Prompts are full lists of the patterns that contribute in part to a common language for a town, gratuitously isolated from the rest of Alexander's theory discussion and exploited as entire prompts to see what effect they may have as descriptors. All prompting here generated with MidJourney, and all patterns used for prompts are taken verbatim from...
Christopher Alexander's The Timeless Ways of Building, 1979
Patterns for a region
independent regions, the distribution of towns, city country fingers, agricultural valleys, lace of country streets, country towns, the country-side
Patterns for a town
mosaic of subcultures, scattered work, magic of the city, local transport areas, community of 7000, subculture boundary, web of public transportation, ring roads, network of learning, web of shopping, mini-buses, four-story limit, nine per cent parking, parallel roads, sacred sites, access to water, life cycle, men and women
Patterns for community and neighborhoods
eccentric nucleus, density rings, activity nodes, promenade, shopping street, night life, interchange, household mix, degrees of publicness, house cluster, row houses, housing hill, old people everywhere, work community, industrial ribbon, university as a marketplace, local town hall, necklace of community projects, market of many shops, health center, housing in between
Patterns for public land inside a neighborhood
looped local roads, t junctions, green streets, network of paths and cars, main gateways, road crossing, raised walk, bike paths and racks, children in the city, carnival, quiet backs, accessible green, small public squares, high places, dancing in the street, pools and streams, birth places, holy ground, common land, connected play, public outdoor room, grave sites, still water, local sports, adventure playground, animals
Patterns for private lands and institutions inside a neighborhood
the family, house for a small family, house for a couple, house for one person, your own home, self-governing workshops and offices, small services without red tape, office connections, master and apprentices, teenage society, shop-front schools, children's home, individually owned shops, street cafe, corner grocery, beer hall, traveler's inn, bus stop, food stands, sleeping in public
Patterns for the broad layout of the buildings in a building complex
building complex, number of stories, shielded parking, circulation realms, main building, pedestrian street, building thoroughfare, family of entrances, small parking lots, site repair, south facing outdoors, positive outdoor space, wings of light, connected buildings, long thin house, main entrance, half-hidden garden, entrance transition, car connection, hierarchy of open space, courtyards which live, cascade of roofs, sheltering roof, roof garden, arcades, paths and goals, path shape, building fronts, pedestrian density, activity pockets, stair seats, something roughly in the middle
Patterns for the building and its rooms
intimacy gradient, indoor sunlight, common areas at the heart, entrance room, the flow through rooms, short passages, staircase as a stage, zen view, tapestry of light and dark, couple's realm, children's realm, sleeping to the east, farmhouse kitchen, private terrace on the street, a room of one's own, sequence of sitting spaces, bed cluster, bathing room, bulk storage, flexible office space, communal eating, small work groups, reception welcomes you, a place to wait, small meeting rooms, half-private office, rooms to rent, teenager's cottage, old age cottage, settled work, home workshop, open stairs
Patterns for the gardens and the paths between the buildings
light on two sides of every room, building edge, sunny place, north face, outdoor room, street windows, opening to the street, gallery surround, six-foot balcony, connection to the earth, terraced slope, fruit trees, tree places, garden growing wild, garden wall, trellised walk, greenhouse, garden seat, vegetable garden, compost
Patterns for the smallest rooms and closets within the rooms
alcoves, window place, the fire, eating atmosphere, workspace enclosure, cooking layout, sitting circle, communal sleeping, marriage bed, bed alcove, dressing room, ceiling height variety, the shape of indoor space, windows overlooking life, half-open wall, interior windows, staircase bay, corner doors, thick walls, closets between rooms, sunny counter, open shelves, waist-high shelf, built-in seats, child caves, secret place
Patterns for the overall configuration of construction and materials
structure follows social spaces, efficient structure, good materials, gradual stiffening, roof layout, floor and ceiling layout, thickening the outer walls, columns at the corners, final column distribution
Patterns for the details of construction
root foundations, ground floor slab, box columns, perimeter beams, wall membranes, floor-ceiling vaults, roof vaults, natural doors and windows, low sill, deep reveals, low doorway, frames as thickened edges, column place, column connection, stair vault, duct space, radiant heat, dormer windows, roof caps
Patterns for details and color ornament
floor surface, lapped outside walls, soft inside walls, windows which open wide, solid doors with glass, filtered light, small panes, half-inch trim, seat spots, front door bench, sitting wall, canvas roofs, raised flowers, climbing plants, paving with cracks between the stones, soft tile and brick, ornament, warm colors, different chairs, pools of light, things from your life
