Takashi Iba, Konomi Munakata, “Christopher Alexander’s Thought and Eastern Philosophy: Zen, Mindfulness and Egoless Creation with a Pattern Language”, PUARL 2018 conference, Portland, USA, Oct. 2018
We present that in order to realize “the process of creation of its own accord” put forward by Christopher Alexander, participation as ‘pure experience’ without thinking and analysis is necessary. This is a paradoxical but unique viewpoint; Alexander propose to create a ‘language’ (which is a tool for thinking) to share and follow spontaneous rules for generative process in Pure Experience. In this talk, we took up quotes of Christopher Alexander, Japanese Philosopher Kitaro Nishida, Ven. Ryodo Yamashita in Buddhism 3.0, and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
[PDF] http://web.sfc.keio.ac.jp/~iba/slides/201810PUARL_Eastern.pdf
Charles Correa is an Indian architect and urban planner, particularly noted for his sensitivity to the needs of the urban poor and for his use of traditional methods and materials
Charles Correa is an Indian architect and urban planner, particularly noted for his sensitivity to the needs of the urban poor and for his use of traditional methods and materials
Aldo Rossi was born in Milan, Italy in 1931.
He studied architecture in Milan and was a teacher in the same in various Universities in Italy, Germany, Spain and the U.S.
Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid, DBE (Arabic: زها حديد Zahā Ḥadīd; born 31 October 1950) is an Iraqi-British architect. She received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004—the first woman to do so—and the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. Her buildings are distinctively futuristic, characterized by the "powerful, curving forms of her elongated structures"[1] with "multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry to evoke the chaos of modern life"
Deconstructive Architecture and Its Pioneer Architects Rohit Arora
The concept of deconstructive architecture and main pioneers of deconstructive architecture. Town hall finland, Jacques Derrida ,Frank O Gehry , Bernard Tschumi, Zaha Hadid,Galaxy Soho, JVC entertainment Centre, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.BMW Central Building.
A brief description on Le Corbusier's life, design philosophies & some projects including a detailed case study. I recommend viewers to download the presentation and then view it bcoz many slides (slide 12) are apparently useless without animation!!
- Rakesh Samaddar
Dept. of Architecture
IIT Kharagpur
India
1. RAHUL MEHROTRA
2. AN INTRODUCTION Principal of architecture firm RMA Architects (founded in 1990 as Rahul Mehrotra Associates) of Mumbai, India Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in Cambridge, Mass., USA. Has designed projects that range from recycling urban land and master planning in Mumbai to the design of art spaces, boutiques, weekend houses, factories, social institutes and office buildings across India – thereby engaging diverse issues, multiple constituencies and varying scales: from interior design and architecture to urban design, conservation and planning
3. PHILOSOPHY ‘Architecture is the physical manifestation of a society’s aspirations in the broader sense.’ Unlike many other parts of the world, we don’t have restrictions on the forms or colours of our buildings. Driving down a road in any Indian town, you’ll see all buildings different, having an identity of its own, each standing for something totally different. And this is a reflection of our society- secular and democratic. He believes that architecture is potent enough to be a deadly tool that creates boundaries, or thresholds between communities. His designs, therefore attempt to visually eliminate the threshold. “Good architectural practice is one that acts responsibly for its broader environment and is sensitive to the fabric and grain of a city…”
“What Occurs in Egoless Creation with Pattern Languages” (PURPLSOC2017)Takashi Iba
Slide Designed by Takashi Iba.
Presented by Takashi Iba.
Takashi Iba, Ayaka Yoshikawa, “What Occurs in Egoless Creation with Pattern Languages”, in the Second World Conference PURPLSOC2017 (Pursuit of Pattern Languages for Societal Change), at Danube University in Krems, Austria, 2017.
Aldo Rossi was born in Milan, Italy in 1931.
He studied architecture in Milan and was a teacher in the same in various Universities in Italy, Germany, Spain and the U.S.
Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid, DBE (Arabic: زها حديد Zahā Ḥadīd; born 31 October 1950) is an Iraqi-British architect. She received the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004—the first woman to do so—and the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011. Her buildings are distinctively futuristic, characterized by the "powerful, curving forms of her elongated structures"[1] with "multiple perspective points and fragmented geometry to evoke the chaos of modern life"
Deconstructive Architecture and Its Pioneer Architects Rohit Arora
The concept of deconstructive architecture and main pioneers of deconstructive architecture. Town hall finland, Jacques Derrida ,Frank O Gehry , Bernard Tschumi, Zaha Hadid,Galaxy Soho, JVC entertainment Centre, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.BMW Central Building.
