Notes on Chapter 8

The Quality Itself

Argument against « modular » architecture – this style characterizes twentieth century building.
Nature is not “modular”.

Everything is individual. Drops of water, waves and drops within the the wave, blades of grass etc are all different but we don’t get tired of looking at them.
Every ecosystem has common broad characteristics and each element is individual.
No two atoms are the same. Each one is different according to its environment. The orbits of each electron is influenced by the orbits of adjacent electrons.
“Each pattern is a generic solution to some system of forces in the world. But the forces are never quite the same.” P147
Things that are not part of nature are at odds with it.
For a building to be “whole” it must have the character of Nature p149
This does not mean building builings that look like trees etc – but it will have the same balance of repetition.
Repetition in building occurs if elements “make sense”. That is we see sameness in windows nd doors because it makes sense to maintain these shapes.
Baluster
Boards
House siding
Tiles
Roof
Whitewash
Trellises
Arcades
Paving stones