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Christopher Alexander
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The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth: A Struggle Between Two World-Systems (Center for Environmental Structure, 16) Primera edición

4.1 de 5 estrellas 21 calificaciones
The purpose of all architecture, writes Christopher Alexander, is to encourage and support life-giving activity, dreams, and playfulness. But in recent decades, while our buildings are technically better--more sturdy, more waterproof, more energy efficient-- they have also became progressively more sterile, rarely providing the kind of environment in which people are emotionally nourished, genuinely happy, and deeply contented.
Using the example of his building of the Eishin Campus in Japan, Christopher Alexander and his collaborators reveal an ongoing dispute between two fundamentally different ways of shaping our world. One system places emphasis on subtleties, on finesse, on the structure of adaptation that makes each tiny part fit into the larger context. The other system is concerned with efficiency, with money, power and control, stressing the more gross aspects of size, speed, and profit. This second, "business-as-usual" system, Alexander argues, is incapable of creating the kind of environment that is able to genuinely support the emotional, whole-making side of human life. To confront this sterile system, the book presents a new architecture that we--both as a world-wide civilization, and as individual people and cultures--can create, using new processes that allow us to build places of human energy and beauty. The book outlines nine ways of working, each one fully dedicated to wholeness, and able to support day-to-day activities that will make planning, design and construction possible in an entirely new way, and in more humane ways.
An innovative thinker about building techniques and planning, Christopher Alexander has attracted a devoted following. Here he introduces a way of building that includes the best current practices, enriched by a range of new processes that support the houses, communities, and health of all who inhabit the Earth.
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Diapositiva anterior de detalles del producto
  1. ISBN-10
    0199898073
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0199898077
  3. Edición
    Primera edición
  4. Editorial
    Oxford University Press
  5. Fecha de publicación
    24 Octubre 2012
  6. Idioma
    Inglés
  7. Dimensiones
    9.1 x 7.1 x 1.1 pulgadas
  8. Número de páginas
    520 páginas
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  1. A City is Not a Tree: 50th Anniversary Edition
    Christopher Alexander
     
    Tapa blanda
    US$23.11
    Recíbelo el jueves, 15 de mayo
    Envío GRATIS en pedidos mayores a US$35 enviados por Amazon
  5. Notes on the Synthesis of Form (Harvard Paperbacks)
    Christopher Alexander
     
    Tapa blanda
    US$34.00
    Recíbelo el jueves, 15 de mayo
    Envío GRATIS en pedidos mayores a US$35 enviados por Amazon
  6. The Oregon Experiment (Center for Environmental Structure Series)
    Christopher Alexander
     
    Tapa dura
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    PVPR: US$72.00
    Recíbelo el jueves, 15 de mayo
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"Alexander, again, does what he does so well: in the process of adult argument, weave biology, theology, art appreciation, and geometry, plus cultural call outs from Jung to Fellini, into his tale." - Architect's Newspaper

Biografía del autor

Christopher Alexander's series of groundbreaking books--including The Timeless Way of Building and A Pattern Language--have illuminated fundamental truths of traditional ways of building, revealing what gives life and beauty and true functionality to buildings and towns.

HansJoachim Neis is a Professor of Architecture at the University of Oregon in Portland, and the Director of the Portland Urban Architecture Research Laboratory.

Maggie Moore Alexander serves on the Center for Environmental Structure Board of Directors.

Detalles del producto

  • Editorial ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Primera edición (24 Octubre 2012)
  • Idioma ‏ : ‎ Inglés
  • Tapa dura ‏ : ‎ 520 páginas
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0199898073
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199898077
  • Dimensiones ‏ : ‎ 9.1 x 7.1 x 1.1 pulgadas
  • Opiniones de clientes:
    4.1 de 5 estrellas 21 calificaciones

Sobre el autor

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Christopher Alexander

Christopher Alexander

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For nearly 50+ years Christopher Alexander has challenged the architectural establishment, sometimes uncomfortably, to pay more attention to the human beings at the center of design. To do so he has combined top-flight scientific training, award-winning architectural research, patient observation and testing throughout his building projects, and a radical but profoundly influential set of ideas that have extended far beyond the realm of architecture.

