PURPLSOC Workshop2014

Peter Baumgartner | Richard Sickinger (ed.
PURPLSOC
The Workshop 2014
ISBN 978-3-7375-5458-9
Editors: Peter Baumgartner, Richard Sickinger
Book Design and Page Layout: Wolfgang Rauter
www.purplsoc.org
info@purplsoc.org
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creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0
Printed in Austria
Department for Interactive Media and Educational Technologies, Danube University Krems
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Krems, June 2015
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Co-funded by
2
Foreword
Dear Reader,
Christopher Alexander, architect, mathematician and philosopher, established a fundamen-
tal new approach to understanding and designing buildings. In his ground breaking rese-
arch, Alexander identified recurring patterns of space in built environments that possess
the unique attribute of supporting human well-being. Alexander’s renowned book “A Pat-
tern Language“ (1977), subsequently defined 253 invariant spatial patterns associated with
the stability of human-environmental systems in both towns and buildings.
In the past two decades, the pattern approach as defined by Christopher Alexander has
gone beyond architecture and urban design and is now being successfully implemented in
many other disparate fields, such as design, media, arts, IT, management, pedagogy, social
activism, social innovation and diverse grassroots movements. It has become an effective
interdisciplinary tool for collecting and conveying informal knowledge with the purpose of
creating morphological coherence in the things which we make. The primary objective, as
stated by Alexander, being “to build a society which is alive and whole” (1977).
As a response to this development, the PURPLSOC preparatory workshop (November

14th-15th 2014) and PURPLSOC World Conference (July 3rd-5th 2015), both held at Danube
University Krems, established the first international platform for the discussion and reflec-
tion on the interdisciplinary implementation of Christopher Alexander’s pattern approach.
The PURPLSOC (In Pursuit of Pattern Languages for Societal Change) platform aims to sub-
stantiate the broad applicability and richness of pattern related work in all fields, and by
sharing best practice examples from outside the scientific community to further raise awa-
reness of this approach to encompass the wider public. Additionally PURPLSOC offers a
platform to discuss and study Alexander’s most recent research work (not, as yet, as well
known as his primary work „A Pattern Language“): “The Nature of Order: An Essay on the
Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe” (2004). The four volumes explore the “living
process” with its “15 structure-preserving transformations” applied in the “unfolding of who-
leness” (2004).
This anthology of papers, presented by specialists in the research and implementation of

Christopher Alexander’s work at the PURPLSOC preparatory workshop, is the first outcome
of this discussion and reflection. The 19 papers bring a manifold and broad overview of the
current state of the implementation of Alexander’s ideas in divergent fields:
3
PURPLSOC: The Workshop 2014
»» “A Bird’s-Eye View on Pattern Research” draws an overall picture of the new scientific field
that can be defined as having its roots in the lifework of Christopher Alexander.
»» “A New Approach to Higher Education in the Eastern Tyrol: Developing Patterns for the
“Campus Osttirol”” describes a regional development project seeking innovation in the
field of higher education by applying and researching pattern methodology.
»» “A Pattern LAnguage for Systemic Transformation (PLAST) - (re)Generative of Commons”

focuses on the development of a communications strategy and operating system for
driving change at multiple points of our social system.
»» “Costume Languages as Pattern Languages” describes a pattern-approach to the syste-

matic representation of costumes in films.
»» “Cultivating the Feeling Dimension of the Pattern Approach: A Report from the First Cour-
se in Wilderness-Based Urbanism” details an attempt to teach urban planning students
how to cultivate felt experience in relation to the environment during a wilderness-based
urbanism course.
»» “Designing lively learning scenarios: How to adapt Alexander’s 15 spatial properties to

learning design?“ discusses the adaptation of Alexander‘s 15 properties to lively learning
structures.
»» “E-Portfolio Design: Generic Rules for Creating Centers” provides background informati-
on on the development of a pattern language for working with e-portfolios.
»» “Evaluating the Applicability of Alexander’s Fundamental Properties to Non-Architecture

Domains” outlines if the 15 fundamental properties, that contribute to the “degree of life”
a structure, can be found in non-geometrical domains such as education, organizational
structure, or software design.
»» “From a Pattern Language to a Field of Centers and Beyond: Patterns and Centers, Inno-
vation, Improvisation, and Creativity” traces the growth of the original principle of ‘pattern
and pattern language’ into the large and solid body of theory and professional work, the
‘overall pattern language approach’ in architecture, urban design, and planning.
»» “Pattern Languages as Media for Creative Dialogue: Functional Analysis of Dialogue Work-
shops” presents the Dialogue Workshop as an application for using pattern languages as
media for creative dialogue.
»» “Pattern Languages for Public Problem-Solving” describes how pattern languages can
provide much needed support for addressing complex problems in communities.
4
Foreword
»» “PatternPedia – Collaborative Pattern Identification and Authoring” introduces a collabo-

rative tool chain for documenting existing solutions and managing the patterns abstrac-
ted from them.
»» “Performative Pattern Languages and the Improvisational Field” provide a culture for de-
aling with accelerated complexity and growing uncertainties in contemporary organiza-
tions and social systems.
»» “Planning Living Lessons: Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Structural Properties of Living

Centers in an Educational Context” rethinks lesson design using Alexander’s theory of
wholeness and centers.
»» “Service Learning in Higher Education: A Pattern Language” details the implementation

of innovative didactic methods that connect academic education to civic partners in the
local community.
»» “Study of human visual perception with the usage of information entropy analysis of
patterns” introduces a new research methodology based on the Partial Least Squares
Regression (PLSR) statistical method to examine human perception of shapes and pat-
terns in a set of images.
»» “The path of ageing: Self-organisation in the Nature and the 15 properties” explains
the relation between the 15 properties of Christopher Alexander and the simplest pat-
tern-forming system in nature, the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction.
»» “The utility of using patterns and pattern languages for autodidactic learning: the examp-
le of ‘Patterns for Composing Music‘” compares a “systematic” learning approach with the
“dive-in” learning approach, and makes a case for the latter.
»» “Understanding Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Properties via Visualization and Analysis”

presents an illustration summarizing the fifteen fundamental properties and explains the
dependencies between them.
We expect this book to encourage the dissemination of Alexander’s ground breaking ideas
and to provoke further use and discussion of his methods, “for a society which is alive and
whole”.
Peter Baumgartner Richard Sickinger
5
Contents
A Bird’s-Eye View on Pattern Research 16

Leitner, Helmut
A New Approach to Higher Education in the Eastern Tyrol: 38

Developing Patterns for the “Campus Osttirol”
Nahrada, Franz | Leitner, Helmut
A Pattern LAnguage for Systemic Transformation (PLAST) - (re) 58

Generative of Commons
Finidori, Helene
Costume Languages as Pattern Languages 88

Barzen, Johanna | Leymann, Frank
Cultivating the Feeling Dimension of the Pattern Approach: 118

A Report from the First Course in Wilderness-Based Urbanism
Schwab, Daniel
Designing lively learning scenarios: How to adapt Alexander’s 15 138

spatial properties to learning design?
Baumgartner, Peter | Bergner, Ingrid
E-Portfolio Design: Generic Rules for Creating Centers 162

Bauer, Reinhard | Baumgartner, Peter
Evaluating the Applicability of Alexander’s Fundamental Properties 188

to Non-Architecture Domains
Kohls, Christian | Köppe, Christian
From a Pattern Language to a Field of Centers and Beyond: 212

Patterns and Centers, Innovation, Improvisation, and Creativity
Neis, Hans Joachim (Hajo)
6
Contents
Pattern Languages as Media for Creative Dialogue: Functional 236

Analysis of Dialogue Workshops
Iba, Takashi
Pattern Languages for Public Problem-Solving 256

Schuler, Douglas
PatternPedia – Collaborative Pattern Identification and Authoring 276

Fehling, Christoph | Barzen, Johanna | Falkenthal, Michael | Leymann, Frank
Performative Pattern Languages and the Improvisational Field 310

Stark, Wolfgang
Planning Living Lessons: Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen 328

Structural Properties of Living Centers in an Educational Context
Bauer, Reinhard
Service Learning in Higher Education: A Pattern Language 348

Miller, Joerg | Ruda, Nadine | Stark, Wolfgang | Meyer, Philip
Study of human visual perception with the usage of information 366

entropy analysis of patterns
Rychtáriková, Renata | Malečková, Dita | Urban, Jan | Bárta, Antonín |
Novotná, Markéta | Zhyrova, Anna | Náhlík, Tomáš | Štys, Dalibor
The path of ageing: Self-organisation in the Nature and the 386

15 properties
Zhyrova, Anna | Rychtáriková, Renata | Náhlík, Tomáš | Štys, Dalibor
The utility of using patterns and pattern languages for autodi- 412
dactic learning: the example of “Patterns for Composing Music”
Schlechte, Thomas
Understanding Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Properties via 434

Visualization and Analysis
Iba, Takashi | Sakai, Shingo
7
8
We would like to thank all
authors, contributors and
participants of the
PURPLSOC workshop 2014
9
About the Authors
Antonín BÁRTA began to work as a disseminator/technician at the Institute of Com-

plex Systems, University of South Bohemia in Budweis in October 2013. Since that time he
has gained experience in probability theory, statistics, and measurement. He is involved in
a project of a distributed storage of large biological data, food safety, and other biological
applications. This issue was discussed at the EMBL in Heidelberg and during meetings of
the Aquaexcel consortium.
Johanna BARZEN studied media science, musicology and phonetics at the Univer-
sity of Cologne and gained first practical experience while working for some major television
channels like WDR and RTL. Next to this she studied costume design at the ifs (international
film school Cologne) and worked in several film productions in the costume department
in different roles. Currently she is Ph.D. student at the University of Cologne and research
staff member at the Institute of Architecture of Application Systems (IAAS) at the University
Stuttgart doing research on vestimentary communication in film.
Reinhard BAUER graduated in Romance Studies and German. After a one-year

period as a foreign language assistant in Spain, he worked as a language teacher in se-
condary vocational education, contributed to various Spanish textbooks and lectured on
the Didactics of Spanish as a Foreign Language at the University of Vienna. He completed a
postgraduate Master‘s degree in eEducation at Danube University Krems, where he worked
as a staff member researching e portfolios and educational patterns. He received his PhD
from Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt in 2014. Currently he is a lecturer and a researcher
at the University of Teacher Education Vienna.
Peter BAUMGARNTER is a full Professor for Technology Enhanced Learning and

Multimedia at Danube University Krems. He graduated in sociology and did his habilitation
thesis on “Background Knowledge – Groundwork for a Critique of Computational Reason”.
His recent research focuses on Higher Education didactics, theories of teaching and lear-
ning, e-Education and distance education, e-Learning implementation strategies and the
evaluation of learning environments. He has been key speaker at various TEL conferences
and has published 8 books and over 120 articles.
10
About the Authors
Michael FALKENTHAL is research associate and Ph.D. student at the Institute

of Architecture of Application Systems (IAAS) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He
studied business information technology at the Universities of Applied Sciences in Esslingen
and Reutlingen focusing on business process management, services computing and enter-
prise architecture management. Michael gained experience in several IT transformation
and migration projects of small-, medium- and large-sized companies. His current research
interests are fundamentals on pattern language theory as well as cloud computing.
Christoph FEHLING is a research associate and Ph.D. student at the Institute of Ar-
chitecture of Application Systems (IAAS) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. His research
interests include IT architecture patterns focused especially on cloud computing. Christoph
received a Dipl.-Inf. in computer science from the University of Stuttgart. He is a member of
the Hillside Group and author of the book „Cloud Computing Patterns“ (Springer, 2014).
Helene FINIDORI focuses on systemic perspectives and tools for transformative

action, mainly interested in connecting dots and building bridges between people, cultures,
disciplines, organizations, transitionary stages. Co-founder and coordinator of the Com-
mons Abundance Network, she teaches Management and Leadership of Change in the
International Program of Staffordshire University. Born in Canada and raised in France, He-
lene lived in many countries including Sweden, the US, Indonesia, Australia. She now lives
in Spain.
Takashi IBA is an associate professor at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio Uni-
versity, who explores the nature of creativity and works to build media to nurture it. He
received a Ph.D. in Media and Governance in 2003. Dr. Iba has created many pattern lan-
guages concerning human actions, including Learning Patterns, Presentation Patterns, and
Collaboration Patterns (2014). He authored many books such as the bestselling Introduc-
tion to Complex Systems (1998), Social Systems Theory (2011), Pattern Languages (2013),
and Presentation Patterns (2013, received the GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2013).
Christian KOHLS is a professor of computer science and sociotechnical systems at

the University of Applied Science Cologne. He has mined patterns in several fields, including
interactive graphics, e-learning, online training, and creativity methods. His PhD thesis co-
vered psychological and epistemological views on pattern theory. A pattern enthusiast, he
has published many papers on design patterns and organized international workshops and
conferences on the topic. He is also vice president of Hillside Europe Pattern Community.
11
Christian KÖPPE is a lecturer in computer science at the HAN University of Ap-

plied Sciences in Arnhem/Netherlands. After studying computer science and working as
software engineer, he decided to help improving the quality of software development by
teaching students how to develop software in a professional and respectful way. His current
research is in the field of computer science education in general and focuses especially on
the applicability and value of Educational Design Patterns. He is also board member of the
Hillside Group.
Helmut LEITNER is an independent software developer and consultant and a

member of the GIVE Forschungsgesellschaft in Vienna. He graduated in chemistry from the
Technical University in Graz, and did his dissertation on “Computer simulations of molecular
systems at metal-electrolyte boundaries”. In 2000 he started to research online commu-
nities, which are the precursors of social media, using approaches based on patterns. He
especially pioneered the use of wiki systems. He is also an author of books and articles and
gives guest lectures at universities. His recent work focuses on the dissemination of the
pattern approach and on supporting the growth of the pattern research community.
Frank LEYMANN is a full professor of computer science and director of the Insti-
tute of Architecture of Application Systems (IAAS) at the University of Stuttgart, Germany.
His research interests include service-oriented architectures and associated middleware,
workflow- and business process management, cloud computing and associated systems
management aspects, and patterns. Frank is co-author of more than 300 peer-reviewed
papers, more than 40 patents, and several industry standards. He is on the Palsberg list of
Computer Scientists with highest h-index.
Dita MALEČKOVÁ graduated in Humanities and Philosophy at the Charles Uni-

versity in Prague. Currently she is a PhD candidate in Information Science and works as
a lecturer at the New Media Studies department where she teaches Philosophy and New
Media Art and Culture. Her interest lies in the intersection of art, technology, science, and
philosophy and she is especially interested in the issue of human perception or visual ori-
entation in the complex environment.
Renata RYCHTÁRIKOVÁ graduated in Food Technology and Meat Preservation

(MSc, 2006) and Biotechnology (PhD, 2011) at the University of Chemistry and Technology,
Prague. Currently, she is a postdoc at the Institute of Complex Systems, University of South
12
About the Authors
Bohemia in Budweis. Applying methods of complex systems theory, her main research in-
terest is the development of a light microscope and particular software for observation of
living cells.
Jörg MILLER graduated in pedagogics and is researcher at the Organizational De-

velopment Laboratory at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany (www.orglab.de). He is
founder and project manager at the Center for Societal Learning and Social Responsibility
(www.uni-aktiv.org). His research interests include Higher Education development and pro-
ject-oriented learning.
Tomáš NÁHLÍK obtained his bachelors degree in Information Techniques and Com-
puters (2006) and his MSc. in the field of Applied Measuring Techniques and Computers
(2009) at the University of South Bohemia in Budweis (USB), Czech Republic. Now he is stu-
dying for his PhD in the field of Biophysics at the Faculty of Science, USB, and works in the
Laboratory of Experimental Complex Systems, FFPW USB. In his present research, he deals
with image processing and different microscopy techniques.
Franz NAHRADA is sociologist by education, future researcher and social changema-

ker by passion and hotel keeper by the coincidence of his families history. He also became
familiar with software and media development as HyperCard supporter at Apple Computer.
He graduated in Vienna in 1982, where he eventually started a series of conferences and
exhibitions on the relations between the physical and virtual world under the title “Global
Village”. This is also the central topic of his work, connects him to architecture and spatial
development and the challenge to balance and connect between the rural and the urban.
Hajo NEIS examines the concepts of quality and value in architecture and urban struc-
ture. The director of the University’s architectural studies program in Portland, he teaches
design studios, courses, and seminars in urban architecture and theory with an emphasis
on the art of building.
Markéta NOVOTNÁ studies at the Anglo–Czech high school in Budweis, Czech

Republic. She is interested in chemistry and biology. In 2014, she visited Summer Schools
in Nové Hrady.
13
Shingo SAKAI is senior principal research scientist (Ph.D.) for health beauty products
research. His specialized fields are skin physiology, non-invasive measurement technolo-
gy of skin and pattern language. His recent research focuses on creative communication
system for beauty. He has applied pattern language for human action and communication
related to beauty and proposed for one to live lively and beautiful in daily life, which we call
the Generative Beauty Patterns by collaboration with Dr. Iba.
Thomas SCHLECHTE was born in Dresden, Germany and studied Business Ad-
ministration (B.A.) and International Economics (M.A.) in Berlin. He worked as a research
assistant at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, and is particularly
interested in the dynamics of artistic creation.
Douglas SCHULER has focused on society and technology for nearly 30 years. He
has written many articles and books, including Participatory Design, New Community Net-
works, and Liberating Voices. He is former chair of Computer Professionals for Social Res-
ponsibility and co-founded the Seattle Community Network, a free, public access computer
network over 20 years ago. He teaches at The Evergreen State College, a non-traditional
liberal arts college, where he runs the Civic Intelligence Research and Action Laboratory
where students develop their own collaborative projects. Doug has masters degrees in
computer science and software engineering.
Daniel SCHWAB studied at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, USA and the
Technical University of Berlin, Germany. He is an independent researcher in the fields of
ecopsychology and urbanism. He can be reached at dns@posteo.de.
Wolfgang STARK is professor in Organizational Psychology/Development and Com-

munity Psychology at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany) since 1998. He is director
(since 2001) of the Organizational Development Laboratory (www.orglab.de), focussing on
an creative-experimental approach toward Organizational Reasearch and director (since
2005) of the Center for Societal Learning and Social Responsibility (www.uni-aktiv.org)
Dalibor ŠTYS is the Head of the Laboratory of Experimental Complex Systems at the
Institute of Complex Systems, FFPW, University of South Bohemia in Nové Hrady, Czech Repu-
blic. He was among the founders of the Academic and University Center in Nové Hrady and
14
About the Authors
was also the Head of local Institute of Physical Biology in 2002 - 2011. In 2012 he became a
Professor of Applied Physics. In years 2013 - 2014 he was the Minister of Education, Youth
and Sports of the Czech Republic. He is active in all aspects of measurements of systems
exhibiting features of complexity, as well as analysis of complex systems perception, science
philosophy, and in applications of his results in practice.
Jan URBAN obtained his MSc in Cybernetics in 2005, and his PhD in Biophysics in
2010. Since 2005 he has been working at the University of South Bohemia in the field of
systems theory, mainly in mass spectrometry and image analysis.
Anna ZHYROVA is a PhD student of the Institute of the Complex System since 2011.
She investigates the behaviour of complex self-organising systems by means of construc-
ting the adequate mathematical model of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, which is ba-
sed mainly on information theory and the analysis of mutifractal objects. Developed me-
thods of analysis could be used for more complicated objects such as living cells to predict
their response to the changes in environmental conditions in the course of their evolution.
15
A Bird’s-Eye
View on
Pattern
Research
16
Leitner, Helmut
HLS SOFTWARE / GIVE Forschungsgesellschaft, St. Peter Hauptstraße 33d, Graz, Austria
helmut.leitner@hls-software.at
This paper draws an overall picture of the new scientific

field that can be defined as having its roots in the life-
work of Christopher Alexander. It is a large field, spanning
many disciplines and containing many profound con-
cepts. A map might be useful but we currently have none.
An intermediate step towards a map is to increase our di-
stance from the field by stepping back and describing its
overall structures. Such a bird’s eye view should be seen
as a simplified construction. Therefore, one can expect
controversial discussions about what it has to say, espe-
cially at the upcoming PURPLSOC workshop and confe-
rence. My hope is that these discussions will contribute
to the development of the scientific field, even if there
should be no general agreement on some of the issues
at the end of the conference.
Christopher Alexander; design pattern; pattern research,

pattern language; Lebendigkeit science
17
1. Method
To accomplish the goal of this paper, I go beyond a hermeneutic approach which would
take up too much space and would also be too limiting in scope. One can compare my
method to the act of looking at the pieces of a partially complete mosaic and then stepping
back to see the overall picture more clearly. It is also similar to holography: each individual
fragment holds more than just local information and thus partly reveals the whole. The Re-
ferences section shows the essential pieces I consider relevant for the process.
The first set of sources used in this investigation are the set of 14 main books that Alexan-
der has authored or co-authored to date (Alexander, 1964-2012). I also include the book
Christopher Alexander: A New Paradigm in Architecture (Grabow, 1983), which contains about
80 pages of original Alexander text, transcribed from over 100 hours of audio interviews.
The second set of sources used are the many patterns, pattern languages and pattern
collections that have been published as books or papers over the years, which are in the
explicit tradition of Alexander. My main interest in selecting from these sources is to show
the variety of fields and applications that take Alexander’s work as their basis. With respect
to software, where there is a particularly large literature, I include here only the most im-
portant books.
The third set of sources are my own research and teaching materials. As far as concrete
pattern authoring is concerned, most of it is not yet formally published, but has only been
published informally on the internet. I refer here to a number of my own publications which
has sought to bring Christopher Alexander to a wider audience (Leitner, 2007, 2013, 2014,
and 2015). In a sense these works were stepping stones leading up to this paper.
2. Observations
1. A New Kind of Science. The lifework of Christopher Alexander is rich in profound con-
cepts. Although Alexander was best known for the pattern concept and his pattern langua-
ges, he himself did not see them as his main focus. He was more interested in the structure
and quality of what he designed, in developing a generative process that could that improve
that quality, and in developing a kind of new science that would let us understand all of this.
The science that Alexander called for, especially in the four books of The Nature of Order
(Alexander, 2002-2005), is neither identical to natural science nor is it a sub-discipline of it.
Alexander made this clear by openly criticizing the kind of thinking that characterizes the
natural sciences – their mechanistic approach that uses the machine as a model and the
18
A Bird’s-Eye View on Pattern Research
subject-object gap – in short: a great deal of what Descartes stands for as a defining figure
of natural science. On the other hand, Alexander did not define his new science in a positive
sense – neither did he state what it exactly is, nor did he name it. For the purpose of this pa-
per I have chosen the term Pattern Research as a surrogate or a least common denominator,
a substitute that fellow researchers will not completely reject.
2. The Variety and Unity of Pattern Research. The architecture book A Pattern Langua-
ge had large effects in many other disciplines. Non-architects were fascinated by how an
architect could open the world of architecture to them and enable them to see the world
through his eyes. They also saw many parallels between his work and their own design
fields which opened up new opportunities to use the same concepts in similar ways. So
they started collecting patterns and authoring pattern languages: in software development
(Gamma et al., 1994), organizational development (Rising & Manns, 2004) and interaction
design (Borchers, 2001), just to name a few more general ones – and in text authoring
(Gabriel, 2002), school architecture (Nair et al., 2005), fire-fighting (Denef, 2012), and movie
production (Fließer, 2012), to name a few more specific ones (see Figure 1). There seem to
be innumerable domains which can make good use of the concepts of the pattern and the
pattern language.
Figure 1: Some books standing for many that followed the example of “A Pattern Language”
19
3. Pattern Theory. I got involved with patterns when I became a member of the Portland
Pattern Repository (aka Wiki Wiki Web) in the year 2000. Five years later I began to work on
a German book Mustertheorie (Leitner, 2007) to disseminate knowledge about Christopher
Alexander in the German-speaking world. My main message was that Alexander is import-
ant far beyond the realm of architecture because his opus is so useful as a systems theory
in many fields of application. I needed a term for those of Alexander’s concepts that were
independent of architecture and began to use the term pattern theory. I also chose this term
for the title of my book. The book was widely read by the German audience, and got a great
deal of positive feedback. However, the term pattern theory was adopted only slowly. I think
it is precise and useful but not all-encompassing Alexander’s science because it focuses on
the abstract, multi-disciplinary insights. For example, it does not encompass the concrete
patterns and pattern languages that have arisen out of various fields of application. I think
pattern theory is a part of pattern research in the sense that a scientist can do pattern
research by collecting and describing patterns in his field of application without being con-
cerned with pattern theory per se. He need not research how the principles of his field can
be used – as general principles – for other fields of application and vice versa.
4. What is the New Paradigm? Grabow (1983) saw Alexander’s work as a possible new
science with a new paradigm, applying Thomas Kuhn’s concept of the paradigm shift (Kuhn,
1962). Kuhn used the word paradigm in a number of distinct ways, but two stand out. The
first important meaning of paradigm is that of a fundamental core idea that changes our
way of thinking. The idea that the earth revolves around the sun, instead of vice versa is an
example of a shift in paradigm. The second important meaning of the word paradigm is
that of a research example, usually in the form of a canonical textbook, that shows scientists
how exactly to use the new idea to produce scientific output. If we look at the main effects
of Christopher Alexander’s work, we could think of the concept of the pattern language as a
core idea, and A Pattern Language as its canonical research example – but Alexander did not
in fact see it this way. Alexander and Grabow, thinking together in Grabow’s book (1983), fo-
cus on the generative process and wholeness (a term that replaced the Quality without a Name
in many situations over time) and newer insights from the The Nature of Order, which already
existed as a draft in 1983. But they didn’t get clearer on the nature of the paradigmatic shift,
on the core idea in question.
5. A Pyramid of Pattern Research. I suggest that there are four separate new paradigms
(core ideas) that form the backbone of Alexander’s work. These are: (1) the pattern, (2) the
pattern language, (3) the creative cycle and (4) the quality of living systems. Although one
might consider these four paradigms separately in an abstract way, I prefer to visualize
20
them as one building on the other, spatially represented as four levels of a pyramid (see
Figure 2).
Figure 1: Some books standing for many that followed the example of “A Pattern Language”
This pyramid of four paradigms explains why some people have difficulties in adopting all
of Alexander’s thinking. It is difficult enough to swallow even one new paradigm, but four
are obviously that much more difficult. It also explains why different application fields, re-
sponding to different problem situations, focus on different paradigms (pyramid levels),
and therefore seem to implement only a partial or different understanding. We can even
see this positively, as a stepwise process of development, a discipline moving through the
various pyramid levels as need grows.
6. Paradigm 1: The Pattern Concept. Level one of the pyramid, the pattern concept, is
typically taken for granted, based on one of the canonical quotations around Alexander’s
original concept of the three-part-rule: “a pattern is a solution to a problem in a context”.
There is little debate about what patterns really are among those who work with patterns
but there are many people who experience big problems. I think this is easy to understand,
when we face the tautological nature of the pattern concept. Each and every thing that is
part of a living system – that humans have created as an artifact in their culture, or that has
evolved as part of biological evolution – can be thought as solving a problem, as having a
function, as making sense, at least in in some way or other. So from a philosophical per-
spective, to do pattern research means to change the way we organize our knowledge of
the world. When we use the old paradigm of the category, we think with categorial concepts
organized in genealogical trees of species, sub-species and individuals. We describe them in
terms of their properties, and separate them by one single sub-species-defining property,
originally known as the difference (see Figure 3). The new paradigm of the pattern removes
itself almost entirely from any concern about properties and puts its priority on a pattern’s
functional connections to other patterns. All the aspects of the pattern description – the
21
problem, the solution, the set of forces, etc. – focus on how the pattern connects to its
environment of other patterns (see Figure 4). The act of focussing on patterns instead of
categories as the means to ordering the world, focussing primarily on connections instead
of differences, effectively overturns a 2300 year old intellectual tradition. It can be conside-
red the implementation of the long awaited change from a linear to a systemic, non-linear,
cybernetic way of thinking. This explains the difficulties of this endeavor.
Figure 3: Categorial thinking and it’s concepts and two possible displays shown using a simple
example
Figure 4: A side-by-side comparison of “thinking in categories” vs. “thinking in patterns”
22
7. The Advantage of Thinking in Categories. The Western habit of thinking in categories