A brief description on Le Corbusier's life, design philosophies & some projects including a detailed case study. I recommend viewers to download the presentation and then view it bcoz many slides (slide 12) are apparently useless without animation!!
- Rakesh Samaddar
Dept. of Architecture
IIT Kharagpur
India
1. RAHUL MEHROTRA
2. AN INTRODUCTION Principal of architecture firm RMA Architects (founded in 1990 as Rahul Mehrotra Associates) of Mumbai, India Professor of Urban Design and Planning and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) in Cambridge, Mass., USA. Has designed projects that range from recycling urban land and master planning in Mumbai to the design of art spaces, boutiques, weekend houses, factories, social institutes and office buildings across India – thereby engaging diverse issues, multiple constituencies and varying scales: from interior design and architecture to urban design, conservation and planning
3. PHILOSOPHY ‘Architecture is the physical manifestation of a society’s aspirations in the broader sense.’ Unlike many other parts of the world, we don’t have restrictions on the forms or colours of our buildings. Driving down a road in any Indian town, you’ll see all buildings different, having an identity of its own, each standing for something totally different. And this is a reflection of our society- secular and democratic. He believes that architecture is potent enough to be a deadly tool that creates boundaries, or thresholds between communities. His designs, therefore attempt to visually eliminate the threshold. “Good architectural practice is one that acts responsibly for its broader environment and is sensitive to the fabric and grain of a city…”
“What Occurs in Egoless Creation with Pattern Languages” (PURPLSOC2017)Takashi Iba
Slide Designed by Takashi Iba.
Presented by Takashi Iba.
Takashi Iba, Ayaka Yoshikawa, “What Occurs in Egoless Creation with Pattern Languages”, in the Second World Conference PURPLSOC2017 (Pursuit of Pattern Languages for Societal Change), at Danube University in Krems, Austria, 2017.
In this ppt you know about how formalist do literary analysis of any text. They focus on different things like
Form
Diction
Unity
These three basic things focus on formalist analysis of any literary text especially poem.
In this ppt you also find comprehensive information about reader Response Theory.
And different types of reader Response Theory.
Open Dialogue as Coupling of Psychic, Social, and Creative Systems (COINs17)Takashi Iba
Takashi Ibaa, Masafumi Nagai, Tsuyoshi Ishida, “Open Dialogue as Coupling of Psychic, Social, and Creative Systems,” in the 7th International Conference on Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs17), Detroit, USA, Sep., 2017
In this presentation, we study Open Dialogue, a psychiatric programme developed in Western Lapland of Finland, with the theory of autopoietic systems. The Open Dialogue approach was originally developed as a psychiatric programme; However, the initiators and we anticipate that the approach can be applied not only to psychotherapy but also educational and organizational situation as the way of collaborative problem dissolution, because it is based on philosophy of dialogism, which is not limited to psychotherapy. For understanding the applicability, we study the function of Open Dialogue in higher level of abstraction with concepts of systems theories: Social Systems Theory and Creative Systems Theory. Our consideration implies that Open Dialogue can be understood well with the framework of the combination among chain of consciousness in psychic system, chain of communication in social system, and chain of discovery in creative system.
This article is devoted to the consideration of the basic principles of synergetics. The artistic text is considered as a synergistic system, since it has all the properties of this system. Synergistic terms are described in textual terms. Given the results of research in the direction. The role of synergy in textology and literary criticism in general terms is substantiated. by Toshniyozova Ra’no Tohirovna 2020. The importance of synergetics in the study of fiction. International Journal on Integrated Education. 2, 5 (Mar. 2020), 129-135. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31149/ijie.v2i5.188. https://journals.researchparks.org/index.php/IJIE/article/view/188/182 https://journals.researchparks.org/index.php/IJIE/article/view/188
John McCarthy, doctor at Department of Applied Psychology, University college Cork. Visiting professor (2007) at Department of Communication, Technology & Design, Södetörn university college, Sweden. Lecture May 31st 2007.
