“A Pattern Language” proposes an architectural recipe book to be referred to when designing. At first I thought this sort of list was ridiculous, unnecessary, and that the author was thinking way too highly of it. His identification and organization of identifying an inn as a place of gathering did not seem as “ deep, so deeply rooted in the nature of things” (Alexander, 1977) as he was saying.
That was until I related this pattern language to the language of baking. The language strongly reminded me of baking where new bakers will strictly listen to the recipe, often doing as Alexander instructed with photocopying it and marking it up for constant referral. New bakers and new designers, as with any profession, will listen to the said rules and begin with bland designs that follow the parent rubric. However, as one becomes more experienced, the possibility of poetry of “many meanings captured in a small space” where “it becomes profound” (Alexander, 1977) grows as one becomes familiar with the parent recipe. A baker learns how to adjust a cookie by playing with the ingredients and how they are put together.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Guide
The idea of the complex relationships between patterns also reminded me of baking a cake. The cake will have multiple components for cake, icing and decorations. Each component has different recipes while sharing some of the same ingredients between recipes, relating the language of baking as a whole like Alexander’s Pattern Language.
Then Jacobs and Lynch addressed how to approach alteration and assembly of the proposed recipe by reevaluating the principles of city planning and to look at design from the eyes of the individual residents. Lynch’s idea of the impact and imageability of elements is also like how one will remember a good cookie or if it was like their grandma’s but will not have the recipe memorized.
Alexander, Christopher, Murray Silverstein, and Sara Ishikawa. A Pattern Language . Oxford, ENG: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Guide. Photograph. Food Network. Food Network. Food Network. Accessed September 11, 2020. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/baking-guide/cookies-and-bars/how-to-make-chocolate-chip-cookies.