A "pattern language" for landscapes

Article rewritten November 2007

The term "pattern language" was first used (to my knowledge) by architect Christopher Alexander and his team at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was professor of architecture during the 1970's. Alexander created a system for thinking about the design and layout of space, from cities down to individual buildings, dealing with mostly with spatial form and layout (www.patternlanguage.com). The use of patterns, particularly through zoning, is also prevalent in permaculture thinking, as espoused by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren during the late 1970's.

I find Alexander's work more influential in my thinking than virtually any other architect or designer I can think of, not just because of what he says (I don't agree with all of it) but how he says it. Each thought or chapter deals with a specific point, yet each one interlinks with others of an appropriate nature, to make chains, or patterns of thought on a subject that can be read through to give a cohesive understanding to a situation.

Whilst I have never been too fond of permaculture, I find my thinking increasingly converges with it in a number of areas, specifically on “whole system thinking”. To that end, I can no longer think of garden design in isolation from issues such as global warming, energy decline or social wellbeing. To work in isolation, thinking only of the beauty of the garden and see no connection to the wider events of life, is to willingly bury one's head in the sand, and is symptomatic of the self-obsessed side of human nature. Continuing in such a manner will lead to chaos and rapid disintegration of modern society once energy decline becomes a daily reality (see article on energy decline).

In this light, it's time for the human race to smarten up rapido and face what's coming. This is an opportunity for us all to switch our thinking to a wiser, holistic outlook with a more subtle understanding of life processes. I actually think that this may never happen whilst we live in an age of abundant energy, as easy living makes us all rather lazy and less intelligent. The more we depend on technology, the less we think and reason for ourselves. Increasing dependence on the use of gadgets lulls us slowly into an intellectual coma. Current political and economic thought patterns keep us locked into a consumerist cul-de-sac and society ends up powerless to help itself.

If holistic thinking is the antidote, then it needs an operating method, and organic, interlinked, non-linear pattern language could be it. Natural systems work in small clusters, in interconnected free-form manner, which nonetheless are responses to natural rhythms, cycles and order. Human linear thinking based on energy input and profitable output, is literally two-dimensional and so of little use in facing the coming challenges.

With any crisis comes opportunity, and there is no better time than now for us all to really step back and think about how we relate to the world, how we affect it, and visa versa. In this context, pattern language gives us the tools, or the rationale, with which to build a new society based within the confines of a perpetually diminishing energy supply. Patterns of nature run in cyclical form, endlessly reprocessing the same, finite material around for re-use. The only new input available to us is from solar gain or thermal energy - there is no other source of energy. Once we grasp this fundamental reality, cyclic thinking and design not only makes sense, it becomes essential. We have the tools to work with, if only we have the will.

Alexander's work may be the only such language available to us at the moment (at least, with that conscious title) but I'm sure that others will arise. His work has had a big influence, not just in the world of (mostly alternative) architecture, but also in other fields, such as computer programming. I think it is important to emphasis that using a pattern language is, to my mind, a thought process that leads to an understanding of a situation, which leads one to find a solution, rather than set of instructions to solve a problem.

To that end I have been writing a set of landscape “design notes”, with which everyone can design their own solutions to their own, specific situations. My design notes started out dealing with the psychology of space and layout in a garden, but are increasingly being adapted to include sustainability and wider community connections, etc.

A few of these notes are posted here for your interest and comment. See main listing.