This article analyzes being as a fundamental category of philosophy. Forms of existence are considered. The views of thinkers have been critically discussed. Arislanbaeva Zoya Ernazarovna. (2020). BEING IS A FUNDAMENTAL CATEGORY OF PHILOSOPHY. International Journal on Orange Technologies, 2(12), 29-33. https://doi.org/10.31149/ijot.v2i12.1049 Pdf Url: https://journals.researchparks.org/index.php/IJOT/article/view/1049/997 Paper Url: https://journals.researchparks.org/index.php/IJOT/article/view/1049
Philosophical Foundations of Pattern Language Creation: Rooted in the "Scienc...Takashi Iba
Lightning Talk by Takashi Iba, Ph.D. in media and governance, Professor at Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University.
at the30th Conference on Pattern Language of Programs (PLoP2023), IL, USA, Oct. 25, 2023
Originally, the concept of pattern language was proposed by Christopher Alexander as a method for collaborative architectural design, and the philosophy behind it was presented in his books, such as "The Timeless Way of Buildings" and "The Nature of Order". However, after him, few people discuss philosophical examinations for pattern languages. Over the past seven years, I have intensively explored the potential for a "new academic discipline" rooted in pattern language, and its foundational contours are now becoming visible. Underpinning this discipline is Edmund Husserl's phenomenology, especially his concept of "Science of Essence." Reflecting upon our experiences, it becomes apparent that the creation of a pattern language aligns with the phenomenological method of "seeing of essence," positioning the pattern language as "essence descriptions". When looked at in reverse, my developing academic field of "Studies on Essence of Practices," is "Science of Essence" of practices grounded in phenomenology and the creation of pattern language is positioned as a primary research methodology including “seeing of essence”. In this talk, I will elucidate what exactly is being accomplished through the creation of a pattern language, with introducing the principles of phenomenology’s "Noesis" (acts of consciousness) and "Noema" (contents of consciousness) and the method of “seeing of essence”.
Exploring New Ways of Expressing and Delivering Pattern Languages: Endeavors ...Takashi Iba
Lightning Talk by Takashi Iba, Ph.D. in media and governance, Professor at Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University.
at the30th Conference on Pattern Language of Programs (PLoP2023), IL, USA, Oct. 25, 2023
In pattern languages of practices, the target readers are not limited to engineers or professionals. Instead, they span a broad spectrum of the general public, from children to the elderly. For example, our pattern languages of practices cover topics such as reading, learning, parenting while working, living naturally and creatively, living well with dementia, and realizing a good digital society. The intended audience for these patterns ranges from elementary school students to college students, parents in their child-rearing years, and the elderly aged 70 and above. Believing that we needed to go beyond traditional methods of delivering content, such as dense texts and diagrams in books, articles, or websites, we have sought new modes of expression over the past decade. In this talk, I will introduce our endeavors. They include "Pattern Cards" that facilitate reflection and dialogue, especially in workshops; "Pattern Objects" that embed pattern names and illustrations into everyday items; "Pattern Coins" that circulate within a community, inspiring practice; "Pattern Song" that weaves the important messages of patterns into lyrics; and "Pattern Manga" that tells a story expressing the effect of conducting certain patterns. By showcasing these new prototypes, I hope to inspire you and expand your horizons on how pattern languages can be expressed and delivered.
New Frontiers in Pattern Languages of Practices (Takashi Iba, PLoP2023)Takashi Iba
Lightning Talk by Takashi Iba, Ph.D. in media and governance, Professor at Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University.
at the30th Conference on Pattern Language of Programs (PLoP2023), IL, USA, Oct. 25, 2023
In this talk, I will present the new frontiers in pattern languages of practices. Historically, the concept of pattern languages originated in the 1970s as a design language for "Places" and was later applied to the domain of "Programs." Subsequently, it found applications in areas like education and organizational change, which can be considered as "Practices." In other words, the pattern language has evolved from Places, to Programs, and then to Practices. In the course of the development, we, Iba Lab and CreativeShift, Inc., have developed patterns across various fields within pattern languages of practices, writing over 3,000 patterns in more than 90 areas of practices over the past 20 years. Reflecting on our journey, we have identified five types within what is broadly labeled as "Practices": (1) Profession and Work, (2) Meta-Pattern Language, (3) Everyday Life, (4) Journey of Life, and (5) Forming Society. This talk will particularly focus on the last three types of pattern languages of practices — Everyday Life, Journey of Life, and Forming Society. We will share our own cases and experiences, including a pattern language for a good digital society, which was recently published by the Digital Agency of the Japanese Government.
