Neuroergonomics and sociogenesis, lectures part3

Neuroergonomics and sociogenesis
Internationa Society of Biourbanism
Summer School 2014
www.biourbanism.org - info@biourbanism.org

International Society of Biourbanism - Summer School 2014
FromMIT Technology Review,
published by MIT, Massachusetts
Instituteof Technology
www.technologyreview.com/view/
429679/isobenefit-lines-rewrite-
rules-for-understanding/
by Dr. Luca D’Acci

The Isobenefit Lines join the urban
points with equal levels of benefit
given from urban amenities,
thinking of amenities as urban attractions such as parks,
pedestrian streets, nice squares, and pleasant shopping
areas.

Urban life’s pleasantness
nice gardens and parks, pedestrian areas, cultural amenities, agreeable
places and streets, pleasant shopping areas, and so forth
The public-goods analysed are amenity-beauties improving the
urban quality life of citizens

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references:
• D'AcciL., (2013). Monetary, Subjective and Quantitative Approaches to
Assess Urban Quality of Life and Pleasantness in Cities. Social Indicators
Research, January2014, Volume 115, Issue 2, pp 531-559
• D'AcciL., (2013). Hedonic inertia and underground happiness. Social
Indicators Research, September2013, Vol 113, n.3, pp 1237-1259.
• D'AcciL., (2013). Simulating Future Societies in Isobenefit Cities.
Futures. Volume 54, November 2013, Pages 3–18.
• D'AcciL., (2013). Mathematize urbes by humanizing them, Physics and
Society arXiv:1307.3923
• D'AcciL. (2014). How Much Site Quality Influence Housing Value? SSRN
• D'AcciL., Terna P. (2014). Citizens as Urban Planners. A Multi-Agent
Basedmodel of household location choice. Work in Progress.

Algorithmic Sustainable Design
morphogenesis
Antonio Caperna, PhD
antonio.caperna@biourbanism.org
Lecture 04

GOAL
Explain the mathematicaland scientific basis behind structure, and how
structures affect the way in which human beings interact with the built
environment.
Propose tools that use scientific concepts in creating forms.

We use the scientific method to answer many of the important questions in
architecture:
Whatmakes something “beautiful”?
How important is “information” in design?
Is there a connection between the design of a building and the physiological
and psychological stateof its users?
Whatshould the relationshipof the building be to its site and surrounding
area?

In mathematics, an algorithm is a defined
set of step-by-step procedures that
provides the correct answer to a particular
problem.

Algorithmic design
 Analgorithm is a set of instructions that can be followed to achieve a
desired, but not always pre-determined end result
 Goes through successive states
 Breaks up the problem into smaller steps
 Sometimes uses recursive feedback
 Contrast with a conception of “all at once”

SUSTAINABILITY
to understand how all matter both
biological and inanimate organizes itself
into coherent structures.

Sustainable design
 Use morphogenetic rules that nature follows
 Mimic but not copy physical, and especially biological structures
 The limitations of natural materials constrain built forms to certain
geometries

A “morphogenetic”rule is a prescriptionfor obtaining a form(from the Greek
word morphe) via some sort of geneticinformation.
Working within this approach to design, we seek simple rules that generate
complex forms out of many steps rather than having the form specified all at
once.
This is the way that biology works to build the bodies of living organisms:coded
information is applied to assemble chemical elements into a very complex form
that is alive.

The incredible variety and beauty of life is coded, through simple rules
Complexityemerge in the process of stepwise
Formemerges overtime,in an unfolding process

what can we learn from biological systems?
Biological systems offer design strategies for
successfully adapting to an age of climate
change and resource depletion.

“engineeredresilience”–the designed ability to handle a controlled
environmentwithin the bounds of predictability
“ecological resilience,”the ability to handle unpredictable shocks that can
occur at any time in a chaotic, “far from equilibrium” world
C.H. Holling

biological systems
 inter-connectednetworkstructure
 diversity and redundancy
(differ from "efficiency")
 display a wide distributionof
structures across scales
 have the capacity to self-adapt and
"self-organize“ (generally through
the use of genetic information)

SELF-ORGANIZATION IN HUMAN
SETTLEMENTS ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN
ENVIRONMENT
Use of simple
local adaptive rules
for
generating
form

… organisms, computer programs, buildings, neighbourhoods, and cities share
the same general rules governing a complex hierarchical system.

Morphogenetic
adaptationto the
natural orographic
structure
Primitive villages on
promontory

International Society of Biourbanism - Summer School 2014Tuscania
Pitigliano

Nepi

SERMONETA
Morphological growth

Every increment of construction must be
made in such a way as to heal the city (‘‘to
make whole”)
That is, we must take a series of
incremental steps in construction, and at
each step we must make an assessment
about whether the proposed construction
adds to, or takes away from, the wholeness
of the city.

In his The Nature of Order, Alexander
reintroduce the notion of process (in urban
design) that aims to generate wholeness
within the urban structure
How are these wholes to be understood
and manipulated?
Alexander introduces a geometric entity he
calls a ‘‘center’’

According to Christopher Alexander, urban
design must:
 BE a generative process, from which a form will emerge – one that cannot
be pre-planned or standardized, but will of necessity be, at least in some
key respects, local and unique.
 NOT BE an act of tabula rasa imposition of a form designed remotely, based
upon an abstract program. It must understand, respect, and seek to
improve the existing conditions.
 incorporate the decisions and needs of the local stakeholders, as a matter
not only of fairness, but also of the intrinsic quality of the result

Another approach to generativity is typified by Peter Eisenman
City of Culture of Galicia project in Santiago de Compostela, Spain
This post-semiotic sensibility is not dominated by easily consumed imagery of signs and
signifieds, but rather is understood as a series of traces, marks that produce an alternative
condition of figure and ground. The City of Culture evolves from the superposition of three
sets of traces. First, the plan of the medieval center of Santiago is placed on the hillside site,
which overlooks the city. Second, a Cartesian grid is laid over these medieval routes. Third,
the topography of the hillside is allowed to distort the two flat geometries, thus generating
a topological surface that superposes old and new in a simultaneous matrix.
The original center of Santiago conforms to a figure/ground urbanism. The buildings are
figural and the streets, residual. Through this transformative mapping operation, our
project emerges as a warped surface that is neither figure nor ground but both a figured
ground and a figured figure that supercedes the figure-ground urbanism of the old city.
Santiago’s medieval past appears not as a form of representational nostalgia but as an
activepresent found in a tactile, pulsating new form.
(Source. Eisenman Associates 2007)

The design evolves from the superposition of three sets of information.
First, the street plan of the medieval center of Santiago is overlaid on a
topographic map of the hillside site (which overlooks the city).
Second, a modern Cartesian grid is laid over these medieval routes.
Source. http://www.arcspace.com/features/eisenman-architects/city-of-culture-of-galicia/

Third, through computer modeling software, the topography of the hillside is
allowed to distort the two flat geometries, thus generating a topological
surface that repositions old and new in a simultaneous matrix never before
seen.
Source. http://www.arcspace.com/features/eisenman-architects/city-of-culture-of-galicia/

Located on Monte Gaiás, a
smallhill overlooking
Santiagode Compostela,
the City of Culture is a new
cultural center for the
Province of Galicia in
northwestern Spain.
Source. http://www.arcspace.com/features/eisenman-
architects/city-of-culture-of-galicia/

Imagecourtesy Eisenman
Architects
Volumetric analysis
City of Culture of Galicia by
EisenmanArchitects in Santiago de
Compostela, Spain Photo courtesy
EisenmanArchitects Competition
model, 1999

Eisenman’s generativity is used solely as a resource for one artist’s expressive
masterplan, imposed on the site at a very large scale.
In that sense its semiotics is in fact alive and well, but disguised within a
subtler artistic reference to incidentally generated traces of its natural subject.
It regenerates only the most skeletally abstract aspects of the historic
evolutionary pattern, so as to avoid ‘‘representational nostalgia.’’
It is otherwise a static and non-adaptive workof art.
Eisenman’s position as an altogether different model – a hijacking of the city
by fine artists, who would see it transformed into an enormous abstract
sculpture gallery.
(Michael Mehaffy, quoted in La Giorgia 2007)

Koolhaas lamented the effect of laissez-faire market forces on the profession:
If you look back over the past 2,000 years, architecture dignified civic and
public life. Then the market economy happened, replacing all former values
and erasing almostall ideology over the entire world. What it represents for all
of us today is an invitation to simply be extravagantand spectacular. … The
work we do is no longer mutually reinforcing, but I would saythat any
accumulation is counterproductive, to the point that each new addition
reduces the sum’s value. … So there are many problems, first of all our work,
which is not able to find its way
out of this recurring dilemma, then there are the many reasons to question our
sincerity and motives.

