If this is of interest, I highly recommend reading Christopher Alexander’s two books: Notes on the Synthesis of Form and The Phenomenon of Life The former (I b

If this is of interest, I highly recommend reading Christopher Alexander’s two books: Notes on the Synthesis of Form and The Phenomenon of Life The former (I believe was his dissertation) goes into the sociological forces within domains of expertise that produce the absolute fucking inhumane insanity of modern architecture (and design more broadly). It’s a fascinating thesis: as a discipline becomes professionalized, your objective is to impress other people within your profession. For architects, that comes at the expense of designing livable spaces. For the most part, these need to have their drawers in the right places more than to leave their viewers gasping for breath at the brilliance of the designer. The second book attempts to lay out a quasi-scientific model of why people find the more ornamental and intricate designs shown in this article more compelling (he calls them “more full of life,” which I think is actually a good descriptor).