Notes on the Christopher Alexander



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Christopher Alexander
Caucasian Dragon Carpet

Christopher Alexander is a prominient American author and rug collector and professor of Architecture. he is famous in Architectural circles for his quote, " “letting the site speak”. I think it fair to say Alexander is more noted as an "architectural theorist " then as an Architect.

If anything Alexander is controversial in both the rug world and in the Architectural field In the famous conversation between Victor Padrón and Nikos A. Salingaros We must remember the scathing aprpraisal of Padrón. "Alexander published three important books about twenty years ago. He argued from within the architectural establishment (being a professor of Architecture at Berkeley) for a more humane architecture, which captures those qualities lost in the buildings of our times. He expected to influence both academic and practicing architects, but did neither. Instead, his books became hits with the counter-culture, who were apparently the only ones sensitive enough to appreciate what he was saying." Ecology and the Fractal Mind in the New Architecture

Then read Dr. Nikos A. Salingaros in Influence On Oriental Carpet Studies and you will start to see the natire of the controversy, "Alexander's architectural writings at the same time develop a philosophy of nature and life. He proposes a more profound connection between nature and the human mind than is presently allowed either in science, or in architecture. Alexander sees the universe as a coherent whole, encompassing feelings as well as inanimate matter. This strongly Taoist viewpoint was first developed in his book: The Timeless Way of Building (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979). To some readers, this is a book on architecture written in a philosophical style; to many others, it is a book on philosophy with architectural examples. A large number of people have embraced the philosophy of the Timeless Way of Building, finding in it universal truths on how man interacts with the world. Brief extracts from the Timeless Way are posted by Heather Duggan. Towards the end of his life, the philosopher and teacher J. J. Krishnamurti enjoyed having sections from the Timeless Way read to him each evening." Influence On Oriental Carpet Studies

American author and rug collector and professor of Architecture.
Caucasian Dragon Carpet
Influence On Oriental Carpet Studies By Dr. Nikos A. Salingaros, mathematician and architectural theorist.
Alexander, Christopher. A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art. New York: 1993.
Christopher Alexander, Notes on the Synthesis of Form (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1964).
Christopher Alexander, "A City is Not a Tree", Architectural Forum 122 April (1965): No. 1, pages 58-61 and No. 2, pages 58-62. (Reprinted in: Design After Modernism, Edited by John Thackara, Thames and Hudson, London, 1988; and in: Human Identity in the Urban Environment, Edited by G. Bell and J. Tyrwhitt, Penguin, 1992).
C. Alexander, S. Ishikawa, M. Silverstein, M. Jacobson, I. Fiksdahl-King and S. Angel, A Pattern Language (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977).
C. Alexander, H. Neis, A. Anninou and I. King, A New Theory of Urban Design (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).
Christopher Alexander, The Nature of Order (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
Review - Notes on the Synthesis of Form
Book that Changed my Life by Roger Evans
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. by Nikos Salingaros
Review: A Pattern of Language by Stewart Brand

Alexander, Christopher. A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art . New York: 1993.

I looked at this book and decided that Alexander seemed a little too far out to spend my money. Maybe I am just not bright enough to get his points.

EAP: Book Review of \A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art: The Color and Geometry of Very Early Turkish Carpets.\

"His text is somewhat more questionable, profoundly moving in his philosophy in the introductory parts, he unfortunately moves into a theory that, I am sure, no carpet knotter ever bothered with while making these masterpieces. He mentions in a footnote that it is likely that most of the rugs were woven by women -- a well known fact. However, throughout the body of the text he uses the generic "he" and refers to them as Sufi weavers. Since few women have ever been spoken of as Sufis, this tends to mislead." Jan Haag, 21st Century Art, C.E - B. C.>

From the Publisher:

A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art
The Color and Geometry of Very Early Turkish Carpets
CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER

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.
Readers will see a 13th-century Seljuk Carpet with Dragons, a 15th-century Animal Carpet, a scarlet-niched Transylvanian Prayer Rug, a turquoise Lattice Carpet from Alcaraz, a 16th-century blue Medallion Keyhole Design from Bergama, a rare 16th-century White Field Bird Carpet, the dazzling color and brilliant geometry of a 15th-century Karapinar with Three Gulls, and perhaps Alexander's favorite, a 15th-century Star Karapinar with Flowers (whose designs he describes as "the high point of all Sufi art, the state of liberation, in which the artist is so free, that he is able to be completely natural"). In addition, Alexander elaborates on his theory that these carpets teach structure to artists and architects through the beauty of their form.

This lavishly produced volume makes an important contribution to the world of rug scholarship. Equally important, Alexander's thoughtful meditations on these pieces will fascinate the many architects, artists, and planners who follow his work.

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About the Author: Christopher Alexander, winner of the first medal for research ever awarded by the American Institute of Architects, is an architect and builder who has built in many countries. He is also Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of the Center for Environmental Structure.

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352 pp.; 80 color, 50 b/w plates; 8-1/4 x 12; 0-19-520866-8
https://www.oup-usa.org/isbn/0195208668.html