Plenary panel with @HajoNeis #SusanIngham #YodanRode #RichardSickinger at @PUARLuo 2018 Conference.
This digest was created in real-time during the meeting, based on the speaker’s presentation(s) and comments from the audience. The content should not be viewed as an official transcript of the meeting, but only as an interpretation by a single individual. Lapses, grammatical errors, and typing mistakes may not have been corrected. Questions about content should be directed to the originator. The digest has been made available for purposes of scholarship, posted by David Ing.
Commentary by the panel, expanded out to other conference attendees
[Moderator: Wolfgang Stark]
Yesterday, started with World Cafe
- Today, panel on the future of patterns, once we realize the potential of patterns not just in the book
Panel: Hajo Neis (chair)
- Susan Ingham
- Yodan Rode
- Richard Sickinger
Youtube: Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From | Riverhead Books | 2011 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU
Developing hunches, some not-ready ideas
What do you take away from today?
Susan: Architect’s perspective, what is the actual physical environment?
- In what environment do I have my best ideas, where am I most creative?
- I spent most of time in a place where it’s not good for me to have my best ideas.
- For best ideas, usually need a hot beverage, or a view of nature.
- Challenge people to notice when they have a moment of creativity, track that.
- We’re disconnected from where we are, in the moment.
Yodan: Pattern language group is small core, around Purplsoc and PUARL
- On one hand, it’s a problem, a little bit of inbreeding
- Important, level of discussion could be higher, not just of pattern language
- Perhaps we could change venues, we pick up more people while maintaining the strong core
- Doubts about travelling a long way, already know some of the people, but conversations raised good questions, lighting up the bulb
- Can do in 5 minutes of conversations, what would take days online, so annual conferences are important
- Need to develop more institutions within the pattern language movement, maybe a journal, maybe an exhibition, that will increase the number of practitioners
Richard: Importance of reaching the end users of the pattern languages, that are effected, that helps them
- Finding a pattern ideal that fascinates, inspires
Hajo: This year is the 10-year anniversary conference
- Wouldn’t have started a conference at CES, because clients wouldn’t talk about the work
- As academics, something can come out
- The future is pattern language, but then there’s the advanced pattern language that takes in the Nature of Order
- Interdisciplinary work, connects
- Huge range of possibilities
- Could be relevant in regenerative process and design: world has a lot of problems that we can’t comprehend
- Some hope, maybe we can come together and solve a huge problem, tackled through pattern languages
The way we use the pattern languages in architecture
- Can appreciate how important they are
- We have developed enough projects, and tried to create with participation of users
- Beyond these, pattern languages relate with centers and create space
- Many next steps, book was written and developed in the 1970s, patterns may not be implemented
- How to future develop, put in new contexts
Yodan: Origins of patterns has strong connections with social change, people’s republic of Berkeley
- Houses generated by patterns was in the context of U.N. Competition on Social Housing in South America
- Process of coming up with patterns, some work with clients, is social-changing
- It’s a different way of doing social science, on the other hand
- Tying social science to planning and building
- Sometimes ourselves, we’re not so aware of how we should do this work carefully.
- Not careful about the statements, they’re not good patterns
- It’s hard to create a good pattern, as hard as creating an experiment
Did political change, came up with solutions, the big challenge
- It may not work
[Wolfgang] Reading Alexandrian writings, would like to see a good social science
[Hajo] Adventures into other disciplines, dealing with tsunami problems and energy problems, not used to doing that
- Fascinating, doing something that is expanding horizon
- Feel sometimes loosing the base, doing what we should do
- Not doing projects in architecture that I used to
- Two faces, Janus head
- Asian project language was a fantastic experience, with 100 people, successful
- Missing that
Richard: Need patterns that serve people, that moves people, or want to live this pattern
- Patterns in human action
- We should start living patterns
Pattern depends on context
- Problem is generated with context, what’s around
- How to live with one pattern, don’t understand that
Richard: One topic, moving the world
- For immigrants, could be open to different people
- Have selected that context as the most relevant
Wolfgang: Not just one pattern, for a language, take a few patterns
- Not whole language, it’s too big
[Gary]: Diversity that of individuals that have embraced patterns, with wicked problems in their fields
- Life takes place, as Alexander’s genius, talking about the unity of life and place
- Used to urban design, then urban planning, has little to do with the physical world, dealing with abstractions
- If held to the notion that we have to ask about how places would be shaped
- Pattern language for NASA site, sustainable agriculture, halfway-house to real world
- Developed a pattern language, interviewed staff there, developing meta-patterns (place as community, integrative places)
- They were stated much more as social patterns, then could say physical changes, would have to go back to see how a pattern would support a meta-pattern as a vision
- More grounded
- Weren’t talking about architecture and meta-patterns
- Vision of education, etc., went further
- Tried to rejoin social patterns to the physical
- Challenge groups, those from social and entrepreneurial: what does this have to do with place?
