Talk:Pattern (architecture)

Over Wikification
This page seems over wikified, if anything. Even non-critical words like "critical response" are wikilinks. Anyone agree? Adam Conover 08:09, Apr 1, 2004 (UTC)


 * Yes, I agree. - dcljr 02:32, 17 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Invented vs Discovered
"Patterns are not invented, but discovered." -- Really? I assume this sentence should start something like "According to Alexander, ..."? - dcljr 03:44, 17 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Consolidation
This page should be consolidated with the architecture part of the pattern language page. --E. Rauch 28 Aug 2004, 5:31 (UTC)

Instead of consolidation...
Actually I think it would make sense to simply broaden this page to be about patterns in general -- independent of any field. It doesn't really reference architecture at the moment anyway. I've been working on the pattern language page... it's such an abstract and tricky thing to describe. Trying to explain how patterns fit together into a language is hard enough without trying to explain what a pattern is too. At the moment there's some material in the pattern language article that's actually about patterns... maybe it could be moved here? wordie 17:35, 8 September 2004 (UTC)

Removed paragraph
Removed since more relevant to software:

Patterns are not invented, but discovered. (Taken to its logical conclusion, this would imply in the field of software that automated analysis tools must theoretically be able to be designed to "dig for" and "discover" patterns in large bodies of existing source code.)

Is he an American Architect or a British Architect?
This page says that he is an American Architect but in his Biography page says that he grew up in England.

Rename to Pattern (architecture)?
I'm pretty sure that Christopher Alexander never used the phrase "Design Pattern" and just used "Pattern".

The external link
The link, however related to the (design) patterns in general, is irrelevant to this article. In my opinion it should be removed or moved to the article about design patterns in software. (GD) 07:29, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

This is Eighteenth-Century
"Pattern in architecture is the idea of capturing architectural design ideas as archetypal and reusable descriptions."

Yes, but that doesn't date from 1977, it's Eighteenth-Century. Architectural patterns and pattern-books were a feature of Georgian Architecture, for the same reason that pattern-books were used by C18th potteries like Wedgewood, and by textile manufacturers. People were moving from bespoke design to larger-scale production, and the use of pattern-books meant that one could quickly assemble a proposal for a bulding, or for a large number of buildings using selections from a standard reference book, without having to start from scratch each time. The client could pick out and approve the styling that they wanted for their pillars and fascias and window-sills from the catalogue, the architect could quickly run off final drawings knowing that the client already had a good idea of what they were going to be getting, the builders had an agreed reference for how each window and architrave was supposed to be built, and when large urban housing projects were being put together, the use of standardised patterns guaranteed a uniform and consistent style across an estate.

For a quick discussion on wikipedia of probably the most famous use of architectural pattern-books, by the Adam Brothers, see Adam_style. ErkDemon (talk) 00:51, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

"Pattern" vs "Pattern"
Oh, and by the way, in the construction and engineering industries, "pattern" often has a slightly different meaning to the way that computer people use it.

In geometry, a "pattern" tends to be an identifiable recurring sequence of information.

In building and engineering, a "pattern" often refers to a physical template used to construct the final item - in dressmaking, it's a paper overlay that's placed onto the cloth, in building work it might be a temporary wooden supporting frame and/or guide, and in metalworking it's the system of mouldings that produces a final cast item, and a "patternmaker" is the person who designs and physically constructs those specialist mouldings at the foundry, //not// the person who designs what the final product is meant to look like. The "patternmaker" designs the //process// by which the item is going to be constructed -- the system of channels and networks that will feed the molten metal into the mould, and the surrounding temporary framework that will hold everything in place while the casting is being made. The use of the word "pattern" in architecture probably stems from the "template" meaning ... architectural "pattern-books" were collections of "patterns" in the sense that they were collections of templates. ErkDemon (talk) 01:31, 6 August 2010 (UTC)