4 ms·

I just buy a new copy of A Pattern Language whenever I see it in a bookstore, because I know I'm going to end up giving it to someone. It's one of those books y

I just buy a new copy of A Pattern Language whenever I see it in a bookstore, because I know I'm going to end up giving it to someone. It's one of those books you can confidently recommend to any curious, intelligent person, and it may change their thinking, or at least blow their mind, whether they find it useful or not. He was such an original thinker.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
queuebert 5y ago
That book changed my life. We bought our house using those principles, and couldn't be happier or more comfortable.
- chubot 5y ago
  I'd be interested in any details on that, i.e. what the house is like. One lightbulb that went off for me when reading his books was the pattern of "windows on 2 sides of a room". I realized the house I grew up in was a big mass-produced rectangle with windows on the front and back. And since no rooms spanned the house front to back, that means that no room in the ~3000 sq ft. house had windows on 2 sides. (This is close to "McMansion" architecture but not quite) Since then I've noticed people gravitate towards rooms with windows on 2 sides, and now I live in a apartment with many windows. For better or worse I've lived on both coasts and everything is "economically optimized" there. In SF and NYC it's very common to see long skinny apartments that were split down the middle at some point in the last ~50 years, lacking windows. And it's also common to see very boxy and optimized new buildings, i.e. lacking architecture. They're optimized for density and not living quality. I may be buying a house, but these requirements basically amount to extremely expensive, old houses of a limited stock. I'd be interested in any counterexamples to that!
  - mbrock 5y ago
    That pattern goes together with “Wings of Light” which is specifically about avoiding deep boxes in favor of e.g. T shapes and other narrower wings that can let light in.
- ssivark 5y ago
  If you could write out the process, that would make for a great post! I’m really hoping you do :-)
devchix 5y ago
There's a small distillation of his principles in The Not So Big House, (bonus, it has photos). From what I remember, you want to design space so people move from dark toward light, light rooms from two sides, sleep area should be like covered nooks for feeling of security, stairs and halls should be wider, there should be views from one room to another ... A Pattern Language and The Not So Big House informed how we did renovations in our own home.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

queuebert 5y ago

That book changed my life. We bought our house using those principles, and couldn't be happier or more comfortable.

chubot 5y ago
I'd be interested in any details on that, i.e. what the house is like. One lightbulb that went off for me when reading his books was the pattern of "windows on 2 sides of a room". I realized the house I grew up in was a big mass-produced rectangle with windows on the front and back. And since no rooms spanned the house front to back, that means that no room in the ~3000 sq ft. house had windows on 2 sides. (This is close to "McMansion" architecture but not quite) Since then I've noticed people gravitate towards rooms with windows on 2 sides, and now I live in a apartment with many windows. For better or worse I've lived on both coasts and everything is "economically optimized" there. In SF and NYC it's very common to see long skinny apartments that were split down the middle at some point in the last ~50 years, lacking windows. And it's also common to see very boxy and optimized new buildings, i.e. lacking architecture. They're optimized for density and not living quality. I may be buying a house, but these requirements basically amount to extremely expensive, old houses of a limited stock. I'd be interested in any counterexamples to that!
- mbrock 5y ago
  That pattern goes together with “Wings of Light” which is specifically about avoiding deep boxes in favor of e.g. T shapes and other narrower wings that can let light in.
ssivark 5y ago
If you could write out the process, that would make for a great post! I’m really hoping you do :-)

devchix 5y ago

There's a small distillation of his principles in The Not So Big House, (bonus, it has photos). From what I remember, you want to design space so people move from dark toward light, light rooms from two sides, sleep area should be like covered nooks for feeling of security, stairs and halls should be wider, there should be views from one room to another ... A Pattern Language and The Not So Big House informed how we did renovations in our own home.