was successful and simple: one simple property makes the difference between two species
or – more general – two concepts. All other properties are inherited in the categorial tree,
forming the basis of Aristotelian logic. But after 2300 years, this method has been pushed
to its limits, and its potential seems to be exhausted.
8. The Advantage of Thinking in Patterns. While the practice of thinking in patterns needs
more information to be done effectively – in principle it requires a holistic view of the system
as well as its fields and forces – it actually reduces complexity. It lets us ask the right ques-
tions and select the relevant information needed for effective pattern descriptions. Using
pattern thinking, complex systems can suddenly be understood positively as living systems.
Pattern thinking also has the potential to close the gap between subject and object – a gap
that exists only within the framework of categorial thinking. Therefore, pattern thinking has
also the potential to close the gap between Eastern and Western world views.
Figure 5: Two possible ways to represent the overall structure of a pattern language
9. Paradigm 2: Pattern Languages. Whatever differences exist between the various fields
in which patterns are applied, the common element that all researchers and practitioners
share is the pattern language, or more humbly the pattern collection (see Figure 5).
10. Estimating the Number of Patterns and Pattern Languages. In 2009 I started a rese-
arch repository for patterns and pattern languages, and by 2013 I had collected more than
5,000 wiki pages of raw material for more than 200 pattern languages. Based on this unpu-
blished material I estimated the total number of patterns that exist in human culture to be
23
at least 500,000. By comparing this estimation to the developed field of software patterns, I
changed to a simpler calculation of this estimation: In software we have at least 300 pattern
languages and 5,000 patterns; assuming the existence of 100 application fields of similar
richness, we can estimate a minimum of 30,000 Pattern Languages and 500,000 patterns.
This is a conservative lower estimation – in reality there may be even ten times that many
patterns and pattern languages. As of the year 2014, only a few hundred pattern languages
and about 5,000-10,000 patterns have been documented. This is only 1-2 percent of the
numbers I estimated. A rich harvest of productive scientific work waits for pattern resear-
chers while most of the theoretical work has already been done.
11. Examples for Pattern Application Fields. These are some of the 100 postulated pat-
tern application fields: agriculture, architecture, civil society, community building, creative
writing, democracy, design, economy, education & learning & teaching, games, jurisdiction,
language & thinking, machine engineering, management & leadership, media & communi-
cation, medicine & healing & therapy, mind & consciousness, music composition & perfor-
mance, nature relationship & protection, organization development, personal development
& learning & relationships, philosophy & discourse, scientific work & knowledge production,
society, software development, sports, strategy & war & peace, theology & religion, and the
visual arts.
12. Paradigm 3: The Creative Cycle. Alexander always connects living systems with their
corresponding living processes of creation, design or unfolding. When he integrates this
into design considerations he primarily uses the term generative process which he explains
as a process of stepwise unfolding, always based on the current system configuration. Dra-
wing on my earlier work (Leitner, 2014) I picture this as a creative cycle, moving through 6
sectors: 1. perception of the system in a holistic sense, 2. searching for a starting-point –
one of the existing or latent centers – for the next transformation, 3. selecting a pattern to
solve the problem at hand, 4. adapting the pattern to the forces of the system configuration,
5. evaluating the resulting system configuration, and 6. undoing or accepting the resulting
system change (see Figure 6).
24
Figure 6: A simplified scheme for the creative circle (aka “generative process“)
This picture is somewhat simplified for teaching it. For example, it should also contain a
pattern sequence, which often helps with the selection of a pattern in sector 3. Furthermore,
as Thomas Schlechte has correctly noted, the cycle doesn’t return to the same system confi-
guration from which it originated; thus the process would be better represented by a spiral
that moves the system nearer to a final state with each revolution. I think these are details
that should be added in the future, with this to be considered as a first draft. The import-
ant thing is the overall picture, namely that Alexander suggests an ideal-typical model for
the creative process and thus de-mystifies creativity making it attainable to “non-creative”
people like perhaps you and me. It’s a big paradigmatic step forward to see creativity as a
detailed, rational, and sharable process and not as an irrational process that is given to the
artist by something mystical.
Note that at this point, as you look at this ideal-typical model of the creative process of
searching and optimization, the value function that governs the creative process is not yet
decided upon. Also note the similarity in the intention between that of Christopher Alexan-
der and of Karl Popper who defined the ideal-typical process for natural science research
(Popper, 1959).
13. Paradigm 4: Ethics of Design – QWAN/Lebendigkeit. According to Alexander, the

creative process – as pictured in the ideal-typical model of the creative cycle – works only
well when it is governed by certain values and attitudes. This is represented by level 4 of
the pyramid which I have labeled Ethics. The paradigmatic core idea is clearly the concept
QWAN or Lebendigkeit (loosely translatable as “liveliness”) but it turns up in different places
25
and forms. In the process of designing, the designer should leave any remote position out-
side the system and should become a part of the local system, perceiving it, interacting with
it and building it. But even this is not enough. He nee ds to involve the people who live in the
system, educating and enabling them so that they understand the design process and its
options and can participate in it. Between the lines of Alexander we can read the message
“Everybody is a designer”. To achieve this the formal “architect” needs to have the attitude
that the patterns involved in the project do not belong to him, that it is not somehow his
secret knowledge, but rather that the patterns are a cultural heritage and a common good
and should be shared freely in the interest of all humanity.
Figure 7: The creative cycle augmented by it’s ethical aspects
Finally, all adaptations of patterns should be done under the regime of improving QWAN/
Lebendigkeit and following a kind of creative imperative: “Design to support people and life
and not to maximize profit”. Note that these ethical aspects do not come from a purely
moral viewpoint but from the rational understanding of the master designer who shares his
insight: to follow these ethical considerations is the best way – the timeless way – to achieve
outstanding design results (see Figure 7).
14. The Role of Mathematics. It is interesting that up to now mathematics has played no
role in pattern research, even though Alexander and Nikos Salingaros (one of Alexander’s
close colleagues) are both mathematicians. There have been a number of attempts to in-
troduce mathematics into it. Not the least, the Notes on the Synthesis of Form can be seen
26
as an attempt to bring mathematical rigor to the fields of design and architecture, by es-
tablishing a network of requirements (forces). In The Nature of Order: Book One (Alexander,
2002) Alexander tries to reproduce the perceived QWAN of 8-bit-example strips from the
number of computable sub-symmetries. He calls this attempt difficult but promising. Much
more work needs to be done here, if mathematics is meant to enter the picture of pattern
research.
Figure 8: The whole process of pattern mining, storage, and publishing
15. U-Shape of Pattern Mining and Pattern Publishing. While it is possible to author a
pattern language book or pattern language paper like a fictional text from direct inspiration,
this is not the typical way that it is done. Alexander himself had a work-group which consi-
dered a lot more patterns, over the course of many years, than actually entered the final
version of A Pattern Language (Grabow, 1983). It may be easier for somebody at the start to
imagine multiple concrete steps that lead from the project idea (e. g. to author a pattern
language) to the final product (e. g. a written pattern language that is published and put to
practical use). I’ve found that a U-Shape fits the workflow (see Figure 8).
16. Pattern Repository. The process suggests an intermediate Pattern Repository as a re-
search and collaboration tool, a repository that is expected to hold not only perfect pattern
information but also rudimentary information and drafts that won’t pass the final quality
control or pattern selection process for one reason or another. Only if you have such a con-
tent-tolerant repository, then you can let your work and the work of all contributors develop
freely. Doug Schuler, for example, used a website for his community of 100+ academic au-
27
thors to collect 300+ pattern drafts; finally they selected 136 mature patterns for the book
Liberating Voices (Schuler, 2008).
17. Pattern Mining: Creating a Pattern Repository from Experiential Knowledge. This
is often a group process that starts with brainstorming and searching for pattern candidates.
A typical intermediate product is a pattern cloud, which brings together all the concepts on a
table or pin board, to sort them out, combine them, group them and name them. Working
on the concepts in-depth, adding detail and refining them, getting clear about outlining the
various pattern aspects as a pattern form, putting them into a form that is accessible to all
and can be refined step by step – this is the dynamic reality of a pattern repository.
18. Pattern Publishing: from the Pattern Repository to a Pattern Format. With a spe-
cific goal in mind, researchers envision a target group, select a format (see below), select a
sub-set of patterns, select a sub-set of available aspects, decide on the outline of the pat-
terns they wish to present, and finally decide on the layout in which to publish their pattern
collection or pattern language. Often there is an additional structure (top-down, from-large-
to-small, or project-stage) that helps to group the patterns. There may be insightful pattern
stories from projects, or even pattern sequences that hold valuable information. A pattern
organigram often provides an additional overview.
19. Format One: Pattern Language Books. The book A Pattern Language (Alexander, 1977)
has inspired many authors to copy its structure and intent and has led them to produce
similar books. This has the potential to create “bibles of the application field” where there
currently are none. We can compare this to fields like cooking, which typically saw the pu-
blication of some famous first cookbook – each country has at least one – that described
all its fundamental concepts and generic recipes. Only on this basis, when the fundamental
knowledge is disseminated, the lower grade recipe books can grow.
20. Format Two: The Pattern Project Book. Alexander has also given another example
through some of his books, that describe complete design processes of real projects and
the patterns and pattern language involved in it. The Linz Café (Alexander, 1981) describes
an exhibition building project in Linz, Austria. The Production of Houses (Alexander, 1985)
describes a social building project in Mexicali, Mexico. The Battle for the Life and Beauty of
the Earth (Alexander, 2012) describes the Eishin Campus project near Tokyo, Japan. These
are all extremely instructive examples that serve to inspire people to follow up with similar
books in their respective domains.
28
21. Format Three: The Pattern Language Paper; the PLoP style Writers’ Workshops.
In the field of software development, many pattern language books have been published.
Some outstanding examples have been already been cited here. But not every pattern
language justifies the effort to write and publish a book, and not every software pattern
researcher wants to become a book author. So a pretty clever scheme has been created
by people around The Hillside Group involving a pattern language paper format, an adapted
PLoP conference format and Richard Gabriel’s congenial adaptation of writer’s workshop
from fictional writing to pattern authoring (Gabriel, 2002). The typical Pattern Language
Paper is only 5-15 pages long, focuses on describing the central patterns in its language
only and provides only pattern thumbs – i.e. short pattern summaries – for the rest of the
patterns. More than 60 conferences on all continents have produced hundreds of pattern
language papers describing thousand of patterns. The PLoP conferences are reasonably
open, so you should try to join them with your topic. If an application field doesn’t fit into
the PLoP program or outgrows PLoP’s infrastructure, then it can still build on PLoP’s proven
example and implement its own conferences and publishing traditions.
22. Format Four: The Pattern Card Deck. Bringing patterns into a seminar card format
was pioneered by the group works pattern project (Groupworks, 2012). Further examples
are the patterns and pattern languages by Doug Schuler (Schuler, 2014). Takashi Iba’s work
with one-page pattern descriptions – using mostly pictures and very little text – works along
the same lines (Iba et al., 2011). I followed the Groupworks example with my 64 Concepts of
Pattern Theory card deck (Leitner, 2013).
23. A Card Deck Example: 64 Concepts of Pattern Theory. Implemented as a card deck
(Leitner 2013), these cards serve me well for teaching the thinking of Christopher Alexander
and the basics of pattern theory and pattern research. In the context of developing a sys-
tem I also use them as An Implementation of the Glass Bead Game, providing 64 perspectives
on the system and 64 dimensions of its development. In a general design context I have
started using them as An Alphabet of Design. Christopher Alexander’s thinking is profound
enough to support all this easily. The card deck is licensed CC BY SA, which means that it is
free to print and use. I invite you to use it and give me feedback on it to further improve it.
29
Figure 9: Diagrams for Alexander‘s fifteen properties of living structures
24. The 15 Properties Relative to the 4-Level-Pyramid. While most of the process princi-
ples are intrinsic to the creative cycle picture, the way in which the 15 properties are used is
not so obvious. Therefore, I mention them here, together with a set of visualizing diagrams
which I have developed (see Figure 9). They belong to level 3 of the Pattern Research Pyra-
mid. I have also added to their descriptions – see the additions in parentheses – in order to
make them more generally applicable and easier to understand. The properties serve the
creative process: First, (sub-step 1) they let us perceive a system in a way that is indepen-
dent from immediately understanding its semantic and functional content, which is covered
by the patterns. Second, they offer initial points of reference, as existing or latent centers,
to apply transformations. Third, they serve as morphogenetic dimensions, letting us think
about how to strengthen the system by increasing or decreasing the presence of that pro-
perty. Fourth, and last but not least, by understanding these properties as constitutive of
living systems, we understand that they are in principle positive features that can not be
criticized per se.
Every now and then I meet researchers who feel that the list of properties is incomplete or
that the descriptions are not perfect. I therefore also suggest the completeness of the set
of the 15 properties as an open research question.
25. Interpretations of the 15 Properties. There are a number of different interpretations

of the fifteen properties. Alexander numbered and named them in The Nature of Order –
Book One (Alexander, 2002) and explained them as characteristic of living structures. In
other places Alexander talks about them as morphological generators (Hopkins, 2010). In
30
addition, I believe the fifteen properties have something to do with our cognitive system.
We probably can’t describe systems without referring to differences, boundaries, and most
of the other properties. So I suggest another favorable interpretation of the 15 properties
as categories of form. If this interpretation of his work is accepted by philosophers, then
Alexander belongs with Aristotle and Kant to a small group of thinkers who enumerated
fundamental categories.
26. Tacit Knowledge: the 16th Property. Between the lines of Alexander there is a 16th
property of living structures. It is the property that all living structures – whether they are
modeled as organisms or as ecospheres – have: to be continuously in transformation. We
could name this property with the concept cluster changeability { changeability, adaptability,
flexibility, movability, fluidity }.
27. Tacit Knowledge: The 15 Properties as contradicting concepts. The 15 properties

are not all simultaneously present in every single living system because they partially cont-
radict each other. Furthermore, they cannot be designed blindly into a system in the sense
of “the more, the better”. It all depends on the interaction of the properties, their quality,
and how their contradictions are resolved in the field of centers. The concept of The Right
Measure that was very dominant in ancient Greek philosophy (most prominent in Aristot-
le’s Nicomachean Ethics) and that is now largely forgotten or disregarded. Paracelsus (16th
century) is attributed the medical insight that any substance may act as poison or medicine,
depending on the dose. The concept of The Right Measure may offer a useful perspective on
the problem of contradicting properties.
28. Timeless versus New. Although many of Alexander’s concepts are new, other concepts
claim to be timeless and known for ages. There is a big difference between (a) only having a
valuable tool and (b) having a valuable tool and using it effectively. The concept of The Right
Measure may serve as another example of timeless knowledge that could be valued in many
situations. Traditions and especially the humanities offer rich fields to be revisited.
29. Tacit Knowledge: Alexander’s post-capitalistic position. Alexander is a strong critic

of the contemporary building industry and its architecture that works under the regime of
profit-maximization. In his own projects Alexander cleverly takes the overall profit-motive
out of the equations by always working within fixed budgets. In his book The Battle for the Life
and Beauty of the Earth: A Struggle between Two World-Systems (Alexander, 2012) Alexander
seems to go as far as he can – embedded as he is in US culture – to criticize the capita-
list attitude. I think it is obvious, reading between all Alexander’s lines, that his message is
post-capitalistic.
31
30. QWAN as a concept cluster. Alexander refrained for a long time from using the term
beauty. He functionally replaces the term beauty with the quality without a name – for short,
QWAN – in its role as a design goal and he claims an objective feeling for QWAN that wouldn’t
have been plausible for beauty. But it is also clear that these terms overlap and correlate.
It is remarkable that Alexander returns to the term beauty in his latest book The Battle for
the Life and Beauty of the Earth (Alexander, 2012). On the other hand, the friction between
Alexander and the software pattern movement may be explained by the software’s need for
viability in the market, comparable to the viability of biological organisms in their biosphere.
Therefore, in the end, we may see this quality as a concept cluster QWAN/Lebendigkeit {
beauty, viability, vibrancy, vitality, sustainability, resilience, ... } whose inner relations, corre-
lations and overlaps form just another research target.
31. Possible names for the „Quality Without A Name“. While Alexander wrote in The
Timeless Way of Building (Alexander, 1979) about the quality without a name, which has often
abbreviated to QWAN, various names or terms have been used by Alexander and other
authors. I want to note that the “quality without a name in English” would have been more
precise, because German has a word – Lebendigkeit (literally, living-ness, or liveliness)– that
exactly fits to Alexander’s concept. Probably other languages have also words that fit. Thus
one might look for a foreign-language word to introduce it to English. Alexander and his col-
leagues have also frequently used the term quality of living systems and the word wholeness.
The first phrase seems too complicated in many language situations, the second seems to
deviate slightly in meaning, although it sounds good and profound to many people’s ears.
Probably this point needs more discussion.
32. An Age of Enlivenment. The essay Enlivenment (Weber, 2013), by the German theo-
retical biologist Andreas Weber, former student and colleague of Franzisco Varela, points
to the German cultural scientist Hildegard Kurt who envisions the upcoming of a new era
which will follow the Age of Enlightenment – a kind of Enlightenment 2.0. He calls this the era
of Enlivenment. At the core of this intellectual movement should be the phenomenon of life
and the living system, and their fundamental quality QWAN/Lebendigkeit.
33. Characteristics of the New Science. For the purpose of this paragraph I have named
the new science as lebendigkeit science and created a side-by-side comparison to natural
science (see Figure 10).
32
Figure 10: Side-by-side comparison of Cartesian and Alexandrian concepts of science
It seems to me that the differences are extreme but that they still need not be seen as simp-
le contradictions. Of course, lebendigkeit science builds on natural science – nobody would
deny the fact that the achievements of categorial thinking and the scientific method have
brought us to the position where we are now. But it would also be disastrous to ignore the
limits of these analytic methods with regard to complex systems, and to ignore their inability
to deal sufficiently with our contemporary world problems and crises.
In response to discussions at the PURPLSOC 2014 workshop I want to emphasize once

more that Alexander’s new Lebendigkeit science should not be seen as a mere sub-disci-
pline like – for example – computer science is a sub-discipline of natural science. Leben-
digkeit science appears to be a completely new type of science with four new paradigms
and a completely new methodology. It represents, in my opinion, a new way of thinking in
the tradition of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955 and the Potsdam Manifesto of 2005.
34. Possible names for the New Science. As I have mentioned already, Alexander didn’t
name the science that he called for, but sooner or later there must be a name found for it
so that it can be perceived by the scientific community and reflected in its institutions. What
options do we have? The new science could be named a systems science but this name is al-
ready taken and the relationship of the new science in question to other schools of systems
thinking is not yet clear. It could be named pattern science, but the term pattern seems not
specific enough. It could also be named design science but this addresses only its superficial
manifestation and not its deeper content. It could be named enlivenment science but there
is no analog called enlightenment science. Finally, it could be named lebendigkeit science if the
33
English scientific community agrees to adopting the German word. More discussion on this
is needed.
3. Summary
This paper attempts a bird’s-eye view on pattern research, mapping, visualizing, and lis-
ting its central concepts and ideas. Most of the hypotheses examined and questions asked
should mean something to most pattern researchers, quite independently of the specific
application field in which they work in or with which they identify . This indicates a unity of
the field, a fact which supports the main claim of this paper, that the field of pattern science
– whatever it may be called – actually exists, and has sufficient foundations to constitute its
own scientific community.
4. References
Alexander, C. (1964). Notes on the Synthesis of Form. Harvard University Press.
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M. (1977). A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Con-
struction (Center for Environmental Structure Series, Vol. 2). Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (1979). The Timeless Way of Building (Center for Environmental Structure Se-
ries, Vol. 1). Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Silverstein, M., Angel, S., Ishikawa, S., Abrams, D. (1975). The Oregon Experi-
ment (Center for Environmental Structure Series, Vol. 3). Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (1981). The Linz Cafe (Center for Environmental Structure Series, Vol. 5). Ox-
ford University Press.
Alexander, C., Davis, H., Martinez, J., Corner, D. (1985). The Production of Houses (Center for
Environmental Structure Series, Vol. 4). Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Neis, H., Anninou, A., King, I. (1987). A New Theory of Urban Design (Center for
Alexander, C. (1993). A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art: The color and geometry of very
early Turkish carpets (Center for Environmental Structure Series, Vol. 7). Oxford University
Press.
34
Alexander, C., Black, G., Tsutsui, M. (1995). The Mary Rose Museum. (Center for Environmen-
tal Structure Series, Vol. 8). Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (2002). The Phenomenon of Life (The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of
Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book One). Berkeley, CA: The Center For Environ-
mental Structure.
Alexander, C. (2002). The Process of Creating Life (The Nature of Order: An Essay on the
Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book Two). Berkeley, CA: The Center For
Environmental Structure.
Alexander, C. (2005). A Vision of a Living World (The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of
Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book Three). Berkeley, CA: The Center For Environ-
mental Structure.
Alexander, C. (2004). The Luminous Ground (The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of
Building and the Nature of the Universe, Book Four). Berkeley, CA: Center for Environmental
Structure.
Alexander, C., Neis, H., Alexander, M. M. (2012). The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the
Earth: A Struggle Between Two World-systems. Oxford University Press.
Bergin, J., Eckstein, J., Völter, M., Sipos, M., Wallingford, E., Marquardt, K., ... (2012). Pedagogi-
cal patterns: Advice for educators. Joseph Bergin Software Tools.
Borchers, J. (2001). A Pattern Approach to Interaction Design. 2001. John Wiley & Sons.
Denef, S. (2012). A pattern language of firefighting frontline practice to inform the design of
ubiquitous computing. Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Gabriel, R. P. (2002). Writer’s Workshops and the Work of Making Things. Addison-Wesley.
Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R., Vlissides, J. (1994). Design patterns: elements of reusable
object-oriented software. Pearson Education.
Grabow, S. (1983). Christopher Alexander: the search for a new paradigm in architecture.
Stocksfield: Oriel Press.
Groupworks (2012). “A Pattern Language for Bringing Life

to Meetings and Other Gatherings” card deck. Retrieved August 25, 2014 from http://
groupworksdeck.org/deck
35
Hopkins, Rob (2010). „Exclusive to Transition Culture! An interview with Christopher Al-
exander.“ Retrieved August 25, 2014 from http://transitionculture.org/2010/12/23/exclusi-
ve-to-transition-culture-an-interview-with-christopher-alexander/
Iba, Takashi, & Sakamoto, Mami (2011). “Learning patterns III: a pattern language for creative
learning.” In Proceedings of the 18th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs. ACM.
Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago press.
Leitner, H. (2007). Mustertheorie: Einführung und Perspektiven auf den Spuren von Chris-
topher Alexander. Graz: Nausner & Nausner.
Leitner, H. (2013). 64 Concepts of Pattern Theory. Retrieved August 25, 2014 from https://
www.dropbox.com/s/jjeytdkf14ji1m2/AlexandrianDe_Vs62.pdf .
Leitner, H. (2014). Christopher Alexander – Introduction and Crash Course. Retrieved August
25, 2014 from https://www.dropbox.com/s/36iyvyr1305eh7v/PLaCA_Krems_20140617_a.
pdf and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4R7dDtLYgU .
Leitner, H. (2015). Pattern Theory: Introduction and Perspectives on the Tracks of Christo-
pher Alexander. Graz: Helmut Leitner. printed by CreateSpace, Amazon.
Nair, P., Fielding, R., Lackney, J. (2005). The language of school design: Design patterns for
21st century schools.
Popper, K. (1959). The logic of scientific discovery. 1934. Routledge.
Rising, L., Manns, M. L. (2004). Fearless change: patterns for introducing new ideas. Pearson
Education.
Schuler, D. (2008). Liberating Voices: A pattern language for communication revolution. MIT
Press.
Schuler, D. (2014). “Liberating voices pattern cards” card deck. Retrieved August 25, 2014
from http://publicsphereproject.org/sites/default/files/001-136.small_.pdf
Smuts, J. C. (1961). Holism and evolution. 1926. New York: The Viking Press.
Weber, A. (2013). Enlivenment: Towards a fundamental shift in the concepts of nature, cul-
ture and politics. Heinrich Böll Foundation.
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Image: Chris Goldberg | www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgold
37
A New
Approach to
Higher
Education in
the Eastern
Tyrol:
Developing
Patterns for
the “Campus
Osttirol”
38
Nahrada, Franz
GIVE Forschungsgesellschaft, Jedleseer Straße 75, Vienna, Austria
f.nahrada@reflex.at
Leitner, Helmut
HLS SOFTWARE / GIVE Forschungsgesellschaft, St. Peter Hauptstraße 33d, Graz, Austria
helmut.leitner@hls-software.at
A regional development project seeking innovation in

the field of higher education provides a setting for ap-
plying and researching pattern methodology. Within an
Interreg IV project „Bit Generation“, the regional develop-
ment bureau of Eastern Tyrol has commissioned rese-
arch and instigation work to create a favorable climate
and precise information to support based on participa-
tory political decision-making within the region. Our pro-
posal was accepted to base this participatory process
on the design pattern concept. The situation‘s comple-
xity is obvious: the project invovles many large and small
players, numerous serious regional problems, lots of ge-
neral conceptual ideas, and a a lack of defined goals and
budgets – this calls for an inventiveness that transcends
the abilities of even the best experts. Therefore not only
want to report on pattern language construction with
public participation, but also to invite feedback and invi-
te ideas from the pattern community. We think this pro-
ject could become a model for other regions.
Higher education; regional development; pattern

practice; social change
39
1. Introduction / the region Eastern Tirol (Osttirol)

The Osttirol region is a district of the Tirol province in Austria. Geographically it is separated
from the „mainland“ by a high mountain range that is not directly crossed by traffic routes.
All traffic has to pass at least through one other state or province. The region can be seen
as the most peripheral region in Austria, and rather small, in terms of 50.000 inhabitants - a
NUTS 3 region well outside the typical range of 150,000 to 800,000 inhabitants.
Osttirol has 32 smaller communities and a vibrant urban center (the town of Lienz, 10,000
inhabitants). It has solid infrastructure, based on traditional agriculture and forestry, and
some summer and winter tourism. Its main assets are its natural and cultural landscapes (a
large portion of which are protected by a national park and other protection areas) and the
practical mindset and the community spirit of its population.
2. Focal point of the project: a missing institution

for higher education
Although Lienz has several educational institutions, an institution for higher (scientific)
education is missing. There is widespread consensus within the region that such an institu-
tion is urgently needed - as a partner for Osttirols economy, local provider of higher educa-
tion, job provider for the educated, and as an organic center of intellectual life, self-under-
standing and self-reliance for the region. To study a scientific profession, young people have
to move to universities relatively far away, at least 2-3 hours by car, in Austria, Germany or
Italy. Vocational education opportunities for professionals deepening their knowledge are
limited. This all contributes to an exodus of many talented young people, a large number
of which never return. Against the background of a stagnating population that is predicted
to start declining seriously during the next 10-20 years, this is commonly seen as a major
problem.
The region has already started to initiate discussions from within which cover key fields of
regional development including education, and the term „Campus Osttirol“ was coined by
regional actors to designate a desired development towards a local institution that cataly-
zes higher education in and for the region.
40
A New Approach to Higher Education in the Eastern Tyrol: Developing Patterns
for the “Campus Osttirol”
3. Regional guidelines for the project

