CHRISTOPHER ANDREWS ARCHITECT & TOWN PLANNER

 

AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF INFLUENTIAL BOOKS 

 

Often our clients ask us for recommendations on books that might help them with their building.  I have put together this list, with some brief comments, so that others might begin to explore the wonderful resources of shared knowledge about creating whole and healthy places.

 

The topics covered include:

 

 

 

part i (THIS PAGE)

 

part ii (next page)

 

 

 

 

THE INTEGRATED DESIGN & BUILDING PROCESS      

 

A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander, with Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, Max Jacobson, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King, and Schlmo Angel, Oxford University Press 1977

A extremely influential and important book, it lays out a system of looking at the environment as a series of patterns of use and form, and describes how ordinary people have used this approach for centuries to construct the most durable parts of the built environment.  See also The Center for Environmental Structure.

 

The Timeless Way of Building, Christopher Alexander, Oxford University Press 1979

A coherent theory of architecture, building and planning that at its core is based on a traditional process whereby people make order of the world from their own visions and being.

 

The Production of Houses, Christopher Alexander, with Howard Davis, Julio Martinez, and Don Corner,  Oxford University Press 1985  

The documentation of the building of a community in Mexicali, according to the principles in A Pattern Language and The Timeless Way.

 

A New Theory of Urban Design, Alexander Christopher, with Hajo Neis, Artemis Anninou and Ingrid King, Oxford University Press 1987

The documentation and evaluation of an experimental process of piecemeal and incremental growth applied to an area on the waterfront of San Francisco.

 

ECOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE

 

The New Natural House Book, David Pearson, Fireside Books, 1998

A good basic book on the various aspects of building healthy buildings.

 

The Straw Bale House Book, Athena Swentzell Steen, Bill Steen, David Bainbridge, and David Eisenberg, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 1994

The bible for super-insulated straw bale building.  Although much of the technology has been updated in this cutting edge building technology, this book is a strong foundation.

 

Sun, Wind, and Light, Architectural Design Strategies, G.Z. Brown, John Wiley & Sons, 1985

A guide to considering the form making potential of climatic variables early in the design process.

 

Living Spaces, Ecological Building and Design, Thomas Schmitz-Gunter, Loren E. Abraham, Thomas A Fisher, Konemann, 1999

A guide to various aspects of green housing in Europe.

 

The Ecology of Commerce, A Declaration of Sustainability, Paul Hawken, Harper Business, 1993

A visionary looks at the future of business.

 

Natural Capitalism, Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins, Little Brown, 2000

A paradigm for a new economy

 

The Ecology of Architecture, Laura C. Zeiher, Whitney Library of Design, 1996

Case studies of environmentally responsible architecture

 

 

FORWARD TO INFLUENTIAL BOOKS PART II

 

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