Product Description: "The Emperor Has No Clothes" is an old adage, but, in the sad case of Deconstructivism, it is absolutely appropriate, as Deconstructivism is really nothing more than Modernism in a new guise. Modernists, notably the Bauhäusler, aimed for the clean slate, jettisoning everything that went before...read more

Product Description: This book gives a concise yet comprehensive overview of Tunisia’s political and economic development from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Written specifically for a non-specialist audience, the book examines the factors that make Tunisia one of the Arab world’s most stable and prosperous countries and one of its hardiest authoritarian orders...read more

Product Description: In Book 3 of this four-volume work, Alexander presents hundreds of his own buildings and those of other contemporaries who have used methods consistent with the theory of living process.Nearly seven hundred pages of projects, built and planned in many countries over a thirty-year period, illustrate the impact of living process on the world...read more

Product Description: The foundations of modern scientific thought, four centuries old, are firmly rooted in a conception that the universe is a machinelike entity, a play of baubles, -machines, trinkets. Quantum mechanics and biology have begun to change this way of thinking, but even to this day, our real daily experience of ourselves as we actually are, has no clear place in science...read more

Product Description: What is happening when a place in the world has life? And what is happening when it does not? In Book 1 of this four-volume work, Alexander describes a scientific view of the world in which all space-matter has perceptible degrees of life, and sets this understanding of living structure as an intellectual basis for a new architecture...read more

The processes of nature can make an infinite number of human faces, each one unique, each one beautiful. The same is true for daffodils, streams, and stars. But man-made creations-especially the towns and buildings of the 20th century-have only occasionally been really good, more often mediocre, and in the last 50 years have very often been deadly. What is the reason for the difference?In Book 2, Alexander explains in detail the kinds of process that are capable of generating living structure. The unfolding of living structure in natural systems is compared to the unfolding of buildings and town plans in traditional society, and then contrasted with present-day building processes.The comparison reveals deep and shocking problems which pervade the present day planning and construction of buildings. Pervasive changes are needed to create a world in which living process-and hence living structure-are possible; these are changes which are ultimately attainable only through a transformation of society.It is the use of sequences which makes it possible for each building to become unique, exactly fitted to its context, and harmonious. And it is also this use of sequences which makes it possible for people to participate effectively in the layout of their own buildings and communities."This will change the world as effectively as the advent of printing changed the world . . ."-Doug Carlston, Silicon Valley luminary and former president of BroderbundChristopher Alexander is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, architect, builder, and author of many books and technical papers. He is the winner of the first medal for research ever awarded by the American Institute of Architects.

Product Description: This well-illustrated text teaches the basic skills needed to read, study, and understand construction drawings. It features a detailed analysis of a set of residential plans. Pictorial drawings accompany orthographic plan drawings to help students visualize the meaning of the plan drawing...read more

A renowned architect offers an original, innovative vision for a museum to house Henry VIII's great warship, the Mary Rose, that combines respect for nature and the past with the architecture and technology of the future.

Product Description: Christopher Alexander owns what many now believe to be the finest collection of early Turkish carpets in the western world, with perhaps half being the only specimens of their kind anywhere. In this richly illustrated, oversized volume--featuring four hundred illustrations, eighty in full color--Alexander takes readers on an engaging tour of his fabulous collection...read more

Suggests a new approach to urban design in which cities grow more organically, provides a set of seven basic principles, and offers an experimental redesign of a section of San Francisco

Product Description: As an innovative thinker about building and planning, Christopher Alexander has attracted a devoted following. His seminal books--The Timeless Way of Building, A Pattern Language, the Oregon Experiment, and The Linz Cafe--defined a radical and fundamently new process of environmental design...read more

This introductory volume to Alexander's other works, A Pattern of Language and The Oregon Experiment, explains concepts fundamental to his original approaches to the theory and application of architecture

Two hundred and fifty-three archetypal patterns consisting of problem statements, discussions, illustrations, and solutions provide lay persons with a framework for engaging in architectural design

Details the master architectural design plan currently being implemented at the University of Oregon, illustrating the participation of all members of a small community in the designing of their own environment