🏡 List of 253 Patterns — Clayton Dorge

Bravely Curious

I read every word of Christopher Alexander’s opus, A Pattern Language so you don’t have to. It’s intimidating to read the whole book (1,100+ pages) while learning the 253 patterns he describes. So, I started a Twitter handle to help me learn by posting about one pattern each day.<br>Here, I collected all 253 Patterns in one list to easily reference. Receive a simple PDF version via email below!

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List of Patterns:

Patterns 1- 94 = Towns<br>Patterns 95 - 204 = Buildings<br>Patterns 205 - 253 = Construction

Patterns 1- 94 = Towns<br>What must be built gradually piece by piece with small individual acts in order to fit within larger global patterns.<br>1. Independent Regions - Metropolitan regions will not come to balance until each one is small and autonomous enough to to be an independent sphere of culture.<br>2. The Distribution of Towns - If the pop. of a region is weighted too far toward small villages, modern civilization can never emerge; If the pop. is weighted too far toward big cities, the earth will go to ruin b/c the pop. isn’t where it needs to be, to take care of it.<br>3. City Country Fingers - Continuous sprawling urbanization destroys life, and makes cities unbearable. But the sheer size of cities is also valuable and potent.<br>4. Agricultural Valleys - Keep town and city development along the hilltops and hillsides. In the valleys, be a steward of the land and embrace basic ecological responsibilities.<br>5. Lace of Country Streets - Where city and country meet, place country roads at least a mile apart, so they enclose squares of countryside and farmland. Keep the housing in rows or clusters along the roads, with the working land behind them.<br>6. Country Towns - A collection of smaller country towns support the larger towns and cities of the region. Each smaller town should build a base of local industry to be self-sustainable. They can’t just be dorms for people who work in other places.<br>7. The Countryside - The large open areas between towns are needed to maintain balance of the region. Farms, when treated as private property, rob the people of their natural biological heritage - the countryside they came from.<br>8. Mosaic of Subcultures - A great variety of human groups and subcultures co-existing is crucial for a city to live. Create a mosaic of small and different subcultures, each with its own space, and the power to create its own distinct life style.<br>9. Scattered Work - Work and Living zones should be distributed among each other; avoid concentrated zones of either. People can meet for lunch, children can be aware, and workers can run home easily. Separation reinforces that work is a toil, and only family life is “living.”<br>10. Magic of the City - The magic in the specialization of human effort happens where it’s most concentrated. Only the lucky or rich enough get to live with easy access to it. Put the magic within reach of everyone in a metro area.<br>11. Local Transport Areas - Short local trips should be slow and inconvenient for cars, encouraging alternate forms of transport (foot, bike, mopeds, etc.). Cars are great for long trips but draw people 10x further away from each other and their environment, harming social life.<br>12. Community of 7,000 - Individuals lose their effective voice in communities larger than 10k people. Organize government to give local control in groups of 5k-10k. Use natural or historical boundaries as often as possible to mark these communities.<br>13. Subculture Boundary - Different cultures should live directly next to each other (#8), but they have their own character. Physical boundaries must separate the cultures (natural or man-made) to live at their full potential. Include shared meeting spaces that touch both.<br>14. Identifiable Neighborhood - People need to belong to a distinct area in the city they can identify. Encourage local groups to organize themselves and form these neighborhoods. Major roads through a neighborhood wild destroy it.<br>15. Neighborhood Boundary - Form a boundary by cutting the normal number of streets in half or closing down streets to through traffic. If the boundary is too weak the neighborhood will lose its own character.<br>16. Web of Public Transportation - Each public transportation mode must be well connected, which happens if the agencies in charge have incentives to integrate with each other. Primary focus should be on interchanges, where they all connect. Next, focus on the specific lines.<br>17. Ring Roads - Place high speed roads in a way that they do not damage communities or countryside. Each area should have at least one side not bounded by a high speed road. Neighborhoods must be protected from the noise of high speed roads.<br>18. Network of Learning - Creative individuals grow up in societies which emphasize learning over teaching. Education happens from decentralized urban design. Living and learning spaces are scattered about. People of all backgrounds offer a class in what they...