A New Theory of Urban Design

by Christopher W. Alexander

The venerable cities of the past, such as Venice or Amsterdam, convey a feeling of wholeness, an organic unity that surfaces in every detail, large and small, in restaurants, shops, public gardens, even in balconies and ornaments. But this sense of wholeness is lacking in modern urban design, with architects absorbed in problems of individual structures, and city planners preoccupied with local ordinances, it is almost impossible to achieve.
In this groundbreaking volume, architect and planner Christopher Alexander presents a new theory of urban design which attempts to recapture the process by which cities develop organically. To discover the kinds of laws needed to create a growing whole in a city, Alexander proposes here a preliminary set of seven rules which embody the process at a practical level and which are consistent with the day-to-day demands of urban development.
He then puts these rules to the test, setting out with a number of his graduate students to simulate the urban redesign of a high-density part of San Francisco, initiating a project that encompassed some ninety different design problems, including warehouses, hotels, fishing piers, a music hall, and a public square. This extensive experiment is documented project by project, with detailed discussion of how each project satisfied the seven rules, accompanied by floorplans, elevations, street grids, axonometric diagrams and photographs of the scaled-down model which clearly illustrate the discussion.
A New Theory of Urban Design provides an entirely new theoretical framework for the discussion of urban problems, one that goes far to remedy the defects which cities have today.

Genres: Architecture, Urban Planning, Design, Nonfiction, Urbanism, Urban Design, Philosophy

Hardcover

First published November 19, 1987

About the author

Christopher Wolfgang John Alexander was an Austrian-born British-American architect and design theorist. He was an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His theories about the nature of human-centered design have affected fields beyond architecture, including urban design, software, and sociology. Alexander designed and personally built over 100 buildings, both as an architect and a general contractor.

In software, Alexander is regarded as the father of the pattern language movement. The first wiki—the technology behind Wikipedia—led directly from Alexander's work, according to its creator, Ward Cunningham. Alexander's work has also influenced the development of agile software development.

In architecture, Alexander's work is used by a number of different contemporary architectural communities of practice, including the New Urbanist movement, to help people to reclaim control over their own built environment. However, Alexander was controversial among some mainstream architects and critics, in part because his work was often harshly critical of much of contemporary architectural theory and practice.

Reviews

[senA · Rating 4 out of 5]

the book starts with introducing the rules to follow in order to achieve a “whole” city. the new theory of urban design is after that wholeness, the feel you get when you’re in an old city. reading the rules was not the best part of the book at all. it even put me off a bit with its technicality. however, i felt that the book, and the title, served its purpose when i saw the rules being realised in the experiment in the next chapter. the experiment made me once again feel amazed by the philosophy behind building- and city-making.

[Kj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing view of the design process - but not as anyone outside academics could possibly practice it. Still, Alexander's ability to break the creativity out of dull process by rewriting the design rules is really remarkable. This was a quick read, but quite thick with concepts.

[Jim Dressner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the books on architecture from the same authors, this book approaches the topic from an unusual perspective and with a focus on process. For instance, the one overriding rule of urban design is that all construction should create wholeness in all aspects of its environment.

A few principles are laid out in the first section, then a case study in San Francisco is the second section, and the last section is a short evaluation. The result of the case study was an interesting urban area, showing that the process can lead to quality design. But as an entire process, it is unrealistic, given current urban & legal realities. Perhaps the book is best seen as a critique of current structures & methods of planning & managing urban areas.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alexander lists seven rules of urban planning and shows examples of projects that show the use of these. The most important is the no quick fix/design rule, which seems to be violated in most of the local building projects, i.e. no public input or feedback.

if you read and understand this book, you will already be an above average urban planner.

For an Alexander project written in great detail see The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth: A Struggle Between Two World-Systems.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decided to set this one aside and return to the library about 1/3 through. No major issues with it, just didn't feel that I needed to keep reading further applications of A Pattern Language right now. I feel like the style of writing tends to feed my overthinking and overplanning tendencies with building and wanted to read more direct instruction like the greehouse book.

[Paul Cloutier · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always with Christopher Alexander, I generally love this book. Though at a few points it drags a little with too much theory, the general thrust of this book is so great and so true about how to think about urban planning and town design. It is short and a very quick read.

[Sriraam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional treatise on the theory of wholeness. A fantastic narrative of a 5 year long experimental project done in San Francisco.

[Yoki Anugerah · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christopher Alexander made his name in the 70s andearly 80s as a challenging radical theorist and practitioner of urban design and architecture. This book is thw conclusion of a series of pieces of writing that set out to clarify his approaches based in the integration of urban spatiality and building details - so space design with architecture. He is, sadly, often characterised as utopian and impractical - but I have architect friends who swear by his work, and we worked successfully with designers of a recent new building at my university to get some of the key elements incorporated; some of the more rigidly utilitarian elements see it as wasteful but it is hard to miss the diversity of place experience and use it has brought about. It may be a highly specialist text, but it is an important one.

[Howard Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I'm neither architect nor urban designer, only a dilettante, I still appreciate the rich and thoughtful philosophy that Alexander champions about how places are made, and how well-made places express the eternal. Read his "Timeless Way of Building."

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing writeup of a class project test of a theory - an attempt to replicate the diverse usability of old-world cities built by use over time through a set of rules and process... beautifully done, to some success in this class project around a theory of additive "wholeness".

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the theory that Alexander and others were exploring in Oregon. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all our buildings and public spaces were beautiful and functional?

[Marwah Alamely]

so good