作家、詩人、作曲家の発言と、クリストファー・アレグザンダーの思想、および老荘思想についての井筒俊彦の読み解きを手がかりとして
based on remarks by writers, poets, and composers; the thought of Christopher Alexander; and Toshihiko Izutsu’s Interpretation of Taoism
PUARL+BB2020 "A Pattern Language for Creating a City with Natural, Local and ...Takashi Iba
Misaki Yamakage, Sakie Namiki, Sawami Shibata, Kiyoka Hayashi, Takashi Iba, Mitsuhiro Yamazaki, "A Pattern Language for Creating a City with Natural, Local and Creative Elements: Learned from Portland, Oregon", PUARL+BB2020, Sep, 2020
Takashi Iba's Keynote at AsianPLoP2020: "Support for Living Better Throughou...Takashi Iba
Takashi Iba's Keynote "Support for Living Better Throughout the COVID-19 Situation with Pattern Languages: An Attempt at Pattern Translation to Another Domain and Pattern Language Remix" at AsianPLoP 2020: 9th Asian Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs, Sep 4th, 2020.
Expert Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Drafting ServicesResDraft
Whether you’re looking to create a guest house, a rental unit, or a private retreat, our experienced team will design a space that complements your existing home and maximizes your investment. We provide personalized, comprehensive expert accessory dwelling unit (ADU)drafting solutions tailored to your needs, ensuring a seamless process from concept to completion.
You could be a professional graphic designer and still make mistakes. There is always the possibility of human error. On the other hand if you’re not a designer, the chances of making some common graphic design mistakes are even higher. Because you don’t know what you don’t know. That’s where this blog comes in. To make your job easier and help you create better designs, we have put together a list of common graphic design mistakes that you need to avoid.
Transforming Brand Perception and Boosting Profitabilityaaryangarg12
In today's digital era, the dynamics of brand perception, consumer behavior, and profitability have been profoundly reshaped by the synergy of branding, social media, and website design. This research paper investigates the transformative power of these elements in influencing how individuals perceive brands and products and how this transformation can be harnessed to drive sales and profitability for businesses.
Through an exploration of brand psychology and consumer behavior, this study sheds light on the intricate ways in which effective branding strategies, strategic social media engagement, and user-centric website design contribute to altering consumers' perceptions. We delve into the principles that underlie successful brand transformations, examining how visual identity, messaging, and storytelling can captivate and resonate with target audiences.
Methodologically, this research employs a comprehensive approach, combining qualitative and quantitative analyses. Real-world case studies illustrate the impact of branding, social media campaigns, and website redesigns on consumer perception, sales figures, and profitability. We assess the various metrics, including brand awareness, customer engagement, conversion rates, and revenue growth, to measure the effectiveness of these strategies.
The results underscore the pivotal role of cohesive branding, social media influence, and website usability in shaping positive brand perceptions, influencing consumer decisions, and ultimately bolstering sales and profitability. This paper provides actionable insights and strategic recommendations for businesses seeking to leverage branding, social media, and website design as potent tools to enhance their market position and financial success.
7 Alternatives to Bullet Points in PowerPointAlvis Oh
So you tried all the ways to beautify your bullet points on your pitch deck but it just got way uglier. These points are supposed to be memorable and leave a lasting impression on your audience. With these tips, you'll no longer have to spend so much time thinking how you should present your pointers.
White wonder, Work developed by Eva TschoppMansi Shah
White Wonder by Eva Tschopp
A tale about our culture around the use of fertilizers and pesticides visiting small farms around Ahmedabad in Matar and Shilaj.
Hello everyone! I am thrilled to present my latest portfolio on LinkedIn, marking the culmination of my architectural journey thus far. Over the span of five years, I've been fortunate to acquire a wealth of knowledge under the guidance of esteemed professors and industry mentors. From rigorous academic pursuits to practical engagements, each experience has contributed to my growth and refinement as an architecture student. This portfolio not only showcases my projects but also underscores my attention to detail and to innovative architecture as a profession.
