An interdisciplinary debate on project perspectives
Table 2 Criticisms of Alexander’s second theory of architecture: development and documentation
From: Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language: analysing, mapping and classifying the critical response
[#] | Issue | #A | Criticism | #S | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 | Scholarship—documentation | 4 | The definitions of ‘patterns’ and ‘forces’ are inexplicit | – | |
6 | Scholarship—documentation | 4 | Exemplars of good design are difficult to comprehend | – | (Kohn 2002) |
7 | Scholarship—documentation | 4 | The efforts and insights of scholars developing similar themes are rarely acknowledged | – | |
8 | Scholarship—documentation | 4 | Explanations of pattern synthesis and language structure are inadequate | – | (Salingaros 2000) |
9 | Testing Scholarship—documentation | 4 | Greater numbers of patterns were never proven to produce superior environments | 25, 27 | |
10 | Scholarship—presentation | 3, 4 | Deliberately provocative statements damage Alexander’s credibility | – | |
11 | Scholarship—presentation | 3, 4 | Universal and dogmatic statements discourage engagement and criticism | – | (Broadbent 1980; Protzen 1980; Kohn 2002; Messina 2003; Walker 2003; Bhatt 2010) |
12 | Scholarship—presentation | 3, 4 | The canonical texts physically resemble bibles and imply authority that discourages criticism | – | |
13 | Testing | 3, 4 | Patterns are driven by ideology and based on faulty evidence, or non-rigorous reasoning | 23, 24, 25 | (Montgomery 1970; Broadbent 1980; Protzen 1980; Dovey 1990; Salingaros 2000; Kohn 2002; Saunders 2002a; Bhatt 2010) |
14 | Testing | – | Patterns may be impossible to rigorously test | – | |
15 | Logic and reasoning | 3 | Informational fallacies protect the theory from contrary information and experience | 21 | (Protzen 1980) |
16 | Logic and reasoning | 3 | The theory’s pre-industrial procurement strategy is unsuitable for modern societies | 23 | |
17 | Logic and reasoning | 3 | Alexander espouses pure freedom but demands adherence to his rules | – | |
18 | Logic and reasoning | 3, 4 | Alexander pursues traditional design through anti-traditional means | – | (Kalb 2014) |
19 | Logic and reasoning | 3 | The populace have compromised taste due to modernist brainwashing but also prefer Alexander’s designs | – | (Bornstein 2005/2006) |