"The more living patterns there are in a place - a room, a building, or a town - the more it comes to life as an entirety, the more it glows, the more it has that self-maintaining fire which is the quality without a name"
- Christopher Alexander
About this Quote
This quote by Christopher Alexander speaks with the value of having a variety of patterns in a place. He suggests that when a space, structure, or town has a variety of patterns, it comes to life and has a specific energy that is hard to take into words. He believes that this energy is what makes a place dynamic and alive. He also suggests that this energy is self-maintaining, suggesting that it can sustain itself with no outdoors assistance. This quote speaks to the power of diversity and how it can bring life to a place. It also speaks to the importance of creating a variety of patterns in a location in order to bring out its full capacity.
"Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage"