In response to " ... in whose eyes", beauty is not in the eyes of the
beholder, but exists in deep structure of wholeness. This is probably
the single most important and fundamental statement in The Nature of
Order, a four-volume book focusing on the art of building and the nature
of the universe.
Cheers.
Bin
On 7/22/2018 7:12 PM, Bin Jiang wrote:
> Alexander's configuration theory is NOT a social theory, but part of
> complexity theory, which aims not only for understanding complexity, but
> also for making and remaking complex or living structures:
> http://www.katarxis3.com/SCIENTIFIC%20INTRODUCTION.pdf
>
> More beautiful or better is in terms of not only how it looks, but also
> how it works. This is the uniqueness of Alexander's theory, based on
> which a new Master program was established: https://buildingbeauty.org/
>
> Thanks and cheers.
>
> Bin
> On 7/22/2018 6:58 PM, Penn, Alan wrote:
>> I really worry about any social theory that says some artefact is
>> objectively ‘better’ or ‘more beautiful’ than another. ‘Better‘ for
>> what? ‘More beautiful’ in whose eyes? I am happy that something may
>> hold more information or may be simpler, or more complex, more or
>> less intelligible or interesting, but ‘better’ ? This use of words
>> casts doubt on the theory itself and the theorist.
>>
>> Alan
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On 22 Jul 2018, at 17:00, Bin Jiang <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> As far as I see, one of the theory's limits is that it is unable to say
>>> which facade is objectively better than another, or alternatively,
>>> which
>>> facade has a higher degree of goodness objectively.
>>>
>>> Christopher Alexander developed a configurational theory - in The
>>> Nature of Order - that is based on a mathematically defined wholeness.
>>> It is able to objectively judge which facade is better than another, or
>>> which facade is more life, or more beautiful, or more whole than
>>> another. We are currently running a project - namely FACADE - with
>>> which
>>> we are testing with human subjects, which of two facades (their
>>> pictures
>>> actually) has a higher degree of goodness. This is the so called the
>>> mirror-of-the-self experiment, developed by Alexander. In this project,
>>> we will also compute the degree of goodness for many pairs of facades,
>>> in order to compare to the results of the mirror of the self
>>> experiment.
>>> The computational experiment is based on the following papers:
>>>
>>> https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312332540_Geographic_Space_as_a_Living_Structure_for_Predicting_Human_Activities_Using_Big_Data
>>>
>>> https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305638074_A_Topological_Representation_for_Taking_Cities_as_a_Coherent_Whole
>>>
>>>
>>> I shall keep you updated with the progress of this FACADE project.
>>>
>>> Thanks and cheers.
>>>
>>> Bin
>>>> On 7/22/2018 3:23 PM, Psarra, Sophia wrote:
>>>> Dear all
>>>>
>>>> Bill's work that Alan and Ruth refer to has been published in a
>>>> thematic issue of JOSS, which was dedicated to space syntax and
>>>> design (annotated by the editor's comments).
>>>>
>>>> Bill elaborates on some of the ideas that Alan mentions in this
>>>> paper, using analysis of facades. I attach the paper here.
>>>>
>>>> This issue (Vol. 2 no 2 Dec. 2011) contains other interesting
>>>> papers in the field of space syntax, formal analysis and design.
>>>>
>>>> http://joss.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/journal/index.php/joss/issue/view/4
>>>>
>>>> Best
>>>>
>>>> Sophia
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> SOPHIA PSARRA DipArch, MSc, PhD
>>>>
>>>> The Bartlett School of Architecture
>>>> Faculty of the Built Environment
>>>> University College London (UCL)
>>>> 22 Gordon Street
>>>> London, WC1H 0QB
>>>> United Kingdom
>>>>
>>>> Email: [log in to unmask]
>>>> Web: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/dr-sophia-psarra
>>>> Blog: https://con-figurations.com/
>>>> Twitter: https://twitter.com/SophiaPsarra
>>>> Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/bartlettarchucl
>>>>
>>>> The Venice Variations (2018), London: UCL Press (free PDF download)
>>>> http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10047544/1/The-Venice-Variations.pdf
>>>>
>>>> Architecture and Narrative (2009), London: Routledge
>>>> http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415343763/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 22/07/2018, 12:27, "[log in to unmask] on behalf of
>>>> Ruth Dalton" <[log in to unmask] on behalf of
>>>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I have a copy of the paper Alan, but it’s the ‘lost’ chapter
>>>> of space is the machine that never made it into the final
>>>> publication and so have never been in the public realm!
>>>>
>>>> I could scan it with bill’s permission.
>>>>
>>>> Regards Ruth
>>>>
>>>> ___________________________
>>>> Professor Ruth Conroy Dalton
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>>
>>>> > On 22 Jul 2018, at 12:23, Penn, Alan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> > Thanks Reem!
