PATTERN LANGUAGE

BASED ON SPATIAL DESIGN EDUCATION

(A.M. SALAMA)

SUBBMITTED BY,
Rajni Taneja, Himanshi Srivastava
Introduction
• Design education in architecture is corner stone of
design profession
• Recent concerns are being raised about outmoded,
stagnant and static pedagogy.
• 10 alternative pedagogical models published from
(1960’s-2000) are described and compared to study
variation in design thinking, processes and
teaching/learning style
Pioneering Typologies for a New
Design Pedagogy
1. The Case Problem (Experimental) Model
2. The Analogical Model
3. The Community-based Design Learning Model
4. The Hidden Curriculum Model
5. The Pattern Language Model
6. The Concept-test Model
7. The Double-layered Asymmetrical Model
8. The Energy-conscious Model
9. The Exploratory Model
10. The Interactional Model
The Pattern language
• Developed by Howard Devis (1982), university of
Oregon
• Based on “ A pattern Language: towns, buildings,
construction” –book by Christopher Alexander(1977)
• Design studio as primary teaching / learning
environment
• Pattern- can be identified as specific physical
relationship that accommodates a recurrent human
situation
The Book
The book creates a new language, what the
authors call a pattern language derived from
timeless entities called patterns.

A Pattern Language was

influenced by the then-emerging language to
describe computer programming and design. "A
pattern language has the structure of a network",
the authors write.

"At the core... is the idea that people should design

for themselves their own houses , streets and
communities. This idea... comes simply from the
observation that most of the wonderful places of
the world were not made by architects but by the
people“

Christopher Alexander et al., A Pattern Language,

front bookflap.
Patterns
• Some patterns focus on materials, noting that some
ancient systems, such as concrete, when adapted by
modern technology, may become one of the best
future materials:
• "We believe that ultra-lightweight concrete is one of
the most fundamental bulk materials of the future."
• — Christopher Alexander et al., A Pattern Language,
p. 958
What is a Pattern?
• Alexander uses “pattern” in a specific sense.

• A pattern is a form of seed. It contains a reflection of current

work and thinking, as well as the vision of a future in which
the seeds all have been successfully cultivated.
• Each pattern is presented using five main parts:
title, problem, context, discussion, and solution. Additionally
they often have an introductory graphic that conveys the idea
and a diagram that summarizes the pattern.
Using Patterns
• "Each pattern describes a problem which occurs
over and over again in our environment, and then
describes the core of the solution to that problem, in
such a way that you can use the solution a million
times over, without ever doing it the same way
twice."
(From A Pattern Language)
What is a Pattern Language?
• Alexander uses “pattern language” in a specific sense
• A pattern language is an ordered collection of patterns.
• The patterns in a pattern language combine into a holistic
set of patterns that are intended to be used together
• In the original book Alexander stated that a pattern
language could be developed in any domain.
• Now pattern languages are often a collective work.
•A Pattern Language
provides 253 “patterns” for
“bottom up” architecture
Patterns aren’t recipes..
• They don’t provide precise instructions...
• Patterns are more like seeds that have different
results when planted in different soil. Different
people, in different situations, will use the patterns
differently.
• They are really tools for thought.
• The use of a pattern is intended to change the flow
of what would have happened in its absence.
The design model
•A system to comprehend actual physical geometry
and organization of existing buildings.
• Thismodel views design as set of procedures- form
or function of building emerges from individual
building rules and collective actions
• Identify
reoccurring pattern- formulate solutions-
recognize similar pattern
• Thus providing interconnected – improved
typological solution.
• For example: relationship of a entry point +
reception with a space for waiting area
• Italso encourages investigations of social
mechanisms transmitted within these rules
• "...each pattern represents our current best guess as
to what arrangement of the physical environment will
work to solve the problem presented….the patterns
are still hypotheses, all 253 of them—and are
therefore all tentative, all free to evolve under the
impact of new experience and observation"
— Christopher Alexander et al., A Pattern Language
Example: Street Cafe (Pattern 88):
• "The street cafe provides a unique setting, special to
cities: a place where people can sit lazily,
legitimately, be on view, and watch the world go
by... Encourage local cafes to spring up in each
neighborhood. Make them intimate places, with
several rooms, open to a busy path…Build the front
of the cafe so that a set of tables stretch out of the
cafe, right into the street."
• — Christopher Alexander et al., A Pattern Language,
p. 437,439
Studio learning process
Three main stages-
Site Visits
Identification of Patterns, either existing or new
Formulate a pattern language
Defining design intentions
• Group Discussions
• Examining the Patterns
Design solution according to prescribed+ new rules
• Interactive Processes
• Investigation of existing buildings, reviewing the rules
• Propose design solutions
• Gain basic understanding of patterns and pattern languages
• Agree on fields of patterns (for example, context, problem,
solution, links, evidence, diagram, references, etc.)
• Brainstorm individually and collectively about pattern
names & ideas
• Share pattern names and ideas before moving forward with
designing
• Agree on tasks and process timeline
• Agree on concept, site plan etc.
• Agree on roles (rights & responsibilities) and who will
assume them.
• Decision-making and reviewing very important.
Methodology
• Ideal for Collaborative Group work
• Group Analysis through group discussions
• Consensus in decision making rather than
compromise
• Development of critical thinking skills
• Evaluation through desk crits with groups rather
than individual.
Current researches
• Creative Challenge and Cognitive Constraint: Students' Use of A Pattern Language
for Complex Design
S Marshall - Complexity, Cognition, Urban Planning and Design, 2016 – Springer
• The study provides insights into the creative challenge faced by students using patterns
in their designs, and helps shed light on the cognitive aspect of design using patterns;
and hence
• draws conclusions about the implications of using patterns for creating complex
designs
• reported on a case of using A Pattern Language in teaching student projects.

• In doing so, it has drawn attention to some of the challenges in using patterns to
generate complex urban form.
• This provides some evidence lending some support to Alexander’s ‘cognitive constraint’
hypothesis – that people have difficulty in holding interlocking, overlapping structures
in their heads
• Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language: analysing, mapping and classifying
the critical response Michael J. Dawes* and Michael J. Ostwald City, Territory and
Architecturevolume 4, Article number: 17 (2017)
. The 28 criticisms identified in past research are organised hierarchically in this paper
into three tiers representing those associated with the:
(i) conceptualisation,
(ii) development and documentation and,
(iii) implementation and outcomes of Alexander’s theory.
As this mapping of criticisms shows, many perceived problems with Alexander’s theory
are directly or indirectly connected to high level conceptual issues. It also
• (ii) fails to engage in rigorous testing of patterns, and
• (iii) includes significant examples of flawed reasoning and logical problems.
• The implementation of Alexander’s theory is also criticised for:

• (i) being overly controlling and restrictive,

• (ii) including flawed patterns and recommendations for design, and ultimately,
• (iii) failing to accomplish the intended goal of creating beautiful and whole designs.
Three possible directions for the future of pattern languages.
1. Consider A pattern language as a historical artefact worthy of further
exploration.
2. Investigates the concept of pattern languages including whether or
not they can be rigorously tested and whether they are practical
design methodologies,
3. to develop new pattern languages without the restrictions of
alexander’s ontological and epistemological positions.
• This final avenue for research has the potential to enable a paradigm shift
in architectural theory, but only if patterns can be rigorously tested.
• Formalising patterns in this way may facilitate improved communication
between architects and clients by providing each party with a deeper
means of understanding the values and vision of the other.