Campus Osttirol
A „Campus“ in this sense could and probably should comprise the whole region, local com-
munities and their institutions and even regard the existing enterprises and farms as places
where higher education activities can take place. We have focussed on these broad options
also because they are in alignment with the general development goals cited below.
Our work with design patterns around the notion of “Campus Osttirol” serves as a tool of
information and evaluation for a wide range of actors who engage in a participatory pro-
cess – our project constituting the initial stage of a series of activities towards appropriate
higher education within the region. All of these actors have acquired a lot of active compe-
tencies, but they were mostly formed in an environment of specialization and expert-based
practice. Our goal with the roll-out of a pattern language is to increase „passive competen-
cies“ among all the groups involved, which means learning to understand the complexity
of the field they are acting in, to understand the different options they have to reach their
goal, to understand the thinking of other people, professions and groups involved, to beco-
me aware of win-win-constellations and opportunities, and to understand more clearly the
long-term sustainability and possible „side effects“ of the various solutions.
This must be achieved by „condensing“ proven solutions with the help of experienced ex-
perts, analyzing their context and focusing on alternatives, sequences, synergies, blockades
and so on.
The purpose of all this is to enable regional actors to shape an optimum educational en-
vironment (with a focus on higher education) in the context of their overall development
goals, which have already been canonized by a Forward Thinkers Group. The main goals for
regional development have been expressed as following:
»» to responsibly, consequently and competently connect to the natural environment,

which is a very vital natural and cultural landscape rich in precious forests, waterways,
and days of sunlight; to preserve its rural and agricultural structure and their traditions,
yet connect them to modern science and its insights and achievements, especially facing
the challenges of possible climate change.
»» to fully take advantage of the human potential of the landscape as a resource for recre-
ation, relief and self-actualization. To create a common strategy for „earthed“ and „dece-
lerated“ activities in crafts, agriculture, nutrition and accommodation which will be useful
and in demand by people far beyond the region itself.
41
»» to build on the human qualities and talents that this demanding natural environment
has brought about within people over the course of centuries, which is a high level of
motivation, industriousness and studiousness, and the ability to be culturally creative.
These qualities should build the base for a knowledge-driven economic region, one that
knows about the highest potentials of the existing resources, fosters cooperation and
also facilitates knowledge-exchange.
»» to create a space in which those human talents create value in an atmosphere of both
individuality and intentional cooperation. Attention is given to regional economic cycles,
exchange of experience and the formation of a common brand that paves the way to
international markets.
»» this of course means that this quality does not end at the official borders of the region,
but naturally fosters economic, cultural and social relations, in particular to its neigh-
bors of Carinthia, the province of Salzburg, and North Tyrol. The last goal therefore is to
increase inter-regional and international cooperation by sharing knowledge and talent
especially with South Tyrol and Friuli-Venetia and thus creating a common development
area within a ‚Europe of Regions‘.
4. Project team and tools used

The project team consists of four persons with core competencies in digital education, local
networking, pattern language building and future research. They are located at the cities of
Lienz, Salzburg, Graz and Vienna.
The project team is supervised by a steering group that consists of a regional development
team (RMO) manager and advisors from several regional institutions.
The regional Forward Thinkers Group is currently the most important regional „inner circle“
in Osttirol from which we recieve ideas, evaluation and feedback for the pattern language
building process.
The project team works with several communication tools, primarily email, Doodle, Skype,
and Adobe Connect. Some websites serve for the team‘s internal communication (Campus
Facebook group internal, 2014) while others will be used to foster participation: a weblog
(Campus Blog, 2014) and a public Facebook group (Campus Facebook public group, 2014).
A wiki serves as a pattern repository (Campus Osttirol Wiki, 2014).
42
5. Purpose of the envisioned pattern language

(EPL) for the Campus Osttirol
The project teams envisions creating a specialized pattern collection or pattern langua-
ge (EPL). The purpose of the EPL is to bring the envisioned „Campus Osttirol“ as regional
educational enhancement and policy center to life. We were entrusted to create the fra-
mework to further pursue this goal. We agreed to keep many paths of development open,
including virtual and physical ones, on different levels of scale, yet also to create more clarity
about the “landscape” and the options of realizing the goal. The word “Campus”, as we un-
derstand it, is rather a metaphor for synergetic cooperation than descriptive of a physical
place, but we do not intend to exclude the vision or option of an architectural innovation
that embodies the project Campus Osttirol both physically and visually.
6. Scope and fields of the envisioned pattern

language
Based on what we have stated so far, it is clear that we are not only looking at the immedi-
ate educational process alone, but also at supportive environments of all kinds that foster
higher education and learning as well as the content and community building factors.
We have established that the following factors must be taken into consideration:
Ideas and Attitudes that foster higher education in the regional context – for example
the commitment to regional identity which essentially needs intellectual progress or the
commitment of individual quests for new roles in a cooperative context (see the description
above). It became clear to us that there is sometimes a wide gap between the stated goals
and the educational activities which would be necessary to pursue them.
Patterns of human interaction – such as „mentors“ or „ambassadors“, „steering groups“,

„community education teams“, „regional scientists councils“ etc. We see a lot of single-pur-
pose associations in the local communities, but few people working on social innovation
and cross-connections.
Patterns of technology applications – such as „MOOCs“, „Webinars“, „RegioWiki“ (an Aus-

trian wikipedia for regions), „Videobridge“ (a dialogue between distant groups mediated by
video conferencing technology), or „Gamification“. The Campus idea is in close connection
with bringing in a multitude of educational offerings via the Internet, and we want to fami-
liarize people with proven patterns, including the requirements for their successful appli-
cation.
43
Patterns of supportive institutions – such as „distance learning universities“, „open uni-

versities“, „online academies“, „community campuses“. The borders between the regional
and the global are blurring and the region needs to have a clear understanding of “what‘s
out there” and “how can it serve us without getting lost”.
Patterns of space and resource use – such as „academic farm guest house“, „community
education cafe“, „living learning labs“. We are convinced that more and more existing spaces
can be “loaded” with educational opportunities, and that this provides enormous leverage
for people who previously had to travel far to find the information they needed.
Pedagogical concepts – such as „learning circle“, “tandem learning” etc. Increasingly, the
mutual support of learners for one another is becoming more important beyond traditional
forms of knowledge dissemination, and the role of pedagogical institutions may change
drastically – namely towards supporting and guiding these self-determined and self-paced
activities.
This list is by no means complete and we appreciate input from our readers. We want to
mediate between seemingly unique situations and their reproducibility, especially in similar
(rural and peripheral) regions.
7. Wiki pattern repository

The wiki pattern repository (Campus Osttirol Wiki, 2014) is currently only for internal use but
will be increasingly opened to more participants as soon as we think it is mature enough.
In the first phase, we started to collect possible patterns in interaction between the team
and target groups, experts, the Forward Thinkers Group and many others.
The next phase will involve the publication of patterns via the weblog and Facebook group.
An important role will be given to regular workshops.
Patterns will be constantly re-evaluated, selected and cross-referenced and will also receive
„value points“. We want to experiment with several methods of doing this.
We expect a robust pattern collection to be produced that will also serve as the background
for making recommendations. A shortened version of the pattern language, together with
suggested pattern sequences and their rationales, will serve as the main body of the final
report.
Another important goal is to make the pattern collection available to people as a flexible
44
and strategic tool set to aid them in their design thinking and to help them order and struc-
ture their needs and actions.
8. Identifying problems in introducing the pattern

approach
While there is a widespread conviction among researchers that pattern work must be
perceived as innovative and people-centered in comparison to other approaches, we have
faced interesting initial discussions with other schools of thought such as action research
etc. related to communication problems.
In their perception, the word „pattern“ (the German word “Muster”) is associated with hab-
its or unconscious barriers in the face of problems, rather than the means to solve them.
Patterns were intuitively seen as prescriptions, hindering creative action and discovery. So
it is important to realize that pattern researchers who come into contact with laypersons
cannot expect to use the word “pattern” as if it were a neologism. To cope with this problem,
we started to be more flexible in our use of language. Internally we used the term “design
patterns” (German: “Gestaltungsmuster”), whereas in broad communication we talk about
“building blocks of development” (German: “Bausteine der Entwicklung”). We saw a similar
reaction in the Transition movement when it switched from patterns to ingredients (Transiti-
on Network 2014), but we did not follow their example.
We will put special attention in our work on this and similar blocks to the adoption of pat-
tern methods. In the PURPLSOC workshop, we seek to discuss successful strategies of over-
coming these language problems and also of evaluating and “harvesting” whatever truths
they may contain.
9. Working on pattern examples at the pattern

workshop
Our project plan contains 5 workshops: the first introduced the most important forms of di-
gital education, the second offered a practical introduction to patterns. The third workshop
will seek sto identify and structure the educational needs, the fourth to focus on possible
cooperations and cooperation partners, and the fifth to present the overall results of the
project.
45
Here we offer a short account of the second workshop, which took place in the end of
October 2014, starting with a 15 minute introduction to pattern theory and methodology
including Christopher Alexander and his pattern concept, examples of its effects in software
and with Wikipedia, 5 examples of concepts taken from the 64 concept cards (Leitner 2013),
and the main attitudes that relate well to the regional traditions.
The workshop then continued with 2 hours of practical group work on patterns. The pat-
terns selected were not typical for the patterns involved in the sense that they do not seem
optional, even at a rather early stage of the project (2 of 5 months). Typically the patterns
in the EPL will have a low probability of being actually implemented. But it is almost definite
that online education will play a significant role (this was reflected in 3 of the selected pat-
terns) and that the campus idea needs clarification and implementation (was reflected in 2
of the selected patterns).
The reason for selecting these patterns was to give the attendees the feeling that they
leant their ideas to something real and practical and not just something that was just a
faint possibility. This does not mean that all of these five patterns had or have already ta-
ken a concrete form, quite to the contrary. For example, the pattern “Campus Osttirol as
Organizational Structure” is to a large degree “up in the air” and its concrete form might
be object of contention. But it is clear to everybody that a defined organizational structure
will be needed at some point and by literally “putting that card on the table” people started
thinking about it differently. We included the main challenge of involving “large”, “medium”
and “small” actors alike, of allowing for contributions from everybody while facilitating them
in a manageable structure.
Throughout the whole process, the reactions to the cards were positive – both as a means
of presenting patterns and creating the visualizations involved. People seemed to under-
stand intuitively that the images would stick in their minds, allow them to grasp the essential
design problem, and allow them to continue to work in a more intense way than any pure
textual arrangement could.
We use the following patterns / pattern cards:
46
Figure 1: translated pattern card “Webinar / Online-Meetings
Figure 2: translated pattern card “MOOC, Massive Open Online Course“
Figure 3: translated pattern card “Online-Support for Digital Education“
47
Figure 4: translated pattern card “Campus Osttirol as Point of Crystallization“
Figure 5: translated pattern card “Campus Osttirol as Organizational Structure”
Using a second set of cards, each proposed pattern was intentionally looked at from four
perspectives:
Figure 6: translated pattern logic card “Opportunities”
48
Figure 7: translated pattern logic card “Connections
Figure 8: translated pattern logic card “Problems & Conflicts”
Figure 9: translated pattern logic card “Implementation”
49
The idea somehow derives from influences such as the SWOT methodology and a modern
interpretation of the native American medicine wheel (Nahrada 2013), but was intentionally
boiled down to work with patterns and their combinations, sequences and conditions. In
the actual workshop situation, the whole group of participants was encouraged to take each
perspective and “role” in turn.
Participants included people from large institutions like the chamber of commerce or the
regional marketing office, people from educational institutions / providers, but also people
interested in new and less formal educational endeavors. The workshop was open to every-
body, but the number of participants allowed the unsplit contribution in one round.
Our workshop experience was positive, and after a short “warm-up” round of 5-10 minutes
contributions, began to flow and we got typically 3-10 contributions on each pattern-per-
spective combination. Our time budget was rather constrained, 2 hours total for the work
with patterns, typically 3-5 minutes for each pattern-perspective combination. It was expli-
citly not our goal to reach final results, but to introduce the method, introduce the patterns
and just advance the work by elaborating them further.
The two technical patterns at the beginning, which continued the introduction of digital
education at the first workshop, were not familiar to everybody – but they created a sense
of the method of treating and combining patterns. The last two patterns, however, actually
touched the core of our project, to give a form to the very idea of the Campus Osttirol. In
a way this was irritating to the participants, because of the complexity of the problem, but
on the other hand it challenged them as really touching their vital interests and concerns.
Concerning the fourth pattern card (functions): We presented the pattern as a “flower” with
the “brand Campus Osttirol” at its center, with the plausible functional options as petals.
The discussion of this was vivid but unfocused. It seemed that the given framework of the
pattern seemed not sufficient to advance within the separate functional “petals”. It showed
the need to evaluate and prioritize the functions one by another, to get a clearer notion of
“what the Campus exactly is”. (see the “Excursion” in the next section)
Concerning the fifth pattern card (structure): At that point the contributions and discussion
heated up. How can responsibility and influence be shared, who has the say, who determi-
nes what happens, what is the relation between organizations and individuals, what is the
relation between the local or regional actors and the networks who span the whole federal
state of the Tyrol or beyond. Is there a need for a separate group of local stakeholders,
comprising the non-institutional players?
50
10. Excursion on pattern 4 – functions of the

Campus Osttirol
The idea to present the functions of the Campus as petals of a flower did not really expose
the strong forces connecting one “petal” to another. Participants later on asked for a more
“onion” style image that would prioritize functions and identify “key functions”. But here we
ran into a problem: none of the functions can be really dismissed or “peeled away”. The
function of the Campus as a whole is not to provide single educational offerings, but to
catalyze the interplay of the functions. For example: “educational marketing” is by no way an
ephemeral function, but a way to strengthen the plethora of existing educational offerings.
The campus is not here to compete with single educational institutions, but to catalyze
their optimal interplay by presenting their offerings as a common resource. The quality of
this resource, however, needs certain “ingredients” that we cannot let go or downgrade
from the beginning, even if their relative weight is tiny. For example: we cannot imagine a
brand of “Campus Osttirol” in the sense of “Eastern Tyrol Higher Education” without a mi-
nimum element of scientific research, a seed that may be allowed to grow, however small
and insignificant it might be in the beginning. So research contributes organically to the
authenticity and originality of the “product”, which in return forms an organic contributi-
on to the regions overall attractiveness. This scientific ingredient means that the Campus
Osttirol aspires to be a serious partner for those seeking top expertise and innovation.
So, while it was important to put the initial image on the table and structure and focus the
discussion on the problem, we learned that we need to show the connection of the “petals”
by clarifying their multiple relation to concrete patterns. Thus their interplay and what they
can effect in reality should be made clearer. The next step in that direction, in reaction to
the stated problem, is to create a cross-matrix of the most relevant EPL patterns (probably
30-40) with the Campus functions, indicating “no”, “moderate”, or “strong” connecting forces.
This can be seen roughly as equivalent to the scheme of a sensitivity matrix (Vester 2002).
11. List of selected patterns – partial information

»» Regional Guidelines Development Process (“Regionaler Leitbildprozess”)
›› Short description: Involve actors of all relevant regional constituencies to formulate

concepts intended to address urgent local problems and to guide the future develop-
ment of the region.
51
›› Example: The process of the Forward Thinkers Group is regional participatory process
in Osttirol, involving about 150 persons in six workgroups on special topics in 2013
and 2014.
»» Regional Guidelines
›› Short description: general criteria for decision-making and cooperation of regional

actors by setting priorities
›› Example: “The problem of population decline is to be taken seriously and should be

met by common measures.”
»» Higher Education in Regional Context
›› Problem: regions have limited means to offer a full range of higher education and
need to select and focus according to their own development guidelines
›› Short description: education of high quality adapted to the regional needs, whereby
regional needs are assessed in various and dynamic ways.
›› Example: Higher Education in Osttirol – we assume that this must be seen different to
higher education somewhere else. What this means has not yet been clarified.
»» Campus Metaphor
›› Short description: Denotes a variety of institutions working together on educational

offerings, without necessarily being in one physical place (but physical proximity is
very useful). The “Campus” allows for a mix of institutions that range from adult educa-
tional institutions, university branches to enterprises and NGOs, to work together with
a thematic focus and strong coordination.
›› Examples: several communities in Austria having introduced “campuses” to forge

combinations of schools with “first steps” institutions that allow for entrepreneurial
and professional activities. Thus they channel energies to their local development go-
als.
»» Campus Guidelines
›› Short description: the Campus guidelines are derived from the regional guidelines to
translate them to the context of its educational activities;
›› Example: enabling a large scope of educational activities in the region.
52
›› Example: educational offerings not only in the town Lienz, but also in the peripheral
parts (the side-valley communities) of the region.
»» Campus Initiative
›› Short description: the development of the Campus is a process that started years ago
as the vision of a single actor, Elisabeth Ziegler-Duregger, at that time head of the city
library of Lienz, who started to talk with people, invented the label “Campus Osttirol”
and promoted the idea. It is crucial to keep this spirit of inclusiveness and general
support alive.
»» Campus Institution
›› Short description: Major stakeholders in the region team up and support a team of
professionals and volunteers to instigate educational processes and realize the Cam-
pus guidelines.
›› On the stakeholder side it is crucial to integrate all educational institutions, but also
economic, social, political and cultural actors.
›› Nevertheless, the team should be able to act flexibly and creative.
»» Virtual Campus
›› Short description: the Virtual Campus contains all activities that relate to online activi-
ties, resources and collaborations.
»» Physical Campus
›› Short description: Though the development of the Campus does not fully depend on
a physical presence, for many people a visible physical presence will be a condition for
trust and collaboration. The Physical Campus depends on the creation of a Campus
Institution.
»» Motivation Building
›› Short description: the first agenda of the Campus Institution is to highlight regional
opportunities and to enrich the regional vision, so that people and organizations want
to participate.
»» Human Integration
›› Short description: allow and encourage learners to enter in a space of encounter,

collaboration and common goal-finding.
53
»» Online Education Resource Bundling
›› Short description: The Campus Institution makes use of offerings that are available via
the networks and composes complementing and integrated series of these offerings.
It also builds capacity of people (language, broadband access).
»» Campus Media
›› short description: The campus as a living process needs to communicate to its regi-
onal constituency in various ways, fulfilling the needs of motivation, integration and
resource building; allowing low-level entry into the stakeholder process; and make the
educational activities a point of attraction even for outsiders.
›› Example: Blog
›› Example: Facebook groups
›› Example: presence in regional media (print, radio, film)
›› Example: presence in external media (Wikipedia, ...)
»» Regional Mentoring (proposed pattern)
›› Short description: Students and scientists that leave the region are informally sup-
ported to keep in touch and repeatedly supported to reflect their opportunities in
the region.
»» Online Toolbox (meta pattern)
›› Short description: increase of media literacy by treating available online services as

proto-patterns and describe their distinctive qualities, build a feeling of coherence.
›› Example: Wordpress (for “journal-like” website creation, that brings out main messa-
ges and viewpoints)
›› Example: Facebook (twofold – fastest message medium for small organizing teams
and inclusive public medium for building critical mass)
›› Example: Wiki (for collecting system information and authoring of patterns)
›› Example: Skype (for small collaborative sessions and introduction to videoconferen-

cing)
›› Example: Adobe Connect (professional tool for video conferencing in an educational

setting, chat, file sharing, screen sharing, white-boarding, streaming, recording)
54
›› Example: Youtube (source of educational content, archive for recordings)
›› Example: Google Docs (collaboration on documents: texts and spreadsheets and also
“quick surveys” with Google Forms)
»» Educational Formats (meta pattern)
›› Each of this educational formats should be seen as meta pattern that needs further
configurations/specifications to be seen as a cluster of problem-solving patterns.
›› Example: Webinar (online seminar, independent of participant locations)
›› Expert Consulting Webinar: a webinar used by a group to consult an external remote

expert as a group
›› Example: MOOC (online courses for an unlimited number of participants)
›› Example: Online Lecture (recorded lectures that can be consumed as videos)
12. Summary
Although we are only in the middle of this project we think that the exceptional setting and
our initial experiences justify reporting preliminary results in this paper. There have been
concrete steps to simplify the communication of pattern methodology and strip most of the
abstract overhead that sometimes hinders people to understand and make use of it. These
steps were basically successful. Theory can be introduced just in time, not as a prerequisite.
The practical participatory work was more satisfying and successful with more concrete
patterns. We had not been fully aware how many levels of abstractions our patterns contain
and are now working to increase our perception of this. Visualizations seem essential to the
participatory process, but using them to solve a communication problem may also create
new problems by expressing only a partial view of the whole. We hope to be able to report
further experiences and insights with the project Campus Osttirol at the PURPLSOC 2015
conference.
55
13. References
Alexander, C., Silverstein, M., Angel, S., Ishikawa, S., Abrams, D. (1975). The Oregon Experi-
ment (Center for Environmental Structure Series, Vol. 3). Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M. (1977). A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Con-
struction (Center for Environmental Structure Series, Vol. 2). Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Davis, H., Martinez, J., Corner, D. (1985). The Production of Houses (Center for
Campus Blog (2014): http://www.campus-osttirol.net (accessed: 20 October 2014)
Campus Facebook group public (2014): https://www.facebook.com/groups/campus.ost-

tirol/ (accessed: 20 October 2014)
Campus Facebook group internal (2014): https://www.facebook.com/

groups/846819408665019/ (accessed: 20 October 2014)
Campus Osttirol Wiki (2014): http://campusosttirol.mustertheorie.de/ (accessed: 20 Octo-

ber 2014)
Groupworks (2012). “A Pattern Language for Bringing Life to Meetings and Other Gathe-
rings” card deck. Retrieved August 25, 2014 from http://groupworksdeck.org/deck
Leitner, H (2013). 64 Concepts of Pattern Theory. Retrieved August 25, 2014 from https://
www.dropbox.com/s/jjeytdkf14ji1m2/AlexandrianDe_Vs62.pdf .
Nahrada, F (2013), “The commoning of patterns and the patterns of commoning: A short
sketch.” in Bollier, D., & Helfrich, S. (Eds.). (2013). The wealth of the commons: A world
beyond market and state. Levellers Press.
Nair, P., Fielding, R., Lackney, J. (2005). The language of school design: Design patterns for
21st century schools.
PURPLSOC (2014). conference PURPLSOC, 3-5 Jul. 2015, Krems, Austria, http://purplsoc.org
(accessed: 15 July 2014)
Schuler, D. (2008). Liberating Voices: A pattern language for communication revolution. MIT
Press.
56
Transition Network (2014): https://www.transitionnetwork.org/ingredients (accessed: 30

October 2014)
Vester, F. (2002). Die Kunst vernetzt zu denken: Ideen und Werkzeuge für einen neuen Um-
gang mit Komplexität. München: Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag.
57
A Pattern
LAnguage
for Systemic
Transformation
(PLAST) -
(re)Generative
of Commons
58
Finidori, Helene
Commons Abundance Network, http://commonsabundance.net
hfinidori@gmail.com
The numerous initiatives that are focused on driving ch-

ange at multiple points of our social system have been
seeking ways to coordinate efforts for decades, but have
been confronted with the significant challenges of how
to articulate shared visions of desired futures and colla-
borating effectively across diverse interests and views of
reality. What we propose here is a communications stra-
tegy and operating system based on a visual language
that enables people who do not speak the same langua-
ge to come together, articulate and share what they know
about the system’s inner workings, reflect about comple-
xity and potential change at various levels and scales, and
ultimately find ways for their disparate efforts to coalesce
into systemic transformations that manifest what Christo-
pher Alexander described as the ‘quality without a name’.
This open source project will bring together and leverage
the engagement and collective intelligence of communi-
ties already active in social change and pattern language
design and practice.
Systemic change; Complexity; Pattern language; Visual

language
59
1. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to lay the groundwork for an open-source pattern language
for systemic transformation (PLAST). The PLAST draws on the power of several generations
of pattern languages and Christopher Alexander’s lifetime endeavor. It will be co-created
by the communities that are emerging at the intersection of pattern language and social
change work, and will provide the elements for change agents and practitioners in various
domains to work together. Ultimately they will be able to share intuitions and make sense
of complex systemic phenomena and dynamics so that they can build truly transformative
and convergent solutions. The PLAST will help activists to identify and connect the different
logics, common or not, that underlie societal change initiatives to enhance mutual under-
standing among change agents and create greater coherence between their disparate ac-
tions. The PLAST will help leverage agency and catalyse capacity for change wherever it may
be found.
The ultimate goal of the PLAST is to accelerate social transition to a sustainable and thriving
world by fostering sustainable socio-economic dynamics regenerative of commons. The
commons is understood here to be the set of factors which contribute to a life-fostering
human system. These factors must be perpetually maintained to ensure the sustainability
and health of the system and its components over time.
“You cannot understand a system until you try to change it” wrote Kurt Lewin. The pattern
language and methodology of inquiry that we wish to build will be used to directly design
and implement transformative or ‘therapeutic’ solutions, and to evaluate and vet those that
claim to be. This action-research type of approach where analysis and practice are inter-
linked and recursive should e nhance systemic awareness, critical analysis and problem
solving capability. It will allow the map, the territory, and the various distinctions being made
to enhance and complement each other.
The project is in its infancy. Our objective in participating in the PURPLSOC conference is to
discuss both the theoretical framework and structure of the PLAST, as well as its social ap-
plications. How could it be co-created, exploited and maintained as an open source project
with and by the communities of practice that are likely to use it on the ground? How can it
link theory to practice? In particular, we would like to examine both classical Alexandrian
and existing newer Pattern Language approaches to determine how they can be comple-
mented in order to better understand the inner workings of systems. We would also like
to explore how existing pattern languages for social change, starting with those that will be
presented and discussed at the conference, and the approaches of complexity and change
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A Pattern LAnguage for Systemic Transformation (PLAST) - (re)Generative of Commons
in various disciplines can complement each other to serve the whole as much as they do
their individual contexts.
2. The Strategic challenges

The need for such a tool arose from reflections and conversations on systemic change
and on the strategies that could bring about and support a ‘great transition’. These con-
versations, held in various change-oriented contexts for the past few years, highlighted the
complexity of the task. Here are some challenges identified and the questions they raise.
2.1. Gaining insight into intricate wicked problems and the hidden
phenomena of the system
The situation the world is facing is the result of many intricately interconnected problems
resulting from emerging phenomena, which are often hidden from view. These problems
cannot be grasped as a whole because they cannot be formulated in a definitive way, and
because there are multiple angles and points of intervention that cannot be encompassed
in a single framework with set priorities. Rittel called these problems wicked problems. He
also pointed out that there are no right or wrong, true or false solutions to wicked prob-
lems; solutions may be contradictory and involve trade-offs; there is no history or proven
practice and expert knowledge to refer to. Data is uncertain and often missing. And the best
information necessary to understand a problem is distributed in the contexts affected by
the problem. Simple problem-solution approaches are limited when it comes to dealing
with systemic effects that manifest at multiple levels and scales.
2.2. Catalysing and leveraging distributed agency

