Re: Pattern Language Failure

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From: london@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Larry London)
Newsgroups: alt.architecture,alt.housing.nontrad
Subject: Re: Pattern Language Failure
Date: 3 Oct 1993 04:34:26 GMT
Organization: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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In article <28kkrc$pgt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
lafish@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

>Dear Alt.arch folks,
>I find it interesting to tell you that we graduate
>family housing residents are the 'lucky' recipients
>of a Christopher Alexander village concept plan that will,
>unfortunately be the death of family housing at the
>University of Oregon. It seems that Alexanders 'user group'
>concept was a mere fancy, and that he actually has no use for
>such groups.
>Not only is his plan so expensive that no student families will be
>able to afford to live in 'family housing' when the units are built,
>but the design is awful (university arch. profs have even admitted
>as much) and does in NO WAY take into account the needs/wants of the
>group currently living in family housing. The units we live in will
>soon be demolished to make way for Alexander's 'European village concept'
>which is no where near as 'community-promoting' as what we currently have,
>has a big parking lot on the edge of the site, as opposed to having raods
>snake rather inconspicuously throughout the site as is currently the case.
>Won't it be nice for women to come home at night and have to walk through
>a parking lot, make their way through a small park, and then go to cement-
>surrounded buildings? Currently parking is at our units, the units are
>surrounded by greenery and our own gardens, and children play happily every-
>where around. It is a truly integrated community and this will soon disappear
>thanks to the fact that Alexander expected the Univeristy to regard the user
>group as a mere 'courtesy' (we have this in a memo from him) and to not
>actually consider the user group's input at all. So, we get a yuppie village,
>badly designed, that no families going to school can afford. Thanks Chris.
>Is this what great architects are made of? All nice prose that doesn't
>ever work, or is actually betrayed, in practice? Thank god for the
>Pattern Language, eh!
>
>Andrea LaFayette-Fisher
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