Urban Design Theory - A pattern language

Here's a little summary of the book those ideas we can maybe use for our design..

A pattern language – a summary:

A ‘Pattern language’ is the concept that a group 6 architects some of which are professors, PhD holders & lectures, spent about 8 years working on a series of three books (A pattern language being the 2nd one) whereby they attempt to came up with an entirely new  approach to architecture, building and planning.

“The core ...idea that people should design for themselves their own houses, streets & communities. This idea… comes from the observation that the most wonderful places of the world were not made by architects but by people”.

“The core of the books is .. in designing  their environments, people always rely on certain ‘languages’ which like the languages we speak, allow them to articulate & communicate an infinite variety of designs within a formal system (which gives them coherence).”

This book provides detailed patterns for towns, neighbourhoods, houses, gardens & rooms

(the following diagram didn't copy but imagine the following text linked with arrows in a circle) 

Towns & buildings only be able to come alive   

Unless they’re made by all the people in society  &

Unless these people share a common pattern language  &

Unless this is alive itself

Within which to make the buildings

Elements of this language are entities called patterns & each pattern describes a problem that occurs over & over again in our environment & then describes a solution to it.

You might use the solution millions of times over again without doing it the same thing/way twice.

They have identified 235 patterns in the their language. (They also stress that this is only a language and people should developed their own languages)

Each pattern is connected to other patterns in specific ways & each problem & solution can be judged for yourself & modified it without losing the essence (central) to it.

The patterns are ordered in in a kind of hierarchy – the largest for regions & towns

                                                                                       

                                                                                                                           

Working down through neighbourhoods

Clusters of buildings

Rooms

Alcoves

Construction details

Each pattern is connected to larger patterns which it completes and smaller patterns which complete it.

“no pattern is an isolated entity. Each pattern can exist .. only to the extent that it is supported by others patterns in which it is embedded, patterns of similar size support it and smaller one are imbedded in it”

“Each solution is stated in a way that gives the essential field of the relationships needed to solve the problem. But in a general way & abstract way so that you can solve the problem yourself (in your own way by adapting it to your preferences and local conditions (where you are)”

An example they give is a set of patterns that one of them uses to design a porch that seems to be necessary at his house:

PRIVATE TERRACE ON THE STREET

SUNNY PLACE

OUTDOOR ROOM

SIX-FOOT BALCONY

PATHS AND GAOLS

CEILING HEIGHT VARIETY

COLUMNS AT THE CORNERS

FRONT DOOR BENCH

RAISED FLOWERS

Each of these patterns is just a headline and has concepts and possibilities that make it up but from what I understand, you pick patterns that (appeal to you or) that are appropriate to the project that you want to design/build and then use them to communicate the design/ link it all together.

 One concept that seems to appeal is that they mention the ‘poetry of the language’ and like poems have very ‘dense’ meanings & more than one meaning, these pattern languages can also be ‘dense’.

“It is possible to string patterns together in a ..loose way. A building like this is an assemblage of patterns. It is not dense. It is not profound. But it is possible to put patterns together in such a way that the patterns overlap in the same physical space: the building is ..dense; it has many meanings captured in a small space, and ..it becomes profound”