Agency is also distributed throughout the whole system. People engage in problem solving
and different forms of activism using a variety of perspectives of change even if they all in
the end work towards a more sustainable and thrivable world. Action logics are ways of
approaching problems and their resolution. They encompass values and determine the
way people chose their course of action. The major logics are illustrated below. People’s en-
gagement and actions are usually a combination of these, with one which being dominant.
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An adaptation from Cook-Greuter (2002) and Brown (2005)
Donella Meadows explained very well how a system’s goal, structures and rules, i.e. its fra-
meworks for action, derive from the specific paradigms people hold. It is the paradigmatic
structure of systems that determines the logic of how they work, like the division of roles in
economies or principles of causation in chemistry. This means that people’s engagement
and action logics affect the type of solutions they will put their efforts and resources into,
and the type of actions they will prioritize. These are not interchangeable. Every change
agent holds a piece of the solution needed to tackle a wicked problem. The action logic de-
fines the point of entry into the system and the perspective from which subsequent choices
of action originate. Systemic change itself as a whole is the emergent consequence of a
variety of engagement and action choices at multiple levels.
For Meadows, the highest leverage point was the power to transcend paradigm, to realize
that no paradigm is unilaterally true or right. The goal was thus to espouse them all in their
capacity to improve things. With the PLAST, and the vision of ‘changing the world for the
better’, we position ourselves in a poly-paradigmatic logic. We speak from multiple paradig-
ms simultaneously, allowing them all to coexist, without requiring anyone to change. This
enables change to occur in its multiple dimensions and forms.
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Donella Meadow’s leverage points for systemic change | Adapted from Leverage Pivot Points –
Henrik Mårtensson
„Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it‘s the only thing that ever has“, said Margaret Mead. Each worldview, context or
organization has its own radicals and fringes from which change can arise. How can capacity
for change and agency be leveraged across the board? How can the forces for change in
each paradigm, and each framework of action be mobilized to accelerate change? How can
movements, activists, and social entrepreneurs on the ground relate their field of action to
the larger context and more effectively transform things around them? This is the type of
questions the PLAST can help answer.
2.3. Expanding views of reality and the whole system

Change agents gather in communities of practice around frameworks of action by affinity
(to people, place, objects of care, practices, or desired outcomes). They form clusters or
self-directed social subsystems of cooperating, specialized agents sharing common values,
visions and goals, and therefore are able to agree on pathways, courses of action and road-
maps. As they further learn and interact together, they construct their own representation
of reality. The shared meaning making schemes, preferred story and process narratives,
and the associated language they develop help reduce the perceived complexity of their
own context. This increases their capacity to focus and their differentiation with other sub-
systems.
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JL Henshaw Version of Robert Rosen Diagram

Source: http://debategraph.org/Details.aspx?nid=365553
The above diagram shows how formal systems, i.e. domain-specific subsystems, may
perceive and categorize the same natural system phenomena in different ways. The ver-
sion of each subsystem remains incomplete, in its own silo, offering little consistency with
other versions.
Each social subsystem has its own modes of operation, observation and interpretation,
based on a reality that is only a partial vision of the world. Differentiation occurs in a similar
fashion among scientific disciplines that tend to apprehend their environment only as far as
this environment is relevant within their own perspective. No theory or scientific discipline
can explain all the workings of the natural world nor can they share a language to explain
the phenomena that arise in it. Change agents as well as scientists often seem in competi-
tion with each other in terms of perspective (not to mention resources), with an inclination
to funnel the understanding and action of others through their own.
What type of spaces and tools can help change agents and communities on the ground
achieve their own mission effectively, with a broader eye on the bigger picture and on what
others may be doing to complement their action? What can be learned from experience
in each social change context, and what methodologies can help bring these experiences
together to expand the collective view of reality? These are key practical goals of the PLAST.
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2.4. Creating conditions for coordination

With such specialization and division of labour, communities can focus effectively on their
own change endeavour and logic, but they are not well-prepared to observe and act upon
the effects that the system as a whole produces in its environment outside of its context.
The multiplicity of partial worldviews, and the potential competition between them hinder
relational dynamics, and make coordination on inferences, observations and actions rather
difficult, although it is critically needed. Disparate approaches therefore fail to address sys-
temic issues of a higher order.
Increasingly, communities swarm, in informal networks, around ad hoc calls to action on

specific issues, such as climate change, trade, the water commons, and internet regulation,
practicing focused networked advocacy and protest. Others gather on the basis of broadly
shared principles, as was the case with the Occupy movement or the Degrowth Confe-
rence in Leipzig in 2014. Various surveys and research published lately show that activist
movements and communities involved in change generally agree on the systemic nature
of our predicaments, and highlight the need for coordination and some form of transition
strategy. They also recognize the existence of a challenging ‘cultural’ or linguistic dimension
which often hinders them.
How can we ‘join forces’ without renouncing our differences and focus? How can we aggre-
gate our dispersed power to counter status quo forms of economic, cultural and political
power without having to compromise our ideas and ‘water down’ our ‘local’ effectiveness?
How can we operate at all levels, while dealing with our contradictions and tensions, and
our failure to ‘see the whole’?
2.5. Generating coherence from disparate efforts

The temptation is great to think one can easily ‘coordinate’ global action across movements.
“Just develop a shared vision” we hear often, “and build a plan from there”. But how can
shared visions be developed when the parties don’t share similar views of reality and their
projections of the future are biased by their own assumptions? In a polycentric world, with
no systemic centre, no ‘central logic’ that can allow some form of global view and a synthe-
sis between logics, coordination and finding coherence between the multiple centres is
left to each individual group. The sense of commonality felt in these gatherings shows that
there is however a universal aspect that drives them, which could help connect them. But
experience demonstrates that this universal ‘driver’ struggles to find a clear, a precise defi-
nition because it manifests in different ways for each of the actors. This is mainly because
coordination attempts to be based on synthesis (dialectical reductions) rather than synergy
(systemic coherence).
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How then can communities build coherence from disparate efforts? How can they find their
own identity and become more effective in what they are striving to achieve, and at the
same time identify their position in the bigger picture of systemic change? How can they find
points of convergence and overlap with others for mutual leverage? How can the ‘vectors of
individual action’ be set so that the trajectories, rather than being aligned, can converge in
awareness of the work of others and of the whole?
2.6. Fostering shared discovery and mutual recognition

Systemic coherence is achieved not just when everybody ‘looks’ in the same direction, but
when everybody ‘works’ to ‘add on’ to the same ‘grand oeuvre’. More than a driver or a visi-
on, the grand oeuvre needs a glue, a scaffold onto which to aggregate disparate mechanis-
ms and powers and onto which a diversity of projects and stories can attach and mesh to
form an emergent and self-coordinated global endeavour and story. It needs a logic which
underlies all others, one which is not ‘overarching’ or central, giving a direction and syntheti-
cally or dialectically reducing all the others, but rather which enriches and grounds them.
This underlying logic can be seen as the soil from which a diversity of seeds can grow, or
as the rising tide that will lift all the boats at once, in a polycentric approach. The ‘universal
driver’ is necessarily systemic by essence, distributed in the many subsystems that act like
individual centres of action. It has the capacity to coalesce the disparate efforts from each
centre into durable sustainable systemic change for the whole. It is more than just adding
together the focus and functions of each group.
The Ancient Indian Fable of the Blind Men and the Elephant
Source http://blog.practicalsanskrit.com
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What kind of logic could help us speak the same language? And what language could
help express universal driving forces? In the ancient Indian fable of the blind men and the
elephant illustrated above, each blind man touches a different part of the elephant and
perceives something different. How could the reality or the possibility of the elephant be
brought into each part, so that it is the elephant that materializes as a whole when all piece
are described, and not a set of unrelated parts? Or in other words, what sort of logic and
language could make it easier for communities working in differentiated contexts with diffe-
rentiated logics and languages to ‘decode’ what is going on in the system, to share observa-
tions and interpretations of it, to compare and discuss solutions, and finally to work toward
emergent shared goals? We see the PLAST as a ‘root’ or ‘meta’ systemic language that can
accomplish this.
3. The PLAST project

The PLAST has a role to play in the empowerment of communities of practice as centres of
transformation.
3.1. Bringing the systemic (re)generative role of commons to awareness.

Rather than in the vision and values that communities hold, such driving force may be
found in the generative nature of what brings change agents and communities of practice
together. A driver wouldn’t for example be the abstract concept or representation of say,
the moon. Rather, it would be like the tide itself in its dynamic generative capacity, aiming to
support the emergence of the ‘quality without a name’ in all its manifestations.
Communities that work for change gather around social goals that can be defined as social
objects. Social objects are the material or immaterial shared objects of attention and care
that are embodied ubiquitously in the system in different forms such as place, people, re-
source, structure, process, or outcome, and around which an activity or practice generative
of access, equity, caring, sharing, livelihood, or sustainability occurs. A common thread can
be found in their efforts to protect, nurture and reproduce the distributed factors of op-
portunity and health of the system and the recursive wholes that compose it, which ensure
its perpetual (re)generation. I call these factors “the distributed commons as archetype”:
the nurturing and reproduction of which manifest as system goal in multiple forms and
languages, through different action logics, understandings and symbolic representations,
emerging into the whole commons: a variation of Alexander’s wholeness that contains both
ideas of generativity and quality.
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ar•che•type [ahr-ki-tahyp]
n.
1. the original pattern or model from which all things of the same kind are copied or on
which they are based; a model or first form; prototype.
2. (in Jungian psychology) a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought,
image, etc., universally present in individual psyches.
(source: dictionary.com)
A key purpose of the PLAST is to help bring the systemic (re)generative role of the commons
as pattern into awareness in every locus of action. In particular, the PLAST should encoura-
ge systems to be driven by generative processes and to serve as a vetting system for the
‘sustainability’ of systemic change initiatives.
3.2. Connection to Alexandrian patterns & sequences

Christopher Alexander refers to „centres“ as the keys to good design. Centres are the es-
sence of life. „Patterns“ are combined in ‚generative sequences‘ to create better „centres“,
which cannot be defined or described as a whole, but emerge out of a combination of ele-
ments and reflect what he called the “quality without a name”.
Seeing a centre as the essence of life, as an embodied node of commons logic, sits quite
well with the definition of commons as archetype: the diverse, multi-dimensional and dis-
tributed factors of livelihood and enablement, of ‘Lebendigheit’, generative of abundance,
that ensure the conditions for existence, to be nurtured, (re)generated, and (re)produced.
Centres are constitutive of systemic health, designed or ‚constructed‘ not as representa-

tions of a desired order in a state of equilibrium, but as generative systems, where factors of
generativity flow to where they are needed to provide on-going opportunity for thrivability
and renewal. The PLAST patterns, assembled for each centre/social object according to its
own internal drive or engagement logic should be aimed at dynamically ‚bettering‘ the com-
mons in their generative function, adding a time dimension to the spatial one.
Centres as nodes of embodiment of commons logic are not only commons as identified
forms such as Ostromian commons or digital commons: a common pool resource, or so-
cial object managed by a community that builds its livelihood upon it (commoners), with
commoners associated to this management in participatory ways (commoning). They are
systems that produce, nurture and protect the seeds of what ensures the thrivability and
renewal of the system as a whole.
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3.3. The PLAST as communication strategy and operating system

The PLAST builds upon a multi-variable multi-layered design ecology, constructed around
the notion of ‚social objects‘ (i.e. the various attractors of attention and care, of engagement
and focus, and of energy and resources around which domain specific knowledge and lan-
guage is generated) as „centres“ or distributed nodes of embodiment of commons logic,
with their associated regenerative dynamics and the ‚connective tissue‘ that bring various
elements together.
It is a grammatised visual ideographic language that will help describe systemic phenome-
na in generative sequences/combinations of elementary components based on objects/
agents, dynamics/processes and outcomes/effects, for groups in various domains to talk
about complexity and systemic change in new ways.
It will help describe and compare observations of the present or past and visions of the
future and possibilities in differentiated contexts and logics, and provide a basis for new
types of narrative and stories.
The PLAST is an analytical tool for learning and design. By allowing an on-going decoding-en-
coding back-and-forth between the observation of the reality at play and the interpretation
of what is perceived, it will provide communities of practice of various types with the me-
ans to individually and collaboratively interpret, apprehend, discuss, and debate systemic
phenomena and their effects as they perceive them from the places where they are. It will
provide them with the means to construct and describe self-correcting and regenerative
structures, models and solutions towards desired sets of systemic outcomes, and to evalua-
te and use the margin of manoeuvre or space for action at their disposal to intervene and
monitor these outcomes and adjust their action, both in focused and in coordinated ways.
As systemic language, the PLAST will make the link between domain-specific languages and
the dynamics of the system itself, and thus it will act as a bridge between domain-specific
languages, and in particular between pattern languages.
The PLAST will help facilitate discussions and exchange of experience. It strives to encoura-
ge mutual recognition of diverse logics of engagement and complementarity of action
among communities of practice; it will foster cooperation in praxis across communities, in
areas where they can find overlap.
The whole process will help bring to awareness and existence the generative dynamics
that form the underlying logic of the commons, and help better embed them in the ‘code’
and practices of the system, so that collective intelligence remains empowered rather than
controlled by forces it cannot apprehend.
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3.4. How we will build the PLAST

The PLAST is built on the realization that many of the patterns, best practices, or soluti-
on templates currently in use could be expressed as a combination of simple elementary
components indicative of systemic behaviour that characterize movement, interaction, di-
rection, flows, barriers, boundaries, accumulations, etc., many of which have already been
described in domain specific languages, and modelled in various forms in systems and
complexity-related theories. Identifying these components collaboratively can provide com-
munities with additional insight into the actual effects and impacts of their decisions and
actions. It can open up new ways for inquiring about patterns in operation, and for commu-
nicating and making decisions in multi disciplinary, multi-stakeholder settings.
It will be developed as an open source project supported by a peer-to-peer network of com-

munities of pattern language practitioners and change agents associated with researchers
in related disciplines.
The project will leverage the experience of existing communities of pattern language de-
sign and practice as well as social change communities on the ground. Helmut Leitner has
estimated a total number of 30,000 pattern languages are in use in areas as diverse as
movie costume design, music composition, software, earthquake and tsunami prepared-
ness, organizational design, learning, collaboration, etc. The proportion dedicated to the
pursuit of societal change is increasing with the development of new generations of pattern
languages that focus on the design and exploration of organizational forms as well as hu-
man action and interaction in addition to material forms. Doug Schuler’s Liberating Voices,
the GroupWorks’ card deck, Takashi Iba’s Collaboration or Learning patterns, and Howard
Reingold’s patterns of Peeragogy are vibrant examples. But the practice also spans beyond
acknowledged pattern languages, as numbers of social change groups are formalizing best
practices and creating design methodologies and templates that bear many characteristics
of pattern languages without being designated as such.
To set the project in motion, and to start designing the PLAST, we will work with communi-
ties to reflect on and ‘abstract’ or ‘mine’ the elementary components that form their own
practice and the systemic phenomena and effects they observe or seek. We will study how
these elements and resulting patterns combine and work with each other, and how they
transfer from one domain to another, and we will explore the heuristics that can be asso-
ciated.
For the first sets of syntax and semantic components and sequences, we will be working
on alternative forms of funding and alternative currencies, and on cooperative and open
network models.
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This will be refined with other practitioners and researchers in various disciplines.
Ideally, and because complex behaviours and systemic phenomena have been studied
from different angles in a wide array of disciplines, often described and illustrated in diffe-
rent ways, we will examine existing work and seek the input of researchers in the areas of
Systems Dynamics and Systems Thinking, Complexity & Network Theory, Economics, Or-
ganizational Design, Sociology. For language and syntax, we will look in particular at the
areas of Mathematics (including set theory and modal logic), Algorithm Development, Lin-
guistics, Semiotics, Cognitive Science, Computer Science (especially analysts and modelling
techniques), Graph Theory, Architecture, Graphic Design.
3.5. An open source peer-to-peer project

The P2P approach, working at multiple levels and scales at the same time, should help us
bootstrap theory and practice and build the language in an agile and flexible manner that
can gradually increase in scope. The community will be brought together during workshops
and gatherings such as PURPLSOC, and will be supported by a digital platform enabling
the development of the language itself and the design and practice methodologies that
will help people and groups step into and take ownership of the project, and provide their
contribution to the commons.
As an open source project, the PLAST and its design and practice methodology will be hos-
ted on a repository platform in connection with other pattern languages. The repository will
enable the various elements to be forked and modified, but also to be merged back into the
commons, letting the community see at any time who has been developing what and how,
in order to grow the actual commons and knowledge base. We are thinking of something
such as Github or Small Federated Wiki with drawing and writing capability.
The PatternPedia project in the works at the University of Stuttgart seems a natural place
where the PLAST project, community, and design and practice methodology could be de-
veloped collaboratively as well as stigmergically (i.e. working from the traces left by other
actors) in the broader context of pattern languages for societal change.
Next steps will consist in planning and operationalizing the technical (syntax and platform)
and community aspects (production and use) of the project, in a way that can enable it to
grow organically in a self-directed way.
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4. Building a Systemic Interpretation Language

4.1. Untangling the inner workings of the system
4.1.1. Some background on the phenomena to explain
W. Brian Arthur describes economics as a vast and complicated set of arrangements and
actions wherein self-directed agents adapt to each other’s arrangements and actions, for-
ming a massively parallel system of accumulating concurrent behaviour that generates
complex emergent phenomena. This is also true for human activity and interactions within
the whole ‘natural system’ in general.
Complex emergent phenomena arise from natural phenomena and from intentional struc-
tures, and from the behaviours, dynamics and new structures that result of the combinati-
on thereof. These may or may not be controlled or influenced by human design and action,
and their effects may vary with accumulation and time, building their own momentum. They
cannot be understood only from the behaviour of the individual constituent parts under-
lying them.
Aggregate patterns form from the accumulation of interacting individual behaviour. And
this individual behaviour in turn responds to these aggregate patterns: there is a recursive
loop of organizational development, with the forming of new structures, which affect the
objects causing it. The process is organic and algorithmic, building itself step by step, perpe-
tually in motion and perpetually computing itself. New phenomena arising at each level of
complexity cannot be explained by the patterns observed at other levels.
To understand the inner workings of the system, it is essential to understand how effects
build up, and to disentangle the variables at play in the complexity that unfolds. As these
behaviours cannot be fully modelled and simulated, the PLAST will operate within an open,
trial-and-error type of inquiry context.
4.1.2. A methodology for building and mining
According to Jenny Quillien, the best patterns aren‘t actually ‘designed’, rather they are
‘mined’ and polished. Patterns already exist out there, ready to be discovered.
Quillien offers a methodology to ‘Unravel Problems of Organized Complexity’ by untangling

the variables and the smaller segments that compose them:
Progress in understanding problems of organized complexity comes from:
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a) First ‘preparing for analysis,’ where the concern is still with “collection, description,
classification, and observations of apparently correlated effects.”
b) Identifying a specific variable―just as the biologist singles out, say, an enzyme, and
then follows its relationships with other variables.
c) Making our observations in terms of the behaviour and not just the mere presence of
other specific (not general) variables.
d) Focusing on specific processes and, like Sherlock Holmes, seeking ‘unaverage’ clues
that reveal larger patterns.
e) Realizing that these variables “do not exhibit one problem which if understood exp-
lains all. They can be analysed into many such problems or segments which are also
related with one another.” And, “when the segments are separated out the behavi-
ours of a variable when in the presence of other variables can be discerned.”
(Clever Digs p 91-92)
The process of mining and finding patterns, of breaking them down into smaller segments,
of probing their sustainability and trueness to purpose, of assembling them into sequences
of aggregate patterns and of probing again, is part of a peer-to-peer learning process that
will enhance systemic awareness and literacy.
4.1.3. Laws and effects
The same or similar systemic phenomena have been described in different terms in various
disciplines. We will be seeking expertise in a vast array of domains, and expanding our ran-
ge of exploration as more people join the project.
We aim to look at existing descriptions and explanations of systemic phenomena in dis-

ciplines such as complexity theory, network theory, economics, phenomenology, systems
thinking and systems dynamics, game theory, biology, cognitive and behavioural sciences,
sociology, etc. We hope to identify, compare, find overlaps and disentangle elementary be-
haviours, drivers, forces, momentums, processes, dynamics, algorithms etc., whether natu-
ral or artificial, conscious or automatic, intended or not, by recognizing them in these dis-
ciplines, and by comparing them to find those that share properties and may be recurring.
We will explore the effects of interactions between forces, how they ‘impulse’ or ‚feed‘ each
other into processes or algorithms that may be hidden from plain view; the cumulative ef-
fects they may have over time when combined and sequenced, and solidified into structure;
the conditions under which they can be combined to produce or temper certain effects in
order to change the game.
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We will derive from our work the heuristics that will enable the ‘therapeutic’ evaluation of ef-
fects, observed or desired, on the health and thrivability of the system, inspired by Stiegler’s
concept of the pharmakon (the cure can also be the poison). This includes the evaluation
of thresholds beyond which accumulations and momentums that may have been beneficial
to the health of the system become detrimental, allowing for the perpetual adjustment of
patterns and their sequencing. The inquiry will also help assess the powers that maintain
forces in operation, and the margins of manoeuver to gather new powers for transformati-
on, as power also follows its own laws.
Below are a few examples of laws and ‘mechanical’ effects that affect the system individually
and in combination that we would examine closely:
The Snowball Effect – or Cummulative Effect

Source: http://janbonobooks.com/blog/2013/11/21/the-snowball-effect-2/
Metcalfe’s Law – or Network Effect

Source: Piedtype.com
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Winner takes all – or Matthew effect

Source: The Winning Proposal by Juliet de Prez
The so-called Tragedy of the Commons –

Systems dynamics archetype – Source: Systems Wiki.
Network value derived from the effect of three laws

Source: Prof. N. Venkatraman, Boston University
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New business or governance models, or economic theories expressed in words can also
benefit from being expressed as sequences and patterns, to better understand their inten-
ded inner workings.
Exvestment for example, as defined by Dmytri Kleiner:
Exvestments are “…forms of spending which may or may not benefit the individual making
the expenditure, but reduces the earning capacity of their class as a whole, whereas inves-
tment benefits the individual and the class.
i.e When a company spend money to improve Linux because that company makes money
running a social networking site, that company benefits from such expenditure, however
it is exvestment not investment, because the capitalist class as a whole does not benefit
since this reduces the market for commercial software by improving free alternatives and
makes such means of production available to non-capitalist producers as well.” (source:
p2pfoundation.net/Exvestment)
This last example shows how important the nature and direction of flows, as well as the
notions of seeing from ‘inside’ or ‘outside’, are, and how difficult it is to grasp in words.
4.2. The structure of the language

The PLAST will actually not be built on the name, context, problem, forces, solution, action
format of classical pattern language. It will consist of something more fine-grained, to par-
se and analyse systemic experience in order to solve what Jenny Quillien calls problems
of organized complexity, arising from heterogeneous components interacting nonlinearly,
giving rise to new behaviours. Jenny Quillien quotes Jane Jacobs and the need to identify
interacting variables and to separate these variables in ‘smaller segments’ because they
“do not exhibit one problem which if understood explains all. They can be analysed into many
such problems or segments which are also related with one another.” And, “when the segments
are separated out the behaviours of a variable when in the presence of other variables can be
discerned.” (Clever Digs p 92)
A grammatised visual language provides good possibilities for discerning fine grain seg-
ments of behaviour. In addition it provides good underpinnings for the writing of problem
solutions type of patterns and the visual rendering of the dynamics of existing problem
solution types of pattern languages. So it would enable the construction of both a priori
and ad hoc contextualized problem/solution couples. In this respect, the PLAST is also a
language for designing pattern languages, and can constitute an ontology for tagging and
‘qualifying’ patterns.
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4.2.1. A Visual language
The PLAST is a visual language, a combination of ideograms, glyphs, symbol and pictograms
that will help recognize, decompose and recompose observed or intended patterns into
‘human computable’ and ‘human interpretable’ sequences.
We see the PLAST as a symbolic code to share intuitions and evidences of relations, effects
and potentials, what we perceive and ‘observe’ in the logic of our own realities. Visuals allow
direct representations of sequences, reducing the ‘baggage’, discipline-related, ideological,
cultural etc., that words can bring.
Sequential images can represent or ‘depict’ functions and movement, impulses, relations-
hips, dynamics or effects, transitions, and forces, directions of flows and actions, all that
is generated, and accumulating, and the phases in the system better than sequences of
words. Because the encoding-decoding is ‘direct’, done through ‘scanning’ rather than rea-
ding, which enables exploration of thoughts and ideas, it helps overcome the difficulty of
expression of systems in words.
4.2.2. Grammatisation
The PLAST is based on the ‘grammatisation’ - or in other words - the breaking down of sys-
temic behaviours and effects into discrete elements descriptive of flows and movements,
and changes of state - Jane Jacobs’ ‘smaller segments’ (ibid) - or systems operators, which
can then help reconstruct step by step ‘computation’ of the system’s operations, that which
arises as it is observed or intuited and ‘walked through’ into aggregate patterns. A gram-
matised visual language enables the representation of the system itself, where the corpus
is the ontology, the epistemological thread, and the fractal grouping representative of the
system as parts and whole.
Grammatisation helps to describe how behaviours aggregate and propagate through in-
terconnected networks of relationships - how flows, including value flows, circulate and
accumulate, while interfacing with other types of components such as spaces, entities and
events. It shows how effects can build up, in various contexts and at various levels of com-
plexity. This walk through helps to describe how transformation plays out, i.e. how new
structures are formed and how this formation affects the objects causing it. In other words,
it attempts to bring the hidden ‘computations’ or algorithms of the system out of the black
box, and into awareness, in ways that make them as easy as possible to understand.
Grammatisation enables simultaneous analysis and synthesis. It is analytic in that it diffe-

rentiates and breaks down dynamics in elementary components, creating understanding
77
by describing experience. It is synthetic in that it ‘reconstructs’ dynamics into sequences

that can be probed, opening up inquiry and possibilities.
The two together, in decoding-encoding sequences, are the two sides of interpretation, one
inward looking, which strives to make sense of reality within specific contexts, the other
outward looking, rendering and sharing meaning across contexts.
Grammatisation provides a learning experience and possibilities different from those of-
fered by closed models such as systems dynamic archetypes to design solutions. Cyclic
processes are often illustrated by feedback loops. Actual processes however often involve
independent events which become connected through environments where the output of
one thing are inputs for the next, and so the loops follow ‘opportunistic’ pathways rather
than ‘deterministic’ ones, especially in complex living systems.
There are probably no clear or even real beginnings, nor ends to these pathways. But the
first thing observed or the first step taken is always a good step in that it provides a begin-
ning for an inquiry.
Grammatisation allows the possibility of starting points, and impulses, with discrete in-
crementation of behaviour and provides the opportunity to form hypotheses and questi-
oning at each step that can help grasp what comes next. Using a hypothesis enables us to
bring the unknown into the ‘reasoning’ and to probe it, to ‘bootstrap’ it. This grammatised
approach includes the heuristics that enable the assessment of margins of manoeuver for
change or space for action, and the perpetual adjustment of patterns and their sequencing,
including notions of limits and optima beyond which remedies become toxic or pattern
become anti-patterns.
Source Lietaer & al 2010
78
4.2.3. Syntax and semantics
In addition to linguistics, software programming and Alexandrian approaches, we will study

symbolic and syntax from various disciplines such as process philosophy, phenomenology,
genetics, physics, and mathematics.
PLAST will probably not be a strictly mathematical language, but it is very likely that it will
borrow many elements from mathematics. In particular we will focus on elements ‚com-
putable‘ by humans in an interpretative and learning process. This is not about putting the
universe into an equation, but rather about evaluating the forces at play and the intended
outcomes of various decisions by testing sequences.
Maths is the study and the symbolic representation of movement: flows, structures and
spaces in formation and transformation. It not only measures quantity, but it also records
quality. It seeks out patterns and formulates conjectures, which are tested through sus-
tained inquiry. David Deutsch suggests that our perceptions are theory-laden, and that
theories are conjectures that can be tested with the search of ‘hard to vary’ explanations
through observation. He refers to rocks and finches, and dots on pictures or screens as
evidences of evolution, the curvature of space-time and parallel universes. Although we
may not be using the precision of the mathematic language, we will use the possibilities and
rigor of the mathematical inquiry.
Laurence Victor writes:
„I presented math as a family of concrete languages. There is no abstraction in math.

