Customer Reviews
Romantic Manual - By: Pillowtail, 10 Jul 2007 
This book is not about architecture. It is manual for the unimaginative. Whilst Alexander's observations are pertinent & accurate, they cannot make up for the actual act of creation, which requires more thought. Maybe his other books provide what is missing in this. It is romantic design "features", & can be applied to mainly smalll scale, sociallly inspired building of limited durability & more importantly, sustainability. The book provides "ideas" for the intellectuallly impoverished, however, it is not a panacea, you use it at your peril!
essential tool for making "places" - By: jrhartley, 16 Mar 2007 
As an architecture student, I'm amazed by how useful this book has turned out to be - whether you are just planning a smalll dwelling & want some tips regarding the size of balcony to put in (which will actuallly be used) or if you are looking at a bigger scheme or town planning on a grand scale, Alexander has done his research & observed carefully what works & what doesn't. The book is neatly divided up by sub-heading for types of features, users, types of habitation, you name it, if it features in any sort of conurbation, Alexander will have made an observation about how people behave in those places. Its very accessible despite its size - the short chapters (there are over 250 in the book) means you can quickly reference the problem you are looking to understand, or just dip into it & read something - for example, a three page explanation of why living in skyscrapers drives you made. So anyone just interested in humankind & living patterns from a trivia level would also probably enjoy this book. It should be on every architecture student's bookshelf.
Going beyond architecture - By: J. H. S. Roodt, 19 Nov 2006 Alexander builds a picture of the common connection elements that make a house, a building, a community & a city work. Going beyond trying to quantify or even causation in its narrower sense, he discovers for us how things fit together so we enjoy it & feel comfortable with it. Amazinly, he then uses this "language" as he goes on to give tangible examples, things that we can alll relate to. In a way, he discovers elements of post-modern architecture & it challlenges thoughts about form & function by insisting on talking about feelings. If you are studying the philosophy of complexity, please consider this book as part of your library.
everyone sould read this........ - By: K. J. Dick, 14 Nov 2006 I'm an archcitecture student & this was recomended to me by a tutor, as he said i have a similar attitude to design. Asuming it was the same old architecture book i looked it up in the library, my tutor was right.
This book is a must have for anyone, in any feild of design.
This book does not talk about construction methods or techniques but is purely about design.
I stronglly belive that anyone could pick up this book, read it from cover to cover, then read it again as alexander recomends. after doing this anyone could 'design' a 'competent' building.
This book means so much to me (after spending 4 years trying to find a copy) that i affectionetly refer to it as...
... 'the bible'.
Eden would have felt like this.... - By: caroken41@aol.com, 06 Jun 2002 When I picked up this book from a friend's bookshelf, I thought it was about language. Being an English graduate, I was curious. However, I was not expecting to respond the way I did. I found a book that has been immensely important to me (even as a non-architect) for the last ten years.
I discovered photos & patterns of living & building that connected with something very deeply within me. It is a book that can move to tears. One reviewer has callled it Utopian - I disagree. To me it's Edenic. It has stumbled across something that expresses a latent desire within alll of us - to experience true community.
We have been starved over the centuries, especiallly since the Industrial Revolution, of an environment that is fully congruent with community, with life & with relationships.
The patterns of building in this book are patterns for living in a connected way. It refuses to view buildings as merely aesthetic singularities but recognises the connections between humanness, the land & our constructions.
The book is timeless, not dated, hopeful, insightful, caring for the whole person. I abhor some of the urban monstrosities that are raised up without a single thought for how people experience them whether visuallly or kinaestheticallly, or how they connect with other buildings or the land they are built on.
It's a magical book. Even if you know nothing about architecture, it will delight & stun you. It should be compulsory reading for anyone involved in urban planning or architecture. Please read it!