In the process Alexander has authored a series of groundbreaking works, including A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction and The Timeless Way of Building. His most recent publication continues that ground-breaking work, the four-volume book set, The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe, incorporates more than 30 years of research, study, teaching and building. It was described by Laura Miller of the New York Times “the kind of book every serious reader should wrestle with once in a while: [a] fat, challenging, grandiose tract that encourages you to take apart the way you think and put it back together again.”

Alexander was born in Vienna, Austria and raised in Oxford and Chichester, England. He was awarded the top open scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1954, in chemistry and physics, and went on to read mathematics at Cambridge. He took his doctorate in architecture at Harvard (the first Ph.D. in architecture ever awarded at Harvard), and was elected to the society of Fellows at Harvard University in 1961. During the same period he worked at MIT in transportation theory and in computer science, and at Harvard in cognitive science. His pioneering ideas from that time were known to be highly influential in those fields.

Alexander became Professor of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley in 1963, and taught there continuously for 38 years, becoming Professor Emeritus in 2001. He founded the Center for Environmental Structure in 1967, published hundreds of papers and several dozen books, and built more than 200 buildings around the world.

Alexander is widely recognized as the father of the pattern language movement in computer science, which has led to important innovations such as Wiki, and new kinds of Object-Oriented Programming. He is the recipient of the first medal for research ever given by the American Institute of Architects, and he has been honoured repeatedly for his buildings in many parts of the world. He was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1996 for his contributions to architecture, including his groundbreaking work on how the built environment affects the lives of people.

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Opiniones destacadas de los Estados Unidos

  • Sue Ellen Wolcott
    5.0 de 5 estrellas another book that is very much more than the sum of its words
    Calificado en Estados Unidos el 26 de enero de 2013
    Compra verificada
    I am not a professional architect, although when I was young, that was my aim. I could not hope to write a better review than Mr. Mahaffy's about this book. I do, however, own every book Amazon sells (and some they didn't) by Christopher Alexander. They are never-ending sources of wisdom and hope for me. They live on my wisdom shelf, apart from the majority of my thousands of other books, and I turn to them for the sort of deep-seeing that is found in this book. I also find myself near weeping for joy at the depth of seeing, expressed in carefully-chosen words, that reveals the respect for the humans whose lives intertwine with the buildings, and the respect for a building that supports the leading of humane life.

    There are some "experts" who arrogantly assume that they, and they only, know what the rest of us "should" do, but Alexander makes the assumption that we are all experts in our own lives, and that we all have the ability to create truthfully and beautifully. We may lack the skills and processes to do so in the contemporary world, but we do not lack the impetus or talent. The work described in this book, as in his others, is essentially the very detailed equivalent of a sculptor's identifying and removing all the bits of marble that are not The Piéta, of getting deeply in to where the truth and beauty live. In describing the processes, both physical an mental, so minutely, Alexander gives us a blueprint or road map for manifesting our own abilities.

    I am saying this badly, and I'm sorry for that, but so much of what this book gives to me is not-yet-speech-ripe. This book, as have its predecessors, leaves me overwhelmed with joy. Instead of acting individualistically to put another silk suit in their closets, the authors appear to be struggling with how best to cooperate with the structure of the Universe. I can't tell you how very much I hope that many follow them in that undertaking.
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  • David Dennis
    4.0 de 5 estrellas Winning the battle ... but maybe losing the war ...
    Calificado en Estados Unidos el 2 de octubre de 2014
    Compra verificada
    Christopher Alexander's theory that our system of building creates lifeless, cheerless mediocrity seems proven simply by looking around at our buildings as they exist.

    At the same time, most of his problems seem to come from specific situations he faced in this project, which quite honestly seem pretty unique to it. For example, he wanted to start onsite design work before the land purchase was nailed down, by putting flags on the property. Understandably, landowners didn't much like this, and negotiators for the University felt it was disturbing their efforts to keep the price down. They eventually forged a compromise. Hardly the stuff of blood and guts-level fighting between two world views!

