We define organic order as the kind of order that is achieved when there is a perfect balance between the needs of the parts, and the needs of the whole. Christopher Alexander achievebalancedefine Change image and share on social
Once you understand this way, you will be able to make your room alive; you will be able to design a house together with your family; a garden for your children; places where you can work; beautiful terraces where you can sit and dream. Christopher Alexander alivebeautifulchild share on social
But in practice master plans fail - because they create totalitarian order, not organic order. They are too rigid; they cannot easily adapt to the natural and unpredictable changes that inevitably arise in the life of a community. Christopher Alexander adaptarisecommunity share on social
It is not possible to make great buildings, or great towns, beautiful places, places where you feel yourself, places where you feel alive, except by following this way. And, as you will see, this way will lead anyone who looks for it to buildings which are themselves as ancient in their form, as the trees and hills, and as our faces are. Christopher Alexander aliveancientbeautiful share on social
Drawings help people to work out intricate relationships between parts. Christopher Alexander drawingintricatepart Change image and share on social
Images in the 20th century had a unique power where image became divorced from reality, and often more important than reality... Buildings were judged - at least by members of our own profession - more by the way they looked in magazines than by the satisfaction people felt when using them. Christopher Alexander 20thbuildingcentury share on social
Speaking as a builder, if you start something, you must have a vision of the thing which arises from your instinct about preserving and enhancing what is there... If you're working correctly, the feeling doesn't wander about. Christopher Alexander arisebuildercorrectly share on social
In an organic environment, every place is unique, and the different places also cooperate, with no parts left over, to create a global whole - a whole which can be identified by everyone who is part of it. Christopher Alexander cooperatecreateenvironment share on social
There are some geologists involved with prospecting for oil and other hidden resources who can pick up a rock and say, 'Yes, there's oil under there.' A geologist who has been studying those kinds of rocks for 10 or 20 years is able to make that pronouncement. Christopher Alexander geologisthideinvolve share on social
In short, no pattern is an isolated entity. Each pattern can exist in the world only to the extent that is supported by other patterns: the larger patterns in which it is embedded, the patterns of the same size that surround it, and the smaller patterns which are embedded in it. Christopher Alexander embedentityexist share on social