Rethinking Lifestyle

Continuing our reproduction of Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Language, here is an article on incorporating sun.

The area immediately outside the building, to the south – that angle between its walls and the earth where the sun falls – must be developed and made into a place which lets people bask in it. Important outdoor areas should be to the south of buildings which they serve, but even if the outdoor areas around a building are toward the south, this still won’t guarantee that people will actually use them.

In this pattern, we shall now discuss the subtler fact that a south-facing court or garden will still not work, unless there is a functionally important sunny place within it, intently and specifically placed for the sun, at a central juncture between indoors and outdoors and immediately next to the indoor rooms which it serves.

We have some evidence that a deep band of shade between a building and a sunny area can act as a barrier and keep the area from being well used. It is this evidence which makes us believe that the most important sunny places occur up against the exterior walls of buildings, where people can see into them from inside and step directly out into the light, leaning in the doorway of the building. Furthermore, we have observed that these places are more inviting if they are placed in the crook of a building or wall, where there is just enough enclosure from a hedge, a low wall, a column, to provide a backdrop, a place to sit up against and take in the sun.

And finally, of course, if the place is really to work, there must be a good reason for going there: something special which draws a person there – a swing, a potting table for plants, a special view, a brick step to sit upon and look into a pool – whatever, so long as it has the power to bring a person there almost without thinking about it.

Here is an example – a sunny place at the edge of a building, directly related to the inside, and set in a nook of the building, someone comes there every day to sit for a moment, water the hanging plants, see how they are doing, and take in some sun.

THEREFORE: Inside a south-facing court, or garden, or yard, find the spot between the building and the outdoors which gets the best sun. Develop this spot as a special sunny place – make it the important outdoor room, a place to work in the sun, or a place for a swing and some special plants, a place to sunbathe. Be very careful indeed to place the sunny place in a position where it is sheltered from the wind. A steady wind will prevent you from using the most beautiful place.

This pattern is reprinted with permission from Christopher Alexander and the Center for Environmental Structure. It has been abridged for this article.