Eisenman, speaking at the same event, argued that we are in the late period of
modernism – its ‘‘death rattle’’ – but we are struggling to find a new paradigm
to replace it:
We are in the rococo phase of modern architecture. … The problem we need to
solve is the urgency of media to have something new to look at and talk about
all the time.
Ourneed to be in the news all the time. … The slowness required to find and
understandmeaning in architecture no longer has any attraction.
[We need an architecture] that asks how, at this moment in time, without a new
paradigm, can we understand ourdiscipline and our culture in a different way.

Pattern language
Lecture 05

THE STRUCTURE OF PATTERN
LANGUAGE

Scientific knowledge as web of patterns and concept (Geoffrey Chew)
relationships
boundary
World as web of
relationships
Approximatelyknowledge

In A Pattern Language, Alexander and his
colleagues extracted 253 solutions or design
"patterns" that recur in architecture
Each "pattern" represents a
rule governing one working
piece of a complex system

Pattern Language
as a tool able to combine physical and
moral capacity to produce, in a coherent
whole (system), a living structure through a
generativeprocess
(Caperna, 2012)

pattern languages arise from two very
different needs:
(a) as a way of understanding, and possibly controlling, a complex system;
(b) as necessary design tools with which to build something that is
functionally and structurally coherent.
To visualize patterns and their interconnections, we use a graph representation

Pattern Language use a “genetic approach:
- generate the environment indirectly, just as biological organisms are
generated, indirectly, by a genetic code
- any good environment is that every part of it is extremely highly adapted to
its particularities.

The value of Alexander's Pattern Language is that it is not about specific
building types, but about building blocks that can be combined in an infinite
number of ways
mathematical, combinatory approach to design

Every complex system has a
hierarchical structure; i.e.,
different processes are
occurring on different scales
or levels. Connections exist
both on the same levels, and
across levels (Mesarovic,
Macko et al., 1970).
The same is true for a pattern
language. The "language"
generates a connective
network by which the
ordering of nodes on one level
creates nodes at a higher
level. This process goes on all
the way up, and all the way
down in levels

A city needs the same sort of resilience to changing conditions that a healthy
ecosystem has.
We require a set of evolutionary laws, which are the opposite of rigid design
laws such as monofunctional zoning. Furthermore, those laws have to allow
the reconnection of urban units so as to maintain or increase the degree of life
in the environment.

Pattern languages help us to tackle the complexity of a wide
variety of systems ranging from computersoftware, to buildings
and cities.
Each "pattern" represents a rule governing one working piece of a
complex system, and the application of pattern languages can be
done systematically.
Design that wishes to connect to human beings needs the
information contained in a pattern language.

… decision to use a genetic approach …
… one of the characteristics of any good environment is that every
part of it is extremely highly adapted to its particularities.
That local adaptation can happen successfully only if people (who
are locally knowledgeable) do it for themselves. In traditional
society where lay people either built or laid out their own houses,
their own streets, and so on, the adaptation was natural.
It occurred successfully because it was in the hands of the people
that were directly using the buildings and streets. So, with the help
of the shared pattern languages which existed in traditional
society, people were able to generate a complete living structure.
(C. Alexander)

archetypal
Introduction;relationship
with above patterns
Mainpointof a problem
FullDescription
Solution(heart of the problem)
Chart, components of the
solution
relationshipwithlower
patterns

How?
A procedure for generating such a map is based on the conceptual "chunking"
of information (Miller, 1956). The goal is to cluster patterns into groups of
about five or fewer on each level of scale. Suppose one needs to design
something using available patterns; pick those that are mostrelevant to the
problem at hand, then choose not more than about a dozen related patterns
from an existing patterns catalogue. Identify a vertical dimension appropriate
to the process that generates the end product, and study how the generative
process develops as one moves up the levels of scale.

69 PUBLIC OUTDOOR ROOM

120 - PATHS AND GOALS*
The layout of paths will seem right and
comfortable only when it is compatible
with the process of walking. And the
process of walking is far more subtle
than one might imagine.
Therefore:
To lay out paths, first place goals at
natural points of interest. Then connect
the goals to one another to form the
paths. The paths may be straight, or
gently curving between goals; their
paving should swell around the goal. The
goals should never be more than a few
hundred feet apart.

148 - SMALL WORK GROUPS
When more than half a dozen people work in
the same place, it is essential that they not be
forced to work in one huge undifferentiated
space, but that instead, they can divide their
workspace up, and so form smaller groups.
Therefore:
Break institutions into small, spatially
identifiable work groups, with less than half a
dozen people in each. Arrange these work
groups so that each person is in at least partial
view of the other members of his own group;
and arrange several groups in such a way that
they share a commonentrance, food, office
equipment, drinking fountains, bathrooms.

59
QUIETBACKS
69
PUBLIC OUTDOOR LAND
119
ARCADES

120
PATHS AND GOALS
125
STAIR SEATS

124 ACTIVITIE POCKET
134 ZEN VIEW

BIOCLIMATIC PATTERNS

Appropriate
Form,
Typology and
Orientation

OLINTO

PassiveSolar Design

PRIENE
Passive
Solar
Design

Mostancient Greek cities were designed to allow every house to have a southern
exposureto optimize solar heating during the colder months.

Street network
North-South (cardo) and east – ovest (decumano)
The main streets running east-west allowed all houses of the ancient Greek city
of Priene to access the sun in winter to heat their interiors.

Source. http://www.aibim.org/315-2/

Habitat Spaces with Thermal Role. Habitat
spaces on bioclimatic concept in arid
climate.
Traditional Patio function in the day (Basrah, Iraq)
Patio (courtyard).
is for the traditional dwelling the
outside space that creates a
microclimate andthe most efficient
form of using the inside space of
house. The system’s efficiency can be
amplified by supplying the place with
fountains, water pools, and big
leaves plantations.
The water pools and the vegetation
getwarmer during the day and keep
a convenient temperature during
cold night period

Traditional Patio function in the day
(Basrah, Iraq)
Patio (courtyard).
The air stays due to the difference of density in the upper part of
the patio and allows a comfortable environment in the lower part of
the patio

A simple Sahn, with a howz in the
middle. Notice flanking domed arcade.
Almostevery mosque and traditionally all houses and buildings in areas of the
Arab World contain a courtyard known as a sahn (Arabic ‫ﺻﺣن‬(, which are
surrounded on all sides by rooms and sometimes an arcade.
Sahns usually feature a centrally positioned pool known as a howz.
If a sahn is in a mosque, it is used for performing ablutions. If a sahn is in a
traditional house or private courtyard, it is used for aesthetics and to cool the
summerheat.

Courtyard
from a
traditional
house in
Damascus,
Syria

The most astonishing ventilation systems, however, have been developed by
various species of termites.

