Comments on: “If these few patterns are good for me, I can live well. If they are bad for me, I can’t.”

By: Alicia

Alicia — Thu, 30 Oct 2003 19:34:22 +0000

This may be where Sarah Susanka formed her ideas for The Not So Big House. She says look at the functions of rooms, and their best use for you. Perhaps you don’t need a 3000 sq foot house with cathedral ceilings in the living room. The way she suggests you use space are clever and make much more sense for the way we live today. Base the floorplan of your house on the patterns in your life.

By: Dervala

Dervala — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 18:55:51 +0000

Glad y’all liked the Alexander post. His books are fascinating—he seeks to analyze the patterns we live by, and then break down the buildings we need into patterns of their own to address those needs. This is one architect who campaigns against starting with the drawing board; instead, he encourages people to consider groups of patterns they need and build around those. These might include Farmhouse Kitchen, Sleep East, Grandparent’s Cottage, Bathhouse, Outdoor Rooms, etc. Wonderful stuff, though oddly I was more familiar with it from its adoption by tech designers than house/space builders.

By: Dervala

Dervala — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 18:55:40 +0000

By: Stuart

Stuart — Tue, 28 Oct 2003 08:42:27 +0000

Fascinating. This reminds me of the Well of Mimmr from pre-Christian European mythology. We “lay” our deeds in the well and it inevitably shapes our present.

By: Dixon

Dixon — Thu, 23 Oct 2003 09:35:04 +0000

I had two reactions to the Alexander passage. My first reaction was what a creature of habit he is! And then I took some comfort in reconsidering what I would call habit or routine — ie boring, to my way of thinking — as ‘patterns’ instead. So, I’d agree with the good and bad patterns, but I still try to break up the patterns and add a little spice.

p.s. I like Moose’s quote, “I think it possible to stir large circles in small pots.”

By: Tom Shugart

Tom Shugart — Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:32:11 +0000

Thanks for this! It’s thought-provoking. Like most people, I suspect, I have some patterns that are very nurturing—rewards, if you will, that I’ve learned, or become willing, to give myself. Then there are others that are time-bandits—automaticities that require the scrutiny that I fail to give them. Alexander provides a helpful frame of reference.

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 22 Oct 2003 20:11:20 +0000

I think the patterns we choose – and making sure we include things we really enjoy within our daily routines – make the difference in how much we enjoy life. One of the tricks is to make time for things that give us fulfillment. And to change them up periodically ….. I think you change your quite often!

By: Alicia

Alicia — Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:03:15 +0000

This is an amazing concept. When paring down what happens in life to patterns, it seems almost ritual. And it makes it easy to see which patterns it would be nice to change, how this or that pattern wasn’t what I was expecting or wanting.
I am in the midst of changing my patterns. Changing a commute of an hour to working from home, I hope. Changing my sedentary life to one where I dance, walk and stretch. One where I make time to connect with the people I love instead of working and emailing in my spare time. Communication habits are patterns too.

Thanks for sharing this!

By: moose

moose — Tue, 21 Oct 2003 16:51:46 +0000

You must stir big circles. Or is it figure-eights?

I think it possible to stir large circles in small pots.