“Christopher Alexander’s Thought and Eastern Philosophy: Zen, Mindfulness and Egoless Creation with a Pattern Language”
1. Christopher Alexander’s Thought
and Eastern Philosophy
Zen, Mindfulness and Egoless Creation with a
Pattern Language
PUARL2018 Conference
Professor at Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University
Ph.D in Media and Governance
Takashi Iba
Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University
Konomi Munakata
2. In his books including The Timeless Way of Building
(1979), it is obvious that his thought has been
influenced by Eastern philosophy.
Hiroshi Nakano, “Japanese Spirituality and Pattern Language”,
In AsianPLoP2015 and PURPLSOC2015, 2015
Daisetsu Suzuki, Japanese Spirituality, Japanese Society for the
Promotion of Science, 1944, translation by 1972
Hiroshi Nakano, who was a student under Christopher
Alexander at UC Berkeley and a member in Eishin
school project, pointed out the relationship between
‘Japanese Spirituality’ (Suzuki, 1944) and Pattern
Language (Nakano, 2015).
Way = 道
Gate = 門
In fact, he read eastern literatures such as I Ching
(Book of Changes, an ancient Chinese text) very
thoroughly in 1970s (S. Ishikawa, personal
communication, 2013).
易経
日本的霊性
3. We, Asian, also feel Asian spirit and viewpoint in his thought,
and thus we started to understand the connection between
Alexander’s theory and Eastern philosophy which has not yet
been deeply discussed.
4. To make a building egoless, like this, the builder must let go of
all his willful images, and start with a void. …. you must start
with nothing in your mind” (p.538)
/
Christopher Alexander, The
Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Starting with a void
“You are able to do this only when you no longer fear that
nothing will happen, and you can therefore afford to let go of
your images” (p.538)
5. “the quality without a name cannot be made, but only generated
by a process. It can flow from your actions; it can flow with the
greatest ease; but it cannot be made. It cannot be contrived,
thought out, designed. It happens when it flows out from the
process of creation of its own accord” (p.159)
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
The Process of creation of its own accord
“When a thing is made, it has the will of the maker in it. But
when it is generated, it is generated, freely, by the operation of
egoless rules, acting on the reality of the situation, and giving
birth, of their own accord. …” (p.160)
6. In order to realize “the process of creation of its own
accord” put forward by Christopher Alexander,
participation as ‘pure experience’ without thinking and
analysis is necessary.
This is a paradoxical but unique viewpoint; Alexander
propose to create a ‘language’ (which is a tool for
thinking) to share and follow spontaneous rules for
generative process.
7. Egoless Creation with a pattern language is a dialectic
resolution (Aufhebung) of ’pure experience’ and
‘language’.
Without recognizing this subtle feature, pattern
language would be understood just as an operational
tool, and would lose its nature and the profound
meaning in it.
pure
experience language
Egoless creation with
a pattern language
dialectic resolution
(Aufhebung)
8. What Alexander tried to achieve with the Egoless
Creation with a pattern language is to consider ‘Pure
Experience’ and ‘Language’ as something inextricably
linked together, like “yin and yang” in Chinese
philosophy.
pure
experience
language
9. “Your mind is a medium within which the creative spark that
jumps between the pattern and the world can happen. You
yourself are only the medium for this creative spark, not its
originator” (p.397)
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Mind as Medium
“It is a fearsome thing, like diving into water. And yet it is
exhilarating — because you aren’t controlling it. You are only
the medium in which the patterns come to life, and of their own
accord give birth to something new” (p.426)
10. 152 153
Illuminating
Egoless
Creation with
Theories of
Autopoietic
Systems
Iba, Takashi
Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan
iba@sfc.keio.ac.jp
Yoshikawa, Ayaka
Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Japan
This paper examines one of the most important but
overlooked concepts in pattern language theory; cre-
ation processes without the self (ego). Christopher Al-
exander, the inventor of the pattern language concept
and methodology, focused on a generative mecha-
nism beyond the individual designer level and claimed
that creation originated from this basis. In this paper,
first, the similarities between Alexander’s arguments
and those of fiction writers who claim that, ‘the author
does not intentionally create the story; the characters
in the story act on their own, and the story unfolds it-
self’ are examined under an ‘egoless creation’ concept.