>>>> > clearly, on re-reading I have conflated the paper and some
>>>> of Bill’s lectures on the subject that developed on from this -
>>>> glueing and binding and the sociological argument…
>>>> > Alan
>>>> >
>>>> >> On 22 Jul 2018, at 12:05, Reem Zako <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>> >>
>>>> >> I have a digital copy of "Quite unlike the pleasures of
>>>> scratching” and attaching it, but not quite sure of publication
>>>> year thus the 19xx
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Reem
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> ########################################################################
>>>>
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>>>> >>
>>>> >>> On 22 Jul 2018, at 11:46, Penn, Alan <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> Two thoughts:
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> Bill wrote a paper about this under the title “Quite
>>>> unlike the pleasures of scratching”, but for the life of me I cant
>>>> see where it is and don’t have a copy. It applies very fundamental
>>>> configurational analysis to different things one can do with a
>>>> facade. Essentially, ‘gluing’ or ‘binding’. The former where an
>>>> element is used to create a logical relationship between other
>>>> elements, as in for example bilateral symmetry around a single
>>>> central axis, elaborated and made more unlikely (therefore
>>>> intentional) by increased detail. The latter where a single element
>>>> is used to group together a number of similar sub elements - the
>>>> cornice for example above repeated elements of fenestration. Bill’s
>>>> main insight here was that these kinds of configurational
>>>> possibility seem to map onto the social structures of organisations
>>>> and institutions, and so give information about the likely social
>>>> structures of those that built them. A dominant logical elaboration
>>>> of a single axis indicating a hierarchical social structure of a
>>>> single ideology; a repetition of similar units unified by a single
>>>> facade plain or a unifying cornice line suggesting a mechanical
>>>> solidarity. The cathedral and the monastery were examples. There
>>>> was much more - it was an elegant argument.
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> Second, Juval Portugali’s work on this issue. A whole
>>>> information based theory.
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>> Alan
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>>> On 22 Jul 2018, at 10:23, Armir Ferati
>>>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> Dear all,
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>> Anything on Facade analysis (configurational approach)?
>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>>
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>>>> >>>>
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>>
>>>> >>>
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>>>> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?SUBED1=SPACESYNTAX&A=1
>>>> >> <19xx_Hillier_PleasureScratching.pdf>
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> >
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>>> --
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------------
>>> Bin Jiang
>>> Division of GIScience
>>> Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development
>>> University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle, Sweden
>>> Phone: +46-26-64 8901 Fax: +46-26-64 8758
>>> Email: [log in to unmask] Web: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/
>>> --------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Associate Editor: Cartographica
>>> BinsArXiv: http://arxiv.org/a/jiang_b_1
>>> Axwoman: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/axwoman/
>>> Geomatics: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/geomaticsprogram/
>>> RG: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bin_Jiang3
>>>
>>>
>>> [Högskolan i Gävle]
>>>
>>> Högskolan i Gävle, 801 76 Gävle • 026 64 85 00 •
>>> www.hig.se<http://www.hig.se>
>>>
>>> För en hållbar livsmiljö för människan
>>>
>>> University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle, Sweden • +46 (0) 26 64 85 00 •
>>> www.hig.se<http://www.hig.se>
>>>
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>
> --
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Bin Jiang
> Division of GIScience
> Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development
> University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle, Sweden
> Phone: +46-26-64 8901 Fax: +46-26-64 8758
> Email: [log in to unmask] Web: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> Associate Editor: Cartographica
> BinsArXiv: http://arxiv.org/a/jiang_b_1
> Axwoman: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/axwoman/
> Geomatics: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/geomaticsprogram/
> RG: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bin_Jiang3
>
>
> [Högskolan i Gävle]
>
> Högskolan i Gävle, 801 76 Gävle • 026 64 85 00 •
> www.hig.se<http://www.hig.se>
>
> För en hållbar livsmiljö för människan
>
> University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle, Sweden • +46 (0) 26 64 85 00 •
> www.hig.se<http://www.hig.se>
>
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--
--------------------------------------------------------
Bin Jiang
Division of GIScience
Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development
University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Phone: +46-26-64 8901 Fax: +46-26-64 8758
Email: [log in to unmask] Web: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/
--------------------------------------------------------
Associate Editor: Cartographica
BinsArXiv: http://arxiv.org/a/jiang_b_1
Axwoman: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/axwoman/
Geomatics: http://giscience.hig.se/binjiang/geomaticsprogram/
RG: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bin_Jiang3
[Högskolan i Gävle]
Högskolan i Gävle, 801 76 Gävle • 026 64 85 00 • www.hig.se<http://www.hig.se>
För en hållbar livsmiljö för människan
University of Gävle, SE-801 76 Gävle, Sweden • +46 (0) 26 64 85 00 • www.hig.se<http://www.hig.se>
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