APPLICATION

Rome. Centocelle

Ferrovia Roma-Pantano
18
60
60
30
18
61
18
Ex cotral
Fontechiari
Contratto di
Quartiere
Falchetti
V. Woolf
Main patterns network

Meta-Project

30 ACTIVITY NODES
. . . this pattern forms those essential nodes of life which help to generate
IDENTIFlABLENEIGHBORHOOD (14), PROMENADE(31), NETWORKOF PATHS
AND CARS (52), and PEDESTRIANSTREET (100)…
Communityfacilities scattered individually through the city do nothing for the
life of the city.
Therefore:
Create nodes of activity throughout the community, spread about 300 yards
apart. First identify those existing spots in the community where action seems
to concentrate itself. Then modify the layout of the paths in the community to
bring as many of them through these spots as possible. This makes each spot
function as a "node" in the path network. Then, at the center of each node,
make a small public square, and surround it with a combination of community
facilities and shops which are mutually supportive.

30 ACTIVITYNODES
. . . this pattern forms those essential nodes of life which help to
generate IDENTIFlABLE NEIGHBORHOOD (14), PROMENADE (31),
NETWORKOF PATHS AND CARS (52), and PEDESTRIAN STREET
(100)…

60 ACCESSIBLE GREEN
. . . at the heart of neighborhoods, and near all work cominunities, there
need to be small greens - IDENTIFIABLE NEIGHBORHOOD (14),
WORK COMMUNITY(41) Of course it makes the most sense to locate
these greens in such a way that they help form the boundaries and
neighborhoods and backs - SUBCULTURE BOUNDARY (13),
NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARY (15), QUIET BACKS (59).
People need green open places to go to; when they are close they use
them. But if the greens are more than three minutes away, the distance
overwhelms the need.
Therefore:
Build one open public green within three minutes' walk - about 750 feet -
of every house and workplace. This means that the greens need to be
uniformly scattered at 1500-f0ot intervals, throughout the city. Make the
greens at least 150 feet across, and at least 60,000 square feet in area.

Source. Fabrizio Vescovo

Generative processes of
Mediterranean Cities and Towns
Besim S. Hakim, FAICP, AIA
arcan@sprynet.com
http://historiccitiesrules.com
Lecture 06

There are radical differences between traditional systems of building and
urbanism and contemporary practice. This is due to another system of
conception, implementation and associated processes of growth and change.
And it is also due to the manner in which responsibilities were allocated to the
people involved in decisions affecting building activities, and in the methods
space was conceived, partitioned, configured and controlled.
This presentation will address the essential underlying system of the traditional
experience that can be learned from and recycled for contemporary use. It is
the nature of the generative process and its lessons, including the manner in
which responsibilities are allocated to various parties and the effect that has on
building activities and the resulting structure and form of the town.

A fundamental principle must be observed: that imitation of tradition should
be avoided and replaced by a process of learning by analysis as indicated in the
diagram below.
NO to imitation. YES to learning by analysis

Fez (lower left)
Zaria (lower right)
Differenturban morphologies
from similar generative
processes:
 Shibam

 Shibam (scale: 50% smaller)
Zaria neighborhood cluster
Fez neighborhood cluster (same scale as
Zaria neighborhood) 

Two maps from Muharraq, Bahrain (Left: Old Muharraq. Right: Housing from
1990s) visualize the difference of the built environment that resulted from a
generative process (left) and a pre-planned and designed one (right). The latter
type is based on a static plan in the form of a blueprint, commonly known as a
“master plan” that describes what needs to be done and which generates a
fabricated structure. Whereas a generative program is one that creates built
environments that are guided by a step-by-step procedure within a reasonable
time frame. In essence a generative process tells us what to do, what actions to
take to build or revitalize buildings, rather than detailed drawings that tells us
what the end-result is supposed to be.

Tunis medina
(top)and the
modern sector
(below)built
duringthe French
colonial rule.
Photo date1975.

9-week human embryo
The analogy is very clearly described by Lewis Wolpert in his
book The Triumph of the Embryo, 1991, page 17, under the
sub-heading:
A Developmental Programme:
“If the cells in the embryo ‘know’ where and when to change
shape, contract, or move, then it begins to be possible to
envisage a program for the development of form.” And “We
can think of this pattern of cell activities as being part of the
embryo’s developmental program. It is a program that
contains the instructions for making the shapes. A key feature
of a generative program is that it can be made up of quite
simple instructions, yet generate very complex forms.”
From the same author in his Principles of Development,
1997,page 21:
“All the information for embryonic development is contained
within a fertilized egg. So how is this information interpreted
to give rise to an embryo? One possibility is that the structure
of the organism is somehow encoded as a descriptive
program in the genome, which contains a program of
instructions for making the organism – a generative
program”.

“Consider origami, the art of paper folding.
By folding a piece of paper in various
directions, it is quite easy to make a paper hat
or a bird from a single sheet. To describe in
any detail the final form of the paper with the
complex relationships between its parts is
really very difficult, and not of much help in
explaining how to achieve it. Much more
useful and easier to formulate are
instructions on how to fold the paper. The
reason for this is that simple instructions
about folding have complex spatial
consequences. In development, gene action
similarly sets in motion a sequence of events
that can bring about profound changes in the
embryo. One can thus think of the genetic
information in the fertilized egg as equivalent
to the folding instructions in origami: both
contain a generative program for making a
particular structure.”
ORIGAMI

What is remarkable, however, about generative programs and their coding
system and related decision-making mechanisms is that they clearly replicate
natural phenomenon and related processes of inception, growth, change,
rejuvenation, decay, and re-birth. The phenomenon of Emergence, that was
discovered and elaborated on within the last two decades by scientists from
different disciplines, confirms that these traditional towns follow models of
sustainablenatural processes.
The resulting system for habitat will be Dynamic in nature, which means that
Emergent forms and configurations, particularly at the micro level, will be
unpredictable. The resulting qualities of form will be unique to each location,
thus enhancing the sense of place and identity at each micro level of the built
environment. These unpredictable and sometimes surprising results will be
evident from the level of the house design to the manner clusters of houses
relate to each other, to the character of the public realm in streets, and to the
level of a whole neighborhood.

The lessons from the experience of traditional Mediterranean and Near-East
towns, particularly their aspects of control, management, and coding, are
primarily applicable to the housing sectors of contemporary and future towns
and cities. The following essential principles, applicable to the habitat sectors
of cities, need to be adopted and applied:
• Habitat, or housing, formation and its subsequent growth and change over
time should be formed and designed to behave as a Complex Adaptive System.
• The system mustalso be Self-Regulating.
• The system must rely on feedback. Negative Feedback is what should occur
during the process of self-regulation.
• The system must operate by a Generative Program and not a Descriptive
Program.
• The generative program must be non-linear in nature, i.e. it should rely on
decisions that are informed by feedback.
Continued on next slide 

• At the micro level Agents behave in Adaptive ways, and they form the next
level of Aggregate Agents who in turn form another layer and so on. An agent
could be an individual or a household.
• The Responsibility distribution between agents at various levels will require
making changes to the current system of production and delivery, such as the
role of the developer in assembling and sub-dividing land.
• The rules and codes should primarily be based on intentions for performance
and therefore should be Proscriptive in nature. However, a minority of the
codes might have to be prescriptive, particularly those related to technological
elements such as the car and various infrastructure elements.
• The resulting system for habitat will be Dynamic in nature, which means that
Emergent forms and configurations, particularly at the micro level, will be
unpredictable. The resulting qualities of form will be unique to each location,
thus enhancing the sense of place and identity at each micro level of the built
environment. These unpredictable and sometimes surprising results will be
evident from the level of the house design to the manner clusters of houses
relate to each other, to the character of the public realm in streets, and to the
level of a whole neighborhood.

The nature of rules and process and their
effect on urban form:
• The more a rule is prescriptive, that specifies form in terms of precise
dimensions and shapes rather than being proscriptive based on intention,
the more it is incapable of helping to make a place in which the parts are
carefully adapted to each other (left graph); and
• The more that the administrative/legal process that carries out the rule can
allow sensitivity to individual and local circumstances, the more it is capable
of helping to make a place in which the parts are carefully adapted to each
other (right graph).