Then, egoless creation is examined through the the-
ories of autopoetic systems: Social Systems Theory
and Creative Systems Theory. It was found that ego-
less creation is a state in which the chain of generated
discoveries within a creative system is experienced by
the psychic system, that the patterns in a pattern lan-
guage work primarily as `discovery media‘ within the
creative system, and that pattern language facilitates
a structural coupling of the psychic and the social sys-
Takashi Iba, Ayaka Yoshikawa, “Illuminating Egoless Creation with
Theories of Autopoietic Systems,” Pursuit of Pattern Languages for
Societal Change conference 2017 (PURPLSOC2017), 2017
11. “When I start working on a book, I do not have any plan
whatsoever. I simply wait, patiently, for the story to come to
me. There is not a time when I intentionally make decisions
about what kind of story it will be, or what will happen in
it.” (Murakami, 2010)
Murakami, H. (2010) Yume Miru Tameni Maiasa Bokuha Mezameru Nodesu [Wake Up Every
Morning in Order to Dream], in Japanese, Bungei Shunju.
Creative Writers said
Haruki Murakami
12. ‘I often have an idea of what the outcome may be, but I have
never demanded of a set of characters that they do things my way.
On the contrary, I want them to do things their way. In some
instances, the outcome is what I visualized. In most, however, it’s
something I never expected’. (King, 2010)
Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Pocket Books, 2002
Stephen King
Creative Writers said
13. 152 153
Illuminating
Egoless
Creation with
Theories of
Autopoietic
Systems
Iba, Takashi
Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Japan
iba@sfc.keio.ac.jp
Yoshikawa, Ayaka
Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Japan
This paper examines one of the most important but
overlooked concepts in pattern language theory; cre-
ation processes without the self (ego). Christopher Al-
exander, the inventor of the pattern language concept
and methodology, focused on a generative mecha-
nism beyond the individual designer level and claimed
that creation originated from this basis. In this paper,
first, the similarities between Alexander’s arguments
and those of fiction writers who claim that, ‘the author
does not intentionally create the story; the characters
in the story act on their own, and the story unfolds it-
self’ are examined under an ‘egoless creation’ concept.
Then, egoless creation is examined through the the-
ories of autopoetic systems: Social Systems Theory
and Creative Systems Theory. It was found that ego-
less creation is a state in which the chain of generated
discoveries within a creative system is experienced by
the psychic system, that the patterns in a pattern lan-
guage work primarily as `discovery media‘ within the
creative system, and that pattern language facilitates
a structural coupling of the psychic and the social sys-
Takashi Iba, Ayaka Yoshikawa, “Illuminating Egoless Creation with
Theories of Autopoietic Systems,” Pursuit of Pattern Languages for
Societal Change conference 2017 (PURPLSOC2017), 2017
14. Kitaro Nishida, Japanese philosopher, proposed the concept of ’Pure
Experience’. Pure experience is an exact experience without clearly
distinguishing its subject and object. (in 1921)
Kitaro Nishida
(1870 – 1945)
‘I’
subject ‘flower’
object
Observation
from the outside
Pure Experience
For example, experiencing the feeling of “what a beautiful flower!”
should happen before the understanding of "I (as subject) am looking
at this flower (as object), which is beautiful”. In other words, when
experiencing something, it is always beyond the dichotomy of
subject and object.
15.
16. Kitaro Nishida, Japanese philosopher, proposed the concept of ’Pure
Experience’. Pure experience is an exact experience without clearly
distinguishing its subject and object. (in 1921)
Kitaro Nishida
(1870 – 1945)
‘I’
subject ‘flower’
object
Observation
from the outside
Pure Experience
For example, experiencing the feeling of “what a beautiful flower!”
should happen before the understanding of "I (as subject) am looking
at this flower (as object), which is beautiful”. In other words, when
experiencing something, it is always beyond the dichotomy of
subject and object.
17. John Dewey
(1859 – 1952)
William James
(1842 – 1910)
Pure Experience also discussed in Pragmatism
18. Predicate-centeredness in Japanese sentences
Sentences in some languages, such as Japanese, can exist at all times
without specification of pronouns, even when written. This is
because Japanese is a pro-drop language that allows sentences to
lack an explicit pronoun, without even changing the verb form.
Therefore, when writing patterns in Japanese, we can completely
omit the pronoun, just as we do when we form inner speech.
The original Japanese version of the patterns we have been writing
are all written without specifying a pronoun.
