The Production of Houses (Center for Environmental Structure Series)

If, after reading Christopher Alexander's earlier books, you were wondering if he ever actually built a house in the real world, here's your answer. Yes, he did. Yes, the people owning the houses love the results. Yes, they feel the special connection with their homes that is the hallmark of Alexander's ideas. No, the powers that be, who agreed to temporarily suspend building codes for his project, were not happy with the results. Why? Because they look funny, and because he built five homes instead of five hundred. Well, if they'd read his other books, they would not have been surprised. Our intrepid hero is quite unsparing of himself - you can see his delight as his ideas work, and his horror when they don't.I believe that Christopher Alexander is dead on in saying that the system he created is a better way to build homes, indeed a far superior way to do so. However, I can't say the official reaction to this project is encouraging. After the first five homes were built, the bureaucrats came in, stopped the project and sent our intrepid hero packing. You can tell from the ending of the book that this reaction spooked Alexander, and I can't blame him. A revolutionary system of construction, he says, antagonizes pretty much everyone. But it will triumph, he proclaims!It looks like it didn't, but I see increasing awareness of his ideas in more recent architectural books, so hopefully all is not lost. Despite the ultimate outcome, this is a brilliant book from an inspired thinker. You probably want to start with The Timeless Way of Building and A Pattern Language before tackling this one, but if you liked his earlier works, this is an excellent, real-world counterpoint.

FIRST published in 1985 it is the fourth volume of a series. It tells of a Mexican project, and like its pre-published volumes, discusses a philosophy as well as management and construction issues. While costs may have dated over the past 27 years it remains relevant to any younger Architect interested in the genuine serch for function and beauty.

Livro excelente e superou as minhas expectativas. As ilustrações são ótimas. Leitura indispensável para arquitetos e engenheiros que se interessam em produçã de moradia em larga escala sem menosprezar a participação da comunidade e da sabedoria popularFoi entregue na data certa.

I bought this for my brother who is a contractor and he found it very interesting

this is a great series of books by Christopher Alexander

I bought this book at Oxford Too in Atlanta when I was a teenager and it still affects my thinking about building and community space twenty five years later. A great companion to The Oregon Experiment.

This is how knowledge from 'A Pattern Language' and 'The Natural Way of Building' was applied. Must admit the first two books allowed me to dream along where this book grounded the subject by the project's definition.The first two books though expensive to buy, are worth while.