📚 node [[reading club]]
⥅ node [[reading-alexander]] pulled by user

Reading Alexander

[[2021-05-26]]

  • I read what we agreed to read :)
  • proposal: design a space following the example in the introductory material? 10-20 patterns combined.
    • [[xxxv]] for example
    • [[xxxviii]] for [[procedure]]
    • [[code]] a generator?
      • fit between patterns seems represented by recommended patterns at higher and lower level?
    • [[armengol]] some problems perhaps
      • we need to imagine a need for building something? what would be the context for the exercise?
  • [[andreas]]
    • would probably recommend people just go to [[a pattern language]] directly, it seems to be self-contained
    • did something with [[a pattern language]] ~1y ago
    • it just seems like previous reading wouldn't help learning how to write your own patterns?
      • [[jonathan]] what would you recommend?
      • the ideological component sometimes doesn't resonate; the patterns themselves, which can be used and changed regardless of ideology, seem more generally useful.
    • [[simon]] this is framed as one big project (the three books). what's interesting: there is some goal of trying to provide a set of tools to shape one's environment.
      • [[notsof]] could almost be computed by a machine
      • whereas [[apl]] is very much grounded
      • topic: what is [[timeless]] and [[beautiful]]. how the environment shapes us as much as we shape the environment.
      • the weakest patterns are the strongly [[utilitarian]]. the stronger ones are "spiritual"
      • some contradictions between patterns
        • he loves dense cities and lively areas
        • but he wants height limits and only building on 50% of the area
      • units per building
      • in a contemporary context a lot of the patterns are very difficult to achieve
      • aside: would be interesting to model fit/misfit between patterns even as we swap in/out some of them
    • pattern: [[filtered light]]
      • mentions how the perception of light gets softened if it's filtered; less high contrast, which is a nice quality. for living spaces softness is nice.
      • film makers think it makes objects more lively: e.g. leaves casting moving shadows.
      • third reason: speculative. stimulates us biologically (?)
        • could be socialized aesthetics instead.
      • when planning windows, this pattern is recommended.
  • [[armengol]]
    • pattern: [[window place]]
      • thought about this pattern within his home
      • previous place had an obviously amazing view -- you could see the [[sagrada familia]]
      • [[zen view]] is mentioned as related to this pattern, though, and it relates with something interesting that happened in the old place. the view was [[normalized]]. it became part of the background; like alexander says.
      • now have to go to a specific place to look at a view now.
    • [[q]] when trying to differentiate between the list of patterns
  • [[jonathan]]
    • [[four stories limit]]
      • ideology aside: main thing that bothered me in general. trying to justify things as [[natural]].
      • "want to find a pattern that looks ridiculous"
      • in zurich: like [[hardau]] towers
      • some justification for this pattern has to do with mental health issues
      • people who live in high rises are less likely to go out into the world
      • feeling connected to the city life
      • [[andreas]] it seems very opinionated, it depends on one's preferences. you might not care about the misfits and have fits with your lifestyle.
      • [[simon]] four floors doesn't seem high density enough for city life. attitude towards skyrises changes a lot across cultures. singapore for example has a very different disposition towards them.
        • most sustainable density is about six floors.
        • the most antisocial aspect of high rises is to have parking-lot-to-living-floor.
        • isolation in high rises is a big problem though.
      • [[andreas]] there is a huge grey area between four floors and high rises
        • zurich proposed having public rooftops and bike lanes between them
  • [[simon]]
    • [[bus stop]]
      • liked: both describing a set of objects and activity/life that emerges around those objects
      • "if the knit together" the system is a good one
      • view things like traffic lights as items of public living
  • [[alice]]
    • [[interior windows]]
    • [[pedestrian street]]
      • social glue in society
      • streets that are "too wide" are antisocial -- but of course nowadays with covid-19 that might be outdated
  • [[eduardo]]

[[2021-05-12]]

  • [[ttwob]]
  • [[lorand]]
    • found himself reading in a less analytical way
    • [[armengol]]
      • the structure itself seems to encourage this
      • "I need to read it fast" yields a different kind of reading too, perhaps
    • [[lorand]] some pieces seem to be a bit rough. but interesting questions
      • the observation that people feel calm in nature -> homogeneity in aesthetics
      • ad hoc/rushed at the end: processes for using patterns for differentiation of space. differentiation vs accumulation
      • some vagueness
    • a bit tragic perhaps: towards the end, neighbors working together to make their houses beautiful. seemed a bit utopian in a modernist sense.
  • a [[pattern]] has a [[context]], a [[problem]] and a [[solution]] that resolves the set of conflicting forces.
  • embodiment as crucial vs the software patterns
  • [[kowloon walled city]]
  • [[tokyo 1960]]
  • [[wabi sabi]]
  • [[lorand]]

[[april]]

[[2021-03-17]]

[[2021-02-28]]

⥅ node [[reading-clubs]] pulled by user empty.
⥅ node [[reading-protopoi]] pulled by user

Reading Protopoi

📖 stoas
⥱ context
⥅ related node [[agora reading club]]
⥅ related node [[protopoi reading club]]