Math has a concrete visual foundation – symbols (with well defined shapes) in very specific
arrangement on a two dimensional surface. Or lines and curves in a space. Everything is
concrete, visible, explicit, and manipulable. Mathematicians can often imagine these pat-
terns in their visual imagery, and don’t have to write them all down. Some can use their
subconscious minds to infer the result of transFORMation sequences between concrete
math forms. All mathematics reduces to (potentially) concrete, perceivable, and manipu-
lable FORMS....
Representing observed natural phenomena (and later artificially constructed laboratory

phenomena) in concrete, visible, manipulable math languages gave rise to PRECISION
thinking – an essential tool for the future survival of humankind and Gaia.“ (source: Nuet
Nodes)
79
4.2.4. Examples of syntactic and semantic elements
Below are some first components of the Systemic Interpretation Language. These will be
refined and complemented as more people join the community. Sequences are under con-
struction.
80
5. The PLAST in Practice

5.1. Collaborative interpretation and systemic coordination
The PLAST is built from and serves the collaborative interpretation of systems dynamics
at various levels and scales. It helps probe and understand the impacts of decisions and
how systems dynamics affect local functional systems and the system as a whole, providing
means for meaning-making across silos, clusters of action, centres of transformation. “Peo-
ple love their silos. We mustn’t break them, we must bridge them”, Anna de Liddo said at a
conference we attended together recently in Brussels (https://twitter.com/HeleneFinidori/
status/544833011091779585).
Collaborative interpretation as we intend it is not an interpretation of each other’s words

and definitions, but rather the interpretation of reality and its phenomena that each person
represents differently in his or her own words. It is the interpretation of the natural com-
mons that our world and its inner workings constitute. This shifts the subject from the cons-
truction of consensual shared visions, to the observed but undefined workings of nature, so
that people with different views can agree on collaboratively re-constructing reality (in the
sense of reconstituting its inner workings), rather than constructing it as an abstraction. This
approach naturally leads to the mutual recognition of each other’s presence and ‘territory’
of intervention within an ecology of transformative action.
5.2. How the game is played - Applications

The game will be played as deconstruction, reconstruction or decoding encoding of sys-
temic phenomena, with an embedded inquiry to bootstrap reasoning and learning. This
combination of perception/observation and heuristics to decode systemic effects and write
systemic stories can then be re-encoded and rendered in several languages and adapted
for broadcasting in different media.
81
Because of its visual and grammatised nature, the PLAST can be used to directly ‘write’ pat-
terns by rendering what is perceived in terms of movement and change. And in particular
it can be used to write systemic problem-solution patterns (both ‘generic’ and adapted to
context), and to probe the ‘systemic validity’ of the solution as it is designed, i.e. ‘visually
written’, as well as test or compare scenarios.
In this respect it would be interesting to explore how the PLAST can be useful to the writing
of context-based pattern languages, how learning and collaboration patterns can be used
to ‘practice’ the PLAST, and how visual recording could play a role.
Communities will be able to contribute to the language by extracting and abstracting ele-
mentary components from their own experience and praxis and feeding them into the
PLAST repository.
They will be able to take existing patterns and adapt them because they will be able to di-
rectly write the systemic stories that they will then ‘translate’ using various kinds of media in
their own logics and languages, creating new narratives.
Alternative initiatives promoted by activists and change agents usually propose new dyna-
mics that break away from the current system. This means that they strive to replace old
systemic patterns by new ones. The PLAST as systemic interpretation language is a tool to
help them recognize, interpret, express and assess both the old patterns they wish to move
away from and the new ones they wish to adopt as part of a peer-learning process.
Within communities of practice, the PLAST can be used for learning, innovation and deci-
sion-making. One can imagine a set of card games. In particular it can be used to describe
and compare new initiatives and solutions in terms of their intentions or desired effects,
and to monitor outcomes and perform gap analysis.
One can imagine further an application of the PLAST as a tagging or qualifying system for
model or project evaluation, semantic matching and interoperability, and even further along
the line, as an indexing system of algorithms’ intents, bringing visibility to the black boxes.
One can also imagine pluri-disciplinary spaces for interpretation, where situations and mo-
dels and their associated dynamics and effects would be collaboratively interpreted and
assessed, compared, criticized and readjusted in an appreciative approach using the PLAST
as an interoperable language. From networks of communities seeking systemic coherence,
to public forums focused on maintaining the systemic interpretation commons.
The PLAST could also be used as systemic ontology to connect existing pattern languages
82
and to explore the ecosystem and existing databases of solutions to identify specific dyna-
mics and combinations thereof through semantic query to discover new possibilities and
possible partners, in automated as well as conscious ways.
Conclusion
This is a complex and ambitious project, which has drawn interest from people across dis-
ciplines, and the possibilities we see in what we have worked on so far makes us confident
of its outputs and outcomes over the medium to long term.
The work and resources we are gathering can be seen as the project unfolds on the De-
bategraph map (debategraph.org/PatterLanguage) and a PLAST Facebook group we have
created for it.
Please join us in this enterprise.
6. References  
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86
Image: Marcus Peaston | www.flickr.com/photos/kelmon
87
Costume
Languages
as Pattern
Languages
88
Barzen, Johanna
Institute of Architecture of Application Systems (IAAS), University of Stuttgart, Universi-
tätsstraße 38, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Barzen@iaas.uni-stuttgart.de
Leymann, Frank
Leymann@iaas.uni-stuttgart.de
In media science, the concept of the costume language

is only vaguely defined. We propose a formal definiti-
on of this concept, which is based on the concept of
pattern languages. In order to derive the patterns of
such a language we introduce a method that supports
capturing knowledge about clothes, identifying costu-
mes based on clothes and abstracting costumes into
costume patterns. Thus, costumes are understood as
concrete solutions to the recurring problem of achie-
ving effects in films by using clothes. Associations bet-
ween patterns and concrete solutions are maintained
to ease the development of concrete solutions from
a pattern’s abstract solution description. Our method
and its associated formalizations are generalized to
support the identification of patterns from concrete
solutions in other domains.
Costumes; Costume Languages; Vestimentary

Communication; Formal Languages; Digital
Humanities.
89
1. Introduction
A close examination of the natural sciences and engineering shows that the use of con-
cepts, methods and technologies of computer science is in an advanced stage (Hey, Tans-
ley, & Tolle, 2009). This relation between these sciences is reflected by the term “eScience”.
In comparison, the use of techniques and methods of computer science in the humanities
(called eHumanities or digital humanities (Berry, 2012; Burdik, Drucker, Lunenfeld, Presner,
& Schnapp, 2012; Terras, Nyhan, & Vanhoutte, 2013)) is rather rudimentary. While databa-
ses, archives and document systems as well as the technologies of computational linguistics
and visualization are used in some areas of the humanities, the advanced use computer
science-derived concepts, methods and technologies are still marginal. In this contribution,
we present a method (Section 2) to derive costume languages in movies based on the con-
cepts of ontologies and pattern languages, which are both quite frequently used in compu-
ter science. Furthermore, we propose to concretize the term “costume language” by using
the concept of “formal languages” from computer science (Section 3). This formalization
supports the method introduced before and clarifies the rather vague term “costume lan-
guage” in media science. The implementation of a tool environment to support our method
is described in an accompanying article (Fehling, Barzen, Falkenthal, & Leymann, 2014). In
section 4 we generalize our formalization and argue that it is applicable in many other do-
mains. Altogether, we show some of the advantages of using formal languages and pattern
languages in the Digital Humanities.
Thus, this paper combines various different aspects of costume languages reaching from
methodological aspects to formal aspects. The methodological aspects (section 1 and 2) are
targeted to readers from humanities, while the formal aspects (sections 3 and 4) assume
some background in mathematics.
1.1. The Problem

For the media science detecting a systematic representation of costumes in films is of great
interest. The costume, as the enclosing textile shell of the actor’s body, is a strong visible
sign and an important tool for designing the diegetic world of a movie (Hollander, 1993). It
adapts our “real world” signs of clothes and provides important information about the cha-
racters, their profession, social standing, moods, and character traits. To communicate this
information the costume uses “vestimentary communication”.
The term “vestimentary” has its etymological origin in the Latin word for clothing: “vestimen-
tum”. It refers to the communication that takes place through clothes. Especially in movies
the costume is deliberately used as a multi-layered instrument of manipulation and cont-
90
Costume Languages as Pattern Languages
ains important information about the characters, their transformations and developments,
as well as the time and setting of the movie (Bruzzi, 1997; Cook, 1996; McDonald, 2010).
This cinematic vestimentary communication is referred to as “costume language” in the
literature (Devoucoux, 2007; Giannone, 2005).
Even if the term “costume language” is used quite frequently, it is usually meant in a meta-
phorical sense and most of the time is based on evidence from several individual film ana-
lyses. Even if the communicative capabilities of the costume are beyond dispute, the detec-
tion of a specific costume language is known to be difficult (Burger, 2002; Giannone, 2005).
However, when focusing on the costumes of western genre movies for example, we can
identify stereotypically used clothes that allow the recipient to distinguish villains from
heroes. The ability to make this distinction is based on the fact that recipients recognize
stereotypes and the convention to use quite similar costumes for the same stereotypes
(Giannone, 2005). However, in practice, neither have the stereotypical costumes been de-
scribed in detail, nor have they been used and analyzed to derive a concrete costume lan-
guage. Especially when looking at the minor roles and the extras that are constructed for a
quick understanding (next to the main characters that aim for authentic individualization) it
seems to be promising to abstract this cinematic vestimentary communication of western
genre movies into a pattern language of costumes: we define costume patterns as proven
solutions to recurring problems of a costume designer to communicate a specific character,
such as finding the adequate textile expression for the role of a certain cowboy or saloon
lady for example.
1.2. Related Work

A first systematic and (in a certain sense) formal approach to the investigation of costumes
was articulated by Burger (2002). Burger tried to apply Barthes’ (1985) semiotic approach
to fashion to film costumes. However, Burger’s proposed system of pre-defined templates
for describing costumes from is closer to an inventory system than a method for analyzing
given costumes and their relations in detail. Especially, these templates are not suitable for
generating new insight in understanding the tasks and functions of costume languages.
A rather different approach, developed by Lurie (2000), created an analogy between a lan-
guage of clothes and natural language. In her approach the individual pieces of clothes,
such as a shirt or a pair of trousers provided the “vocabulary” of the language of clothes,
while a set of clothes such as a special outfit was conceptualized as a “statement”. In con-
trast to our work, Lurie (2000) focused only on clothes and not on costumes and compa-
red the language of clothes to natural language instead of formal language. Unlike natural
91
language the language of clothes is an indirect and non-verbal communication and Lurie
(2000, p. 19) notes that many elements of natural language cannot be transferred to a lan-
guage of clothes. Therefore in this article we use the model of the formal rather than the
natural language to develop a language of clothes.
In using the concept of the formal language, we refer to established and proven concepts
from computer science. Going beyond Lurie (2000) we propose granules finer than com-
plete pieces of clothes that we call primitives (Section 2); primitives are used for a com-
prehensive description of clothes: For example, a black shirt with a standing collar has a
completely different communicative effect than a pink and white striped shirt with a Peter
Pan collar. While both are “just” shirts and therefore a more precise description is needed
to make them communicatively precise. A piece of clothes such as a shirt is referred to as
base element in our approach.
Barzen, Leymann, Schumm, & Wieland (2012) and Schumm, Barzen, Leymann, & Ellrich
(2012) illustrate how costume patterns can be used to abstract cinematic vestimentary com-
munication and to capture the “essence of convention” of how costumes are used in films.
In Barzen et al. (2012) there is a first pattern-based approach towards IT support of costu-
me management in film, as well as a first attempt at creating a costume pattern format. This
approach was extended in Schumm, Barzen, Leymann, & Ellrich (2012), who describe the
composition of costumes from their base elements1 as the core of each costume pattern
and provides the base for the proposed method and formalization introduced in this article.
We describe the composition of clothes by formal languages generated by grammars and
costume patterns as equivalence classes. By treating patterns as classes, the connection
between patterns and the concrete items they are abstracted from are maintained.
In Taibi (2006) pattern of the design of distributed object systems are described by formulas
of the language of first order predicate logic. The behavior of such patterns is described in
this approach by a temporal logic of actions. Therefore, combinations of patterns can be
verified with respect to accuracy and correctness. Taibi (2006) reviews further formaliza-
tions of patterns proposed by other authors: All these approaches have in common that
it is assumed that the patterns to be assembled are known and that the combinations of
patterns are to be checked for correctness. In our approach we focus on the identification
of appropriate patterns as well as finding known solutions that either fit or that can serve
as a template to develop new solutions; verification of composite patterns is not relevant in
our domain. For this reason, the approaches that are reviewed in Taibi (2006) in addition to
1 In our previous work (Schumm, Barzen, Leymann, & Ellrich, 2012) we referred to the base elements as primitives but here we have refined our
terminology.
92
the approach proposed in Taibi (2006) itself is not suitable for solving our problem.
The use of grammars to describe valid selection sequences in a pattern language is propo-
sed in Zdun (2007). The relations between the patterns of the pattern language are anno-
tated with discrete values. Such a discrete value represents the influence that the selection
of the next pattern has to the expected quality of the overall solution. Therefore, the quality
of the solution produced by a sequence of several patterns can be evaluated. Furthermore,
the relations are enriched with information about whether the next pattern can be applied
(optional), or must be applied (mandatory), or if the next pattern is a variant of the previous
pattern. The descried diagram of the pattern language is then transformed into a grammar,
while the production rules arise essentially from the relations between the patterns. The
temporal sequences using patterns that achieve a solution with a certain quality are the
words of this language. As mentioned above, for our approach the identification of individu-
al patterns is essential. Composite patterns (i.e. compositions of costumes) are not relevant
in our domain. In our approach we use grammars to aggregate the individual concrete so-
lutions resulting in a pattern itself. Such a concrete solution is some sort of instance of the
abstract solution represented by the corresponding pattern. Specifying relations between
patterns as temporal sequences as used in Zdun (2007) is insufficient: In our domain we re-
quire the ability to specify relations of any kind between patterns, which is why we support
the definition of sets of base relations with different semantics.
The kind of information to document more details about the solutions offered by patterns
in the domain of software architecture has been described in Zdun & Avgeriou (2008): A
UML profile has been defined for this purpose. In our approach, we are based on the docu-
ment structure introduced by Alexander, Ishikawa, & Silverstein (1977) to present pattern
languages and the solution provided by patterns; this document structure has been used in
many other pattern domains with a few specific modifications or extensions, respectively. In
contrast to Zdun & Avgeriou (2008) we are not specifying the abstract solution of a pattern
in a structured manner but the corresponding concrete solutions. These concrete solutions
have been captured to support the detection and abstraction of patterns or they are built
by following the description provided by the abstract solution of a pattern, respectively.
2. Method for Deriving Costume Languages

As mentioned in the introduction, describing a costume language is a rather difficult task.
As a starting hypothesis we assume that each genre has a specific costume language with
established conventions. These established conventions could be, for example, the similari-
93
ty of costumes of frequently recurring stereotypes or the use of the same colors or certain
materials for certain character traits. The assumption that a costume language proves to
be dependent on the genre is due to the often similar set of characters and the resembling
of style, used colors and aesthetics, which can be found in films of the same genre. It may
even be that a costume language of a certain film of a genre can deviate from the language
of another film of the same genre. But by containing similar elements they can be combined
into a costume language of the genre. Therefore, to extract these similarities and differen-
ces, we formalize both, the concepts of a language of clothes as well as the concepts of a
costume language.
Below, we introduce our method for determining the relevant components for a costu-
me language. To illustrate the relation of clothes and costumes, section 2.1 addresses the
process by which a costume designer creates a costume. Section 2.2 concentrates on the
systematic way to formally describe clothes, while section 2.3 illustrates the derivation of
concrete costumes and their abstraction into costume patterns. Section 2.4 describes a
consolidated method that combines the capturing of knowledge about costumes and their
abstraction into costume patterns.
2.1. Designing Costumes: The Act of Achieving Effects of Clothes

To get a better understanding of how a costume can be defined and what differences exist
between clothes and costumes, we want to take a closer look on how a costume is created.
Figure 1 briefly sketches the creative act of a costume designer in determining the right
costume for a character. At the beginning of the process of designing a costume, the costu-
me designer discusses the concepts and aesthetics of the film with the director, art director
and other members of the production team and reads the script of the film to extract the
characters and information about these characters. Based on this information the costume
designer selects clothes that make a certain statement about the character, character traits,
or the setting of the film, for example. This selection of some special clothes to communica-
te and support content gives the clothes an intended effect. Clothes and its intended effect
together are defined as a costume.
94
Figure 1: A Costume as a set of clothes with intended effect
However, whether the clothes really provoke the intended effect when viewed by the au-
dience is not important. The effect at this stage is the effect that the costume designer as-
sumes due to experience and expertise, as well as individual taste and dependents on the
situation (the director, budget or setting, for example). Whether or not this intended effect
matches the effect of the costume language is therefore not relevant since the costume
language aims to reflect established conventions used to communicate by costumes. In
Section 3.3 we will take a closer look at the effect of costumes.
2.2. Modeling of Clothes: Ontologies, Primitives and Base Elements

Every costume consists of its haptic basis, namely “clothes”. Thus, we first introduce a sys-
tematic way to capture clothes in an ontology (see Figure 2). The term clothes is used in the
sense of a complete outfit. An example is the total outfit of a sheriff. It consists of specific
items like a cowboy hat, boots, a vest, a belt, a sheriff’s star and so on. We refer to these
items as base elements. Each base element is in turn composed of primitives. Trousers, for
example, have two legs, a waistband and a closure, which in turn can be made from a zip-
per, buttons, or both. The difference between a base element and a primitive is that the
base element, although composed of primitives, provides a whole separate part of a costu-
me while the primitives typically need other primitives to aggregate into a base element. The
distinction between base elements and primitives is of importance because the granularity
of the base elements is not sufficient to describe all the needed information. A “collar” as a
primitive of a base element “shirt” for example, may have different colors or materials than
the rest of the base element. This fact has an influence on its communicative effect. In Sec-
tion 3, the terms “base element” and “primitive” are formalized in terms of an alphabet of a
language of clothes and a language of primitives.
Note that the concept of subpatterns is not appropriate in the domain of costume lan-
guages: The composition of a costume out of concrete base elements and primitives is
important for a costume language. When specifying base elements as subpatterns, such
95
base elements would become generic because patterns are abstract, i.e. templates for pro-
ducing concrete entities instead of being the concrete entities themselves.
Figure 2: Method for the detection and description of clothing
The composition of clothes out of base elements and primitives supports a differentiated
and precise description of clothes. A set of base elements and primitives can thus be com-
bined in numerous ways, resulting in many different clothes. Every textual description of
clothes reduces visual and haptic information. Furthermore, there are often many different
ways to describe a certain piece of clothes. Therefore, the use of an ontology facilitates the
consistent naming of base elements and primitives during the analysis of films by predeter-
mining names. In general, the concept of ontology supports creating a unified vocabulary of
a domain and supports to structure knowledge in a systematic way to make this knowled-
ge available and reusable by others. Through the use of established ontology languages
such as RDF (Resource Description Framework), RDFS (Resource Description Framework
Schema) and OWL (Web Ontology Language), this semantically linked knowledge in turn
provides the opportunity to use query languages such as SPARQL to analyzed the captured
knowledge.
In order to approach such a comprehensive ontology of the domain of clothes we first

structured the relevant individual areas of clothes as taxonomies (Barzen, 2013). These taxo-
nomies provide the systematization of (i) the individual pieces of clothing, i.e. its base ele-
ments, (ii) possible characteristics of the clothes such as their composition from primitives,
their material, their color, their design, their state, and their shape, and (iii) the potential
relations between their base elements such as their dressing order. The classes defined
in these taxonomies (such as hat, collar etc.) and their sub-classes (such as wool cap, Kent
collar) serve as concepts of the ontology and are refined by adding attributes to these
concepts and as well es relations between the classes. For example, the concept “shoe”
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can be related with the concept “sock” by the relation “worn above”. This ontology supports
to describe each piece of clothes in all its peculiarities in a fast, flexible and accurate way
(Barzen, 2013).
The most important taxonomies are those of base elements and primitives. They represent
the core of the ontology as well as the basis of a language of clothes. Their concepts have
attributes like color, shape, design or material. The ranges of values of these attributes are
also represented by taxonomies (Barzen, 2013). For example, a base element shirt, consist
of the primitives white, short stand-up collar with blue stripes, a light blue front and back
and a white button border with dark blue buttons. All those attributes such as the specific
form, the design and material, the current state and the way a piece of clothes is worn po-
tentially influence the effect of a costume. Therefore they need to be described in detail as
facilitated by our ontology.
2.3. Deriving Costume Patterns

Figure 3 illustrates how to derive costume patterns. First, in order to yield a relevant quanti-
ty of costumes, a film corpus is chosen. For this purpose, several movies of a film genre are
selected which reflect a representative cross-section of the genre. To get this representati-
ve cross section, well-defined criteria have to be specified to identify these films.
The recurrence of similar costumes indicates that an abstraction of these costumes into
costume patterns is possible. To determine the recurrence of costumes, recurring charac-
ters need to be identified, and their clothes, stereotype and context must be described.
Because a costume consists of clothes with intended effect in order to transport informati-
on by clothes (see section 2.1), in the next step the costumes are identified. To enable later
data analysis all this information is captured as instances in the ontology.
A solution documented by a pattern is abstract in the sense that it is free of context to be

applicable in many different situations. In contrast to this, a captured costume is a concrete
solution for a specific design problem the costume designer had to face when creating the
costume. It is “concrete” in the sense that it specifies details like color, material etc. used.
However, a costume pattern documents an abstract solution. Thus, it consolidates all con-
crete solutions and represents their “essence”. Therefore, the concrete costumes need to
be grouped into costumes with the same effect. To group costumes, the attributes of the
costumes as well as the stereotype they represent and their context such as the story or
the character traits needs to be considered. Costumes with the same effect can then be
represented as a costume pattern.
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Figure 3: Method for the derivation of costume patterns
Costume patterns represent the “essence” of the convention of vestimentary communicati-

on. They are proven solutions to recurring design problems of finding an adequate textile
expressions for a particular character. But patterns are not isolated entities but are related
to each other. When considering the context in which the characters are set, relations bet-
ween the patterns can be detected. Such relations could be, for example, “antagonist of”
between the sheriff costume pattern and the outlaw costume pattern. All these patterns
and their relations provide the costume language for the selected genre.
2.4. Combining Patterns and Solutions

When combining both the approach for describing clothes from section 2.2 and the appro-
ach for identifying costume patterns from section 2.3, a comprehensive method for deriving
costume languages results (Figure 4). The method supports both, systematic pattern iden-
tification as well as the capturing of concrete solutions that led to the pattern abstraction.
The concrete solutions (i.e. the costumes of the film corpus) and their relations are stored
as instances of the ontology. This opens up new opportunities for working with costumes in
theory and practice. By linking patterns with the ontology not only the knowledge contained
in the pattern but also the information about concrete solutions are available. This can
be very helpful when applying the pattern in a concrete context again (Falkenthal, Barzen,
Breitenbücher, Fehling, & Leymann, 2014). The combination of patterns with their concrete
solutions can be useful when working with costumes in practice: the use of advanced in-
formation technology for searching and documenting costumes is still rather uncommon
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(Schumm, Barzen, Leymann, Wieland, & Ellrich, 2012) and a system that supports our me-
thod (see section 4 and Fehling, Barzen, Falkenthal, & Leymann (2014)) is very promising.
This combination can also be used to extend theoretical knowledge about the application of
costumes in films and can lead to new insights and better understandings about the nature
of vestimentary communication.
Figure 4: Method for deriving costume languages
Our method for detecting a pattern language for costumes is not only applicable in the
domain of costumes but presents a first approach to systematic pattern identification in
many domains (a first high level and domain independent approach is described in Feh-
ling, Barzen, Breitenbücher, & Leymann, (2014)). In addition, it provides the opportunity
to demonstrate how a pattern language has been derived. The patterns are no longer ba-
sed on hidden knowledge of experts but become verifiable concept by making the original
knowledge explicitly accessible: this supports pattern provenance.
Figure 5 presents our overall vision: Concrete solutions (be they observed or created etc.)
are stored in a solution repository. This solution repository contains all the solution knowled-
ge in a structured way (like the ontology in the domain of costumes). It gets analyzed and
abstracted into patterns and pattern languages. The process of analysis and abstraction
of solution knowledge can then be supported by query languages or other data analysis
techniques such as data mining. The pattern languages are stored in a pattern repository,
which allows people, for example, to navigate through the pattern languages or to search
for concrete patterns. Furthermore, the connection of patterns to their associated concrete
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solutions in the solution repository makes the creation of concrete solutions from abstract
solutions as documented by patterns often unnecessary or significantly reduces the effort
needed to create new custom solutions. Thus, implementing abstract solutions as docu-
mented by patterns becomes much easier. Note explicitly that this vision does not restrict
creativity at all. People can still create completely new solutions from scratch. An actual im-
plementation to support our proposed method and vision is described in an accompanying
article (Fehling, Barzen, Falkenthal, & Leymann, 2014).
Figure 5: Method of the combined use of patterns and solutions
However, in order to approach the proposed detection of operationalized knowledge about

costumes, a formalization of the costume language must be sought. Therefore, in a first
step the formal definition of costume language is introduced which provides the basis for
formalizing the pattern identification process. In the following section, the term “costume
language” is concretized based on the concept of formal languages.
3. Concretization of the Term “Costume Langua-

ge”
Clothes - in the sense of complete outfits such as the clothing of a sheriff – are, as already
mentioned, composed of different individual pieces of clothes such as a shirt, a vest, a pair
of trousers, a sheriff‘s star, a gun belt and boots. Each of these individual pieces are the
building blocks of a language of clothes and are referred to as base elements (see Definition
1 and 5). The composition of clothes from base elements is determined by an appropriate
grammar (see Definition 2) of base elements. By evaluating clothes with respect to their
effect in films (see Definition 6) a selection of certain clothes results which is referred to as
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costume fundus (see Definition 7).
Costumes with similar effects in films are grouped and abstracted into costume patterns
(see Definition 8). Thus, a costume is considered to be a proven solution to a re-occurring
problem, namely the problem to achieve a particular effect, which is called a pattern in many
other disciplines. Costumes in a film are typically not in isolation but they are related to each
other, i.e. one particular costume appears often with other costumes. The structure of rela-
ted costumes is then referred to a costume language (see Definition 9).
Base elements in turn are in general composed from (clothes) primitives such as a collar, a
sleeve, a heel, a shoelace. The base element shirt, for example, consists of the primitives
front, back, collar, cuffs and button border. Thus, the primitives are the building blocks
of a language of clothes primitives (see Definition 10) determining the composition of base
elements from primitives. A language of clothes primitives is especially relevant for manu-
facturing base elements, but of course clothes primitives may also contribute to the effect
of the composed clothes.
3.1. Basic Terms

The language of clothes of a certain film genre is represented in the following as a formal
language (Hopcroft & Ullman, 1969; Hopcroft, Motwani, & Ullman, 2007; Maurer, 1969). The
alphabet of such a language of clothes consists of the base elements of the clothes that
have been explicitly captured by analyzing a set of films (as described in Section 2); note,
that our terminology that is established in computer science deviates from everyday speech
where an alphabet consists of a set of letters. The base elements (as well as the clothes
primitives) are represented by concepts of the ontology of clothes and clothes primitives
(see Figure 2). The alphabet of a language of clothes of a certain film genre is denoted by ∑B
(Base Elements), which consists of the set of base elements of this film genre. For the genre
of Western films this alphabet is ∑B ={Trousers, Shirt, Vest, Jacket, Sheriff-Star, ...}. In case a
genre X must be emphasized in the following, we write ∑B(X).
As usual, we denote by ∑* the set of all possible words, i.e. composites from individual
symbols from the alphabet ∑. Not all possible words are meaningful words, i.e., composites
that are actually found in the domain: for example, (shoe boots moccasin) is a possible word
over the alphabet ∑B(Western), but this word does not make sense (i.e. it is not meaningful),
because the combination of shoes, boots and moccasin does not occur in a single outfit.
Definition 1 (informally): A language L of clothes over the alphabet ∑B is the set of all “me-
aningful” words from (∑B)*, i.e. L⊆(∑B)*. 
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To determine all “meaningful” words we use grammars that define by means of production
rules the composition of clothes from base elements.
Definition 2: A grammar G is a tuple G=(V, ∑, P, S) with:
»» ∑ is an alphabet
»» V is a vocabulary (with ∑⊆V)
»» P is the set of production rules over V
»» S is the start symbol (with S∈V∖∑). 
The elements from V∖∑ are called variables: a variable is a name of composite. For example,
the variable suit is composed from trousers and jacket, the latter are base elements from
the alphabet ∑. That is, a corresponding language of clothes would have a production rule
that describes this combination (see section 3.2. that provides a more comprehensive ex-
ample).
Definition 3: A production rule is a pair of words over the vocabulary V of a grammar G=(V,
∑, P, S) such that:
(x,y)∈P :⇔ x∈ V*∖∑* und y∈V*.
Instead of (x,y)∈P we write: x→y. 
3.2. Sample Language of Clothes of the Genre of “Western Movies”

