The Oregon Experiment (Center for Environmental Structure Series)

An interesting book - nice addition to the series.

excellent

The good news is that this book is a short summary of what most people will find important when they apply patterns either in the field of architecture or in their own field of design. It provides insight into Alexander's theory of economics--a stance which caused him to be unfavorably labeled as a socialist when these ideas were taking form. Patterns, in this book, are almost a footnote to the broader ideas of design, of economics, and of socially coordinated construction that form the core of Alexander's exposition here. The economics form a compelling argument for a process of piecemeal growth. Alexander gives practical advice on how to administer the social process, including the creation of a community pattern board that oversees the introduction of new patterns into the community language, and the retirement of old ones. By putting the pattern mantra aside, this book helps the reader get beyond the point where they are looking for patterns in their own right to provide the answer to every design question, and pushes the reader to think at the level of the foundations. The bad news is that the book takes the reader into a couple of miscues. Alexander would later bitterly recant the role this book accords to the architect. Architects should be master builders rather than the font of design ideas. The architecture role emerged in the Oregon Experiment to lend the project an air of conventionality and credibility, a compromise that kept the project from achieving its goals. Current tidbits of retrospective literature try to make sense of the experiment; some claim it succeeded (in spite of those aspects Alexander felt were wrong-headed) and some claim it failed. Grabow's biography of Alexander (Christopher Alexander: The Search for a New Paradigm in Architecture) features some choice words about the miscues in this experiment. Taken with the retrospective Grabow brings us, this book provides a perspective on patterns that is completely absent from the other books in this series. Some of these, such as the foundations in economics, are there for the picking. To reap some of the other insights requires study that goes beyond casual reading, but such study is appropriate to the depth of insight it will afford, and you owe it to yourself to explore it. These insights are crucial for making patterns work in a practical way in a social setting. If you want to learn about patterns, and you want to start with an Alexandrian book, I think this is the one you start with. Get the big picture first, in the context of the underlying principles, and come back for the pattern details later in A Pattern Language, and for the artist's artistic exposition of his art in The Timeless Way of Building.

The Oregon Experiment is one of a series of influential volumes on architecture and social design published by Christopher Alexander and his colleagues in the 1970s. While the most well-known volume in the series, A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, and Construction, develops general principles for the design of social spaces at all scales, The Oregon Experiment applies those principles to a specific case: the campus of the University of Oregon. If you are looking for an example of a specific campus plan, however, you will not find it here. Central to Alexander's approach is the notion that communities should not create fixed master plans, but rather should develop a common pattern language, and then apply it organically, in a piecemeal fashion, as needs arise. The book talks as much about this process of planning as it does about individual construction projects. Whenever a need arises (expansion of a building, addition of a door, creation of a green) people consult their pattern language and build something to suit the space and satisfy the need. Because everyone follows the agreed-upon language, the new parts harmonize with those that already exist (or replace earlier, poorly-designed structures). If you have enjoyed studying Alexander's patterns in A Pattern Language, you will find here a collection of new ones that are specific to a university setting, including "University Population," "University Shape and Diameter," "Departments of 400," "Local Administration," "Classroom Distribution," and about a dozen more. Although he clearly draws on ideas from British universities in many cases, he unaccountably does not include one of the fundamental features of the British model, namely the residential college of 500 (or so) within the larger institution. (Although he does include aspects of this pattern under the heading "Small Student Unions.") As always, Alexander's pattern descriptions are clear, blunt, and thought-provoking. The question that most readers will want to have answered is, "Does all this really work?" When the volume was written, of course, the process was just getting under way, and so we cannot know from this book alone whether everything described was successful or has been sustained over the long term. From what I've seen of campus master planning in public universities, it often turns out in the end to have less to do with creating good educational environments than it does with kowtowing to the local chamber of commerce and lining the pockets of already-rich trustees. But just because something is difficult doesn't mean it shouldn't be made the goal. If Alexander or someone at the University of Oregon were to produce a sequel, "The Oregon Experiment 25 Years On," I'm sure it would meet with a warm reception.

not as interesting as the pattern book

I heard about this book so many times before I actually went out and bought it and I was glad I had. We had just bought a home we were renovating and there were many of his principles that made me change what we were doing and I can honestly say that every idea we did implement, really makes for much more comfortable living. I've also been able to observe how much better rooms from the original building feel that follow his advice compared to those that haven't. It's simple, it's easy to understand and implement and it's a book I'll refer back to over and over in th years to come. I like books that are quick to reference, give great practical ideas, make common sense and this was definitely one of them I'd give 5 stars to.

The Oregon Experiment comes from a time when Eugene, Oregon was a capital for social and community experiments in the US. This book is a practical, brilliant, gentle, idealistic proposal, coupled with a progress report, without peer in modern literature. There are articles available on the web about what happened next, such as "The Oregon Experiment after Twenty Years" -- the program basically had the life bureaucratized out of it, by pushy rich donors and their administrative lapdogs. But this book remains: a shining, inspiring, brilliant description of what we need to do, which any participatory experiment should look at very closely.

Endlich mal Architektur unter funktionalem Gesichtswinkel statt vor allem künstlerischen Gesichtspunkten. Und doch nicht "Funktionale Architektur" im Sinne von Plattenbau.