To summarize, a generative program must be composed of the following
components:
1. Meta-principles comprised of ethical/legal norms that are derived from the
history and value system of the society for which such a program is
proposed.
2. Private and public rights are fairly and equitably exercised.
3. Private and public responsibilities are properly allocated and implemented.
4. Control and Management.
5. Rules and codes.
Details published in: “Generative processes for revitalizing historic towns or heritage districts” by
Besim S. Hakim, Urban Design International (2007) 12, 2/3, 87-99.

Seven Meta-Principles were predominant in most societies
around the Mediterranean and they are a part of ethical norms:
1. Good intentions are the basis for sound decisions.
2. The basis for action is the freedom to act within one’s property, constrained by the ethical
norm of ‘Beauty without Arrogance’, and by avoiding creating harm as stipulated in the
following norms.
3. Harm to others and oneself should be avoided, and if two damages should occur then, and
only if necessary, accept the lesser of the two. “Do not do to others that which would anger
you if others did it to you” – Socrates, 5th century BCE.
4. Respect the rights of older established conditions on the ground including existing buildings,
and by extension accepting the idea of interdependence and cooperation between neighbors.
5. Respect the privacy of others, particularly avoiding the creation of direct visual corridors into
private domains. In addition, where applicable due to local customs, avoid blocking access to
desirable views.
6. Do not debase the social and economic integrity of adjacent properties by changes or the use
of one’s property that would create such harm.
7. Local customary practices must be respected and followed, although with the passage of time
changes to those customs might be necessary.

Private and public rights are fairly and equitably exercised:
In a generative bottom-up system most of the decisions affecting the built environment are made
by the people in their neighborhoods. Rights that affect those decisions have to be clearly
articulated and understood by the public. They are:
1. Right for abutting an adjacent neighbor, and the right of servitude and access. This will depend
on the specific configurations of the site and buildings.
2. Privacy rights – their protection and maintenance.
3. Rights of original and earlier usage. This means that subsequent decisions and acts have to take
into account existing conditions.
4. Rights for the full utilization of one’s property that include the right to increase useable areas
such as building a Sabat (room bridging the right-of-way without creating obstructions to
traffic), or increasing the height of a building within stipulated restrictions if those exist for a
specific locality or site.
5. Right for using a part or all of one’s property for generating income, provided such use does
not create damage to the neighborhood.
6. Right of pre-emption of an adjacent property. This right provides the first option for purchasing
an adjacent property by the neighbors.
7. Rights that allows owners of property to endow their property and the income it generates for
charitable purposes.
8. Right of inheritance by taking into consideration the impact it might have on division of a
property.
Public rights relate to transportation, infrastructure, and certain public facilities. The public
authorities have to implement and maintain them.

Private and public responsibilities are properly allocated and
implemented:
Historically the responsibilities of private citizens and institutions in generative systems that were
clearly evident are:
1. Utilizing the exterior Fina when needed and the responsibility for keeping it clean. (The Fina is
a longitudinal space along the exterior wall of buildings about one meter wide. It has many
useful purposes).
2. Informing the public authorities of any danger to the public realm from within private
properties so that corrective action is taken. A typical example is the leaning wall that might
pose a danger to passersby on the street.
3. Each individual and family is responsible to maintain peace and tranquility with their
surrounding neighbors.
Responsibilities of public authorities were:
1. Protecting the rights of the public.
2. Building and maintaining public streets and sewer lines, water and electricity distribution and
maintenance, garbage collection, and insuring that the public realm- streets and open spaces-
are always kept safe.
3. Protecting the integrity of local customs that are related to change and growth in the built
environment.
4. Resolving equitably problems and disputes that may arise between property owners,
particularly between adjacent neighbors.

Control and Management.
• Control and management will be guided by the meta-principles and would ensure private and
public rights are fairly and equitably exercised, and that responsibilities are properly followed by
private and public parties.
• Control and management should be based locally and must have legitimacy to the people living in
the area or who will live there in the near future.
• An effective method that was predominant in many traditional societies was the system of
neighborhood representatives. Sometimes a council of elders was responsible for the day-to-day
affairs of a community including matters that related to building activities.
• In contemporary societies the role of a representative or a council of elders can take the form of
the Office of Arbitrator. Ideally a council of neighborhood representatives should select the
Arbitrator. His/her primary responsibility would be to liaise between neighborhoods and the
municipal central authorities to maintain a healthy generative process controlled by the people, i.e.
keeping it a bottom-up system. The Arbitrator will also be responsible for ensuring that all parts of
a generative program function properly, and that the rights and responsibilities of private and
public parties are respected.

Rules and codes
Another important component of a generative system are the necessary rules and codes that can
be followed during the process of growth and change and for resolving unforeseen conflicts
between neighbors. It is preferable that such a system of rules and codes is compatible with the
ethical/legal norms, the rights and responsibilities of private and public parties, and should also be
linked in content to traditional local customs that are still viable socially and technically. They
should also be proscriptive in nature and their intention clear, i.e. what is to be achieved must be
understood by everybody involved in the generative process. They are to be open for interpretation
in response to the peculiarities of each location and condition. Prescriptive codes that do not allow
localized interpretation must be discouraged unless they are absolutely necessary. For examples of
such codes see my published study in Urban Design International, vol.12 – no. 2/3, 2007, pp. 87-99.

Practical Eco-techniques that are based on natural principles

Students must learn to develop generative programs and simulate their application in the studio.

“The Nature of Order”
Lecture 07

International Society of Biourbanism - Summer School 2014The Nature of Order, by Antonio Caperna PhD
CONTENTS
 The nature of “Order”
 Wholeness
 Centers
 15 Geometrical Properties

“The Universeis built on a plan the profound
symmetry of which is somehow present in the
inner structure of our intellect”
PaulValery

A new vision of Architecture
To make buildings which have life
and profound order

“I have tried to construct a
coherent picture of life on earth,
which makes sense of these
matters, and gives us something
to live for, and worth living for”
A new vision of Architecture

…”anew view of
ourselves inrelation to
the world. This view
ultimatelynourishes
(and if accepted, could
become the foundation
of) a new kind of hope
— a hope that is all the
more profound because
it links together
knowledgefrom
philosophy, science, and
religion, and helps us to
experience the
wholeness of the
whole”

LIFE
The 20th Century scientific conception of life
as organism (any carbon-oxygen-hydrogen-
nitrogen system)
Is a virus, a forest alive?

Each thing – regardless of what it is – has
some degree of life
This conception
 has scientific evidence
 has a solid basis in math and physics of the space
 furnish us a single coherent conception of the world

THE NATURE OF ORDER
What exactly do we mean by order?
“order”that it is able to help us create life in a building
Order as mechanical order
How things work as mechanism
Order as product of generative
computable process
Anorder of a growing thing in
which one system UNFOLDS
continuously to form another

Order as any system produced by
interacting generative morphological rules
(e.g. biological order, anorder of a growing thing in which one system unfold
continuously to form another;
structural grammars of the kinds defined by Chomsky are a special cases of this
kind of order – see Chomsky N., Structural linguistics)
Alan Turing, The chemical basis of Morphogenesis

Order as new relationship between function
and ornament.
There is no difference between functional order and ornamental order.
They are different aspect of a single kind of order

Harmony-Seeking Computations
GOAL
 as new formof computation
 that resembles certain recent results in chaos theory and complexity
theory
 which focuses on the harmony reached in a systemand
 able to create harmonious configurations (buildings, towns, ecology, etc.)
(Computation is a process following a well-defined model understood and
expressedas, for example, an algorithm)

WHOLENESS, AND ITS BUILDING
BLOCKS: THE CENTERS

What is wholeness?