The following example sketches the language of clothes of the genre of Western movies.
The corresponding sample alphabet ∑’={Trousers, Jacket, Skirt, Loincloth, Vest, Corsage,
Scarf, Boots, Ankle-Boots, Moccasins, Shoes, Shirt, Blouse, Hat, Headband, Feather-Trim-
ming, Sheriff-Star} is the set of base elements of the genre. The set {Sheriff, Barman, Sa-
loon-Lady, Indian, Bandit, Suit} is the set of sample variables; these variables are names for
possible clothes of roles in Western films. Thus, the overall vocabulary of our example is
V’={Trousers, Jacket, Skirt, Loincloth, Vest, Suit, Corsage, Scarf, Boots, Ankle-Boots, Mocca-
sins, Shoes, Shirt, Blouse, Hat, Headband, Feather-Trimming, Sheriff-Star, Sheriff, Barman,
Saloon-Lady, Indian, Bandit}.
The following rules are a sample set of production rules P’ over the vocabulary V’ (S is the
start symbol):
1. Suit ⟶ Trousers Vest Jacket
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2. Suit ⟶ Trousers Jacket
3. Sheriff ⟶ Suit Shirt Boots Sheriff-Star
4. Sheriff ⟶ Trousers Vest Boots Shirt Sheriff-Star
5. Sheriff ⟶ Trousers Shirt Boots Sheriff-Star
6. Sheriff ⟶ Trousers Vest Boots Shirt Hat Sheriff-Star
7. Sheriff ⟶ Trousers Shirt Boots Hat Sheriff-Star
8. Barman ⟶ Trousers Vest Shoes
9. Saloon-Lady ⟶ Skirt Blouse Corsage Ankle-Boots
10. Saloon-Lady ⟶ Skirt Corsage Ankle-Boots
11. Saloon-Lady ⟶ Skirt Blouse Corsage Ankle-Boots Hairband
12. Saloon-Lady ⟶ Skirt Corsage Ankle-Boots Hairband
13. Indian ⟶ Moccasins Loincloth Vest Feather-Trimming
14. Indian ⟶ Moccasins Loincloth Vest
15. Indian ⟶ Moccasins Loincloth Feather-Trimming
16. Indian ⟶ Loincloth Feather-Trimming
17. Bandit ⟶ Trousers Shirt Vest Scarf Boots Hat
18. Bandit ⟶ Suit Shirt Scarf Boots Hat
19. S ⟶ Sheriff
20. S ⟶ Barman
21. S ⟶ Saloon-Lady
22. S ⟶ Indian
23. S ⟶ Bandit
These production rules generally result from an analysis of a corpus of films that has been
selected as being representative for a certain genre. After analysis of the corpus all produc-
tion rules have been captured that specify the composition of clothes from base elements
of the roles that occur in the analyzed films. Thus, the clothes of the genre are described
words over the alphabet ∑ of the base elements, which can be produced by these produc-
tion rules. As usual, produce means – even repeated – application of production rules, i.e.
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the replacement of a symbol in a word on the left side of a production rule by the word of
the right side of the production rule. If a word y can be produced from another word x by
applying production rules, it is usual to write x ⤳ y.
Applying production rules (19), (3) and (1) yields S ⤳ (Trousers Vest Jacket Shirt Boots She-
riff-Star), i.e. this word represents valid clothes in a Western film:
S ⟶ Sheriff ⟶ Suit Shirt Boots Sheriff-Star
⟶ Trousers Vest Jacket Shirt Boots Sheriff-Star
The grammar G’=(V’,∑’,P’,S) is an example of how the meaningful words, i.e. clothes, of the
language of clothes of Western films can be determined.
3.3. Language of Clothes and Costume Fundus

The set of all words of a grammar that can be generated from the start symbol S, is also cal-
led “the language generated by the grammar.” A language generated by a grammar is thus
the set of all meaningful words that can be build by composing symbols from an alphabet
∑; hereby, the term “meaningful”, which was still used informally in Definition 1, is clarified.
Definition 4: The set of all words that can be generated from the start symbol and the
production rules of a grammar G is called the language L(G) generated by the grammar G.
Thus, it is
L(G) := {x∈∑* | S ⤳ x} 
For our sample grammar G’=(V’,∑’,P’,S) from Section 3.2, L (G’) is the set of all clothes of our
sample corpus of Western movies.
To define the language of clothes of a genre the vocabulary of this genre must be defined
first. For this purpose, the base elements ∑B of the genre have to be identified and the varia-
bles VB∖∑B have to be specified; in practice, this is done by analyzing the corpus of the corre-
sponding genre. Similarly, the production rules PB are determined by analysis of the corpus.
The choice of an arbitrary start symbol SB then completes the grammar GB=(VB,∑B,PB,SB) of
the language of clothes of the genre. The language of clothes of the genre itself then is the
language L(GB) generated by the grammar GB:
Definition 5: The language L(GB) generated by the grammar GB=(VB,∑B,PB,SB) is called langu-
age of clothes. 
This definition of a language of clothes goes far beyond the domain of movies, i.e., the
104
above formal definition is applicable in a variety of domains in which clothes play a role. For
example, clothes with a specific use such as casual wear, protective clothes, festive clothing,
etc. can be considered as languages of clothes. Similarly, clothes that have been created by
a certain fashion designer or clothes offered by a particular fashion label may be seen as
separate languages of clothes. Further applications of the above definition of languages of
clothes such as clothes worn by actors in theater productions or clothes of subcultures like
punks or skinheads seem to be obvious.
In the domain we are mostly interested in in this contribution, namely clothes that actors
wear in movies, clothes is referred to as costume. I.e. the plain use of clothes in a movie
turns clothes into costumes (aside: the same is true for clothes used in the theater). In
this sense, in the domain of movies one is tempted to speak interchangeably of costume
language and language of clothes. But this synonymous use of “clothes” and “costume” in
the domain of movies (and, thus, equating the terms “language of clothes” and “costume
language”) falls short: a costume is clothes with intended effect in a movie (see Definition 6
and Definition 7). Also, a language of clothes has to capture the conventions of the use of
clothes, i.e. the recurring use of clothes to solve the problem of achieving particular effects
in movies. Typically, a variety of clothes achieve the same effect, i.e. the formation of equi-
valence classes (of clothes achieving the same effect) is necessary to turn concrete clothes
into elements of a costume language (see Definition 8).
Thus, concrete clothes that are observed in movies must first be analyzed for their effect.
The explicit choice of clothes with intended effect from the set of words of a language of
clothes L(GB) results in a set of costumes that we call costume fundus C; a costume fundus
C is a subset of a language of clothes L(GB), i.e. C ⊆ L(GB). The (intended) effect of clothes
can be determined in various ways. It can be found, for example, by having a representa-
tive test group of spectators or a set of movie experts analyzing the movie corpus. Or the
frequency of occurrence of certain clothes in the corpus can be taken as evidence of the
effect as a costume, at least signaling the convention of the use of the corresponding clo-
thes. Formally, we represent the selection of clothes from L(GB) because of their effect by a
Boolean function e:
Definition 6: A function e: L(GB) ⟶ {true, false} is called effect function. 
Thus, a costume c is a piece of clothes c ∈ L(GB) “with effect”, i.e. a piece of clothes c beco-
mes a costume if and only if e(c)=true:
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Definition 7: The set C = {c ∈ L(GB) | e(c)=true} is called costume fundus. 
3.4. Costumes as Patterns and the Definition of Costume Language

The effect function e indicates whether or not a piece of clothes c has an effect or not, i.e.
whether a piece of clothes is a costume of not. A costume language needs to go beyond
just indicating that a piece of clothes has an effect: it must express this effect by showing
the conventions behind the costumes. In order to express conventions behind the use of
costumes, costumes with “the same effect” must be identified. This identification of costu-
mes that have the same effect is formalized by an equivalence relation ≈ (see Definition 8).
For a costume c its equivalence class [c]≈ is the set of all costumes with an effect similar to
that of c (see Definition 8).
Example: In the Western genre, all clothes worn by a sheriff in one of the movies of the cor-
pus are analyzed with respect to their effect. Some of these clothes may not have the effect
of signaling of “being a sheriff”, e.g. when a sheriff wears pajamas because he is about going
to bed. This kind of clothes is omitted from the costume fundus because the effect functi-
on e will assign to these clothes the value “false”. In the Western genre, there will be other
costumes like the ones of barmen etc.: the equivalence relation ≈ will separate all costumes
of sheriffs from all costumes of a barmen by putting them into separate equivalence classes
[sheriff]≈ and [barman]≈.
Each such equivalence class [x]≈ represents the proven solutions of the problem of achie-
ving a particular effect in a movie by using certain clothes. E.g. the equivalence class [she-
riff]≈ contains all sheriff costumes that have been successfully used in the movies of the
corpus to signal that a character is a sheriff, i.e. each one of these costumes may be used in
future to indicate a sheriff. Such proven solutions to recurring problems are called patterns
(Alexander et al., 1977).
Typically, solutions are considered “proven” if they have been successfully applied multi-
ple times. Thus, we define a natural number N∈ℕ such that only equivalence classes with
card([x]≈)>N, i.e. equivalence classes with more than N members, are considered as pat-
terns. We call such patterns in our domain costume patterns. Thus, a certain costume pat-
tern consists of a set of more than N costumes that achieve the same effect.
Definition 8: The equivalence relation ≈ ⊆ C×C determines costumes with the same effect,
i.e.
(x,y) ∈ ≈ :⇔ x and y have “the same effect”.
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Instead of (x,y)∈≈ it is also usual to write x≈y.
[x]≈ := {y∈C | x≈y} is an equivalence class of costumes with the same effect. The set of all
equivalence classes is denoted by
P:=C/≈ = {[x]≈| x∈C}.
With N∈ℕ we call
PN := {[x]≈ | x∈C ⋀ card([x]≈)>N}
the set of costume patterns. 
Figure 6 depicts the relation between costumes and costume patterns: costumes from the
costume fundus C that have the same effect are abstracted by means of the equivalence
relation ≈ into a costume pattern Pi ∈ P. Thus, identifying costumes that solve the same
effect problem, i.e. that have the same effect, is a process of abstraction.
Figure 6: Identification of patterns as a process of abstraction
Figure 7 gives a concrete example of this abstraction process: the three costumes of a she-
riff in the costume fundus C are abstracted into the “sheriff” costume pattern shown in the
set of costume patterns P.
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Figure 7: Sample abstraction of costumes into a pattern
Costume patterns are not isolated but they are related to each other. This is because in
situations in which a certain pattern is applicable other patterns are often applicable too.
Such relations are described by directed edges pointing from one pattern to another one.
These relations often have certain semantics: for example, the Barman costume pattern of-
ten “jointly appears” with the Saloon-Lady costume pattern, or the Sheriff costume pattern
is often related by “fondness” to the Saloon-Lady costume pattern (see Figure 8).
Figure 8: Sample costume language
Thus, costume patterns together with the pattern relations form a directed graph (see Figu-
re 9) is called costume language.
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Figure 9: Costume language as a graph of costume patterns
Definition 9: Let V𝛼 ⊆ PN×PN be the set of all relations of a certain semantics 𝛼∈{𝛼1,...,𝛼k}
between costume patterns. {V𝛼} is the set of pattern relations between the costume patterns
PN. The pair (PN, {V𝛼}) is called costume language. 
The justification for calling this graph a “language” is as follows: to solve a particular problem
a first pattern of the pattern language is identified. Then the relations of this pattern to
other patterns are inspected. If appropriate some of these patterns are selected to “enhan-
ce” or “complete” the first solution and so on. This way, combinations of patterns are built
similar to building words from an alphabet. The difference to the notion of a language from
Definition 5 is that meaningful words are not generated by a grammar but by navigating
through a graph. Nevertheless, the graph determines what meaningful combinations are.
3.5. Language of Clothes Primitives and Operational Aspects of Clothes

The composition of base elements from clothes primitives is also of importance to determi-
ne costumes (and their effect): the difference between a leather vest without a collar and a
fabric vest with shawl collar as a concrete realization of the base element “vest” is essential.
Therefore, the set ∑p (primitives) of clothes primitives of the costumes of the genre and
their composition into basic elements is determined. For example, the alphabet of clothes
primitives for the genre of Western movies is ∑p = {collar, sleeves, ...}. The specific composi-
tion of the base elements from primitives is described by a set of production rules Pp. Thus,
we can define a grammar Gp the variables of which are the base elements, the alphabet of
which are the clothes primitives, and the production rules describe the compositions of
base elements from primitives.
Definition 10: The language L(Gp) generated by the grammar Gp=(Vp,∑p,Pp,Sp) is called lan-
guage of (clothes) primitives. 
L(Gp) is the language that describes the composition of base elements from clothes primi-
tives. This language is mostly of “technical” interest, such as for sewers, dressers, etc. Its
aspect that is relevant for a costume fundus is in describing subtle differences in the base
elements which in turn may correlate e.g. with special characteristics of a role. However, the
language of primitives is an important aspect of a costume language as a pattern language,
i.e. as a language proving proven solutions to recurring problems: the language of primiti-
ves specifies the “manufacturing” part of the overall solution of the “effect” problem to be
solved by a costume.
Thus, our approach connects the base elements of a costume c∈C with words from the lan-
109
guage of clothes primitives L(Gp) to describe the composition of base elements of a costu-
me from primitives: let c be a costume, i.e. c is a word b1...bn from L(GB). Then, each base
element bi∈∑B of the word c can be associated with a word from L(Gp). This word pi1...pik
from L(Gp) describes the composition of the base element bi of the costume from primitives
pi1...pik. By substituting each base element bi of the costume c=b1...bn by the corresponding
word bi=pi1...pik we derive c=p11p12...pi1pi2...pnk: thus, the costume is described in its composi-
tion from primitives, i.e. the costume became a subject of manufacturing. As a consequen-
ce, the costume can be (re-)produced.
Beside understanding the production of each base elements of a costume the correct com-
bination of these base elements into the costume to solve an effect problem is relevant. If
the costume of the sheriff contains, among other things, a shirt, a vest and a sheriff’s star, it
is essential whether the sheriff‘s star is attached to the shirt or to the vest. In our approach
relations between the base elements represent this information.
Definition 11: A subset of pairs of base elements with a certain meaning B is called base
relation RB:
RB ⊆ ∑B×∑B. 
In this context, “meaning” B states, for example, whether for a pair (x,y)∈∑B×∑B it is true that
x is fixed to y (i.e., B = fixed_to – e.g. Sheriff’s star fixed to vest); or that x is worn over y (i.e. B
= worn_over – e.g. vest worn over shirt); or x is wrapped around y (i.e. B = wrapped_around
– e.g. Belt wrapped around trousers); etc.
These base relations are thus an essential aspect of a costume as a solution to a problem:
they specify an operational way to combine base elements into a costume (Schumm, Bar-
zen, Leymann, & Ellrich, 2012). Because of their operational semantics we call base relations
also (combination) operators. The operators and their order of application imply a procedu-
re, which is essential for dressing of a costume (Schumm, Barzen, Leymann, & Ellrich, 2012).
110
Figure 10: Formal concepts within our method to derive costume languages
By refining Figure 4 with the formal concepts developed in this section, Figure 10 summa-
rizes the formal aspects of our approach and relates them to the methodological aspects
of our approach from section 2. The ontology used for capturing details about clothes is
denoted by O, while the set of base relations, which describe the operational semantics of
the combination of the base elements is denoted by {RB}. Clothes primitives (i.e. L(Gp)) are
captured in the ontology O, and the same is true for base elements (i.e. L(GB)). Clothes cor-
respond to words of L(GB) as indicated by the double-line in the figure. By applying the effect
function e to clothes, the costume fundus C results. Grouping costumes that have the same
effect, i.e. applying the equivalence relation ≈, and considering only “proven” solutions (i.e.
ones that appear more than N times), results in the set of costume patterns PN. Connecting
the patterns with the observed relations between them results in the costume language.
4. Generalization: Formalism for Solutions and

Pattern Languages
Our formalization can be generalized to be applicable in other domains in which solutions
should be abstracted to patterns and structured into pattern languages. The generalized
formalization (see Figure 11) is a first step towards a formal joint representation of solutions
and patterns, as well as the relation between solutions and pattern languages.
111
Figure 11: Formal concepts for pattern languages with associated solutions
In another domain, the ontology O as well as the relations {RB} between the corresponding
concepts of O must to be substituted by another model D of the corresponding universe
of discourse (see Figure 11). The domain specific model D captures the metadata (types)
about this domain as well as the data (instances), just like O captures the types of clothes
(e.g. base elements like trousers, shirts, belts, boots,…) and their relations as well as all
concrete clothes observed in the corpus. In another domain, a formal language S (“Solution
Language”) is used to control all valid occurrences of combinations of the types (and their
instances), just like L(GB) controls all valid combinations of base elements into clothes. L(Gp)
represents additional details about the base elements which is irrelevant for the analogy
with other domains here and is, thus, omitted – but other domains may similarly refine their
solution language.
Next, words from S must be evaluated with respect to their effect, i.e. whether or not they
achieve the goal of being a solution to a problem in the domain. Thus, a domain specific
effect function e is applied to derive the set of effective solutions S, just like the costume
fundus C is derived. By identifying solutions to the same problem, i.e. by treating such solu-
tions as “equivalent” by means of a domain specific equivalence relation ≈, the patterns PN
of the domain are identified (only considering equivalence classes above a certain cardina-
lity to indicate that the class of solutions are proven). Finally, patterns are associated based
on the domain specific set of relations {V𝛼}. This way, the pattern language (PN, {V𝛼}) of the
domain is created.
112
The domain model D, the solution language S and, consequently, the set of effective solu-
tions S is domain dependent; the same is true for the effect function e and the equivalen-
ce relation ≈. Thus, for each domain in which pattern languages should be derived from
solutions or new working solutions associated with a patterns should be documented, the
formal concepts D, S, e, S and ≈ must be specified. In contrast, the way in which patterns PN
are described and related (i.e. {V𝛼}) is (nearly) domain independent (note, that the semantics
of the relations may be domain dependent).
Figure 12: Implementation aspect
The knowledge about solutions and patterns from a specific domain can be stored in cor-
responding repositories. Solution repositories, i.e. repositories that store knowledge about
solutions, are highly dependent on the domain model D as well as the solution language S
as they define the metadata of the domain and control valid combinations. Thus, solution
repositories must be built for each domain specific to D and S (see Figure 12). The kind
in which patterns are described turned out to be quite domain independent, i.e. a single
pattern repository seem to suffice to capture pattern languages (PN, {V𝛼}) from very different
domains. Finally, links between patterns and the solutions they have been derived from (or
solutions that are build according to a pattern’s high-level solution description and then
“harvested” into the solution repository) can be established based on a multitude of linking
mechanisms (e.g. RDF).
5. Summary and Outlook

In this article, we proposed a method to identify costume patterns in the domain of movies
as well as a corresponding pattern language. This method is also applicable to other do-
mains. Furthermore, we have formally defined the term “costume language”. This formaliza-
tion can be used for both purposes, capture operational knowledge about costumes as well
113
as provide a solid base for discussions about costumes in the media science. Our method
and formalization may also be seen as a contribution to Digital Humanities proving that
modeling, formal languages, and patterns are powerful tools in these domains too.
Currently, we are in the process of capturing clothes from a corpus of movies. The captured
information is based on the formalization of clothes and costumes described in this article,
and it is stored in a corresponding solution repository. The solution repository is analyzed
to derive the costume patterns and relations between them and the result is stored in a
pattern repository (see Figure 13); the repositories follow the architecture from Figure 12.
Details about these repositories and the corresponding tool environment are described in
the accompanying article (Fehling, Barzen, Falkenthal, & Leymann, 2014).
Figure 13: Formal concepts and repositories
6. Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Christoph Fehling for many discussions on pattern languages and their
methodological determination. Also, we would like to thank Michael Falkenthal for the dis-
cussions on the feasibility of solution repositories and his insight in their implementations.
Furthermore, we want to thank all participants of the PURPLSOC Workshop for their feed-
back, good ideas and support, and special thanks to the participants of our working group.
114
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Cultivating
the Feeling
Dimension
of the Pattern
Approach: A
Report from
the First
Course in
Wilderness-
Based
Urbanism
118
Schwab, Daniel
Unaffiliated, Greifswald, Germany
dns@posteo.de
A pattern is defined here is a sustainable and synergi-

stic interaction of environment, human behavior and
human feeling. It is argued that the task of understan-
ding felt experience in relation to the environment is
crucial to creating environments characterized by pat-
terns in the built environment. Given the centrality of
feeling in this definition of the pattern, the techniques
for cultivating awareness of it are neglected in the pat-
tern literature. This article details an attempt to teach
urban planning students how to cultivate felt experi-
ence in relation to the environment during a wilder-
ness-based urbanism course taught at the Technical
University of Berlin in 2014 using practices based in
ecopsychology. The goal of the course was to encoura-
ge a shift of perspective and deepening experience of
the self-environment relationship, with a view to trans-
forming sustainable urban design practice and dis-
course. The methods and findings are presented and
discussed.
Quality without a name; feeling; embodiment,

wilderness; design with nature
119
1. Theoretical Background
The conventional approach to sustainability in architectural and urban design has been
criticized as shallow, with architects missing some fundamental understanding of what con-
stitutes genuinely sustainable building (Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S. Silverstein, M., Jacobson,
M., Fiksdahl-King, I., and Angel, S., 1977; Alexander 1979; Alexander, 2001-5; Alexander, C.,
Neis, H., & Alexander, MM., 2012; Salingaros 2013). Salingaros (2011) has also asserted that
university architecture students are still indoctrinated with modernist thinking which is an-
tithetical to the task of genuinely sustainable building and difficult to overturn. It is argued
that a genuinely sustainable built environment needs to be founded on wholly different
premises. It would mimic life (Beatley 2008, Kellert et al., 2008) or be even living in some
fundamental sense (Alexander, 2001-5; Alexander et al., 2012).
According to Christopher Alexander, true sustainability is achieved by a “symbiosis of buil-

ding form, social behavior, and human feeling” (Alexander et al., 2011, 1). This symbiosis is
at the core of what he calls the “timeless way of building” (Alexander, 1979) which is “sus-
tainable” in a more-than-superficial sense, even “alive”. Alexander also called the grouping
of these three elements - building form, social behavior, and human feeling – a pattern. For
Alexander, a complete collection of coherent patterns encompassing all physical levels of
scale constituted a pattern language (Alexander et. al., 1977). Analogous sustainable “triadic”
groupings involving (1) the environment, (2) human behavior or culture and (3) the human
mind into a single system or unity have been noted in diverse contexts by Nicholas Entrikin
(2001), David Kidner (2001) and David Seamon (2008), suggesting that the phenomenon
is important for establishing a sustainability that goes beyond superficial measures. David
Kidner for example writes that in sustainable cultures, “culture, place and psyche, if not
distorted by some other influence, tend to coalesce to form a mutually sustaining whole”
(Kidner, 2001, 174).
This PURPLSOC volume shows how the idea of the “pattern” has been taken up in an extraor-
dinary number of contexts, and most of them conceive of the pattern in terms of a solution
to a given problem in a context. The definition of the pattern presented here is related to
those in the sense that I see the pattern is an effective solution to a given problem. Howe-
ver, the problem is specific: I believe that the significance of the pattern lies in the radicality
of its triadic nature. The triadic pattern is radical, or goes to the deep roots of our under-
standings, because it steps very explicitly across the Cartesian borderline. It links subjective
and objective moments into a single frame. When human sense of felt rightness is experi-
enced in and expressed through interaction with the environment, a synergy takes place
that has its own momentum, its own self-sustaining quality. Moreover, this self-sustaining
120
Cultivating the Feeling Dimension of the Pattern Approach: A Report from the
First Course in Wilderness-Based Urbanism
quality is propelled forward when human nature and the reality of the natural world come
into alignment. Bringing patterns into the world thus promises to facilitate the eco-cultural
shift or “great turning” (Macy, 1998; Korten, 2007) that our times demand, bringing cultural
and ecological realities into alignment in the service of life.
To foster life, the pattern language project is enriched by our stepping into and more deeply
inhabiting the opportunity that the triadic nature of the pattern poses. This opportunity is
the opportunity to move beyond accepted modalities of thinking, particularly to the degree
that these modalities fall along Cartesian-dualistic lines. The non-dualistic nature of the pat-
tern cuts against the grain of our received understandings of a world in which our subjective
experience floats in a disconnected manner above the objective world. The worldview im-
plied by the pattern links subjectivity and objectivity in a single frame. It is foreign to the du-
alistic mind, which makes it difficult to articulate. Our very language has been trained over
the last centuries to express and reinforce a Cartesian-dualistic world-view, such that we
lack the “sophisticated structures that could reintegrate us with what is outside us” (Kidner,
2001, 77). It should be no surprise, therefore, that over the years, Alexander himself used a
variety of explanatory frameworks to describe it, often slipping back into dualistic language
(Dovey 1990). The triadic concept of the pattern, however, helps us to move beyond Carte-
sian dualism.
This article focuses specifically on the subjective or feeling component in the triad, which
plays an essential binding role in overcoming the subject-object dualism. In earlier years, Al-
exander called this component the Quality Without A Name (Alexander, 1979), in later years
Wholeness or the Mirror of the Self (Alexander, 2001-5).
Today the feeling aspect of Alexander’s work remains ominously absent in many pattern
language discussions. Fellow architects describe his approach as “mystique” (Duany, 2008)
and “not based on hard critical thinking or careful research but instead on a New Age flo-
wer-child wishfulness” (Saunders, 2002, 4). However, these characterizations do not stem
from a thoroughgoing investigation of his actual methods, nor an appreciation of how his
work was an attempt to overcome the dualistic split between subjective and objective wor-
lds and to ground human action in the reality of nature. Several scholars (Grabow 1983;
Portugali 2006; Seamon 2007), have, however, have linked Alexander’s work to phenome-
nology, which is an attempt to understand the world non-dualistically, although Alexander
himself made no such claim.
Alexander, despite the fact that he lamented its disappearance from building practice, and
also was aware of its relationship to other forms of inquiry including Gestalt Psychology
121
and the Buddhist Visuddhimagga text (Alexander, 2001-5, vol 1, 368), did not develop new
methods nor encourage the engagement of existing ones that would have strengthened
the architect’s capacity to understand his or her own subjective experience in connection
with the environment. To my knowledge, he made at most a passing reference to “an entire
literature in contemporary psychology, including the gestalt psychology of Frederick Perls
and hundreds of others” (2001 – 5, vol. 1, 368), but failed to develop this connection further.
Important also to the approach presented here is that fact Alexander emphasized throug-
hout his opus that the kind of feeling that he valued was especially accessible in nature (e.g.
Alexander, 1977, 806; 2001-5, book 4, 57). Again in this instance, he neglected to connect
this insight to other literatures, which emphasize the importance of going into nature to de-
veloping particular aspects of consciousness or subjectivity. This fact, as well as the general
meaning and significance of nature, have also been overlooked by scholars of Alexander
and the pattern community.
To my knowledge, Ritu Bhatt (2010) is alone in attempting to connect Alexandrian method

