author_facet Gabriel, Richard
Quillien, Jenny
Gabriel, Richard
Quillien, Jenny
author Gabriel, Richard
Quillien, Jenny
spellingShingle Gabriel, Richard
Quillien, Jenny
Urban Science
A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
author_sort gabriel, richard
spelling Gabriel, Richard Quillien, Jenny 2413-8851 MDPI AG http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/urbansci3020064 <jats:p>Beauty. Christopher Alexander’s prolific journey in building, writing, and teaching was fueled by a relentless search for Beauty and its meaning. While all around him the world was intent on figuring out how to simplify, Alexander came to embrace complexity as the only path to his goal. The Beauty and life of that which he encountered and appreciated—an Indian village, a city, a subway network, an old Turkish carpet, or a campus—lay in its well-ordered complexity. As a designer and maker he found that simplicity came from choosing—at every step—the simplest way to add the necessary complexity. The failure of so much of our modern world, in Alexander’s eyes, was oversimplification, wantonly bulldozing context, misunderstanding the relationships of part and whole, ignoring the required role of time in the shaping of shapes, and ultimately dismissing, like Esau, our birthright of Value in favor of a lentil pottage of mere Fact. Ever elusive, Beauty demands of her suitors a constant return of attention to see what might be newly revealed, and Alexander duly returned again and again in pursuit of the mystery. In this essay—essentially biographical and descriptive of one man’s endeavors—we examine the full arc of his work from dissertation to most recent memoir. We don’t shy away from his failures, and we don’t simplify his journey. We leave work done by other scholars for another day. We reach no conclusion, rather, we invite readers to reflect on what Alexander’s lifelong effort suggests to them about their own path, their own sense of aesthetics and order, innate cognitive shortfalls, and professional blind alleys.</jats:p> A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander Urban Science
doi_str_mv 10.3390/urbansci3020064
facet_avail Online
Free
format ElectronicArticle
fullrecord blob:ai-49-aHR0cDovL2R4LmRvaS5vcmcvMTAuMzM5MC91cmJhbnNjaTMwMjAwNjQ
id ai-49-aHR0cDovL2R4LmRvaS5vcmcvMTAuMzM5MC91cmJhbnNjaTMwMjAwNjQ
institution DE-Gla1
DE-Zi4
DE-15
DE-Pl11
DE-Rs1
DE-105
DE-14
DE-Ch1
DE-L229
DE-D275
DE-Bn3
DE-Brt1
DE-D161
DE-Zwi2
imprint MDPI AG, 2019
imprint_str_mv MDPI AG, 2019
issn 2413-8851
issn_str_mv 2413-8851
language English
mega_collection MDPI AG (CrossRef)
match_str gabriel2019asearchforbeautyastrugglewithcomplexitychristopheralexander
publishDateSort 2019
publisher MDPI AG
recordtype ai
record_format ai
series Urban Science
source_id 49
title A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_unstemmed A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_full A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_fullStr A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_full_unstemmed A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_short A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_sort a search for beauty/a struggle with complexity: christopher alexander
url http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/urbansci3020064
publishDate 2019
physical 64
description <jats:p>Beauty. Christopher Alexander’s prolific journey in building, writing, and teaching was fueled by a relentless search for Beauty and its meaning. While all around him the world was intent on figuring out how to simplify, Alexander came to embrace complexity as the only path to his goal. The Beauty and life of that which he encountered and appreciated—an Indian village, a city, a subway network, an old Turkish carpet, or a campus—lay in its well-ordered complexity. As a designer and maker he found that simplicity came from choosing—at every step—the simplest way to add the necessary complexity. The failure of so much of our modern world, in Alexander’s eyes, was oversimplification, wantonly bulldozing context, misunderstanding the relationships of part and whole, ignoring the required role of time in the shaping of shapes, and ultimately dismissing, like Esau, our birthright of Value in favor of a lentil pottage of mere Fact. Ever elusive, Beauty demands of her suitors a constant return of attention to see what might be newly revealed, and Alexander duly returned again and again in pursuit of the mystery. In this essay—essentially biographical and descriptive of one man’s endeavors—we examine the full arc of his work from dissertation to most recent memoir. We don’t shy away from his failures, and we don’t simplify his journey. We leave work done by other scholars for another day. We reach no conclusion, rather, we invite readers to reflect on what Alexander’s lifelong effort suggests to them about their own path, their own sense of aesthetics and order, innate cognitive shortfalls, and professional blind alleys.</jats:p>
container_issue 2
container_start_page 0
container_title Urban Science
container_volume 3
format_de105 Article, E-Article
format_de14 Article, E-Article
format_de15 Article, E-Article
format_de520 Article, E-Article
format_de540 Article, E-Article
format_dech1 Article, E-Article
format_ded117 Article, E-Article
format_degla1 E-Article
format_del152 Buch
format_del189 Article, E-Article
format_dezi4 Article
format_dezwi2 Article, E-Article
format_finc Article, E-Article
format_nrw Article, E-Article
_version_ 1792343601962811405
geogr_code not assigned
last_indexed 2024-03-01T16:54:18.408Z
geogr_code_person not assigned