- Could have meta-patterns for places.
- One step more: could architect planners, physical designers, how does it support more egalitarian society?
- If we follow the genius of Alexander’s work, then what kind of places does this create? Particular places that manifest the whole
- Keep the multidisciplinary
[Wolfgang]: Need to educate, train each other, in different disciplines
- If take a serious pattern approach, would need some help, or information, some more ideas
- How to make sure the tradition maintains, and goes to the next step
- Besides place, there is time
[Gary] That’s in David Seamon’s work, place as process
[Eric] Video that mentioned story
- Poem, the Speed of Darkness: the universe is made of stories, not atoms
- We’re good at talking to each other
- We need to become better at telling our stories
- Where is our Leonard Bernstein, or Richard Feinman — the engaging storyteller who has a deep wealth of knowledge, but can communicate the profoundness and love of the pattern
[Gary]: Maybe it’s not just one person
- Need to be able to communicate, in better ways with audience who aren’t in-house
- Need to listen to clients, then can find the patterns
- Can frame those stories to physical design and placemaking
- Place makes a difference, if you hire the right architects
[Takashi] Often participate in pattern-related conferences
- Many people struggle in professional towards social change
- People who engage in pattern language are in some change
- This conference is wider: pattern language for behaviour change is microscopic
- Talked with Richard Gabriel about regional A Pattern Language
- Jenny said originally with U.S. government, well-being of society
[Gary Black] First PUARL conference
- In the architecture department at Berkeley, Chris Alexander isn’t mentioned
- Studios: whatever the student comes up with is okay, teacher is supposed to comment on a tweak
- No rigour
- At PUARL, patting self on back, in future, collaboration is awesome, but somethings need need someone to come into office with dissention
- Like preparing a brief, someone feels free to question if a pattern language is even applicable
- Would be good to include in new conferences
- Getting people who distrust can advance the cause
[Wolfgang] What is the next step for the future of pattern language, in one sentence?
[Yodan] Trying to find a communal project — we’re not that many people
- Proposed a project to rewrite the A Pattern Language for the 21st century
[Hajo] Need to look to next generation, teach them a way to continuing in a better way than we did.
- Our generation screwed up the world
- Have the chance to make it over again
[Gary Coates] Whatever exists is possible
- Need more projects rooted in a pattern-language based approach, that also integrates the encompassing wisdom in the Nature of Order, then communicate
- Have to create better and more beautiful places
Richard: Need a pattern language story
- Challenge, response
- Old patterns are losing validity
[Gary Black] Group should find projects where you can bring the theory to bear, see it to the end, and show that it’s better
[Susan] Embedding patterns, archives is one way, making connections with the larger body of research
- Brain research
[Eric] Future of patterns is in the youngest people in the room
- If there is to be a future, youngest students should have a voice in determining the conference
The future is the young people, and the future is the buildings
- Need patterns adopted and used by the younger people
[Takashi] Want to incorporate pattern language thinking in education, in elementary and middle school levels
- Includes listening to others, and then writing down for others
- Common language
- Dialogue
- Building better futures
- Need more teachers in the school
Pick a voice for someone under 30
From this conference, felt that we need to not confine ourselves to the established definitions and formats
- Clinging onto the definitions doesn’t allow us to explore more possibilities
- Looking at newer contexts
In brief. David Ing. 