    Most of the real fighting was thanks to the unique structure of the project, where he had to deal with a general contractor unsympathetic to the way he preferred to work. The lesson is that if you want to do things his way, have a combined architect/contractor hybrid do the work. In this case, the architect takes the contractor's fee, and can use some of that money to contribute back to the project instead of pay inflated contractor profits. There doesn't seem to be much reason not to do something like this for Alexander-style projects, and that would eliminate nearly all the actual fighting faced by this one.

    The problems I was expecting to see, like regulatory agencies wanting very specific plans, and people misunderstanding his approach, seemed nearly nonexistent. Probably great deference was given to a major school who wanted to design its own campus, but similar behavior might exist for any major real estate developer with a good reputation.

    It is clear, from the numerous examples of feedback from users, that students, teachers and administrators alike love the project and the approach used to design and build it. System-A, whatever its faults, can work brilliantly and be a fantastic success. It takes a lot of work, but it is surely possible to hire Alexander's firm to create your own masterpiece.

    So why hasn't the Alexander-predicted revolution happened? Why hasn't he been able to design more than a handful of buildings since? This is a question he doesn't even ask, and to me, this is the greatest mystery presented by the book - if his approach works so well, why hasn't it spread after he's wrote millions of highly influential and persuasive words on the subject, participated in numerous projects, etc?

    He won the battle over the Eshin campus, but appears to be losing the war.

    Why?
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  • Patrick J. Quinn
    5.0 de 5 estrellas He put it all together
    Calificado en Estados Unidos el 19 de mayo de 2013
    Compra verificada
    Ever since Christopher Alexander produced NOTES TOWARD A SYNTHESIS OF FORM, his publications and lectures have been both provocative and constructively valuable to architects, students and theorists. You cannot be neutral when it comes to his strong, clear positions on questions of architecture. He can antagonize you intellectually, inspire you professionally, or assist you to escape into a different zone of the creative spirit. This reviewer has had both difficult and delightful encounters with Alexander's thoughtful assertions about how and why we should modify our design incursions on this singular planet.
    His latest book, "THE BATTLE for The Life and Beauty of the Earth: A Struggle Between Two World Systems", documents in both technical and philosophical detail the design, construction and occupation of the Eishin School, just outside Tokyo. The book discusses the importance of an approach which is different yet the same; new, yet age-old.
    It incorporates, but not intentionally, some of the most important architectural ideas of the second half of the 20th century. The rift between those who espouse architecture as the making of "place" ( including in their approach everything from preservation of community to historical symbolism to social reform) and those digital formalists who seem to care little for the former has increased in the past few decades. Alexander's school signals a transcendence of both of these and almost everything in between. Having visited the school long before this volume arrived from Amazon, this reviewer confesses to having experienced real pleasure, both sensory and intellectual. I ordered the book as soon as it was announced and I was not disappointed.
    I find it to be both challenging and assuring. Oddly enough there is a spiritual aspect to both the book and the built complex that will probably be difficult for some critics to digest, but if you want to recharge your intellectual batteries, read it.
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  • 001
    4.0 de 5 estrellas Ah ah ! Il existe encore des idéalistes sur cette Terre.
    Calificado en Francia el 17 de marzo de 2018
    Compra verificada
    Oui, l'architecture est un métier mort. Un métier humilié comme dit Jean NOUVEL, donc une légère variante du décès avéré.