A phenomenon has been observed in
artifacts. It may be called “life” or
“wholeness.”
This quality has been noticed in certain
works of art, artifacts, buildings, public
space, rooms, parts of buildings, and in a
wide range of other human artifacts

AN INTUITIVE MODEL OF WHOLENESS
Wholeness and value as a necessary part
Of any complex system
An intuitive model of wholeness as a
recursive structure

That the thing we recognize as the "gestalt’ of a
figure, the pattern of flows in a hydrodynamic
field, the "something" about an individualhuman
face which seems like that person’s wholeness,
and which we recognize instantly, is – in each
case -- a describable mathematical structure.
However, there was no then-existing
mathematicalstructure I knew of, which was able
to capture this "something" or which could
embody it.

The wholeness
is an abstract mathematicalstructure,
existing in space.
It captures what we may loosely consider as the global structural character of
a given configuration, in itself and in relation to the world around it.
It is a structure that exists at many levels of scale, and covers the
interrelationships of the configurations at different scales.
It is built by centers, which become activated in the space as a result of the
configuration as a whole. Centers have differentlevels of strength or coherence.
The coherence of a configuration is caused by relationships among centers.
There are 15 kinds of relationships among centers that increase or intensify the
strength of any given center.

An intuitive model of wholeness
wholeness is crucial issue
The wholeness is that global structure which pays attention to, and captures,
the relative strength of different parts of the system, paying attention both to
the way they are nested in one another, and how the pattern of strength varies
with the nesting.
…
As a result of experiments I conducted at the Centerfor Cognitive Studies at
Harvard in the early 1960s, I became convinced that wholeness, "the wholeness
we see," is a real, well-defined structure, not merely a cognitive impression.
Thatthe thing we recognize as the "gestalt’ ofa figure, the pattern of flows in a
hydrodynamicfield, the "something" aboutan individual human face which
seems like that person’s wholeness,and which we recognize instantly, is – in
each case -- a describable mathematical structure.
However, there was no then-existing mathematicalstructure I knew of, which
was able to capture this "something" or which could embody it.

The idea of wholeness
Cosmology - Mach's Principle: gravitational constant G is a function of all the
matterexisting in the universe
Ecology -James Lovelock:Gaia….. A planet as a single organism
Medicine - J. S. Haldane’s explanation of the impossibility of drowning any
definite boundary around an organism showed that there is an inseparable
quality in which organism and environment are bound together and exist as a
whole.

WHOLENESS
At any given moment, in any part of the world, there is a deep wholeness that
exists there.
This is the structureof the whole: the largest and deepestphysical
configuration that is presentthere. It can be felt and seen
(C. Alexander)
Think about the Wt dynamically.
Everything is changing constantly

Physical model of wholeness
Sequential-digital: Reading the strips left to right

The primary entities of which the
wholeness structure is built are centers,
centers thatbecome activated in the
space as a result of the configuration as
a whole.
Centers
structural features which appear to be underpinning the wholeness structure,
as it appears in the geometry of physical things.
15 structural features that appearagain and again in coherentsystems, and
appearto play a major role in establishing the wholeness ofthese systems

LIVING CENTERS (LC)
Physicalsystem that has
geometrical characters
able to support and
favourish activities.
Restorationof Latent od dameged
centers
15 geometrical proprieties(*)
 Patterns
Living center as
organizedfield
force
Classification
 Living Centers
 Latent
 Damaged

Wholeness and Centers
– A design that has “life” must have a high degree of “wholeness”
– Wholeness – “local parts exist chiefly in relation to the whole, and their
behavior and character and structure are determined by the larger whole in
which they existand which they create.”
– Centers – entities that contribute to the wholeness of a design; “a distinct
physicalsystem which occupies a certain volume in space, has a special marked
coherence”

“The Nature of Order”
More particularly, it is possible to define a new class of transformations,
“wholeness-extending transformations,”which allow continuous elaboration
of any portion of the world, according to non-disruptive and healing acts
it can be shown that these transformations generate the 15 properties, as a
natural by-product of their wholeness-extending actions
the use of these wholeness-extending transformations which has caused the
appearance of the greatly loved
healthy environments can only be generated by actions and processes based
on wholeness-extending transformations.

“The Phenomenon of Life”
This quality of life seems to be correlatedwiththe repeated appearance of
fifteengeometricpropertiesthatappear throughout the object’s configuration
We began to refer to this quality, when viewed in its geometrical aspect, as
“living structure”
The appearance of living structure induce deep feeling, anda feeling of
connectedness in those who are in the presence of these things.

“The Phenomenon of Life”
Degree of life is an objective quality that maybe measured by reliable empirical
methods
It is possible that the properties, as they occur in artifacts, may originate with
cognition, and work because of cognition, and that is why we respond to them.

Centers
The crux of this matter is this:
a CENTER is a kind of entity which can only be defined in term of other
centers.
The idea of a center cannot be defined in terms of any other primitive entities
except centers.

Centers
In math such concept is called recursive
(see R.L. Goodstein, “Recursive number theory: a development of a recursive
arithmetic in a logis free equation calculus”)
In The Power of Centers, Rudolf Arnheim use the centers as the fundamental
building block of life or wholeness
Centers as foundation of R.J.Boscovich theory’s of matter (A Theory of Natural
Philosophy)

The Power of Centers, R. Arnheim
In the dynamic sense, a center is a
focus of energy from which the vector
radiate into the environment.
It is also a place upon which vectors act
concentrically

Center as a field
In mathematics and physics, a scalar
fieldassociates a scalar value to every
point in a space. The scalar mayeither be
a mathematicalnumber, or a physical
quantity. Scalar fields are required to be
coordinate-independent, meaning that
anytwo observers using the same units
will agree on the value of the scalar field
at the same point in space (or spacetime).
Examples used in physics include
the temperature distribution throughout
space, the pressure distribution in a fluid
A scalar fieldsuch as
temperature or pressure,
where intensity of the field is
graphically represented by
intensity of the color.
In physics, a scalar is a simple physical quantity (e.g. mass, temperature, etc.)

Center as a field
Each part of the field points in some direction, towards some other centers.
Here we see wholeness, not merely as a nested system of centers but as an
ordered system in which the way that different centers and sub-centers help
each other creates the field effect.

Each Center is a field of other centers (recursive
definition of centers)
There are no ultimate elementary components of the
field, except the centers themselves
This is the foundation of living structure
Life comes from the wholeness, from the system of
centers
The degree of life attained comes from the degree of life
of the component centers, and from their disposition

Quality of life seems to be correlated with
the repeated appearance of fifteen
geometric properties—or geometrical
invariants—that appear throughout the
object’s configuration

Geometric Properties
…all living structure — indeed all “good” structurewould be
composedof these fifteen fundamental properties
… these properties were not confined to buildings and works of
art.
They are equally visible in nature

We began to refer to this quality, when viewed in its geometrical
aspect, as “living structure.”
The appearance of living structurein things—large or small—is
also correlated with the fact that these things induce deep feeling,
and a feeling of connectednessin those who are in the presence
of these things

“The fifteen properties are the ways in
which living centers can support other living
centers.”

The fifteen properties of life
These 15 properties forms a basis for the wholeness-extending
transformations that create life and coherence as configurations
unfold

Fifteen fundamental properties
• Morphological features that resonate with the human senses
• Found in man-made form and structure
• Independent of culture, period, or region — something innate
• Alsopresent in natural forms and objects

1. LEVELS OF SCALE is the way that a strong center is made stronger partly by
smaller strong centers contained in it, and partly by its larger strong centers
which contain it..
2. STRONG CENTERS defines the way that a strong center requires a spatial
field-like effect, created by other centers, as the primary source of its strength
3. BOUNDARIES is the way in which the field-like effect of a center is
strengthenedby the creation of a ring-like center, made of smaller centers
which surround and intensify the first. The boundary also unites the center
with the centers beyond it, thus strengthening it further.
4. ALTERNATING REPETITION is the way in which centers are strengthened
when they repeat, by the insertion of other centers between the repeating
ones.
5. POSITIVE SPACE is the way that a given center must draw its strength, in
part, from the strengthof other centers immediately adjacent to it in space.

