Pattern Language Roofs

This is one of a series of articles about a pattern language by christopher alexander where we illustrate and discuss the patterns using homes and buildings made from natural materials like stone clay wood and straw.

Pattern language roofs.

Some of the patterns have been criticized particularly those dealing with the layout of cities and towns but overall the patterns provide a ri finished a pattern language by christopher alexander sara ishikawa and. Pattern language of natural homes no 117 sheltering roof if the roof on your home cannot be felt visually around it then it doesn t satisfy the psychological need for shelter. A pattern language towns buildings construction inproceedings alexander1977apl title a pattern language towns buildings construction author c. And as with any body headless or otherwise the whole structure is only as healthy as its individual parts.

The reader is given an overview of some 250 patterns that are the units of this language each consisting of a. Also different architectural styles will use the same type of roof. The most primitive buildings are nothing but a roof. Alexander identified that the most fundamental and archetypal element defining a home is it s roof.

Christopher alexander writes in the pattern language no. If the roof is hidden if its presence cannot be felt around the building or if it cannot be used then people will lack a fundamental sense of shelter. Intricate roofs have many parts that incorporate several of the basic roof designs such as a gable roof sitting atop a gambrel or variations of the gable valley roof design using one or a variety of different types of roof trusses also see our very detailed diagrams showing the different parts of a roof truss. A pattern language lays out over 1 100 pages how our buildings and by proxy our cities are not entities at a remove from human beings but rather their manufactured extensions.

Architect theorist christopher alexander conceptualized pattern 117. The second of three books published by the center for environmental structure to provide a working alternative to our present ideas about architecture building and planning a pattern language offers a practical language for building and planning based on natural considerations. Sheltering roof in his 1977 book a pattern language. If the roof cannot be felt visually around the home it doesn t satisfy the psychological need for shelter.

Jacobson and ingrid fiksdahl king and s. A pattern language is a catalog of 253 patterns that cover everything from the layout of cities down to the layout of rooms.