An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent

This is a tour of Charles André's cob home in Canada with a list of some of the design patterns that make it so beautiful.

In the second installment of our summer series, Curbed’s architecture critic re-reads A Pattern Language.

“A complex of buildings with no center is like a man without a head.” This sentence conveys the ethos of A Pattern Language (1977), the instructional tome

Architect/theorist Christopher Alexander conceptualized Pattern #117: Sheltering Roof in his 1977 book, A Pattern Language. Alexander identified that the most fundamental and archetypal element defining a home is it's roof. More fundamentally, if the roof cannot be felt visually around the home it's not nurturing, doesn't satisfy the psychological need for shelter. The roof shelters us…

Christopher Alexander: Sala house, Albany, California USA

We moved into a new house this past summer, and repainted every single wall in the house (because we are crazy that way). We spent a lot of time making sure the living areas felt just right. As usual, we left our bedroom for last. One thing it needed was some kind of art work…

Photo by John Midgley. Christopher Alexander When architect Christopher Alexander released his 1977 manifesto A Pattern Language, he argued that good architecture is simply a matter of applying core principles. The book garnered a small but fanatical following and inspired a movement in software: Programmers, tired of reinventing the wheel, began compiling libraries of solutions […]

Thatched Dormer Window

Photo 4 of 13 in The Gorgeous Walls in This London Kitchen Renovation? That’s Hempcrete. Browse inspirational photos of modern homes. From midcentury modern to prefab housing and renovations, these stylish spaces suit every taste.

Stretching across a barren, wind-swept site overlooking the ocean, the Magney House by Glenn Murcutt is designed to capture the northern light.

Multi-talented Leanne Shapton's delightful watercolors from her series in the New York Times Op-Ed section, "A Month of Wednesd...

Image 3 of 51 from gallery of Tossols Basil Athletics Stadium / RCR Arquitectes. Photograph by Simon Garcia

Les symboles Adinkra sont des symboles à signification cachées et tirent leurs origines dans le sang Royal du peuple Akan. Découvrez avec nous l'histoire de ces symboles.

It has been WAY TOO LONG since I have blogged. I have a couple of things I need to catch up on, but you can see a somewhat more constant upd...

PROBABLY BERGAMA, LATE 18TH CENTURY/EARLY 19TH CENTURY

A collection of Rory E. Foster pieces over the years. You will find a journey of color and design stories on platters, planters, vases, mugs, cups, skateboards, match strikers and much more.

Trout Creek Aspen Forest, Colorado. Fine Art Photograph by Christopher Burkett, the Ansel Adams of color photography.