openURL url_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fvufind.svn.sourceforge.net%3Agenerator&rft.title=A+Search+for+Beauty%2FA+Struggle+with+Complexity%3A+Christopher+Alexander&rft.date=2019-06-16&genre=article&issn=2413-8851&volume=3&issue=2&pages=64&jtitle=Urban+Science&atitle=A+Search+for+Beauty%2FA+Struggle+with+Complexity%3A+Christopher+Alexander&aulast=Quillien&aufirst=Jenny&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.3390%2Furbansci3020064&rft.language%5B0%5D=eng
SOLR
_version_ 1792343601962811405
author Gabriel, Richard, Quillien, Jenny
author_facet Gabriel, Richard, Quillien, Jenny, Gabriel, Richard, Quillien, Jenny
author_sort gabriel, richard
container_issue 2
container_start_page 0
container_title Urban Science
container_volume 3
description <jats:p>Beauty. Christopher Alexander’s prolific journey in building, writing, and teaching was fueled by a relentless search for Beauty and its meaning. While all around him the world was intent on figuring out how to simplify, Alexander came to embrace complexity as the only path to his goal. The Beauty and life of that which he encountered and appreciated—an Indian village, a city, a subway network, an old Turkish carpet, or a campus—lay in its well-ordered complexity. As a designer and maker he found that simplicity came from choosing—at every step—the simplest way to add the necessary complexity. The failure of so much of our modern world, in Alexander’s eyes, was oversimplification, wantonly bulldozing context, misunderstanding the relationships of part and whole, ignoring the required role of time in the shaping of shapes, and ultimately dismissing, like Esau, our birthright of Value in favor of a lentil pottage of mere Fact. Ever elusive, Beauty demands of her suitors a constant return of attention to see what might be newly revealed, and Alexander duly returned again and again in pursuit of the mystery. In this essay—essentially biographical and descriptive of one man’s endeavors—we examine the full arc of his work from dissertation to most recent memoir. We don’t shy away from his failures, and we don’t simplify his journey. We leave work done by other scholars for another day. We reach no conclusion, rather, we invite readers to reflect on what Alexander’s lifelong effort suggests to them about their own path, their own sense of aesthetics and order, innate cognitive shortfalls, and professional blind alleys.</jats:p>
doi_str_mv 10.3390/urbansci3020064
facet_avail Online, Free
format ElectronicArticle
format_de105 Article, E-Article
format_de14 Article, E-Article
format_de15 Article, E-Article
format_de520 Article, E-Article
format_de540 Article, E-Article
format_dech1 Article, E-Article
format_ded117 Article, E-Article
format_degla1 E-Article
format_del152 Buch
format_del189 Article, E-Article
format_dezi4 Article
format_dezwi2 Article, E-Article
format_finc Article, E-Article
format_nrw Article, E-Article
geogr_code not assigned
geogr_code_person not assigned
id ai-49-aHR0cDovL2R4LmRvaS5vcmcvMTAuMzM5MC91cmJhbnNjaTMwMjAwNjQ
imprint MDPI AG, 2019
imprint_str_mv MDPI AG, 2019
institution DE-Gla1, DE-Zi4, DE-15, DE-Pl11, DE-Rs1, DE-105, DE-14, DE-Ch1, DE-L229, DE-D275, DE-Bn3, DE-Brt1, DE-D161, DE-Zwi2
issn 2413-8851
issn_str_mv 2413-8851
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-01T16:54:18.408Z
match_str gabriel2019asearchforbeautyastrugglewithcomplexitychristopheralexander
mega_collection MDPI AG (CrossRef)
physical 64
publishDate 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher MDPI AG
record_format ai
recordtype ai
series Urban Science
source_id 49
spelling Gabriel, Richard Quillien, Jenny 2413-8851 MDPI AG http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/urbansci3020064 <jats:p>Beauty. Christopher Alexander’s prolific journey in building, writing, and teaching was fueled by a relentless search for Beauty and its meaning. While all around him the world was intent on figuring out how to simplify, Alexander came to embrace complexity as the only path to his goal. The Beauty and life of that which he encountered and appreciated—an Indian village, a city, a subway network, an old Turkish carpet, or a campus—lay in its well-ordered complexity. As a designer and maker he found that simplicity came from choosing—at every step—the simplest way to add the necessary complexity. The failure of so much of our modern world, in Alexander’s eyes, was oversimplification, wantonly bulldozing context, misunderstanding the relationships of part and whole, ignoring the required role of time in the shaping of shapes, and ultimately dismissing, like Esau, our birthright of Value in favor of a lentil pottage of mere Fact. Ever elusive, Beauty demands of her suitors a constant return of attention to see what might be newly revealed, and Alexander duly returned again and again in pursuit of the mystery. In this essay—essentially biographical and descriptive of one man’s endeavors—we examine the full arc of his work from dissertation to most recent memoir. We don’t shy away from his failures, and we don’t simplify his journey. We leave work done by other scholars for another day. We reach no conclusion, rather, we invite readers to reflect on what Alexander’s lifelong effort suggests to them about their own path, their own sense of aesthetics and order, innate cognitive shortfalls, and professional blind alleys.</jats:p> A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander Urban Science
spellingShingle Gabriel, Richard, Quillien, Jenny, Urban Science, A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_full A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_fullStr A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_full_unstemmed A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_short A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
title_sort a search for beauty/a struggle with complexity: christopher alexander
title_unstemmed A Search for Beauty/A Struggle with Complexity: Christopher Alexander
url http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/urbansci3020064