale portraits in oil. Some are preparatory studies for works of art. Some are casual sketches made for the artist's own enjoyment or as a record of a memorable face.
The drawings are representative examples of the work of twenty-five artists. They range in date from the early seventeenth century to the early twentieth and vary enormously in style and purpose. They include "plumbagos," miniatures in pencil done by the masters of the form, Loggan and Forster; drawings done in pencil and wash by Cosway, Lawrence, and Harlow; drawings by Greenhill and Gardner; and drawings used as preliminary studies for portraits to be done in oils by Ramsay, Fuseli, and Mortimer. Together with Wark's text, they demonstrate the quality of British achievement, the variety in types, and the fascinating complexity in appeal.

Richard Cosway (English Portrait Miniaturists)

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Richard Cosway was one of the most significant multifaceted artistic personalities active in Regency Britain. He was arguably the pre-eminent pupil of William Shipley as well as a versatile oil portraitist and a sophisticated draftsman of subject compositions.

Catalogue of a Collection of Important English and Continental Portrait Miniatures (Nov. 27th 1972)

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Catalogue of a Collection of Important English and Continental Portrait Miniatures (Nov. 27th 1972)
Sotheby & Co.
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Catalogue of Important English and Continental Portrait Miniatures. (Nov, 10th, 1969)

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Early English Portrait Miniatures in the Collection of the Duke of Buccleugh
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Early English Portrait Miniatures in the collection of The Duke of Buccleugh
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