A Pattern Language.....

A story of many patterns, a new language for building and planning; elements of design to solve problems in our environment. That is "A Pattern Language" by Christopher Alexander (Oxford University Press, 1977) in a nutshell. I can clearly remember when I was introduced to this book in my third year at University of Georgia. Our new professor was appalled that we hadn't the slightest clue that this book existed. This book provides insight into city planning, neighborhoods and homes. It touches upon the proper balance for healthy communities and happy homes. So, this book was the basis for planning our house. We tried to incorporate as many patterns as possible, "to make buildings which are poems".

I'll be posting areas of our house plan soon and highlight some of the patterns.

Pattern #76 House for a small family - "In a house for a small family, it is the relationship between children and adults which is most critical. Realize that this pattern is different from the way most small family homes are made today. For example, a popular current conception... is a suburban two part house: sleeping and commons. Even though there is a "master bedroom" the sleeping part of the house is essentially one thing- the children are all around the master bedroom. The couple's realm is a territory which sustains them as two adults. The children come in and out of this territory, but when they are there, they are clearly in the adults's world. The children's world must be looked upon as territory that they share. The critical feature is not that adults are excluded but that, when they are in this world, they are in children's territory. The common area contains those functions that the children and the adults share: eating together, sitting together, games, gardening. Therefore: Give the house three distinct parts: a realm for the parents, a realm for the children, and a common area. Conceive these three realms as roughly similar in size, with the commons the largest". This pattern helped create an idea on how we should place our bedrooms and our common areas. Our last bedroom was easily accessible and was not very private and I wanted to be sure we had a little sanctuary of our own. Using Pattern #138 Sleeping to the East, we placed the bedrooms so they all get morning light. This pattern is based upon our biological clocks and our natural sleep rhythms. I'm not a morning person and I need all the help I can get, so this pattern is pretty important. The boy's rooms are upstairs in their own world and Pattern #143 Bed Cluster is used here. Our boys prefer to share a room, but need their own private space, as well. We will try to incorporate a common area for them to share, but create an alcove of their own. On my next post, I'll write about their common area, child caves and secret places we have planned...

Briana