Architectural Morphogenesis
Following my reviews of the first two books last year, the task undertaken in this book is to explain the concept of living structure in buildings by means of several hundred photographs, diagrams and plans as well as text. Christopher Alexander's organic approach is entirely at odds with the mechanistic soullessness of much modernist architecture. In the same way, Goethean science and holistic biology are quite different in ethos from the mechanistic and deterministic outlook of molecular biology; similarly, the contrast between organic and industrial agriculture, as I point out in my book Radical Prince. Mechanism is objective, impersonal, unfeeling, alienated, while organism is subjective, personal, deeply feeling and intimately connected with life itself. We have been trying to construct a life divorced from inner feelings and separated from nature. The devastating results can be seen both in our inner wasteland devoid of meaning and outwardly in the inhumane environments we have constructed.

Chris seeks to reconnect us to our feelings and to nature through his work, both written and built. This entails the creation of beautiful buildings and spaces that feed the soul with harmony and create a real sense of belonging. Indeed, the book begins with a discussion of belonging and not belonging, illustrated with spaces where we either feel at home or alienated. Here one comes back to central notion of living structures and living centres elaborated in previous volumes. Wholeness is primary and must be reflected both in the detail and overall plan of the building. Moreover, buildings or not so much produced, as made; the process is generative. By making, Chris means the unfolding of living structures in an unbroken and phased sequence that preserves and enhances the existing wholeness and previous structure. In addition, buildings are seen as an enhancement and extension of the land on which they are made. To the extent that this wholeness is preserved, a sense of harmony and beauty is elicited in the person contemplating it.

Most large scale developments are imposed by planners and builders. There is no real dialogue and consultation by means of which the new proposal is co-created with those who will be living there. People are not asked about their priorities or the kinds of space and design they value. Chris illustrates the opposite procedure with a proposed development in Japan, and insists that people need to be in charge of their own environment. The results of a questionnaire showed that they wanted to be in touch with nature, to have a small private garden, to have the ground floor touching the earth and to have narrow streets with just enough space for a car to go in front of the house. All this implies a certain degree of irregularity and a small scale. It also avoids large dead spaces between tall buildings, spaces that do not belong to anyone.

I myself applied the criteria specified in one chapter of the book to reconfigure my office space. One needs to work out the centres (in terms of furniture etc) and the relationship of windows, fireplace and roof in the overall configuration. I moved one table out completely so as to create more space and enable me to put a coffee table in front of the fire. These adjustments have created a different and more peaceful atmosphere in the room while decluttering and simplifying the overall arrangement. Such principles can be applied to any room in your house and will make you think more carefully about space, shape and colour.

The richness of the experience of the book comes from the interplay between text and illustration. As I mentioned at the beginning, the hundreds of photos and illustrations are an integral part of the presentation. They enable the reader to sense and feel directly what the text describes. The range and scale of illustrations is enormous. There are pictures of large buildings and spaces, of gardens, patios, interiors, staircases, vases and ornaments. Near the end of the book, there is a special chapter on the ornament, encouraging the reader to consider the building as a whole as an ornament with its various components as smaller scale ornaments. This was very much my grandfather's approach to architecture, especially in buildings like the Thistle Chapel at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. There is an exquisite harmony to the whole interior, but this is reflected in and built up from the many detailed touches, especially the wooden carvings in the stalls.

What Chris is articulating and trying to achieve could not be more important for our future quality of life. Albert Schweitzer once said that what really mattered was to become more deeply and finely human. This sentiment must surely apply to our built environment as well. Not that Chris rejects modern materials and processes, as well as techniques using computer simulations. It is more to do with reflecting the process of life itself, and not allowing ourselves to be defined and limited by the inhuman and inhumane aspects of technology. A true vision of the human cannot exclude the divine; we are only fully human when we manifest our inner potential, a potential that cannot be reproduced by machines, however sophisticated. In this way, we will reclaim the birthright of living wholeness and connectedness, which we are in danger of losing. Chris's work heralds a new renaissance of the human spirit.