6. GOOD SHAPE is the way that the strengthof a given center depends on its
actual shape, and the way this effect requires that even the shape, its
boundary, and the space around it are made up of strong centers.
7. LOCAL SYMMETRIES is the way that the intensity of a given center is
increased by the extent to which other smaller centers which it contains are
themselves arranged in locally symmetrical groups.
8. DEEP INTERLOCK AND AMBIGUITY is the way in which the intensity of a
given center can be increased when it is attached to nearby strong centers,
througha third set of strong centers that ambiguously belong to both.
9. CONTRAST is the way that a center is strengthened by the sharpness of the
distinction between its character and the character of surrounding centers.
10. ROUGHNESS is the way that the field effect of a given center draws its
strength, necessarily, from irregularities in the sizes, shapes, and arrangements
of other nearby centers.

11. GRADIENTS is the way a center is strengthened by a graded series of
different-sized centers which then "point" to the new center and intensify its
field effect.
12. ECHOES is the way that the strengthof a given center depends on
similarities of angle and orientation and systems of centers forming
characteristic angles thus forming larger centers, among the centers it contains.
13. THE VOID is the way that the intensity of every center depends on the
existence of a still place--an empty center--somewhere in its field.
14. SIMPLICITY AND INNER CALM is the way the strengthof a center depends
on its simplicity--on the process of reducing the number of different centers
which exist in it, while increasing the strength of these centers to make them
weigh more.
15. NON-SEPARATENESS is the way the life and strength of a center is merged
smoothly-sometimes even indistinguishably--with the centers that form its
surroundings.

Levels of scale
When a configuration contains centers, these centers are associated with
centers at a range of sizes that occur at well-marked levels of scale.
The scale jumps between levels are small: in coherentsystems the centers of
different sizes are often in size-ratios of 2 to 1, 3 to 1 and 4 to 1.
If the jumps are larger – for example10 to 1 or 100 to 1 the coherence tends to
fall apart.

where Y is a variable
such as metabolic rate
or life span, Y0 is a
normalization
constant, and b is a
scaling exponent.
Y = Y0 Mb

What does this mean?

 Fractal-like networks effectively endow life with an additional fourth spatial
dimension
 The quarter-power scaling law is pervasive in biology
 Organisms have evolvedhierarchical branching networks that terminate in
size-invariantunits, such as capillaries, leaves, mitochondria, and oxidase
molecules. Natural selection has tended to maximizeboth metabolic capacity,
by maximizing the scaling of exchange surface areas, and internal efficiency, by
minimizing the scaling of transport distances and times
 These design principles are independent of detailed dynamics and explicit
models and should apply to virtually all organisms
Source:
The Fourth Dimension of Life: Fractal Geometry and Allometric Scaling of Organisms, Geoffrey B.
West, James H. Brown, Brian J. Enquist

“In biological systems, scaling laws can reflect adaptive processes of various
types and are often linked to complex systems poised near critical points.
The same is true for perception, memory, language and other cognitive
phenomena.
Findings of scaling laws in cognitive science are indicative of scaling invariance
in cognitive mechanisms and multiplicative interactions among interdependent
components of cognition”
SOURCE
Scaling laws in cognitive sciences, Kello, C. T., Brown, G. D. A., Ferrer-i-Cancho, R., Holden, G.,
Linkenkaer-Hansen, K., Rhodes, T. & Van Orden, G. C., 2010

Results
Existence of scale constants
 occurs through fractal qualities of structures
 we can find them in our cerebral functions,
language, biological structures, etc..
They represent a link between physics, biology
and psychology, andjoin human species to
other species

Fractal configuration and scale constants
concur to create
 comfortable (psychological, neurophysiologically)
 beautiful (aesthetically and harmonically) and
 highly connected environment
 support the life and furnish a deep sustainability

Isfahan(Iran)
Nature connect to
human
consciuseness
throughtforms and
colours, and also
via a seldom
recognized scaling
rule
Salingaros

Alexanderoriginally established the scaling
hierarchy phenomenologically by measuring
internal subdivisions in buildings, man-
madeartifacts, natural structures, and
biological forms.
He propose for the scaling factor k as being
somewherebetween2 and 3 (Alexander,
1996).
"The small scale is connected to the large
scale through a hierarchy of intermediate
scales with scaling factor roughly equal to e
= 2.7“
(Salingaros, Journal of Architectural and Planning
Research, volume 15 (1998), pages 283-293)

STRONG CENTERS
Wholeness is composed of centers,
and centers arise from wholeness.
A given wholeness is coherent to
the degree that the centers within
it are coherent.2 Centers are
recursive in structure. Each center
that exists acts to strengthen other
centers, larger and smaller

Great Mosque at Kairouan, Tunisia
Like levels of scale, the concept of a strong center is
recursive; it does not refer to someone grand center,
but to the fact that at a great variety of scales, in a
thing which is alive, we can feel the presence of a
center, and that it is this multiplicity of different
centers, at different levels, which engages us.

Strong centers play a key role by creating a
focal points in the city
61 .SMALL PUBLIC SQUARES
126 SOMETHING ROUGHLYIN THE MIDDLE

• Each “center” ties a substantial region of
space together coherently
• Each center combines surrounding
centers and boundaries to focus
• Centers support each other on every scale
— recursive hierarchical property

THICK BOUNDARIES
Strong centers typically (though not always)have thick boundaries.
The thick boundary:
 may exists in 1, 2 or 3D,
 is made up of smaller centers that have the LEVELS OF SCALE relation to the
larger center being surrounded.
 typically forma transition zone of interaction, allowing physical, chemical,
or biological processes to occur without contaminating their centers.
 often have only one level of scale smaller than the thing it surrounds;
 help to form the “fieldof force”that creates and intensifies a center; they
surround, enclose, separate and connect

The Iwan is north-oriented and as it
has no outside wall, shady, cool,
high space, fit for reception is
created. This type of space is also an
intermediary space
Iwansuch as traditional spaces for
houses from arid climate regions
the iwan entrance to the Taj
Mahal in Agra

In nature, we see many
systems withpowerful,
thick boundaries. The
thick boundaries evolve
as
a result of the need for
functional separations
and transitions between
different systems. They
occur essentially
because wherever two
very different
phenomena interact,
there is also a "zone of
interaction" which is a
thing in itself, as
importantas the things
which it separates.
Confluence of the Rio Negro and the Rio
Solimoes near Manaus, Brazil

ALTERNATING REPETITION
When repetition of similar centers occurs in a coherent system, the centers
typically alternate with a second system of centers, thus forming a double
system of centers with a beat or rhythmic alternation, from the positive space
between the repetitions. Centers intensify other centers by their repeating
rhythm;when a second system of centers repeats, in parallel, it intensifies the
firstsystem by providing a kind of counterpoint, or opposing beat.

“One of the ways that centers
help each other most effectively
is by their repetition. Centers
intensifyother centers by
repeating. The rhythm of the
repeating center, slowly, like the
beatof a drum, intensifies the
field effect.”
Christopher Alexander, p. 165,
Book One, The Nature of Order

The relation between centers can
be intensified by the use of
repetition

City country fingers
Oslo (Norway)

ISB SUMMER SCHOOL 2012: NEUROERGONOMICS AND URBAN DESIGN

NON ALTERNATINGREPETITION

POSITIVE SPACE
In coherentsystems every bitof space is coherent, well shaped; and the space
between coherent bits of space are also coherent and well-shaped and the
space between coherent bits of space are also coherent and well-shaped. Thus
every bit of space swells outward, is substantialin itself, and is never the
leftover from an adjacent shape – like ripening corn, each kernel swelling until
it meets the others, each one having its own positive shape caused by its
growthas a cell from the inside. The positiveness of space is difficult to pin
down exactly, but it is like a weak kind of convexity, or quasi-convexity. In
systems wherethe space is positive, the principal elements of space are nearly
all quasi-convex, and the pieces of space between these elements are also
quasi-convex.

