Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
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Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
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Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#2In case you also read the comments first and wonder who this is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Alexander
> Christopher Wolfgang Alexander is a widely influential British-American architect and design theorist, and currently emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#3If you have any interest in human-centered architecture or design in general, Pattern Language and The Nature of Order are worth reading. They're not quick reads that you can easily summarize though.
Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#4If you have any interest in human-centered architecture or design in general, Pattern Language and The Nature of Order are worth reading. They're not quick reads that you can easily summarize though.
I’m neither an architect nor a software engineer, but every six months or so I flip through A Pattern Language just to help imagine buildings I’ve never been in. It’s a beautiful book.
Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#5In case you also read the comments first and wonder who this is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Alexander > Christopher Wolfgang Alexander is a widely influential British-American architect and design theorist, and currently emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
More relevant to the HN crowd, he invented the general concept of a "pattern language" and described a set of patterns for architecture.
The Gang of Four took that concept, hunted down a set of patterns they found in software architecture, and wrote "Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software" based on it, one of the most famous books in programming.
Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#6Related: There was a recent discussion on HN [1] of an article in which someone described their process for designing a new home, and the author recommended “The Timeless Way of Building” by Christopher Alexander as one of their inspirations. I’ve since started reading the book and found it very inspiring so far. I haven’t read “A Pattern Language” yet, but my impression is that “The Timeless Way” is focusing a bit more on the “why” rather than the “how”.
Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#7I found Christopher Alexander's The Timeless Way of Building through a recommended list on HN, and it ended up changing how I think about software architecture and life in general. I can't recommend it enough.
Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#8Alexander's The Timeless Way of Building is probably one of the top 3 things I have ever read on any topic, maybe my favorite thing I've ever read.
Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#9Related: There was a recent discussion on HN [1] of an article in which someone described their process for designing a new home, and the author recommended “The Timeless Way of Building” by Christopher Alexander as one of their inspirations. I’ve since started reading the book and found it very inspiring so far. I haven’t read “A Pattern Language” yet, but my impression is that “The Timeless Way” is focusing a bit m…
Another reading suggestion along those lines is "The design of design" by Fred Brooks (of Mythical Man Month fame). He discusses design approaches as uses his process of building his own house as the primary example:
https://www.amazon.com/Design-Essays-Computer-Scientist/dp/0...
Re: Christopher Alexander: A Primer [video]
#10I read Notes on the Synthesis of Form and I loved it.
Then I read A Pattern Language... damn son.
I recently bought The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth. Within the first 2 pages I was already hooked. But in fairness, It's because I think we are two minds alike so I hardly disagree with him... which I think it's bad.