When you first start on a writing project you don’t know what the structure of your project will be. As you do research, collect ideas, and clarify your thoughts, the structure will emerge. Using a tool like Tinderbox lets you test your ideas and see what kind of structure provides the best fit for your…
For some time now I’ve been trying to understand how architect Christopher Alexander’s idea of 15 structure preserving transformations might apply to systems outside of physical architecture. Alexander himself noted that his overarching theory about form and life would apply to all kinds of structures. You can strengthen the whole by systematically strengthening its component…
I first stumbled on A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, and Construction when visiting a friend. I was dealing with some creative roadblocks and the book stirred in me a new passion. It contains 253 “patterns,” design solutions that work together to help people create homes and neighborhoods that feel good and function well. While I’m…
For about a year or so I’ve been exploring ways to restructure my life in a more natural, “living process” kind of way. Consider that nature is not in the business of suddenly creating new structures. Instead it takes existing structures and makes small tweaks that reinforce, strengthen, and elaborate the existing structure. To get…
The idea that I’m working on here is to try and use architectural principles to redesign the structure of your life to create new structures that feel “alive” and propels you forward. The first step is to capture a vision of how you’d life to be in the future. The idea isn’t to set goals…
When you’re trying to re-design your life, you want some kind of idea what you want your life to look and feel like. Here’s a process that I’ve worked through a couple of times and I think could work for anybody. It’s pretty simple, start sketching out in words how you’d like your life to…
Some cities are like stories. Others are more like poems. But every city has a kind of narrative structure that people experience as they move along the streets and past the buildings, first with anticipation, followed by the fulfillment of arrival and then a summary of the story upon departure. The building blocks of these…
When I was working my way through college I had a part-time gig delivering phone books. In that line of work you got paid by the pound so it made the most sense to deliver to as many apartment buildings as you could. A lot of apartment buildings are dreary places – long corridors of…
The Chumash people, so the legend goes, were created when the earth goddess Hutash planted seeds on Santa Cruz Island. The seeds became men and women. Over time the people prospered and filled the island. Hutash built a bridge using a rainbow and they crossed to the mainland, populating the area. Cities grow like seeds.…
We spent an afternoon at the cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, in 2014 and it was delightful and amazing as you might expect. My favorite memory is the little girl in the picture above, so happy to feed the sparrows that gather in the courtyard. It will probably be a while before we know what…
When I think of architecture and urban design I think of people who are working together to create pleasing spaces that promote all kinds of social interaction. Tongva Park in Santa Monica is a fairly small piece of land that feels expansive because of the way its interconnected walkways hide and reveal new areas to…
When it comes to architecture and urban design we often hear about the designer’s intentions but we hear less often about the impact the design has upon users. But according to John Cary good design must be considered within the web of impacts on users, stakeholders, and community. At every level, design is a matrix…
Business Insider’s title for their urban round-up is a little off – 15 of the most beautiful public spaces in the world, according to urban designers makes you think you’ll be seeing a dozen parks or outdoor malls. In fact what you’re getting is an overview of how insightful urban planning can transform a city…
Los Angeles is such a sprawling place that you have to plan carefully how to explore. Matador Network serves up nearly two dozen free or cheap things to do in the city of Angels that give you a real taste of the city – arguably much more so than a trip to Universal Studios. You…
Cardboard has long been the stuff of dreams – the joke is that at Christmas children spend less time playing with a toy than with the box it came in. And few things are more exciting than the arrival of a new appliance and a box that can become an instant fortress or playhouse. Now…