Takashi Iba, Ayaka Yoshikawa,
“Understanding the Functions of Pattern
Language with Vygotsky’s Psychology:
Signs, The Zone of Proximal Development,
and Predicate in Inner Speech,” 23rd
Conference on Pattern Languages of
Programs (PLoP2016), USA, 2016
19. According to Kitaro Nishida, there is no such thing as a clear “self-
identity” as “I/myself” in the process of producing a thing.
Kitaro Nishida
(1870 – 1945)
“poiesis”
Kitaro Nishida, An Inquiry into the Good, 1921, English edition,
Yale University Press, 1990.
Poises and Enactive Intuition
It is an ‘enactive intuition’ which makes us “think and work within
the thing”. There is no space for the ‘self-awareness’ to come up
and interrupt the process which is entirely driven by the thing. Like
so, the world can naturally form itself.
Francisco J Varela, Evan Thompson, Eleanor Rosch (1992).
The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human
experience. MIT Press.
Autopoiesis and Enactive approach referring to Buddhism
Note that
20. “The experience means to know facts just as they are, know in
accordance with facts by completely relinquishing one’s own
fabrication. What we usually refer to as experience is adulterated
with some sort of thought, so by pure I am referring to the state of
experience just as it is without the least addition of deliberative
discrimination.” (p.3)
“When one directly experience one’s own state of consciousness,
there is not yet a subject or an object, and knowing and its object are
completely unified.” (p.3-4)
Kitaro Nishida, An Inquiry into the Good, 1921, English edition,
Yale University Press, 1990.
Kitaro Nishida
(1870 – 1945)
21. Mirror Test by Christopher Alexander
Alexander, C., The Nature of Order: An Essay of the Art of Building and the Nature of the
Universe, Book 1: The Phenomenon of Life, Center for Environmental Structure, 2002
22. A pattern language can be considered as a set of rules
that realize pure experiences of designing or doing,
enabling a design and action to be generated, without
explicitly identifying who did it.
23. Blue Sky metaphor of Mindfulness
Ven. Ryodo Yamashita,
Ippoan (One Dharma Hermitage)
Issho Fujita, Ryodo Yamashita, Appudeto Suru Bukkyo
[Buddhism Updating Itself], in Japanese, Gentosha, 2013
Ryodo Yamashita, Aozora to Shiteno Wabashi [Clear As
the Sky], in Japanese, 2014.
25. “The clouds are not myself. The blue sky, which may be
covered by the clouds, is me. I see myself, as a blue sky. ”
Ryodo Yamashita, Aozora to Shiteno Wabashi [Clear As the Sky], in Japanese, 2014
“To become egoless, we just have to leave the world of
‘thinking mind.’ When coming into the world of the ‘blue
sky,’ we will see that ego is already gone. Without leaving
ego, we will never achieve to come to the world of the ‘blue
sky.’ Only thing we need is to manage ourselves to do so.”
26. “Get rid of the ideas which come into your mind. Get rid of
pictures you have seen in magazines, friends’ houses … Insist on
the pattern, and nothing else. The pattern, and the real situation,
together, will create the proper form, within your mind, without
your trying to do it, if you will allow it to happen. This is the
power of the language, and the reason why the language is
creative” (p.397)
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Get rid of the ideas and pictures
28. “To do it, you must let go of your control and let the pattern do
the work. You cannot do this, normally, because you are trying to
make decisions without having confidence in the basis for them.
But if the patterns you are using are familiar to you, if they make
sense to you, if you are confident that they make sense, and that
they are profound, then there is no reason to be afraid of giving
up your control over the design. If the pattern makes sense, you
do not need to control the design” (p.399)
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Leaving controls and becoming Blue Sky
29. Egoless Creation with a pattern language is a dialectic
resolution (Aufhebung) of ’pure experience’ and
‘language’.
Without recognizing this subtle feature, pattern
language would be understood just as an operational
tool, and would lose its nature and the profound
meaning in it.
pure
experience language
Egoless creation with
a pattern language
dialectic resolution
(Aufhebung)
30. “To practice meditation is to look deeply in order toes into the
essence of things. With insight and understanding we can realize
liberation, peace, and joy.” (p.9)
Thich Nhat Hanh, “Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four
Establishments of Mindfulness”, Parallax Press, 2006
Meditation explained by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
“The first step is awareness of the object, and the second step is
looking deeply at the object to shed light on it. Therefore,
mindfulness means awareness and it also means looking deeply.”