Positive space in the cell
structure of wood issue

Refers to Gestalt psychology
• Ties into the basis of human perception
• Convexityplays a major role in defining an object or a space (area or
volume)
• Mathematicalplus psychologicalreasons
• Strongly applicable to the spaces we inhabit
• Threat felt from objects sticking out

People feel comfortablein spaces which are "Positive" and use these spaces;
people feel relatively uncomfortablein spaces which are "negative" and such
spaces tend to remain unused.

Anoutdoor space is positive when it has a distinct and definite shape
 it has been shaped over the time by people
 it has therefore taken a definite, cared for shape with meaning and purpose
 Every bit of space is very intensely useful
 There is NO leftover waste space which in not useful

Another way of defining the difference between "Positive" and "negative"
outdoor spaces is by their degree of enclosure and their degree of convexity.
space is non-convex, when some
lines joining two points lie at
leastpartly outside the space
space is convexwhen a line joining
any two points inside the space itself
lies totally inside the space.
degree of convexity

degree of enclosure
Positive spaces are partly enclosed and the "virtual" area which seems to exist
is convex.
Negativespaces are so poorly defined that you cannot really tell where their
boundaries arc, and to the extent that you can tell, the shapes are non-convex.

Camillo Sitte, in City Planning According to Artistic
Principles shows that the successful spaces - those which
are greatly used and enjoyed - have two properties:
- partly enclosed;
- they are open to one another, so that each one leads
into the next.

“In the present Western view of space…we tend to see buildings floating in empty space, as
if the space between them were an empty sea.”
ChristopherAlexander,p. 174, Book One, The Nature of Order

enclosure goes back to our most primitive instincts

partly enclosed
Transform this . . . . . . to this.
Andwhen an existing open space is too enclosed, it may be possible to break a
hole through the building to open the space up.

- You feel more comfortable in a
workspace if there is a wall behind
you
- Each workspace should be 50 to 75
per cent enclosed by walls or
windows
- Every workspace should have a
view to the outside
- No other person should work closer
than 2.4 m to your workspace
Alexanderstudies of people's space needs in workplaces show a similar
phenomenon. To be comfortable,apersonwants a certain amount of
enclosure aroundhim/her and his/her work

GOOD SHAPE
This describes a particular,
coherentquality of the particular
shapes that occur in or around a
coherentcenter.
ginkgo_leaf

This describes a particular, coherent quality of the shapes that occur in or
around a coherent center. This kind of “good” shape is somewhat unusual, and
is marked by the fact that the shape itself is made up from multiple coherent
centers which together form the shape, and of other coherent centers which
together form the shape of the space around the shape.

Alexandergives a partial listof requiredproperties for both “goodshape” and
the elements that make up a “good shape”:
1. High degree of internal symmetries.
2. Bilateral symmetry (almostalways).
3. A well-markedcenter (not necessarily at the geometric middle).
4. The spaces it creates next to it are also positive (positive space).
5. It is very strongly distinct from what surrounds it.
6. It is relatively compact (i.e., not very different in overall outline from
something between 1:1 and 1:2 – exceptions may go as high as 1:4, but almost
never higher).
7. It has closure, a feeling of being closed and complete.

LOCAL SYMMETRIES
A local symmetryis a symmetry of a localisedregionof space that is not
possessedby the space beyond.
Strong centers oftenhave strong local symmetries withinthem, and local
parts of space with strong symmetries are typically strong centers.
This feature binds together smaller centers within the whole, further creating
coherence.

The plan of Alhambra: the plan is a marvel of centers formed in a
thousand combinations, and yet with beautiful symmetrical order at every
point in space.
(Source: Alexander, Christopher. The Nature of Order)

Symmetries within hierarchy
• Within universal scaling, symmetries must act on
every scale
• “Symmetry” does not mean overall symmetry, as is
usually envisioned
• We have multiple sub-symmetries acting within larger
symmetries
• Hierarchically nested symmetries

OVERALL SYMMETRIES
“perfect symmetry is often a mark of death
in things,
Detroit RenaissanceCenter (Skidmore, Owings &Marril
et al.)

OVERALL + LOCAL SYMMETRIES
it is not the overall symmetryof a design or large symmetries that support
strong centers and that contribute coherence to the overall design
Zeppelinfiled by Albert
Speer: brutal overall
symmetryof a very
simple-mindedtype,
but few local
symmetries.

Cognitive study
Comparation of white and black strips
and measuring of their coherence as
felt, experimented, perceived by
different subjects.
Result
the coherence of the strips:
 depends on the number of local
symmetries
 is an objective matter of cognitive
processing, independent of the person
who judging, and
 independent of the particular kind
of experimental judgment which is
used to measure.

DEEP INTERLOCK AND AMBIGUITY
This occurs where coherent centers are “hooked” into their surroundings,
making it difficult to disentangle the center from its surroundings. Often there
are ambiguous zones which belong both to the center and to its surroundings,
againmaking it difficult to disentangle the two.
“In a surprisinglylarge number of cases, living structures contain some form of
interlock:situations where centers are “hooked” into their surroundings. This
has the effect of making it difficult to disentangle the centerfrom its
surroundings.Itbecomes more deeply unified with the world and with other
centers nearit.”
ChristopherAlexander, p. 195, Book One, The Nature of Order

This property contains the interrelation between two or more C which react on
each other to create a new unit.

The ambiguity between indoors and outdoors in a building is crucial social
reason
arcades create an ambiguous territory between the public world and the
private world, and so make buildings friendly.

Arcade
Properties
- as place that is partly
inside the building it must
contain the character of the
inside
- as a territory which is also
apartfrom the public
world, it must be felt as an
extensionof the building
interior and therefore
covered
- Arcades don't work if the
edges of the ceiling are too
high

the effect of the arcade can be increased
if the paths open to the public pass right
throughthe building.
Arcades which pass through
buildings.

 Another strong way of connecting
 Formsinterpenetrate to link together
 Analogy comes from fractals, where lines tend to fill portions
of space, and surfaces grow with accretions
 Abrupt transition does not bind

CONTRAST
Every center relies to some degree on the contrast of discernible opposites,
and on its differentiation from the ground where it occurs. It is intensified
when the ground, againstwhich it is contrasted, is clarified and is itself made of
centers and POSITIVE SPACE. The essence of this feature is that this
differentiation arises from the degree or sharpness of contrast that is attained
between adjacent centers. Note, though, that too much contrast is likely to be
harmful, and must then be offset by NOT-SEPARATENESS, below.

Unity can only be created from
distinctness.
The difference between
opposite gives birth to
“something”

“Life cannot occur without
differentiation. Unity can only be
created from distinctness.”
Badia Fiesolana (sec. XII)
Contrast of rough and smooth, dark and light,
solid and void are all working togrther

Contrast is necessary:
 To establish distinct subunits
 To distinguishbetween adjoining units
 To provide figure-ground symmetryof opposites
 False transparency reduces contrast
 Reduced contrast weakens design

Space under an arcade versus
open street space
Weak spaces: inside versus
outside a glass curtain wall —
no contrast

GRADIENTS
This quality play a large role
throughoutnature
In an electric field, the field - strength
varies with distance from the charge,
forming a gradient of intensity
In a river, we have gradient of turbulence

Centers are generated and strengthenedby gradients of size,
shape, or quality. Thus any quality among a system of centers that
varies systematically produces a gradient, and this gradient, by
pointing to a particular center, helps to build that center and to
intensify its coherence.

A gradient is a mediator, which
slowly changes of appearance
in a certain direction and with a
certain regularity.
One quality changes slowly
across space, and becomes
another.”