to connect Alexander’s work to other feeling-oriented practices besides phenomenology.
Bhatt included “Feldenkrais method, the Alexander technique, body-mind centering, eut-
ony, yoga, martial arts and dance movement therapy” (Bhatt 2010, 721) as disciplines that
focus on the patterns of relationship between felt experience and the world.
Especially considering that others have found similar triadic constellations to Alexander’s,
I am convinced that Alexander was onto something, but that more work remains ahead to
understand the phenomenon he was referring to. According to Stephen Grabow (1983),
Alexander worked to establish a completely new paradigm in architectural thinking. Dovey
(1990) also acknowledged that his work attempted to break with a great number what Do-
vey called “enemies” of the Pattern Language approach: thought traditions such as positi-
vism, relativism, and capitalism which dominate not only western thought, but also social
and environmental relations. According to Dovey, Alexander accomplished this break with
established traditions sometimes more, sometimes less successfully. Ritu Bhatt (2010) has
also called the pattern language approach an attempt to “dissolve the limits of both empiri-
cism and relativism” (Bhatt 2010) in architectural practice.
My approach has been to try to elucidate Alexander’s contribution using the emerging
language of ecopsychology. Ecopsychology attempts to give language and meaning to the
experienced relationship between humans and nature (Roszak 1992) drawing on a range
of approaches, notably humanistic psychology (Chalquist, 2007; Schroll, 2011) and phe-
nomenology (Abram, 1997, 2010; Vakoch, D. A., & Castrillión, F., 2014), which both also
122
characterize the Alexandrian approach. In its “radical” form, ecopsychology has the specific
goal transforming society towards becoming more life-honoring (Glendinning, 1994; Kidner,
2001; Fisher, 2013) in a way that is congruent with the Great Turning. Radical ecopsychology
mounts its project by combining approaches from humanistic, somatic, transpersonal and
critical psychologies, phenomenological hermeneutics, ecosocialism, and radical ecology
to critique and “decolonize” the way in which “industrialized” (Kidner 2001) or “technologi-
cal-capitalist” (Fisher 2013) society destroys life.
I see the overall thrust of radical ecopsychology (Fisher 2002) as being broadly congruent
with the one described by Alexander et al. (2012), who described their work as a “battle
for life and beauty of the Earth”, in terms of an ongoing struggle between two “world-sys-
tems”, one which was inherently life-preserving, the other life-destroying. His approach to
architecture was an attempt to contribute to the life-preserving form of building. Given the
links between Alexander’s views and those espoused by ecopsychologists, I have recently
proposed (Schwab 2014b) that an ecopsychological approach to the built environment can
further the potentials of movements such as sustainable urbanism to be life-supporting
and sustainable in the more-than-superficial sense which is characteristic of the pattern.
From an ecopsychological perspective, the problem of developing a new paradigm in en-

vironmental thinking is rooted in the reality of living in an urban-industrial physical milieu:
What we might call the ‘ecological tendency’ of systems ensures that thought processes and
physical surroundings, at least in a facilitative ideological environment, tend toward con-
sistency with each other; and aspects of subjectivity that are inconsistent with this evolving
gestalt will be driven further from consciousness. …Those of us who inhabit more urba-
nized areas find it difficult to develop the environmentally aware states of consciousness
that are sensitively attuned to the ‘more-than-human’ world, and so may be more prone
to developing variants of environmentalism that are derived reactively from the patterns of
industrialism (Kidner, 2001, 223-4).
In general, therefore, our epistemologies are in effect industrially “colonized”, not only by
our education, but also by our physically living in an urbanized-industrialized surround. A
life spent in this environment encourages in us a “fantasy” (Kidner, 2001, 149) that the ego
alone is active and the world is passive. As Paul Shepard writes,
Life in a made world slowly builds in the child the feeling that nonlivingness is the normal
state of things. Existence is shaped from the outside or put together. Eventually, he will
conclude that there is no intrinsic unfolding, no unique, inner life at all, only substance
that, being manipulated, gives the illusion of spontaneity…. He will believe that either (a)
123
all life, including people, is, in fact machines … or (b) the only truly living things are people
(Shepard, 1982, 102).
From this perspective, interaction with the natural environment, particularly wilderness, is
necessary for overcoming our epistemological “colonization” by industrialism (Fisher, 2002;
Glendinning, 1994; Kidner, 2001; Turner, 1996). I argued therefore (Schwab, 2014a) that
if planners of the built environment wished to design in a truly sustainable way (in a way
that is sustainable in a more, than superficial sense, or in a sense that is patterned) that
they would also need to spend time in wilderness. By spending time in wilderness and
opening themselves to its influence on their subjectivity, I offered, planners might begin to
think in ways that were patterned according to nature, rather than according to the urban
environment, and this in turn could help open up new kinds of ways of thinking about the
city-nature relationship that were more attuned to the reality of nature. I proposed that
direct experience of nature could be helpful in helping to orient their thinking in a direction
that was more supportive of the production of living architecture.
I argue that the wilderness-based approach is also relevant for the development of pattern
research. If pattern research is in some sense research into how our society can be radically
transformed, part of the Great Turning from an industrially productive to a life-honoring
society, then the “re-wilding” (Kidner. 2010; Kahn, P. and Hasbach, P. H. 2013) of the human
mind should form an integral part. This paper presents the results of the first opportunity
to put these theoretical propositions to practice.
2. Putting theory into practice

2.1. Setup of the course
On the 27th and 28th of July 2014, I led a course on “Wilderness-Based Urbanism” at the
Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin), Germany. The goal of the course was to explore
whether and how ecopsychological practice would change the way in which students un-
derstood their relationship to nature, and how this might impact their understanding of
“urban design with nature” (Farr 2008).
Three students joined me for the course. It was the first course at TU Berlin that dealt with
ecopsychology. Of the students, two were female, one male. All three students were en-
rolled in either a bachelors or masters course in urban and regional planning at TU Berlin.
Their ages were estimated to be between twenty-two and thirty. All students signed up
voluntarily for the course and took part voluntarily in the exercises discussed below.
124
I, as the teacher, and the three students met for 2 consecutive eight-hour days to immerse
ourselves in a wilderness-like setting and take up ecopsychological practices.
The students spent the entirety of the first day in a grassy clearing in the wooded park of
Grünewald in western Berlin. The site was about one kilometer away from the nearest road
and from any built-up areas, and was surrounded by woods on all sides. It was chosen for
its wilderness-like characteristics while being in close proximity to the university and easily
reachable by public transport and on foot.
The goal of the day was to facilitate a “return to experience” in relationship to the natural
world context, a recovery of a felt sense of the natural and the attainment of a certain criti-
cal distance from the students’ accustomed urban milieu. Based on the claim that experien-
ce occurs first and foremost in the body (Fisher, 2002), the students learned two techniques
designed to draw attention to its sensations.
The students learned two basic practices. The first was a form of meditation based on Zen.
This involved sitting still on the ground and directing the attention towards the breath. Me-
ditation is a basic practice of becoming aware of one’s own experience. By deliberately slo-
wing the mind and concentrating on a single object of awareness, one has the opportunity
to become aware in more detail of the mind’s processes and the external stimuli to which it
is constantly reacting (Fisher, 2001, 112).
Students were asked to find a comfortable place somewhere in grass where the students
were camped for the day and to sit still on the ground for half an hour. They were instructed
to focus on the sensation of their breath at the nostrils. They were instructed that in the ine-
vitable case that they found themselves thinking, they should try and let go of any thoughts
that arose and return to focusing on the breath. They were allowed to keep their eyes open
or closed, as they pleased.
The second practice was based on the Focusing method of Gendlin (1982). The essence of
focusing is that if we pay attention to the sensations of our body, the body provides us with
information about how we feel. Moreover, by “asking” our body how we feel, we can enter
into a kind of dialogue with it, thereby gaining more detailed information, and finding ways
to verbalize it.
Traditional focusing involves a set of steps which can be repeated in a cycle for as many
times as the practitioner wishes. It begins with getting physically comfortable in a seated or
lying position and then “clearing a space,” i.e. taking the time to just be with one’s feelings,
and then asking one’s self “how am I right now?” Then the practitioner allows time for a “felt
125
sense” to emerge in the body, some physical sensation that conveys an emotion that then
can be verbalized. Once a word emerges in the mind that seems to describe the feeling, it
is then checked with the felt sense once again (“resonating”). Then the feeling is examined
once again by asking, “how does this whole thing feel?” and then cycle returns once again to
the search for a “felt sense”.
Fisher writes that Focusing is significant for ecopsychology for three distinct reasons. First,
focusing offers “training in recovering our ability to work from our own bodily experience, to
hear our own inner voice” (Fisher, 2002, 183). This is important because it helps people to
overcome alienation where it has become the norm and a major obstacle to understanding
how the violence of an anti-life society is perpetrated against us.
Second, focusing “locates change work within the life process” (Fisher, 2002, 183). By
connecting us directly to the experience of alienation and recovery from it, the thrust for
change, whether it be in the way we work, engage with others or design things (particularly
the built environment) becomes borne out of direct experience rather than a theoretical
understanding.
Third, focusing emphasizes “creating non-violent and caring environments – shelters from
the storm – within which people may recover their inherent nature” (Fisher, 2002, 184). By
affirming the inherent worth of everyday experience, focusing offers a place to let go of old
patterns of thinking that do not match up with that experience and which hold people back
from adopting more life-giving ways of looking at and responding to the world.
In this course, we practiced a variation of Focusing that explored students’ relationship to

place. Students were asked to imagine themselves in two specific places of their choice.
These places were to be of distinctly different character – one should be a place in which
the students felt they could be truly themselves, or which they loved, or was special to them,
preferably in nature. The other should be a place that they liked less, or in which they felt
uncomfortable. The students were instructed to imagine themselves in each place, and
then, from that place, noticing how the imagined place made them feel in their bodies in
the here-and-now. The goal of this exercise was to determine whether and how participants
might register felt reactions to imagined as well as real places.
After the Focusing exercise, the students were then asked to take two hours to find a place
alone in nature and to explore these practices more fully at their leisure. Following this, we
reconvened, exchanged experiences, and then walked back to the edge of the park.
On the second day, the participants and teacher gathered in an outdoor location on the
126
campus of the Technical University of Berlin. Again, we spent the whole day outside. We
began by sharing experiences from the previous day. Following, we did a feelings map exer-
cise (Rofè 2004) in five qualitatively different urban settings while employing the techniques
learned on the previous day. The goal of this exercise was to give the students the chance
to see whether they could feel an influence of the places on them, and to put words to that
experience. Due space considerations, the details of the feelings map exercise will not be
included in this article.
2.2. Course Timetable

Day One – at Grünewald Park Day Two – at TU Berlin
9 AM Meet at park entrance; general 10:00 Introduction

introduction
9:30 Personal introductions and expecta- 10:30 Sharing stories from the previous
tions / hopes for the course day
10:00 Theoretical introduction to ecopsy- 12:00 Lunch
chology.
10:45 Mindful walk into the park 12:45 Feelings map exercise
11:30 Introduction to meditation practice 3:30 Closing workshop
12:00 Focusing exercise
12:45 Lunch
1:30 Sit Spot
3:30 Coming back together
4:00 Conclusion and walk back to park
entrance
After the course, the students were asked to write a written reflection on the course, and
specifically how they felt that their understanding of “urban design with nature” had chan-
ged.
2.3. The Students’ Experience

2.4. Starting Point
In their written reflections, the students were asked to specifically reflect on what their initial
understanding of a “close-to-nature” urban planning meant. Their answers were expressed
primarily in spatial terms. One student wrote she had seen the “protection and creation of
open and green spaces” of being of primary importance. Another mentioned the empha-
sis on “artificially greening the built environment in a way that nature could come at least
superficially closer and affect people positively…. This could be accomplished in unused
127
lots, on building walls and roofs or in new unplanned spaces.” The third wrote that for him
“nature consisted mostly of trees and unsealed ground where grass grows, and birds and
other animals. Nature is that which is green. Following form this, planning with nature con-
sists of exactly these elements.”
2.4.1. Student Reports of the Effect of the Course
All of the students reported changes of perspective as a result of the course. Two reported
that they felt out-of-place at the beginning of the first day in nature, and all three remarked
that after a short time, there was a sense of relaxation. One noted more precisely a that
a feeling of “inner contentment and relaxation” set in. They were surprised at the relaxing
effect of simply spending time in nature but found it pleasant and said that it was something
they were glad to find out about and would like to repeat. During our conversations, all the
students noticed the calming effect of nature in comparison to life in the city and were easily
able to become aware of the ways in which their bodies responded to the environments
around them. They were also surprised that they had strong felt reactions to different pla-
ces during the feelings map exercise. At least one of the participants also was genuinely
surprised that the Focusing process of imagining different places purely in the imagination
could also cause directly felt sensations in the body.
In their reflections, all of the students wrote about the experience of “coming down” in the
presence of nature. One participant remarked on the process of meditation in nature:
There occurred in over and over special moments, and every minute more, during which
thinking about nothing came bit a closer and I could let myself fall even more. Gradually, a
relaxation overcame me and an inner peace, felt in my body, let me know that something
had happened.
After the first full day in the woods, that same student noted,
On the way to the city I noticed how loud and stressful it is there. I noticed how everything
runs in parallel, how I had to react to numerous situations simultaneously, and how this
overstimulation overwhelmed my body. I reacted [to the first day] with extreme tiredness,
although the whole day must have been one of the most relaxed in the last weeks. This
leads me to conclude the my body for almost the first time developed a natural defense
reaction against the stressful urban every day life, and simply could not give in to the hectic
flow and the overwhelm. This feeling will remain forever in my memory and I will try in the
future more often to come down and thereby allow the conscious feeling of nature to do
me some good and to bring the natural closer to me.
128
All the students also noted some changes in the way they thought about “design with na-
ture”. This was marked by a general shift to conceptualizing it as “a different way of thinking”
rather than simply the act of arranging green elements spatially. One participant wrote:
As a result of the seminar, the meaning of being close to nature has broadened a lot. In
relation to planning, being close to nature doesn’t mean simply, as in the beginning, the
artificial design of Green in urban space, but rather a different approach to planning. It’s
about beginning with one’s self as a person and not trying to neutrally judge and analyze
the area to be planned…. Ecopsychology goes from the starting point that every person is
a subject who can be involved in the process of planning. It now has to do with thinking
with nature and expanding the formerly principally spatial form of thinking. Thereby a
closer participation of places in the city can be achieved. Their integration is supported by
what is experienced and felt and creates continuity. In this complex system there arises a
kind of vulnerability, but thereby the process of unfolding becomes more important. Now
every place tells its own story and the relationships between them shape the overall picture
of the city.”
Another student recognized the importance of the process of coming back to one’s self,
especially for urban dwellers. He wrote, “what can urban planners do to awaken these fee-
lings even in the city? If planners can accomplish it that residents in big cities are able to
awaken that which I experienced in this workshop, then planners will have succeeded in
integrating nature into the city.”
2.4.2. Follow-up Questionnaire
About six months after the course, I emailed the three students an informal follow-up ques-
tionnaire. I asked:
»» What remains now with you from the course?
»» What do you remember?
»» What impressed you in particular?
»» Did the course change your thinking or ideas about “close-to-nature planning”? If yes, how?
»» What questions remain open now?
Of the three, two students completed the questionnaire. The first essentially restated what
she had written in the first response – that she had been skeptical at first, then experienced
a sense of relaxation and then tiredness after the first day, and that she had found that she
129
was indeed able to experience a connection with nature. She found, however, that it was
difficult to make progress in thinking along ecopsychological lines because no other courses
in her course of study made any reference to ecopsychology.
The second wrote:
During the course and immediately thereafter I imagined ‘Natural city planning’ as a city
planning that uses natural materials and methods, for example the use of plant materials
instead of concrete. But at some point it no longer sounded logical to me.
After the course, I spent a lot of time outdoors in the Tiergarten [a large park in central
Berlin] and asked myself how to connect „city planning“ and „nature“. What could come
out of it? Does natural urban planning mean creating green spaces? Now I have arrived
at an answer.
Close-to-nature planning … fulfills those needs that nature fulfills. Nature is essential for hu-
man beings as a „teacher“. From her, people learn how life comes into being, develops, and
connects things. Most importantly, one learns from it to value life not only for ones own
self, but for all organisms. Socialization? A city doesn’t offer this “education” in the same
way, at least not everywhere in the world. A person living in the city without this education
retreats more and more into his own four walls, often even within his own family.
Close-to-nature means thus for me, the creation of functioning places of contact, that
reflect the functions of nature as much as possible. … A place such as this need not neces-
sarily be “green” or in nature. It must be a place that is accepted by people, that connects
them, that invites them out from their own four walls and stops the spread of ever-more
single-person households.
3. Discussion
3.1. Ecopsychological Reflections on the course
In their reflections written directly following the course, all the students wrote that the cour-
se had a profound effect.
An important result of this course was that the students began to make genuine eco-psy-
chological shifts. First of all, they all wrote that their experience in nature had caused them
to slow down. This allowed them to begin to focus on the sensations in their bodies and
emotions and to give them voice. This is what is implied by the phrase “return to experience
130
(Fisher, 2002). With the help of the exercises, they became of their inner sensations. They
began to become aware of the dynamic interplay between their own subjectivity and the
“objective” world. They saw plainly and directly they were physically and emotionally effected
by the environment and expressed realizations of how they felt calmer in nature and how in
contrast the city seemed an inherently stressful place, felt intensely in the awakened body.
They were able, some for the very first time, to become aware of the psychologically drai-
ning effect of the city. In this context, nature emerged as a “non-violent and caring environ-
ment” which could support the students to come back to themselves and begin to some
kind of “inherent nature”. One student communicated verbally to me that she planned to
take up a regular practice of going into nature as a way of caring for herself.
As the students experienced subject-object connectedness, the idea of design with nature
became a more personal process, relating to the interaction of the self and the environ-
ment. In this way, change work on the environment became inseparable from the experi-
enced life process, as the two were experienced as connected. This is Fisher’s second point
about the use of Focusing for ecopsychology.
Having grasped the connection between their subjectivity and the external world. Students
only had a short jump to make in connecting their new understanding to planning. At the
beginning, for all students, “design with nature” was understood primarily in spatial terms,
as the integration of green and urban spaces. This reflected their own experience of them-
selves as isolated subjects. “Nature” then ceased to be simply “something green” which had
to be integrated in simplistic spatial terms into the urban fabric. Instead, students began
to see “nature” as having to do with the integration of inside and outside worlds, and that
a “natural” environment might be one in which the human being felt at home in the world.
Two students even suggested that the ability of an environment to facilitate a person co-
ming back to ones self should be the meaning of “design with nature”, the first expressed
as conveying the experience of nature to urbanites; the other as drawing people out from
within their “four walls”. This need to create safe spaces for human nature is Fisher’s third
point about the relevance of Focusing for ecopsychology.
Also students clearly observed that they felt more comfortable or that their nature was
more fully expressed in some places and less in others. Particularly a traffic roundabout
that we visited during the feelings map exercise felt “oppressive,” compared to the natural
environment, despite its “relaxation character and seating possibilities.” From an ecopsy-
chological perspective, connecting the quality of places directly to embodied experience
helped the students “locate change in the life process” in the sense that experiencing a
place directly as “relaxing” or “oppressive” grounds planning and design decisions in the or-
131
ganismic experience of the encounter with the place. Fostering nature in the city became as
much about fostering the flowering of human nature as it did about an abstractly conceived
external nature.
Planners do not generally consider their own subjectivity to be a significant factor in the
planning process and investigation or cultivation of one’s own subjectivity does not be-
long to the planner’s normal set of skills. Therefore, individual subjectivity was, unsurpri-
singly, not part of these students’ “toolkit”. However, the students easily took up reflective
practices, and saw intuitively how they related to their work as planners. Their education in
thinking about the relationship between people and places had, to some degree, helped
them to see the usefulness of examining this relationship from a first-person perspective.
The course helped students to develop a sense of the process of developing contact with
their own experience, and beginning to locate a sense of the natural that could be sup-
ported better by some environments compared to others. This points to the possibility
that an ecopsychological approach could help people who work in the built environment in
the name of nature to break free of their thought patterns rooted in dualistic thinking and
modernist indoctrination, reified by an urban-industrial milieu. If a deep felt sense of how
the environment affects the human being is necessary for designing nature-friendly, truly
sustainable built environments, then practices of nature immersion, combined with somatic
awareness could serve to catalyze practitioners’ awareness of that connection. Today, these
practices lie well outside the standard planners’ repertoire, yet as little as a 2-day course
seemed enough to give students an initial sense of it.
3.2. Relevance for the Pursuit of Pattern Languages for Societal Change
(PURPLSOC)
The idea of the pattern as a problem-solution set has now been taken up in a wide variety
of contexts, and it is not my place to comment on these. However, what impresses me
about the original notion of the pattern as synergy of place, behavior and feeling is first its
radicality in confronting the accepted paradigms of our era, and second its true significance
for creating sustainable culture. In an era accelerating ecological destruction, I understand
the pursuit of pattern languages for societal change as a pursuit for creating a life-honoring
culture. Therefore, I am interested in uses of the pattern that bring human activity into
deeper contact with - and deeper congruence with - the reality of nature. This is the poten-
tial that I believe that we find in the pattern. The purpose of describing a wilderness-based
approach in this paper was to highlight how our experience of nature could deepen our
understanding of our already patterned relationship to the world and thereby contribute to
a type of pattern work that more potently engages the process of societal change towards
sustainable culture.
132
From the perspective of pattern language research, understanding the dynamic interplay
between subject and object from direct experience is a key ingredient of patterned design
insofar as patterns involve the felt experience of interaction with place. I claim that bringing
attention to the significance of feeling in the creation of patterned environments is key to
their success, for it is only when feeling is included that they become sustainable in a mo-
re-than-superficial sense.
The changes in perspective reported by the students of this course are relevant for pattern
research because they highlight the importance of attending to feeling for developing a
subtler understanding of the self-nature relationship which is at the heart of the pattern.
While patterns can be conceived of as solutions to abstractly conceived problems, I claim
that the transformatively life-giving power of the pattern is its ability to foster a culture that
is grounded in the reality of human embodied interaction in the world. When it does so, it is
capable of re-rooting human culture, physical and otherwise in nature, which is key to deep
sustainability.
3.3. Limitations and Outlook

Several limitations of this study must be addressed.
First of all, this is clearly not a controlled experiment, but rather a reflection on a course
that was designed to promote certain shifts in thinking. The small size of the group also pre-
vents it from being statistically significant. In order to properly investigate the potentials of
ecopsychological approach to problems of sustainability and the pattern language appro-
ach, a larger group should be investigated and a more structured format for data-collection
should be developed.
Second, Greenway (1997), who worked with students extensively in the wilderness, wrote
that it takes at least four days in wilderness to psychologically “cross the boundary into
wilderness”. This course was not able to accomplish that. I therefore propose that a logical
next step would be to offer a longer and more comprehensive course that would allow built
environment practitioners to fully transition into wilderness and develop a more robust un-
derstanding of their Quality-centered and “patterned” relationship to the world. This should
be accompanied by a study of participants changing understandings of the self-environ-
ment relationship as well as their understanding of architecture and the built environment.
133
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Image: MattysFlicks | www.flickr.com/photos/68397968@N07
137
Designing
lively learning
scenarios
How to adapt
Alexander’s
15 spatial
properties
to learning
design?
138
Baumgartner, Peter | Bergner, Ingrid
Department of Interactive Media and Educational Technologies, Danube University
Krems, Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Strasse 30, A-3500 Krems
peter.baumgartner@donau-uni.ac.at
In this paper we delve from an educational perspective

into the theory of Christopher Alexander as presented
in “The Nature of Order”. In this ground-breaking four
volume work, Alexander tried to develop a vision of a
more humane world by exploring the phenomenon
of life and its underlying processes. Inspecting natural
processes, Alexander draws on his experiences in ar-
chitecture and the art of buildings and finally comes up
with 15 fundamental spatial properties, which – in his
view – are necessary for wholeness in all living structu-
res and processes.
From here we derive our research question: Can we
use these 15 properties for lively learning structures
as well? We think so, but one has to adopt theses pro-
perties to education because geometric issues do not
play the same essential role in education as they do
in architecture. We believe that the spatial qualities of
these properties have to be converted into chrono-
logical characteristics, seeing as learning is a process
over time. This paper discusses the rationale for this
assumption and shows how this transformation can be
done.
139
1. Wholeness as the central notion

1.1. Unity: Wholeness as a relational configuration of parts
The concept of “wholeness” in Alexander’s term is a central notion that he uses to un-
derstand the beauty of buildings, their degree of life and their capacity to support lively
interactions between humans. Wholeness means that all parts of an architectonical struc-
ture in question (its walls, roof, garden, trees, street, other buildings etc.) are not isolated
fragments but rather relate to the whole configuration. It is not the different parts that are
essential but the rather the wholeness important.
From this perspective, interdependency does not only exist between parts but also to the
whole structure. Parts and whole have a dynamic interplay consisting of a special kind of
reciprocation of their meanings and significance: “… the local parts exist chiefly in relation
to the whole, and their behavior and character and structure are determined by the larger
whole in which they exist and which they create” (Alexander, 2004, p. 80).
Examples that illustrate the concept of interrelatedness between whole and part in nature
abound. Many science authors discuss these holistic relationships. Here we will just menti-
on a few works in (gestalt) psychology (Haken & Schiepek, 2010; Köhler, 1970; Koffka, 2014),
physics (Bohm, 1981; Capra, 2010; Zukav, 2009) and biology (Carroll, 2005). The concept of
wholeness is a central tenet in chaos and complexity theory where it takes the mathemati-
cal forms of iterations and recursions (J. Holland, 2000; J. H. Holland, 1996; Mitchell, 2009;
Strogatz, 2003).
In spite of plenty scientific references, the holistic paradigm is not yet mainstream in educa-
tion. In pedagogy a mode still dominates in which students have to reproduce different
isolated facts and pre-service teachers are often trained to design courses in terms of serial
additions of various pedagogical components. A typical example is the following (German)
form sheet where teachers-in-training have to plan their lessons in a serial timeline, adding
different educational components one after the other. There is no instrument or tool to
help pre-service teachers to plan a holistic design, e.g. to relate the different building blocks
to each other and to the special class with their varieties of students, to their overall lear-
ning goals respective to the framework curriculum and vice versa.
140
Designing lively learning scenarios: How to adapt Alexander’s 15 spatial properties to learning design?
Fig.1: Form sheet for pre-service teachers (Böhmann & Klaffke, 2010, p. 21)
1.2. Unity: Wholeness as a different mode of consciousness