    Place aux projets gigantesques, place aux entreprises mondiales de BTP et à leurs filiales immobilières, place aux promoteurs et à leurs banques, place aux intermédiaires de l'ombre dans les antichambres du pouvoir, place à l'armada des ingénieurs spécialistes de tout et de rien, place aux ronds de cuir des administrations dont on ne sait à quoi ils servent puisqu'ils "mandatent" des privés pour faire leur boulot car eux-aussi ne comprennent plus rien aux lois auxquelles ils ont contribué ! (les privés, c'est bien, car on leur dit ce qu'ils doivent faire et on peut leur faire porter le chapeau s'ils se trompent). Place au droit de l'urbanisme à la carte, à la ZAC ou Zone d'Aménagement Concerté - rien de moins concerté ! - en fait privatisation du droit de l'urbanisme par lequel le maire donne les clés de sa ville à ces grands groupes et ne revient qu'une fois le béton coulé pour ajuster les documents d'urbanisme et autres lois locales - a postériori. Donc tout est en ordre puisque les documents qui sont la loi sont dessinés sur la base de ce qui vient d'être construit ! Il y a conformité totale ! En fait, c'est la démission sans appel de l'Etat et des communes ... mais les formes sont respectées, y compris les usages avec arrosages multiples, au propre et au figuré, petits fours, grandes bouffes et photos dans les journaux (vacances aux caraïbes pour les plus chanceux). Quel monde merveilleux. Merci monsieur le Maire, que vous êtes généreux avec vos administrés, merci aux nombreux professionnels qui ont participé, et au premier rang desquels l'architecte, Monsieur L'Architecte si talentueux, si dédié à son projet. ... Mais où est l'architecte ? Avez-vous vu Monsieur L'Architecte ? Monsieur l'Architecte, êtes-vous dans la salle ?
    Il n'est pas dans la salle ! Bon, d'ailleurs, il n'a pas tant participé à ce projet l'architecte, n'est-ce-pas monsieur le promoteur qui avez tout prévu, tout dessiné avec vos commerciaux, et vous monsieur le directeur des travaux dont les équipes avaient déjà tout fabriqué en usine avant qu'on ait la moindre idée de que nous voulions faire construire. Vous êtes de grands professionnels ! Oui, grands...

    Christophe ALEXANDER, prof d'archi américain assez connu là-bas, en retraite maintenant, a principalement enseigné, et accessoirement fait quelques projets pour mettre en oeuvre ses théories. De formation initiale en mathématiques, il est venu à l'architecture sur le tard. Son parcours académique est important car il fonde toute sa carrière et ses écrits. Probablement artiste au fond de lui - c'est comme çà que je le perçois - il a passé sa vie à réfreiner sa "création intérieure" pour tenter de rationaliser, de modéliser, de couper en morceaux tous les composants de l'espace construit pour l'analyser. Un architecte-médecin qui a disséqué l'architecture durant 40 ans pour la mettre à distance de lui, pour tenter de la maîtriser, au moins d'éviter de se faire submerger par sa sensibilité à fleur de peau. Et quand il avait appris sa leçon, analytique, et écrit quelques bouquins, il passait à l'action au travers de projets de bâtiment que des clients un peu allumés lui confiaient.

    Le livre ici "Battle for the life and beauty of the Earth" est le récit du projet le plus important qu'il ait conçu. Une aventure ! L'aventure de l'architecture... face à l'ogre industriel ! Tout çà sur fond de Japon, car cela se passe au Japon, juste l'Océan Pacifique à traverser depuis San Francisco. Mais Japon, USA, Europe, même combat ! L'ennemi est partout.
    J'ai aimé son approche tellement irréaliste, très estudiantine en fait, découvrant en faisant, jusqu'à faire douter le lecteur professionnel sur ses capacités car il n'était pas un débutant dans le job à ce moment là. Pas étonnant que l'entreprise de BTP le traîte de tous les noms d'oiseaux et refuse de le suivre dans ses essais grandeur nature. Et que le client (le board d'une université) représenté par un homme exceptionnel ait eu des moments difficiles aussi.

    Ce qu'il faut retenir du message qu'il veut nous faire passer, à mon sens, est que le facteur humain, le sensible, le fragile, le doute, le préhensible avec la main, la terre, le sable, le bois mais aussi l'espace, le vent, les éléments, sont totalement oubliés, rejetés par la machine capitaliste de nos sociétés actuelles. En apprenti-écologiste de la première heure (écologiste comme un architecte... c'est à dire ne connaissant pas grand chose à la nature en fait), il nous crie que l'inhumain a pris le pouvoir, (en 1985 date approx du livre), que les faiseurs de fric ont kidnappé la planète, notre espace, notre vie en fait. Que l'artisan se meurt, que le monstre industriel prospère. Que l'architecte devient fou devant ce désastre. Et oui, Christopher, vous êtes un peu mystique dans votre approche, quasi religieux sur la fin du livre, mais vous aviez bien compris le massacre en cours déjà il y a 30 ans. Vous avez néanmoins réussi pour une grande partie à faire le projet que vos tripes et votre coeur vous ordonnaient de faire pour le bien de la communauté de cette petite université dans la banlieue de Tokyo. Un projet à échelle humaine, sans artifice, utilisant les matériaux et les techniques locales avec l'aide de maîtres-artisans. Mais à quel prix... des difficultés innommables, des montagnes de problèmes à gravir tous les matins des années durant, les gros-bras du groupe de BTP ont bien failli vous le faire regretter pour longtemps. Bravo pour votre courage ! Et bravo à votre client génial qui est venu vous chercher chez vous, en Californie. Lui aussi, il en a bavé pour faire accepter à ses collègues votre démarche et votre projet. Le quotidien de l'architecte dans le monde entier en fait - pour ceux qui ne sont pas encore morts et qui se battent. Le grand public ne le sait pas assez.

