A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction: 2 (Center for Environmental Structure Series) Hardcover – Illustrated, 17 Aug. 1978

I've just bought the 10th copy of this book.......Someone gave it to me more than 10 yrs ago, recommending it as their favorite book - and I find that I read and re-read it all the time and I'm always recommending it and sending it to people. Whether youre interested in architecture or not this is a fascinating book, its written in very short chapters that cross reference and link up back and forwards across the book meaning that every time you pick it up you follow a different thread, sometimes into the realms of town planning and sometimes into hand building your own house and all points in-between.Christopher Alexander introduces us to a wide variety of the simple formulas that make a house into an excellent living space and demonstrates why some interior spaces are successful and why some fail. It's both enlightening and practical, I highly recommend it.

Bought this book on a recommendation from a friend as I am in the process of designing a self-build house. I'm so glad I read this. Despite the fact that it was written in the 70's, it is still full of relevant, practical, thought provoking and wonderful advice and ideas for anyone involved in building design. All the advice is focused on making the spaces where we live better for us and not about making design statements. Loved the unusual structure of the book, the ratings for each of the "patterns" and the surprisingly poetic way it is written. What I really appreciated is great design advice about things I couldn't find in any of the self-build magazines, for example, where to put your building on your plot to the best height for your window sills.

If you're studying architecture, I highly recommend either grabbing a copy of this or looking through it in the library. I found it useful for a studio project to use this as my starting point.

Fast delivery, good quality, very happy.

I really wanted this to be a stunning book. Certainly many of the "patterns" that are presented make perfect sense. The patterns often articulate things that you already know at a subconscious level, so there are lots of "oh, of course!" moments (in a good way). I got a *lot* from the building patterns themselves.What it really, really needs, though, is updating for the 21st century. The construction section, in particular, is laughably out of date. It suggests avoiding the use of wood as a construction material because it's such a scarce and expensive resource. It talks about building vaulted structures out of resign reinforced burlap and lightwateight aggregate concrete. Good luck getting building regs to sign off on that. Basically, it's probably safe to ignore the entire section on construction.The format really need updating. It's a small, very thick book with thin pages. If the pages were twice the size, there'd be room for more pictures (which would also be an opportunity to update the hideous, unclear black-and-white examples presently used), while allowing better quality paper and a thinner volume.Finally, it's too expensive. I rarely begrudge paying for books, but this is unquestionably overpriced in my opinion. It should be at most half the current price given its age, the poor quality of pics, and the complete lack of updates in the 35 years since it was published.

One of, if not the, greatest works on urban design and planning ever written - despite the appalling mini-sketches. A must for anyone working in this field.

Superb price, superb book. I thought I was buying a used copy at that price, but it was brand new!

all fine thanks