(p.10)
Thich Nhat Hanh
(1926 – )
31. “While we are fully aware of and observing deeply an object, the
boundary between the subject who observes and the object being
observed gradually dissolves, and the subject and object become
one. This is the essence of meditation.” (p.10)
“Be One With the Object of Observation”
“Only when we penetrate an object and become one with it can
we understand. It is not enough to stand outside and observe an
object.” (p.10)
Thich Nhat Hanh, “Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four
Establishments of Mindfulness”, Parallax Press, 2006
Thich Nhat Hanh
(1926 – )
32. “Be One With the Object of Observation”
“If you want to see and understand, we have to penetrate and
become one with the object. If we stand outside of it in order to
observe it, we cannot really see and understand it. The work of
observation is the work of penetrating and transforming.” (p.121)
“If we continue in our mindful observation, there will no longer
be a duality between observer and observed.” (p.121)
“The subject and the object of cognition are not separate.” (p.122)
Thich Nhat Hanh, “Transformation and Healing: Sutra on the Four
Establishments of Mindfulness”, Parallax Press, 2006
Thich Nhat Hanh
(1926 – )
33. “the language is the instrument which brings about the state of
mind, which I call egoless.”
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Pattern Language and Egoless
“it is just your pattern language which helps you become
egoless.”
34. “For a person who is unfree, the language seems like mere
information because he feels that he must be in control, that he
must inject the creative impulse, that he must supply the image
which controls the design” (p.538-539)
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Christopher Alexander said
“Once you learn that the pattern language and the site together
will genuinely generate from inside your mind, from nothing,
you can trust yourself to let go of your images entirely” (p.538)
35. “once a person can relax, and let the forces in the situation act
through him as if he were a medium, then he sees that the
language, with very little help, is able to do almost all the work,
and that the building shapes itself. This is the importance of the
void. A person who is free and egoless starts with a void and lets
the language generate the necessary forms out of this void. He
overcomes the need to hold onto an image, the need to control
the design, and he is comfortable with the void, and confident
that the laws of nature, formulated as patterns, acting in his
mind, will together create all that is required” (p.539)
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Christopher Alexander said
36. “Gradually, by following the language, you feel free to escape
from the artificial images society has imposed upon you. And, as
you escape from these images, and the need to manufacture
things according to these images, you are able to come more into
touch with the simple reality of things, and thereby become
egoless and free” (p.544)
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Christopher Alexander said
37. “… at that moment he no longer needs the language. Once a
person has freed himself to such an extent that he can see the
forces as they really are and make a building which is shaped by
them alone and not affected or distorted by his images ——— he
is then free enough to make the building without patterns at all
——— because the knowledge which the patterns contain, the
knowledge of the way the forces really act is his” (p.543)
/
Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building,
Oxford University Press, 1979
Christopher Alexander said
38. In order to realize “the process of creation of its own
accord” put forward by Christopher Alexander,
participation as ‘pure experience’ without thinking and
analysis is necessary.
This is a paradoxical but unique viewpoint; Alexander
propose to create a ‘language’ (which is a tool for
thinking) to share and follow spontaneous rules for
generative process.
39. Egoless Creation with a pattern language is a dialectic
resolution (Aufhebung) of ’pure experience’ and
‘language’.
Without recognizing this subtle feature, pattern
language would be understood just as an operational
tool, and would lose its nature and the profound
meaning in it.
pure
experience language
Egoless creation with
a pattern language
dialectic resolution
(Aufhebung)
40. What Alexander tried to achieve with the Egoless
Creation with a pattern language is to consider ‘Pure
Experience’ and ‘Language’ as something inextricably
linked together, like “yin and yang” in Chinese
philosophy.
pure
experience
language
42. Our journey of exploring the relationship between the
philosophy behind the pattern language and Eastern
Philosophy is just getting started. If you know anything
about what Christopher Alexander has referred to for
constructing his own theory, please let us know.
Call for Information
43. Christopher Alexander’s Thought
and Eastern Philosophy
Zen, Mindfulness and Egoless Creation with a
Pattern Language
PUARL2018 Conference
Professor at Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University
Ph.D in Media and Governance
Takashi Iba
Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University
Konomi Munakata