Thesis Blog #15 - Architectural Program & Matishak Pattern Language

This is where our process began. As a family we developed a simple program based on the model presented by Lester Walker and Jeff Milstein in Designing Houses. It includes general requirements, room requirements, and personal requirements. We also drew some rough sketches.

Much later in our process, Nyna & I completed a PreDesign Questionnaire offered by Carol Venolia. Although we had already begun the design process, we decided to see where these questions would lead us. After compiling our answers, we combined them with our initial program development to create the Matishak Architectural Program that follows.

One advantage to developing our program later in the process was that we already had a visual idea of the kinds of spaces we wished to include in our homestead design. Although our architectural program is based on a model developed by Carol for one of her own clients, we were able, at this point, to modify it significantly to meet our own needs. For example, rather than including those spaces typical of suburban development, we were able to describe the patterns we had developed from A Pattern Language. These patterns include a farmhouse kitchen to serve as a common space, separate but closely linked parents’ and children’s realms, a detached bath house as well as several outdoor spaces with complimentary structures such as a courtyard pavilion with guest cottages, a building yard with home workshop and library, and a peripheral parking area with farm store and home office.

In my description of each space, I tried not only to include relevant structural information but also to convey a definite impression for how that space is to feel. After building this program up by including as much information as possible, I then took the opposite track and worked to remove anything that now seemed irrelevant, redundant, or unnecessary. My goal was to create a document that not only contained structural and esthetic information but that was easy and pleasurable to read in its own right. Above all, I attempted to convey, to the extent possible in a written work, a sense of wholeness.

Matishak Pattern Language

As mentioned earlier, our pattern language development is based on the work of Christopher Alexander and his colleagues at the Center for Environmental Structure in Berkeley. We began by taking the patterns they present as archetypal in A Pattern Language. Of the 253 patterns presented, Nyna & I identified 103 as having both resonance and relevance to our project. After nine iterations we had prioritized these chosen patterns into a hierarchy of ten groups with the higher groups containing fewer patterns and the lower ones having more.

We listed our chosen patterns in various groupings to try to get a handle on an approximate number that would be appropriate to work with, in various situations. It seemed that of the 103 patterns originally identified, we could work with as many as, but no more than, twenty-five at this stage of our visioning. We then made lists which prioritized these chosen patterns in terms of time. Showing this generative process identified the order in which we plan to address each pattern. Christopher Alexander feels that doing things in the correct order is vitally important since a proper generative process will allow an emerging design to become natural. At this point we introduced patterns that either Alexander & colleagues omitted or were not yet developed at that time such as solar thermal heating, renewable energy system, rainwater catchment, and greywater irrigation. However, it felt awkward integrating our own patterns any further into Alexander’s work. Instead, I concentrated on adapting and modifying his patterns to suit our own needs and purposes.

Before delving in that direction, however, I investigated the relationships that exist between patterns. In each pattern description given in A Pattern Language, there are suggestions for how that particular pattern connects to others. I attempted to map all this out. It was a mess. There were far too many connections for the map to make any sense. Again, I needed to be discriminating, and determine which relationships were relevant to our project. Ultimately, the goal became to create a network map that was meaningful, that provided information in an accessible visual manner. In hindsight, I realize that I was trying to create something like a mandala or cosmogram, a symbol that ‘demystifies principles that are difficult to articulate and clarifies interactions that defy logic’. A form began to appear that included family patterns on one side and land patterns on the other. The principle that seemed to be demystified here was the suddenly obvious reciprocal relationship between a family and their land, as well as in the broader context of people and Earth. The right and left sides of this diagram were in perfect balance.

Another principle that emerged from this diagramming process was revealed in the vertical direction. From the diagram center, upward patterns show an increasing relationship with the natural world, our bioregion, while the downward patterns show the strengthening of relationships with the cultural world, our community. Although elegant, having both spatial and temporal relationships on one diagram created confusion, so I then separated these onto their own respective maps.

Finally, I got to work on the wording and imaging of the patterns themselves. Again, I began by simply taking the presented pattern as given and roughly copying the words and associated picture. Part of my reason for taking this approach toward the pictures was to develop a more fluid and loose style of drawing that was not so exact and symmetric as I had been developing up until then. I needed to start with imitation.

I also took Christopher Alexander’s advice, although his approach is for an actual site, while I was limited by necessity to my drawing paper. His directions are as follows:

(1) keep working gradually to slowly make it whole,

(2) work at each thing until you like it,

(3) concentrate on the beauty of light,

(4) and repeat this, over and over again.

After six iterations of adaptations and modifications, a new set of patterns slowly emerged as I began to feel satisfied. I had once again grouped the patterns, developing those most relevant to our project to the greatest depth. The drawings gradually became my own, although the original influence remained strong. While some patterns, such as master & apprentices, received only minor revisions, others, such as common land, were changed completely. Basically, I needed to adapt what I perceived as an urban bias to fit within a rural agricultural setting.