    Jeune homme, jeune femme, étudiant(e) en architecture, vous avez choisi un métier qui n'existe plus. Renoncez tout de suite, ne croyez pas vos profs qui se cachent dans les écoles pour ne pas se confronter à la vraie vie. Eux veulent seulement vous retenir le plus longtemps possible (ah le doctorat, c'est bien le doctorat...) pour être payés à la fin du mois par le ministère. Ou alors, devenez 8ème dan de karaté et battez-vous toute votre vie contre ces "men in black" qui gouvernent le monde et nous fabrique l'enfer sur Terre. Car oui, ALEXANDER nous le dit en anglais, RICCIOTTI en français, l'architecture - pour ce qu'il en reste - est un sport de combat. Et si vous décidez de vivre à l'ombre, de draguer les prof d'archi, pour devenir l'un des leurs, vous perdez votre temps, votre vie peut-être. Prof d'archi, prof de ce qui n'est plus... Donc n'écrivez pas de thèse, d'articles ni de bouquins, car tout le monde s'en fout ! Tout - le - monde - s'en - fout !

    Parlons de ce livre. Le dernier du genre, donc pas utile de refaire le même. Sur l'écriture elle-même (en anglais), c'est totalement indigeste, de très nombreuses répétitions, les mêmes ritournelles qui reviennent à chaque chapitre, comme le lion tournant en rond dans sa cage pour tenter d'oublier son corps emprisonné et libérer son esprit par des rituels. Le livre pourrait ne contenir que la moitié de ses pages qu'il ne perdrait pas grand chose.
    Mais la facilité d'écriture de ce monsieur n'est pas le problème. Il vaut le coup d'être lu, d'abord pour connaitre cet architecte, l'un des derniers des mohicans avec notre Jean NOUVEL national. Mais surtout pour prendre conscience que la beauté ne sauvera plus le monde, et que si nos aînés comprenaient naturellement le langage de la perfection naturelle qui les entourait et qu'ils respectaient en invoquant vertus morales et religions, nos machines, nos fabrications éphémères, nos organisations, nos mondes virtuels et la cupidité généralisée sont nos propres poisons. Discours relativement entendu aujourd'hui, mais pas en 1985. Surtout, Christopher ALEXANDER annonce qu'il n'y a pas d'autre solution que de nous battre à mort contre un système ("system B" dans le livre) qui n'est qu'une erreur de l'évolution récente de l'humanité. Une erreur fatale selon lui. Le ton est grave.

