Customer Reviews

Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design

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My husband and I disagreed on this book. He loved it, 10 easy steps with photos. This surprised me, because he's more analytical and I would have thought that he'd prefer the careful data presentation of "A pattern language". I realized that I like to do in-depth research and plan, he likes to see the actions and results. I much preferred Alexander's "A pattern language", and I found this book shallow and derivative. He liked the photos of the design principles being applied in "patterns of home", and he liked having architectural decree as to what design patterns were most important. He immediately grabbed onto a few concepts and started distorting a house plan we'd been working on for months and which we had both agreed upon . This design had already incorporated key design issues from Alexander's book. After viewing sprawling disjointed modern houses depicted in "Patterns of Home" he began pitching a house site we'd already rejected on our acreage simply because it allows sprawl. I regret ever showing him this book and I sincerely hope that it's effects wear off quickly.

This is a synopsis of the classic Pattern Language book. This updated, pared down volume includes the basic ten patterns, explains and illustrates them clearly, and is really invaluable for anyone planning to build or remodel. You will understand how to use your space creatively, incorporate light and windows, understand traffic flow, and make your house a home. It's not rocket science, but it makes so much sense once you understand the basic patterns.

For those who may not have the patience to work through "A Pattern Language," this book distills the most important elements and illuminates key aspects with photographs. I found it helpful as a suplement to "A Pattern Language". I think these books will improve any design.

Based on the 10 most important building patterns from the book "A Pattern Language", by Christopher Alexander (the book every architect should memorize) your expectations just don't seem to get met with this book. There are lots of good photos and lots of well designed houses, but you keep waiting for something to pop out at you when you are reading it, but it just doesn't happen. When reading the book "A Pattern Language" the small simple illustrations let your imagination flow, whereas in this book, the photo's of finished homes seem to shut off your own creative juices. Also the homes are mostly all huge and expensive. Good for architects designing mansions, but making you wonder how the patterns would have looked in a smaller home.

Since not everyone thinks alike, I am sure some people will get allot more out of this book than I have. And if this is your type of book then I think "The Not So Big House" series of books by "Sara Susanka are much better. Also if you have not read "A Pattern Language", by Christopher Alexander please do before you read any other architecture books.

Skip this book. Instead get "A Pattern Language" which is the quintessential work of Christopher Alexander. Alexander is the real genius behind the "Patterns" of this book. There is almost nothing new in this book "Patterns of Home."

In the late 1960's and 1970's Alexander and his group (including two of these authors), formed the Institute of Environmental Structure in Berkeley, California. Alexander was clearly the spiritual and intellectual leader of this effort. "A Pattern Language" is a compilation of that thorough effort. Alexander et al's book remains the most important treatise ever on the subject of Architecture. It disseminates a clear and concise identification of basic patterns that make a house a home, for example, pattern 115 of 253 - Courtyards that Live. In addition, "A Pattern Language" is written for us, in the hope that "we the people" can use the patterns to guide the development of wonderful homes and communities. Alexander's book is accessible to all of us.

These co-author's of Alexander's great book include two of the authors of "Patterns of Home." These guys are sidekicks and it shows. For example, in the forward to this book, they acknowledge working on this book part-time while engaging in a full-time architectural practice. They didn't put a life-force effort into this book, although it appears the photographers did. The illustrations and photographs are almost exclusively of high end giant homes in the price range of $300 to $500 and up per square foot! The vast majority of people do and will live in homes built to a budget of $100 psf or less. In short, this is a picture book for coffee tables that shows what an architect can do with an open-ended budget.

I think I was dissapointed most with narrow scope of the photographs. As with another reviewer, I noted that the authors showed the patterns exclusively in new, contemporary, upscale California style homes, neglecting better illustrations of the essential patterns that can be easily found in other styles of homes, in older homes, or in homes from other areas of the world.

Although I don't believe the author's intended, but this book is an elitist book for dreamers. The homes shown in this book are accessible to a tiny minority of ultra-rich people. If you, the reader, prefer picture type books, you're better off with Sara Susanka's "The Not So Big House" and others of her series. Her design approach is more accessible to a larger segment of the population. Best of all though, try "A Pattern Language" a truly wonderful book accessible to all of us. It will forever improve you architectural mindset.

