A Pattern Language

At the core of A Pattern Language is the philosophy that in designing their environments people always rely on certain ‘languages,’ which, like the languages we speak, allow them to articulate and communicate designs within a formal system that gives them coherence. This book provides a language of this kind and will enable making designs for almost any aspect of the built environment. ‘Patterns,’ the units of this language, are answers to design problems: how high should a window sill be?; how many stories should a building have?; how much space in a neighborhood should be devoted to grass and trees? Over 250 of the patterns in this language are outlined, each consisting of a problem statement and a solution.