We mere mortals are insprired by the principle of "Wings of Light" and hundreds of other inspiring, well-orderd Patterns that Mr. Alexander et al describe in short, concise, illustrative chapters that forever influence our understanding of living space.
You may not be able to change the world but you can change your own little world. "A Pattern Language" is your roadmap. In all of Architecture, there is no other book of rivaling importance. This is the Bible of Architecture, written and dedicated to the masses.
Myself, I am a voracious reader of non-fiction, as well as a life-long student of science. I can say, without hesitation, that this is the most important book I have ever read.
Consider for a moment your home, you living environment. Unless you are profoundly fortunate, you abode is rather dull and uninspiring. Your next home won't be if you put into action the lovely patterns in this monumental book.
Most of the "patterns" described in A Pattern Language are similar in that people expect them and are comforted by them. In fact, Alexander refers to them as archetypes, which is a word that always interested me. To think that there are universally appealing features in the built environment that people never even consider throughout the building process is staggering. Have you ever seen or entered a place that felt cold and unwelcoming? Read this book and you'll be able to understand why.
It's the universal appeal of these archetypal patterns, as well as the timeless principles on which this book is based, that make this a classic in the architectural field. While A Pattern Language has withstood the test of time, I still have to file a complaint for just that reason. Here and there you'll read statements that make you think "Huh? Things aren't like that anymore..." Nevertheless, Christopher Alexander was a man ahead of his time, and I can't say his ideas are any less interesting, sensible, or true since the year that he published this book. One of the most striking principles he touched on that still applies today is as follows:
"If we always build on that part of the land which is the most healthy, we can be virtually certain that a great deal of the land will always be less than healthy. If we want the land to be healthy all over--all of it--then we must do the opposite. We must treat every new act of building as an opportunity to mend some rent in the existing cloth; each act of building gives us a chance to make one of the ugliest and least healthy parts of the environment more healthy--as for those parts which are already healthy and beautiful--they of course need no attention. And in fact, we must discipline ourselves most strictly to leave them alone, so that our energy actually goes to the places which need it. This is the principle of site repair." (p.510)
Though a little outdated, and a little expensive, this is a book you can hold on to and refer to again and again.