    Pour finir, bien sûr je m'interroge aussi, avec l'auteur, pour savoir si l'architecture n'a pas elle-même participé à ce désastre ? Car oui, le village, la ville sans architecte, c'était bien. Chaque paysan, chaque habitant faisait sa maison avec l'aide de ses compagnons et de quelques maçons et charpentiers. On faisait petit, on faisait aimable, on faisait local. Et depuis l'après-guerre, tout est devenu immense et moche. Les villes sont devenues monstreuses, les batiments des cercueils, les forêts en perdition, les rivières polluées. Des architectes ont participé à ce massacre. Oui, messieurs. Mais je crois que c'est l'ensemble de la société qui a perdu la tête, une sorte de coalition improbable mais oh combien destructrice de l'Etat apprenti-sorcier avec les industriels opportunistes, et aussi chacun dans son coin, tout s'est emballé, le train sans conducteur, la jouissance de la vitesse, de la grandeur, validées par les théories fumeuses et hautement politiques de certains. Politiques et sociales, pour faire du bruit, se justifier, et amuser la galerie sous prétexte de progrès, quand le véritable enjeu était de faire du fric. "Open bar" pour les bétonneurs et leurs clients publics.
    Aujourd'hui, le "green business" nous est vendu comme le nouveau progrès. On plante des salades sur les terrasses. On fait du miel sur le toit de l'Opéra Garnier. On récolte des fraises à la cave. On peut même s'occuper d'un jardin virtuel depuis son écran... contre quelques dollars. On donne même des panneaux solaires aux africains contre leurs minerais. On continue de faire du fric, quoi !
    Mais pendant ce temps, les océans se réchauffent, la forêt canadienne est ruinée par les insectes, l'ours polaire se meurt et les vaches sont folles. Les vaches seulement ? Les consultations en psychiatrie ont augmenté comme jamais auparavant.
    Oui monsieur ALEXANDER, il y a urgence.
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  • dorrisarch
    2.0 de 5 estrellas Opinions and Prejudices do not make for a good information source.
    Calificado en Canadá el 25 de febrero de 2018
    Compra verificada
    Christopher Alexander set the bar so high with "The Timeless Way of Building" and "A Pattern Language" that it has placed my expectations on a very high plain. "The Oregon Experience" and "The Battle" have trickled off into the realms of opinion and prejudice.
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  • K.Hermann
    5.0 de 5 estrellas A worthwhile culmination of the lifelong struggle of Chris Alexander against the dead-hand of contemporary mainstream society.
    Calificado en Reino Unido el 19 de febrero de 2013
    Compra verificada
    "The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth" brings Christopher Alexander's fight for a better world, right into your home. He is showing step by step the joy and frustration experienced over many years, while undertaking his biggest architectural project - A Highschool cum College Campus in Japan. People who already know the many works of Christopher Alexander will find it a fascinating and comprehensive case-study. Finally, towards the end of his fruitful career, Chris Alexander is giving himself permission to address the whole inter-personal and inter-institutional process of undertaking a non-standard "System-A" project. He shares with us in a gentle but powerful way, how the "Immune-System" of the established System-B goes into overdrive and tries to first suppress and eventually kill the "intruders" with their "wrong" ideas and ways. The tensions which are inevitable when a life-giving, healthy approach meets the essentially pathological (bureaucratic, money-centric, disconnected) systems prevalent in Western Society have been present throughout all of Chris Alexander's long career, but in most of his previous books, they are rarely mentioned, and almost never elaborated upon. Up to now Chris Alexander tried to let his creative works speak for themselves. He was always clear about the differences between a life-enriching approach and the deadening hand of image-driven and money-driven systems, but so far he had not been focusing on the actual clash of the systems, and what it means professionally and emotionally for people like him, his colleagues and the clients who were daring to challenge System-B. This is different here. The reader is taken on a fascinating journey, experiencing with Chris and his main client Hosoi the small and big triumphs, as well as the small and big set-backs over several years. The story spans from their first meeting, when Hosoi was desperately seeking an Architect who would work with the Eishin School, rather than against it... through the numerous battles with small and large obstacles endangering the healthy, life-giving process and "wholeness" of the project.... down to the successful completion of the Eishin Campus as a beautiful space, where people can work and live, rejoice and recharge, blow off steam as well as contemplate... A place where life happens in its fullness. The war for Eishin Campus was won eventually, but the Battle goes on...
    It helps to have read some of the key works of Christopher Alexander before. Like "A Pattern Language" and the four Volumes of "The Order of Nature" but it is no prerequisite at all. In fact, people who do not know the works of Chris Alexander well, yet, might find "The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth" an excellent stepping stone into the rich and rewarding world of Christopher Alexander.
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  • Tom Wallace
    3.0 de 5 estrellas Helpful
    Calificado en Reino Unido el 21 de agosto de 2018
    Compra verificada
    A book with a simple message, but eloquently put.
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