More than 25 years ago, Christopher Alexander and a group of young architects published A Pattern Language, which was based on their work identifying patterns for designing and building environments that comfort and delight users. This ground-breaking book has become a classic for many in the architectural community. But the book’s density of ideas and lack of supporting graphics made it a tough go for all but the most dedicated readers.
Now, some of those original authors—Max Jacobson and Murray Silverstein—along with architect Barbara Winslow, have written Patterns of Home (The Taunton Press, 2002), a book that brings to life many of the concepts put forward in the earlier book. The authors chose 10 patterns from the original work for the book’s structure, with each chapter focusing on a single pattern. The patterns cover nearly every aspect of designing a house, from “Inhabiting the Site” to “Parts in Proportion” and “Composing with Materials.”
The book weaves highly readable text with lavish photographs of houses as well as floor plans, sketches, and diagrams that illustrate how the authors’ ideas actually work. In fact, the skillful use of graphics is what makes this book more than just another picture book—the graphics make it easy to understand how the ideas behind the pretty pictures can be applied to any design problem.
One of the book’s strengths is in explaining how a house in whole and in its parts can be designed to integrate with its natural setting to the benefit of both. The authors’ approach to such elusive but fundamental aspects of house design as siting, capturing light, and creating indoor/outdoor spaces is both educational and inspiring.
While Patterns of Home is as beautiful as any coffee table style book, it’s also packed with practical information about house design that is useful for professionals and homeowners alike. It’s a book that belongs in every custom home pro’s library.
