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Notes on the Synthesis of Form - Hardcover

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Synopsis

"These notes are about the process of design: the process of inventing things which display new physical order, organization, form, in response to function." This book, opening with these words, presents an entirely new theory of the process of design.

In the first part of the book, Mr. Alexander discusses the process by which a form is adapted to the context of human needs and demands that has called it into being. He shows that such an adaptive process will be successful only if it proceeds piecemeal instead of all at once. It is for this reason that forms from traditional unselfconscious cultures, molded not by designers but by the slow pattern of changes within tradition, are so beautifully organized and adapted. When the designer, in our own self-conscious culture, is called on to create a form that is adapted to its context he is unsuccessful, because the preconceived categories out of which he builds his picture of the problem do not correspond to the inherent components of the problem, and therefore lead only to the arbitrariness, willfulness, and lack of understanding which plague the design of modern buildings and modern cities.

In the second part, Mr. Alexander presents a method by which the designer may bring his full creative imagination into play, and yet avoid the traps of irrelevant preconception. He shows that, whenever a problem is stated, it is possible to ignore existing concepts and to create new concepts, out of the structure of the problem itself, which do correspond correctly to what he calls the subsystems of the adaptive process. By treating each of these subsystems as a separate subproblem, the designer can translate the new concepts into form. The form, because of the process, will be well-adapted to its context, non-arbitrary, and correct.

The mathematics underlying this method, based mainly on set theory, is fully developed in a long appendix. Another appendix demonstrates the application of the method to the design of an Indian village.

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Review

Christopher Alexander has outlined an ambitious proposal that could revolutionize the approach to architectural design...His method cannot help but become "a very powerful tool indeed" for those who would deal with projects of the complex present and the growing complexity of the future. One of the most important contemporary books about the art of design, what it is, and how to go about it. An important book for the urban designer and planner... stimulating and certainly controversial...It may one day prove to be a landmark in design methodology. The success or failure of the designed environment will remain, as always, a human responsibility...Alexander's assertions are not only challenging and stimulating but informative.

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  • PublisherHarvard University Press
  • Publication date1964
  • ISBN 10 0674627504
  • ISBN 13 9780674627505
  • BindingHardcover
  • LanguageEnglish
  • Number of pages224
  • Rating
    • 4.05 out of 5 stars
      731 ratings by Goodreads

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ISBN 10:  0674627512 ISBN 13:  9780674627512
Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1964
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Alexander, Christopher
Published by Harvard University Press, 1964
ISBN 10: 0674627504 ISBN 13: 9780674627505
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Hardcover. Condition: Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. First Edition; Fifth Printing. 215 pages; Ex-Library copy with usual identifiers. Slightly cocked spine. Good condition otherwise. No other noteworthy defects. No markings on text pages. ; - Your satisfaction is our priority. We offer free returns and respond promptly to all inquiries. Your item will be carefully cushioned in bubble wrap and securely boxed. All orders ship on the same or next business day. Buy with confidence. Seller Inventory # HVD-47437-A-0

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