Gradients = transitions
— sometimes we should not quantize form into discrete pieces, but need to
change it gradually
• Getting away from uniformity
• Urban transect: city to countryside
• Interior spaces: public to private
“Gradients playa very large role throughoutnature. Any time that a quantity
varies systematically, through space, a gradient is established .”
Christopher Alexander p. 275, Book One, The Nature of Order

Golden Gate showing gradients in
the bays, steelwork, and gusset
plates
Doge’s palace. Venice. Complex
gradients

ROUGHNESS
Roughness or irregularity appear pervasively in natural systems.
It is the result of the interplay between well defined order and the constraints
of three dimensional space
In real life, living things are not
always in ultimate accuracy…
they have a
“morphological roughness”

In coherent structures we usually find a rough arrangement and repetition of
centers rather than exact repetition in shape, spacing and/or size. Thus
apparently similar centers are different according to context, allowing each part
to be adapted to the geometric constraints around it, modifying details of the
repeating structure as it needs to be. Texture and imperfections are generated,
and in part create the possibility of uniqueness and life.

Persian bowl
showing the
roughness in the
beautiful drawing
of the ornaments;
they vary in size,
position,
orientation, and
according to he
space formed by
neighboring
ornaments, and so
make the space
perfectly
harmonious.
(Source: Alexander, Christopher. The Nature of Order)

Roughness can be defined as a pre-defined grid which has certain
imperfections which are related to the pattern. These imperfections generate a
local disturbance within an image and they are thus developing a certain
tension in the total field. In this way, the imperfections draw the attention of
the spectator and bring ‘life’ to a composition.
The effect of imperfections within a field is shown in above figures.
Disturbance of the strict grid (left) by scaling of certain points (right) resulting
in a more lively composition

Piazza Navona

Many different manifestations of roughness
— all positive!
• 1. Fractal structure goes all the way down in scales — nothing is smooth
• 2. Relaxationof strict geometry to allow imperfections — more tolerant
• 3. Ornament can be interpreted as “roughness” in a smoothgeometry

Roughness and symmetry breaking
• So-called “imperfections” differentiate repeated units to make them similar
but not identical — hand-painted tiles
• Symmetrybreaking (approximate) prevents informational collapse
• Deliberate roughness in repetition

Roughness and adaptation
• Sustainability implies adaptation
• Local conditions create roughness — breaks regularity and perfect
symmetry
• The whole changes according to its context thus it becomes unique
• Hierarchy:sustainability; adaptivity; uniqueness; roughness

ECHOES
Within coherentconfigurations
there are often deep underlying
similarities orfamily
resemblances among the
elements.
These similarities are often
characterized by typical angles,
and typical curves, so that they
generate what appear to be
deeply related structures,
sometimes so deep that
everything seems to be related.

Two types of echoes:
• 1. Translational symmetry— similar forms found on the same scale but at
a distance
• 2. Scaling symmetry — similar forms exist at different scales
All natural fractals obey fractal similarity — not exactly similar when
magnified, but only “echoes”

THE VOID
In the most profound centers that have perfect wholeness,
there is often at the heart of the structure a void that is large,
undifferentiated,like water, infinite in depth, surrounded by and
contrastedwith the clutter of the structure and fabric all around
it.

Correspond to the fact that differentiation of minor system almostalways
occurs in relation to the quiet” of some larger and more stable system.
The smaller structure tend to appear around the edge of larger and more
homogeneous structure.
In plasma physics this appear in the form of galaxies which have strongly
homogeneous zones, bounded by more intricate zones where the structure
is more intense and more densely distributed (see Galactic model of element
formation, pag.296)
A hint of something that might one
daybe a general theory showing why
the void will occur in complex systems
to mantein thei wholeness, appears in
the most general models of fractal
geometry. Beyound that we have little
explanation.

Largest scale of fractal
• Largestopen component of a fractal survives as the void
• Not possible to fill in all of a fractal with detail
• In “implied” centers, a complex boundary focuses on the open middle —
the void

In the most profound
centers that have
perfect wholeness,
there is often at the
heart of the structure a
void that is large,
undifferentiated, like
water, infinite in depth,
surrounded by and
contrasted with the
clutter of the structure
and fabric all around it

Does not exist now is the result of a general disturbance in our capacity to
make wholeness, which is not a necessary functional property of office
buildings

SIMPLICITY AND INNER CALM
Nova Scotia. Source:www.natureoforder.com
"Everything essential has been left; nothing
extraneous is left.
Butthe result is simple in a profound sense,
but not in the superficial geometric sense.
So it is not true that outward simplicity
creates inner calm; it is only inner simplicity,
true simplicity of heart, which creates it."

More subtle quality
• Lack of clutter — a separate property
• Balance achieved by overall coherence
• Symmetries all cooperating to support each other — nothing extraneous
or distracting
• Appears effortless (though such coherence is in fact very difficult to
achieve)

Simplicity in nature
• Never actually “simple” in the sense of being minimalist
• “Simple” in nature means extremely complex but highly coherent
• A system appears “simple” to us because it is so perfect; the form is
seamless

Green streets
Pools and streams
Low sill

NON-SEPARATENESS
Connectedness, maybe the most important property
No system exists in perfect isolation
This describes the connectedness of each center to the world beyond it.
When a whole is a living center, we experience it as being at one with the
world around it, not separate from it. This means that when not-
separateness exists, visible strands of continuity of line, angle, shape, and
form, connect the inside of a living center with the parts of the world beyond
that center, so that it is, ultimately, impossible to draw a line separating the
two.

Achieving coherence
• Coherence is an emergent property — not present in the individual
components
• In a larger coherent whole, no piece can be taken away
• Decompositionis neither obvious, nor possible

Measure of coherence
• When every component is cooperating to give a coherent whole, nothing
looks separate, nothing draws attention
• This is the goal of adaptive design
• A seamless blending of an enormous number of complex components
• The opposite of willful separateness

Extending outside
• Not-separateness goes beyond internal coherence
• The whole connects to its environment
• Connects with everything beyond itself
• Try as much as possible to generate large-scale coherence

WE EXPERIENCE a living whole as being at
one with the world, and not separate from
it, according to its degree of wholeness
CONNECTEDNESS
The Nature of Order, by Antonio Caperna PhD

Old people
everywhere
Connected buildings
Connected play

Conclusion
• Alexander’s 15 fundamental properties
are an incredibly essential set of
practical design tools
• Arguments based on mathematics,
physics, chemistry, and biology
• Architects have to accept them as
universal, deciding on stylistic reasons
whether to follow them or not

• Traditional practitioners intuitively
recognize some of the 15 properties as
part of their own design method
• Yet, some are unknown to them
• Now put together into a coherent set
• I find it more useful to introduce them
after having derived basic design rules

UNFOLDING

We have analyzed the world around us as field-like
structure with centers arranged by in a systematic
fashion and interacting within the whole….
What about the process of how living structure create
itself over the time?
May we adopt a new view of architectural process
that is capable of generating living structure?

UNFOLDING
As architectural (dynamical) process that is capable of
generating living structure
approach where all design constraints of building,
community, and sustainability can be taken on board.
Its inspiration is strongly biological, stemming notably
from current research in morphogenesis (the step-by-
step evolution of form and growth patterns) and
autopoiesis(the dynamics of self-completion).

UNFOLDING AS
(DYNAMICAL) PROCESS
In many sciences, process is an
inescapable part of order

UNFOLDING AS (DYNAMICAL) PROCESS
The flower is the temporary product of the unfolding
of the bud and seed pod under the influence of DNA
We observe only an
istantaneouscross section
– in time- of a continuous
and ongoing process of
flux and change

D'Arcy Thompson in his treatise “On Growth and Form“
Describing the origin of biological form as a necessary
result of biological growth, showing – again and again
by example – that biological form could be only
understood as a product of the growth process

Neuroergonomics and sociogenesis, lectures part3

Neuroergonomics and sociogenesis, lectures part3

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