One of the aims of the Systems Changes research program is to build on the pattern language approach.  This body of work stretches back into the 1960s, and has been cross-appropriated from built environments to software development (e.g. agile methods) and organizational change.  The February 2019 meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario was an opportunity to bring some people not familiar with the territory up to speed.

Here is the abstract for the talk:

The 1977 book, A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction is prominent in public library collections around the world. It represents, however, only one stage of the many works by Christopher Alexander, from his first book published in 1964, to his final book released in 2012. In addition multiple international conferences continue his legacy, in architecture and urban design (PUARL, for 10 years), in software development (PLoP, for 25 years), and in social change (PURPLSOC, for 5 years). Alexander was a builder of environment structure — an architect — and other communities have aspired to adopt the approach that he championed.

This Systems Thinking Ontario session will review pattern languages in three parts:

1. The Eishin School project (1985, published as a book in 2012);
2. Multi-Service Centers (1968); and
3. Beyond Built Environments, cross-appropriating the approach from architecture to other domains.

The pursuit of “systems generating systems” at the foundation of Christopher Alexander’s pattern language has generally not been appreciated, and deserves a deeper inquiry.

Noticeable by their absence are the books A Pattern Language (1977), and The Timeless Way of Building (1979), that are the most frequently cited works.  With the domain primarily not built environments, and instead other systems domains, the Eishin School and Multi-Service Centers projects reveal more about methods-in-practice.

Digital audio of the presentation and discussion has been synchronized with slides previously posted on Coevolving Commons.

For listening on-the-go, a downloadable audio file is provided.  In the case it’s hard to hear on a mobile device, there’s also a digitally boosted volume version.

The video is available as downloadable, for disconnected devices.

The title reflects that we have much we can learning from the legacy of Christopher Alexander.  The challenge and opportunity is building on that work, recognizing its strengths, and acknowledging the contexts beyond build environments where new value may be uncovered.

In what ways might the generation of wholeness through pattern language be strengthened, through an appreciation of advances in the systems sciences?  A workshop at the 2018 International PUARL Conference was an opportunity to review linkages and discuss some details.

An outline to frame the conversation was written in three parts.

• 1. Communicative Framing
  • 1.1 Form and synthesis
  • 1.2 Organization as semi-lattice
  • 1.3 Systems generating systems
  • 1.4 Generative patterns and non-generative patterns in software development
  •  1.5 System-A and system-B, as two ways of shaping and building living environments
  • 1.6 Holons (from systems ecology)
• 2. Dialectical Sensemaking
  • 2.1 Types of systems and models
  • 2.2 Autopoiesis and allopoiesis
  • 2.3 Economies as agricultural, industrial and services (coproduction)
• 3. Narrative Synthesizing

In full, the abstract read:

Does a pattern language generate into (a) whole(s)? This workshop will discuss the meaning of architecting a system, complemented with recent research from the systems sciences.

In 1967, at the formation for Center for Environmental Structure, Pattern Manual specified that (sub)systems are fewer in number (and implicitly larger) than patterns:

The environmental pattern language will contain hundreds of subsystems and tens of thousands of individual patterns. Every conceivable kind of building, every part of every kind of building, and every piece of the larger environment will be specified by one or more subsystems of the environmental pattern language.

In summary: An environmental pattern language is a coordinated body of design solutions capable of generating the complete physical structure of a city. The language is designed to grow and improve continuously as a result of criticism and feedback from the field (Alexander, Ishikawa, & Silverstein, 1967, p. foreword 3).

Does (and/or should) the pattern language community therefore be architecting and/or designing systems? To be clear, a subsystem is a system, with the additional property that it is contained within a larger whole.

The workshop will be conducted as a participatory session, with an intent to summarize findings for the proceedings. The workshop is organized as three steps:

• 1. Communicative Framing
• 2. Dialectical Sensemaking
• 3. Narrative Synthesizing

The extended abstract (below) outlines the workshop. Subsequent publications (i.e. a blog post) may be released after the event, to summarize some of the discussions and findings.

Audio for the session was recorded.  In a departure from my usual presentations, I decided not to create a full slide deck, but instead step through the textual article.  The video accessible on Youtube roughly lines up the sections in the paper to the talk.

The plenary sessions preceding the workshop had run overtime, so this workshop was cut short in order to let participants catch lunch.

For people who want to warch offline, here are some downloadable video files.

PUARL has been prominent in continuing the Christopher Alexander legacy, with director Hajo Neis as one of the original coauthors of pattern language works since the 1970s.  Formally, the Portland Urban Architecture Lab has focused on built environments with architects and designers.  Beyond them, the systems foundations in pattern language should recognize that the movement has now included software developer since the 1990s, and social change practitioners since the mid-2000s .

Reference:

• Alexander, Christopher, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein. 1967. Pattern Manual. Berkeley, California: Center for Environmental Structure.