Regards, Steve

I really wanted to like this book. I endorse the patterns approach to home design, and I've come to rely on Taunton Press for very high-quality construction books.

Unfortunately, "Patterns of Home" is a disappointment. It should be subtitled "How Architects Get Their Rich Clients to Build Large Homes Full of Amazingly Superfluous Detailing". A few of the example homes are very interesting, but the majority of them are overblown ostentatious mansions that most people can't possibly afford. Sadly, Sarah Suzanka, author of the "The Not So Big House" series wrote the foreward. She forgot to mention that most of the homes featured in this book are quite big.

If you have a lot of money to spend, or just want to see how the other half lives, you might find the pictures interesting. I got bored and disheartened after the first 6-7chapters.

The authors of this book have taken the best of Alexander's "A Pattern Language", and combined wonderfully designed and excellently photographed homes to publish an inspiring and thought provoking book. Frankly, the world has too many "500 House Plans" types of books. This one describes the logic, reason, and common sense that involves the interlocking of ten basic patterns that could make any basic design more successful. As a residential architect, I consider this among my five top-rated books.

I am a HUGE fan of 'A Pattern Language', and found this book in the local library. It took me a while to realize that this book is a far cry from its predecessor. I found the patterns themselves interesting, but over-distilled from the quirky things that made 'Pattern Language' so wonderful...that book is full of the HUMANITY of places that people can create, and the effects on how places feel to us, how we interact, and how we live our lives in the context of these places.

My big problem with this book is with the photographs. I actually had a hard time seeing and feeling the point of the patterns. These are all, for the most part, big, expensive architect showcase homes of the west coast. How about showing these patterns in more modest or 'hand made' type houses? How about showing some of these patterns in desert homes, or old european homes? Homes in Mexico or in Greece? How about the patterns shown in other world homes? All these homes are fancy and expensive...it's ok to show some of those of course, but if the book is about PATTERNS, then the best illustration of a PATTERN is to show it in a wide variety of disparate settings.

This book, which I sat down to relish, was actually dull. It didn't stir my imagination and get the desire flowing the way 'Pattern Language' did. It's probably worth a look, but do as I did and request it from your library, and read it. Then decide if you really want it. I didn't.

I'm seeing again some of the architect-desinged houses featured in other Taunton Press books, here assembled under another pretext: timeless design.... their succesful formula: some quasi-intellectual premise (Not So Big, etc.) to serve as a backdrop for the true heart of the book--the pictures. As always, expensive, contemporary designs carefully and beautifully photographed, all intended to satisfy readers' endless appetites for novelty in their escapist fantasies involving houses and furniture.

On the other hand, it's very reasonably priced :-)

I treasure "Pattern Language", the book, and was excited to see this followup.The premise of looking back at the patterns and reducing them to a few (10) "super" patterns sounded promising.The charm of the original"Pattern Language" book lay in its quirky drawings, and its reliance on the reader to reflect on any personal experiences with the particular pattern being discussed. The lack of glossy photos gave substance to concepts. The new book follows in the footsteps of the "Not so big house" books method of discussing concepts while surrounded by photos. Undoubtedly, the success of those books gave rise to the structure of this one. I find drawings infinitely more communicative of design concepts than photos. The photos here distract the eye, making it harder to focus on the principle being espoused.The authors walk you thru certain homes or rooms which supposedly illustrate the concept at hand. I found the process sort of phony and aggrandizing of the architect's vision. Hello, but the point/power of "patterns" is that they are time-tested,non- regional, gut-level design parameters not requiring architectural vision. The, after the fact, microanalysis of houses to make their every aspect seem utterly preconceived by the genius architect is sophomoric. Again, the power of these patterns is that if you put them "in play", good things, especially unforseen things, happen. Predictably. Hopefully, this book, along with the "Not so big house" books will inform the house buying/building community of design realities routinely ignored.