Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T18:23:10.544Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The structure of pattern languages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2008

Nikos A. Salingaros
Affiliation:
Division of MathematicsUniversity of Texas at San AntonioSan AntonioTX 78249, USA

Abstract

Pattern languages help us tackle the complexity of a variety of systems ranging from computer software, to buildings and cities. Each ‘pattern’ represents a rule governing one working piece of a complex system, and the application of pattern languages can be done systematically. Design that wishes to connect to human beings needs the information contained in a pattern language. This paper describes how to validate existing pattern languages, how to develop them, and how they evolve. The connective geometry of urban interfaces is derived from the architectural patterns of Christopher Alexander.

Type
Theory
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, C. (1964). Notes on the Synthesis of Form, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Alexander, C. (1965). ‘A City is Not a Tree’ in Architectural Forum, vol. 122, 04, No. 1, pp. 5861 and No.2, pp. 58–62. [Reprinted in: Design After Modernism, John Thackara, ed., Thames & Hudson, London, 1988, PP. 67–84].Google Scholar
Alexander, C. (1979). The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M., Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I. and Angel, S. (1977). A Pattern Language, Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Coplien, J. O. and Schmidt, D., Ed. (1995). Pattern Languages of Program Design, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Dovey, K. (1990). ‘The Pattern Language and its Enemies’ in Design Studies, vol. 11. pp. 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Droege, P., Ed. (1997). Intelligent Environments, Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Fathy, H. (1973). Architecture for the Poor, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gabriel, R. (1996). Patterns of Software, Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R. and Vlissides, J. (1995). Design Patterns, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Graham, S. and Marvin, S. (1996). Telecommunications and the City, Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Mesarovic, M. D., Macko, D. and Takahara, Y. (1970). Theory of Hierarchical Multilevel Systems, Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Miller, G. A. (1956). ‘The Magical Number Seven Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information’ in The Psychological Review, vol. 63, pp. 8197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newman, P. and Kenworthy, J. (1999). Sustainability and Cities, Island Press, Washington D.C.Google Scholar
Passioura, J. B. (1979). ‘Accountability, Philosophy, and Plant Physiology’ in Search (Australian Journal of Science), vol. 10, no. 10, pp. 347350.Google Scholar
Salingaros, N. A. (1998). ‘Theory of the Urban Web’ in Journal of Urban Design, vol. 3, pp. 5371. [Earlier version published electronically by Resource for Urban Design Information in 1997 <http://rudi.herts.ac.uk/rudiments/urbanweb/urbanweb.htm>]CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salingaros, Nikos (1999). ‘Architecture, Patterns, and Mathematics’ in Nexus Network Journal, vol. 1 (Casalini Libri, Florence, Italy) to appear in 1999. Electronic version available from http://www.math.utsa.edulsphere/salingar/ArchMath.htmlCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salingaros, N. A. (2000). ‘Hierarchical Cooperation in Architecture, and the Mathematical Necessity for Ornament’ in Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, vol. 17, pp. [[to appear]Google Scholar
Steen, L. A. (1988). ‘The Science of Patterns’ in Science, vol. 240, pp. 611616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stringer, P. (1975). ‘The Myths of Architectural Creativity’ in Architectural Design, vol. 45, pp. 634635.Google Scholar
West, B. J. and Deering, B. (1995). The Lure of Modern Science, World Scientific, Singapore.CrossRefGoogle Scholar