In the above example, wholeness is still thought in the traditional analytical way: different
parts are connected and interrelated to each other to form a unity. Wholeness is formed
by a bunch of (formerly) isolated elements. As the order, structure and characteristics of
these relationships are not embedded in the parts themselves the famous quote ascribed
to Aristotle gains its significance: “The whole is more than the sum of its parts”.
But it is important to see that an analytical mode of consciousness constructs this kind of
wholeness: wholeness still consists of different parts or components held together by like-
wise different elements of connections which function as a kind of glue in order to create
unity. Both building blocks and relationships are just elements to support the whole unified
structure. “But the unity of this ‘unity in multiplicity’ has the quality of uniformity, and hence
it is static and inflexible. In this mode of consciousness we refer to reducing multiplicity to
141
unity. This is the mechanical unity of a pile of bricks, and not the organic unity of life.” (Bor-
toft, 1996, p.83f.)
An holistic (educational) scenario should not be understood as extensively consisting simply

of different building blocks “glued” together, but rather as a unique situation which cannot
be divided into different isolated pieces or elements. The variety of situations unfolding
from each other has to be understood intensively as an inseparable ‘multiplicity in unity’.
Bortoft explains the different modes of seeing, referring to the distinctions between photo-
graphs and holograms. Dividing a conventional photo results in two different objects each
containing a different part of the original picture. Whereas dividing a hologram also results
in two different material objects but the whole picture is optically reconstructed through
each part; “there is One hologram optically (the One which is many) because each is the very
same One” (Bortoft, 1996, p.86).
The wholeness of the photo is ‘unity in multiplicity’ as it exists after the divi-sion of different pic-
tures. The different parts put together (correctly) generalize the various parts to one whole. In
contrast, the wholeness of the hologram is ‘multiplicity in unity’ because even after the division,
the One whole picture exists throughout all the parts and is universal to all the different parts.
Coming back to the design of educational situations: We cannot trust that wholeness un-
folds with the accumulation and integration of different pedagogical or didactical elements
in the way that a lively architectural structure is built just from diverse elements. To support
lively interactions between humans in architecture as well in education we need a change
of consciousness. Instead of assembling building blocks to achieve general goals we need
to strive for universal principles of liveliness. But what are those universals and how can we
work with them?
2. The paramount importance of centers

2.1. Centers as geometrical structures in space
Alexander calls the entities from which wholeness originates “centers”. It is im-portant to
understand that these centers are not just given entities or parts but are created by the
wholeness themselves (Alexander, 2004, p. 83/84). With a single dot in an otherwise empty
sheet of paper Alexander gives us a proto-typical example of wholeness and how it creates
centers. The dot divides the empty space in the rectangular sheet of paper into 20 different
overlapping segments, zones or entities like the sheet itself, the dot, the halo around the
dot, different rectangles trapped by the dot, the corners, a system of relationships (ima-
gined “rays”) to all these different configurations. The rectangles and rays are not really
142
drawn by a pencil in the way that the dot is plotted, but they are created by the wholeness,
by the relation between dot and sheet of paper (Alexander, 2004, p. 81/82). For Alexander,
the “center” is not only one of the 15 properties but the most important one. Wholeness
originates from centers and centers are therefore of paramount significance.
For Alexander and his purpose of architectural design, centers are – on an abstract level
– mainly geometrical structures in space created and supported by the wholeness of the
complete “arrangement” of their parts (shape and pattern of buildings, rooms, streets, fur-
niture etc.). But what are centers in education? This is a crucial question, as all the other 14
properties are dependent on this starting point.
When we inspect the learning scenario in the photograph (figure 2: next page left) we will
note different centers. We can overlay the photograph with a sketch outlining these centers
and how they relate to each other (figure 2: next page right). But these are just geometrical
drawings overlaid on a photograph in order to outline the spatial centers in this picture.
Similar to the famous drawing of the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte (“Ceci n’est pas
une pipe”), which presents not a pipe but a picture of a pipe, the above photograph is not a
learning situation but a photograph of a learning situation. The sketched elements capture
the center and their relationships of spatial configuration in the picture but not the forces
of the social situation.
But centers created in space from geometrical structures are for Alexander only the explicit
and obvious visible centers. Others – like biological or social centers – are latent or hidden
but nevertheless influence human behavior (cf. Alexander, 2004, p. 90).
Fig 2: Field of forces in the photograph of a learning scenario (Bauer 2014, p.225)
143
2.2. Centers as social structures in time

When we take the form sheet for pre-service teachers and fill in the necessary categories
to describe the learning situation captured by the photograph, we get in the far-left column
a time span (let us say for instance 20 minutes), “lecture” as the characteristic phase, “silent
input” for the teacher-student interaction, “plenary assembly for the social form and “black-
board” for the used media. We could add some remarks in the last column like the subject
of the lecture for example.
But this description would be a very static one, as we would not have expressed the whole-
ness of the arrangement of the situation and their parts (teacher, students, room, technical
equipment etc.). It freezes the dynamic situation into one specified schema that would be
better presented by the above photograph or by a sketched configuration of the planned
learning situation. And if we continue this line of reasoning, then a video or a sequence of
sketches like a comic book would be even better for representing the dynamic and different
relationships between all the elements that may be relevant for lively learning situation.
But even if we capture all the mentioned relationships we are only scratching the surface, as
these are only the eye-catching centers. There are other centers which are more latent or
hidden, such as students’ and teachers’ prior knowledge, skills and competences, and their
know-how to shoulder responsibility for their own learning experience etc. In “Taxonomie
von Unterrichtsmethoden” (taxonomy of teaching methods) Baumgartner (2011) listed 26
educational dimensions that can be – in the light of Alexander’s theory – understood as
possible centers for education. Most of them are obvious (like subject [of study], cognitive
process, feedback modus, learning challenge, number of learners) but some, for instance
the type of relation between teacher and student (dominant, critical, impersonal, faithful,
trusting…) are only implicitly existent but nonetheless have an impact on learning outcomes.
As a consequence of this line of thought, we not only lack a vocabulary of cen-ters to descri-
be lively and dynamic learning situations but also lack a mode for representing them and
working with them. Language – as Susanne Langer (1957) noted – has some disadvantages
to other forms of presentation: Verbal speech is inherently sequential as one word or sen-
tence follows the other like clothes on a laundry line. Therefore we can only verbalize those
thoughts that we can confine to this limitation. For synchronicity of concurrency we need
other means of expression. A famous example of the restriction of language is described by
Gregory Bateson when he quotes how the famous dancer Isadora Duncan answered the
question of what one of her performances meant: “If I could tell you what it meant, there
would be no point in dancing it.” (Bateson, 2000, p.137 and 464)
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For the purpose of educational design we propose defining centers as learning activities in
time, created and supported by the wholeness of the arrangement of their parts (shape and
pattern of learning activities, teacher, student, room, technical equipment etc.). To commu-
nicate the art of learning design we would need not only a special (technical) vocabulary but
also a mode to capture chronological dynamics. Our point of view is that we would need to
elaborate a special notation similar to a musical score in order to better support ourselves
to teach (and learn) how to design lively learning scenarios.
2.3. About the relationship of centers and properties

In observing the processes of nature, Alexander came up with 15 properties essential to
creating liveliness. “… [T]hey make things have life, because they are the ways in which cen-
ters can help each other in space” (2004, p. 145) The properties in education can also foster
liveliness in learning activities. Centers are of paramount importance whereas properties
are subordinate to them and serve to help centers create life.
Alexander’s 15 properties are not a rigid and fixed set of characteristics. “The precise num-
ber fifteen is not significant. But I do believe that the order of magnitude of the number is
significant. Throughout my efforts to define these properties, it was always clear that there
were not five, and not a hundred, but about fifteen of these properties. … There is no cer-
tainty that this list is exhaus-tive.” (2004, p. 242)
In the same way that the educational dimensions in the “Taxonomy” (Baumgartner 2011)
are important “… the fifteen properties are not essential in themselves. What matters in the
end is the life of the centers. The importance of the properties is simply that they help you
to understand the way that centers come to life.” (Alexander, 2004, p. 242, footnote)
3. Teaching as a design science

3.1. Learning design situated in the no man’s land between
science and art
Historically seen, these 15 properties did not come out all of a sudden with the publication
of “The Nature of Order” but are in an embryonic form implicitly embedded in the former
work of Christopher Alexander. The “Nature of Order” is just the consequential continuation
of his earlier work. If this assumption is right, then the “quality without a name” (QWAN) as
well as the pattern language idea are linked to the 15 properties (Alexander, 1978, 1980). As
it has turned out, pattern languages are of value not only for architecture but also for soft-
ware development, human-computer interface design, organisational development, and
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project management. Given this, we draw the conclusion that they could also be valuable
for education if we see teaching as a design science as well.
As different as they are, the various fields mentioned above all have in common that they
are situated in the no man’s land between science and art. Even if there are some important
rules to follow, these are not sufficient to guarantee the creation of liveliness of wholeness
in the Alexandrian sense. All of the above-mentioned applications try to design something
in their environment: space (architecture), programme structures (software development),
interaction (human-computer interface design), communication (organisational develop-
ment), collaboration (project management), and learning (education). To use a concept of
mathematics: Design is the least common denominator of all of these different application
fields.
If teaching is essentially learning design, then it can indeed be understood as kind of design
science: “Teaching is changing. It is no longer simply about passing on knowledge to the
next generation. Teachers in the 21st century, in all educational sectors, have to cope with
an ever-changing cultural and technological environment. Teaching is now a design scien-
ce. Like other design professionals - architects, engineers, town planners, programmers
- teachers have to work out creative and evidence-based ways of improving what they do.”
(Laurillard, 2012)
3.2. Chronological versus spatial configuration

In the work of Christopher Alexander, geometry and its relation to space are of paramount
importance. In order to transfer the 15 properties to education one has to find an analogy
that is theoretically justified and provides a coherent way of designing for the very different
domain of education. We believe that “time” (instead of space) could be this central concept
for learning design, e.g. for the design of learning scenarios. This assumption is on the one
hand supported by the space-time continuum hypotheses of the theory of relativity. The
design of educational scenarios is on the other hand closely related with the time flow of
learning activities.
In educational theory, the planning and designing of different learning activities following
each other in a methodologically sound way is called the choreography of teaching. In that
sense, teachers have to orchestrate educational variety in order to achieve a planned le-
arning outcome. Planning chronological sequences of learning activities is the central as-
pect of educational design. The paramount importance of the notion of the “center” in the
theory of Alexander can be translated to address the crucial impact of learning activities.
In our approach to education, the notion of the“living center” in the Alexandrian sense is
146
translated into the “living learning activity” and the design of spatial configurations to create
liveliness and wholeness for buildings is translated into education design focused on the
temporal configuration of learning activities.
4. Proposal for 15 teaching principles

The following table names and describes in column [A] and [B] the 15 prop-erties that
Christopher Alexander found in nature and applied to architecture. In column [C] we try to
interpret how these properties could be translated to teaching.
Our interpretation should be understood with two restrictions:
1. Our focus is oriented toward teaching as a design science, which is just a small part of
education at large. It does not concentrate on the self-determined learner, as it does
not zero in on informal learning.
2. We try to provide some ideas for a livelier teaching scenario and do not try to promo-
te any critical alternatives to our educational system.
Our aim in this article is therefore a limited one: Instead of a revolutionary ap-proach to
promoting change of the whole educational system, we settle for a more modest approach
of outlining some teaching strategies for better learning design at an intermediate level
to help teachers in designing livelier (and we believe: therefore better) learning scenarios.
Tab.1: Overview of the translation of the 15 space-properties to time-properties
[A] Name [B] Quotation [C] Interpretation:

teaching principle
[01] [D]efines the way that a Strong centers in architectural design are learning
Strong strong center requires activities in educa-tional design. The recursive definiti-
Center a special field-like effect, on of strong centers in education is realised through
cre-ated by other centers, the field-like effect of learning activities: Each learn-ing
as the primary source of activity influences the semantic of the chronologically
its strength. following one but at the same time draws its own me-
aning from the previous one. Learning activities have a
time related field-like effect.
147
[02] [A] way that a strong cen- There is an inclusive hierarchy of different levels of
Level of Scales ter is made stronger partly educational de-sign. Different time scales of learning
by smaller strong centers activities sort these layers.
contained in it, and partly
by its larger strong centers Example: At the “lowest” level, we can define “educati-
which contain it. onal interac-tion” which covers the learning time span
of seconds to minutes. The next level is “educational
scenarios” with learning activities from a few minutes to
about an hour. A “higher” level (e.g. layer with a longer
time frame) includes all the “lower” levels. Every level
has its own rules and laws which must be taken into
account (cf. Baumgartner, 2011, p. 64pp.) – More in the
next (concluding) chapter of this paper.
From these observations follows the design rule:

Observe the appro-priate level of scale for the chosen
time-frame of the learning activity. Choose coherent
properties in group sizes, content material, complexi-ty
of tasks – Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development
(Vygotsky, 1978) – time lag, as well as details and elabo-
rateness of feedback etc
[03] [A] way in which the Teachers should design boundaries between different
Boundaries field-like effect of a center learning activi-ties in such a way that they provide addi-
is strengthened by the tional surplus value for learn-ing opportunities and help
creation of a ring-like the teachers to strengthen their adjacent (before and
center, made of a smaller after) learning activities.
center which surround
and intensify the first. The Example: If you are changing from one learning activity
boundary also unites the to another explain the significance and congruity of the
center with the centers fact that these two learn-ing activities follow each other.
beyond it, thus strengt- The boundary itself becomes a transi-tional phase with
hening it further. educational value of its own because it does not only
limit one activity and start the next one but links the two
consecutive phases together.
Rule: Design boundaries in way that they are centers

themselves so that they can provide additional learning
opportunities and/or strengthen the chronologically
surrounding learning activities.
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[04] [A] way in which centers Repetition is a very important learning and teaching
Alternating are strength-ened when strategy. But in order to provide diversion, do not repe-
Repetition they re-peat, by the at the same activities many times. Always to rerun the
insertion of other centers same type of exercise over a long period gets boring.
be-tween the repeating Insert other activities between the repetitive sequences
ones. in such a way that they strengthen the replication as
well as each other.
Example: In mathematics, for instance, let learner

solve the same type of equation not only with different
parameters but also asking for different parts of the
equation as unknown variables. (cf. „Roughness“ and
„Echoes“).
At a meta level this principle could also be interpreted

as an alternat-ing repetition of different cognitive levels,
e.g. an alternating repetition between reception and
self-determined activities.
Rule: Design repetitive sequences in more complex

ways, such that the same type and modus of repetition
do not follow each other but alternate with a different
kind or modus of activity.
[05] [A] way that a given center Positive Space is translated to Positive Time. Design
Positive must draw strength, in consecutive ac-tivities in a way that they support each
Space part, from the strength of other. Change or add some elements to the later lear-
other centers immediately ning activity so that they can support the learning effect
adjacent to it in space. of the previous one.
Rule: Think about the following learning activity not

only in its own right but also as a way of supporting and
strengthening the effect of the previous activities. And
vice versa: Think about an activity not only in its own
rights but also as foreshadowing and introducing the
next one.
[06] [A] way that the strength Design all activities with an appropriate time frame at an
Good Shape of a given center depends appropriate time in the learning sequence with respect
on its actual shape, and to different levels of time scales (interactions, scenarios,
the way this effect re-qui- modules, courses) but also with respect to their assess-
res that even the shape, ments and proven learning outcomes.
its boundary, and the
space around it are made Rule: Design timely coherent learning activities in such a
up of strong centers. way that they fit to their overall learning goal and inten-
ded learning outcome. Plan a coherent fit between all
learning activities including testing and assessment pha-
ses in order to reach the intended learning outcome.
149
[07] [A] way that the inten- Design learning activities with local symmetries. A
Local sity of a given center is more time-consuming activity (an activity of a “higher”
Symmetries increased by the extent time frame) is supported and strengthened by shorter
to which other smaller similar activities.
centers which it contains
are themselves arranged Example: The learning outcome of a relatively long key-
in locally symmet-rical note in the morning of a conference can be supported
groups. and fostered with a series of shorter talks in different
tracks of the conference in the afternoon.
Rule: Design learning activities such that they form

local symmetries as a strategy to understand better the
overall learning design and to help learners to develop
their own rhythm.
[08] [A] way in which the The effect of two learning activities that follow each
Deep Interlock intensity of a given center other can be increased with a third activity which is
and Ambiguity can be in-creased when included between them in such a way that it belongs
it is attached to nearby ambiguously to the other two.
strong centers, through a
third set of strong centers Rule: Link two consecutive learning activities with a
that ambiguously belong third one in such a way that there is a smooth transition
to both. and crossover of the different learning activities. (cf. the
difference to “Boundaries”)
[09] [A] way that a center is Design appreciable contrasts for different kinds of
Contrast strengthened by the shar- educational dimen-sions. This does not only mean
pness of the distinction different subjects or different ap-proaches to certain
between its character and subjects, but also a contrast of number of learners
the character of sur-roun- (plenum assembly, group work, single person working)
ding centers. seatwork vs. working in motion (mobile learning), type
of tasks, type of learning mode (receptive, imitating,
resolving, exploring, constructing…), type of supporting
tools etc.).
Rule: Design learning activities in such a way that their

underlying learning targets are strengthened by the
sharpness of the distinction between their different
types.
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[10] [A] way in which a center Employ educational interventions of gradually different
Gradients is strengthened by a effect sizes.
graded series of diffe-
rent-sized cen-ters which Example: Delegate for instance step-by-step res-
then “point” to the new ponsibility to the learner in their consecutive learning
center and intensify its activities and follow the strategy of phased withdrawal
field effect. of your own interventions (“fading”).
Let novice teacher students give part of a lesson for
a class, intermedi-ate students the full lesson and ad-
vanced students complete responsi-bility for the whole
semester including grades. This is the concept of “legiti-
mate peripheral participation” (Lave & Wenger, 1991).
Rule: Design learning activities in such a way that they

approach the planned learning outcome in a step by
step, systematic and construc-tive manner.
[11] [A] way that the field effect Include small changes, or vary slightly different educa-
Roughness of a given center draws its tional dimen-sions (cf. “Alternating Repetition” and
strength, necessarily, from “Echoes”).
irregularities in the size,
shapes and arrangements Example: In mathematics, for instance, let the learner
of other nearby centers. solve the same type of equation not only with different
parameters but hide the prob-lem with different text
statements (cf. „Alternating Repetition” and „Echoes“).
Rule: Design repeated learning activities in such a way

that they are never exactly the same.
[12] [A] way that the strength In repeating activities, emphasize different aspects or
Echoes of a given center depends accentuate different educational dimensions.
on similarities of angle
and orientation and sys- Example: In mathematics, for instance, in a series of
tems of centers forming calculations change not only the resolving variable of
characteristic angles thus an equation (cf. “Alternating Repetition” und “Echoes”)
forming larger centers, but request different solution strategies (cf. “Alternating
among the centers it Repetition” and “Echoes”).
contains.
Rule: Emphasize variation of the same learning activity
in such a way that they still have the same outcomes
but need different angles and orientations for their
solution.
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[13] [A] way that the intensity Breaks are themselves a special kind of learning activity:
The Void of every center depends People come together and talk informally about their
on the existence of a still last learning activities.
place - an empty center -
somewhere in its field. But not only breaks are meant here: Provide opportuni-
ties for “cogni-tive breathing” so learner can think trough
a problem individually at his or her own pace.
Rule: Design cognitive breaks in such a way that they

support the other learning activities.
[14] [A] way the strength of Avoid distractions and diversion in the learning path.
Simplicity and a center depends on its Design basic learning activities which are easy to carry
Inner Calm simplicity – on the process out and elementary in their learning outcome. Prevent
of reduc-ing the number distraction just to activate students.
of different centers which
exist in it, while increasing Example: Playing a bingo game with essential concepts
the strength of these during a talk encourages the learner to focus just on the
centers to make the weigh words or notions on their papers and not on under-
more. standing the essence of the lecture.
Rule: Aim at the intended learning outcome in a simple

manner and prevent overly complex and distracting
learning arrangements.
[15] [A] way the life and Design the flow of learning activities methodologically
Not-Separate- strength of a center to be sound and smooth without edges, wrinkles and
ness depends on the extent to interruption. (cf. „Bounda-ries“ and „Contrast“) in such a
which that center is mer- way that the separation between learn-ing situation can
ged smoothly - sometimes be overcome easily. Avoid artificial learning situa-tions
even in-distinguishably - which are difficult to translate into real life ones.
with the centers that form
its surroundings. Rule: Choose learning activities which are natural and fit
into life (long learning).
5. Concluding remarks
5.1. Properties are important but only as long as they support centers
come to life
From the significance of the number and gestalt of the system of properties in relation to
the much more important centers and the wholeness of a lively learning situation, all pro-
perties have to be revised critically. For instance on the one hand it seems to us that the
properties of “alternating repetition”, “roughness” and “echoes” describe almost identical
ways in which centers can be supported in order to embody more life. Perhaps we could
merge them into one property called “variety” or “diversity”. On the other hand some im-
152
portant other properties are missing, such as other ways to strengthen educational centers
such as “rhythm” (= variation of the length and accentuation of the series of events in such a
manner that a regular recurrence or pattern in time develops cyclical phenomena having a
periodicity or frequency). Another missing property could be “progression” (= an individual’s
movement from unknown to known through the stages of education and/or training).
But here we will not go into the details of an educational discussion of every property. For us
it was important to show that we can transform principally space-dominated characteristics
from process that are based in architecture and natural processes into time-dominated
characteristics of learning processes. But we have to caution the usefulness of our work, as
“the fifteen properties are not essential in themselves. What matters in the end is the life of
the centers. The importance of the properties is simply that they help you to understand
the way that centers come to life.” (Alexander, 2004, p. 242, footnote)
5.2. Level of scale: Exploring one of the properties for learning design
Even if do not go into the details of every property, we want to show using one example
what can be said of one Alexandrian property after we have adapted it to teaching. Here,
we have chosen the property “levels of scale” and will compare its appearance in education
with how it appears in architecture and nature, hoping to generate some ideas of the mode
and manner of this translation.
A good introduction into the natural occurrence of levels of scale is given by Jenny Quillien
(2008):
“All life tends to form multi-leveled structures of systems within systems. At one level, say,
in an animal or plant, there are cells which obey certain laws, then there are aggregations
of cells obeying different laws and creating new wholes, and then aggregations themselves
form larger aggregations, again with new laws. From cells to tissues to organs to organisms
to social systems to ecosystems – new properties emerge with each new level of complexity.
The different nested levels ‘help’ each other, perform different tasks, and are necessary to
the functioning of the whole. The characteristics of the whole come from the organizing
relations of the parts” (Quillien, 2008, p. 16).
In Alexander’s view, spatial structures “exist at a series of well-marked levels, with definite
jumps between them” (2004, p. 145). In our conviction the ques-tion is not if there are le-
vels of scale but if there is an appropriate range of levels of scale to support the centers. It
is necessary that “the jumps between different scales are not be too great”, that they have a
certain proportion which – according to Alexander – lies around the ratio 2:1 or 3:1 (2004,
p. 147f.).
153
Fig. 3: Entry doors with different levels of scale. Left door: The levels of scale do not really work,
their propor-tions seem not be adequate. Right door: Here the levels of scale seem to work
because of different propor-tions. (Internet photos from public relations material of door
manufacturers.)
In education we have the idea of action levels where for each different strata rule there is
a different kind of social law. This – as already hinted at in the quote by Jenny Quillien – is
motivated by the philosophical premise that the real world is structured hierarchically into
different layers. Philosophers like Nicolai Hartmann and Michael Polanyi have argued that
each of these distinctive strata follow characteristic laws (Hartmann, 1964; Polanyi, 1974).
A water molecule, for instance, contains one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms and
behaves completely different as their individual atomic components. Water as a chemical
substance form an even higher-level stratum as H2O molecules has properties (like liqui-
dity), which cannot be found on the molecule tier. You cannot take out just one molecule
and describe it as liquid The philosopher John Searle uses the vocabulary “caused by” and
“realized in” to address these different levels (1983, p. 269f.; cf. the detailed resume in the
context of the ontological aspect of tacit knowledge by Baumgartner, 1993, pp. 185–193). It
is the specific relation of their (lower-level) parts which generates the new attributes of the
(higher-level) compound chemical substance, a process designated with the philosophical
notion of “emergence” (Bedau, 2008; J. Holland, 2000; Johnson, 2002; Stephan, 2005, 2006).
In a holistic or monistic worldview, the same idea, which is valid for physical objects, has to
be applied to the realm of the humanities and social sciences as well. It follows that there is
also a hierarchy of (educational) interaction level in which the specific laws of each of theses
154
tiers can be observed. This is especially important for planning and designing (learning)
interactions because many teachers mix these different levels inadvertently:
Fig. 4: Inclusive hierarchy of different levels of scale of educational interactions (Baumgartner, 2004).
Figure 4 not only shows the different levels but also their distinguishing “learning time”,
which is generally very different to physical time. It means “learner workload” in EU parlance
and is measured in ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) or ECVET
(European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training). It functions as a standard
for comparing the achievement and performance of learners.
The policy layer clearly has a completely different set of laws to observe, most of them not
even belonging to the educational domain. The curriculum layer is important for planning
and designing curricula for formal education, which underlies special laws in combining
different courses to build up certified competences. For educational design purposes in
particular, the levels of the “educational scenario” and the “educational ensemble” are espe-
cially interesting and theoretically rewarding. The laws that govern these two levels are still
debated in educational discussions. As these two layers are educationally very important,
most of the books on teaching methods are dedicated to explaining their laws and how to
designing situations which are pedagogically sound and effective (z.B. Becker et.al., 2007,
Grell & Grell, 2010, Meyer, 1984 und 1997). According to our definition, these two levels of
scale are defined as follows:
155
A Scenario is defined as an educational setting with a time frame of several minutes to

about one hour of learning time. It describes an educational arrangement designed or set
up to provide a methodological educational unit. This action level creates didactic driven
units under the aspects of time, space and social configuration.
An Ensemble is defined as an educational setting with a time frame of about one hour to
several hours of learning time. It describes the learning goals for a specific subject and the
formation of different scenarios for reaching the specified learning target. This action layer
creates thematic driven units under the aspects of scenario configurations.
Comparing these two definitions, you will find a special relationship between them: The
“higher” educational action layer contains the “lower” layer. All the proposed action levels
therefore form an inclusive hierarchy; the “lower” layers are included in the “higher” ones.
It is important to understand that the proportions in teaching scenarios between the layers
are very different (bigger) than they are in spatial configurations. But keep in mind that
levels of scale also operate inside the above-mentioned layers: One does not have to take
into account just the separated building blocks but their relationship to the wholeness of
the educational goal, learning outcome or teaching strategy. The obvious and clearly di-
scriminable teaching methods form chronological sequences (progressions), and cyclical
rhythms (temporal patterns) which themselves support centers and develop the whole but
are also created by it. In a similar way there are different levels of scale in the pattern lan-
guage by Christopher Alexander: region, town, community and neighborhood, public land
inside the community, private land inside the neighborhood, configurations of buildings,
buildings and their rooms, garden and paths between buildings, small rooms and closets
inside rooms, configurations of construction material, detailed construction, details of color
and ornaments (Alexander, 1978). All of these different levels of scale consist of different
levels of scale in themselves in a recursive manner. For instance, each ornament contains
different appropriately proportioned levels of scale to form a lively ornament which itself
supports other centers on a higher level of scale (e.g. a wall or a door).
Here you can see a different way of judging a lively structure: One does not fo-cus on the
design of isolated entities but on the interactive relationship between them as well as with
their collectivity, their total configuration or wholeness. This is a very different approach in
training of teachers than is implemented when using the form sheet shown in Fig.1. And
here we can see the importance of the properties:
156
“It takes years – perhaps three, five, ten years – to learn the process of making centers, and
to know what it means to make a center come to life [e.g. to become a good teacher; our
insertion]. In the meantime, the properties are a very useful tool; they are a way of focusing
our attention on the centers. By following the properties, even if blindly, like a mechanical
tool, we gradually come to know more and more and more about the life of centers – we
appreciate the way that centers interact, we learn to make the life of one center more in-
tense, by adding, or providing other centers – and the property thus teaches us, concretely,
more and more about how we can make centers come to life. That is the whole ball game
in the end” (Alexander, 2004, p. 242, footnote).
6. References
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161
E-Portfolio
Design:
Generic Rules
for Creating
Centers
162
Bauer, Reinhard
Department for Interdisciplinary Education, Center for Educational Technology and
Innovation, University of Teacher Education Vienna, Grenzackerstrasse 18, A-1100
Vienna, Austria
reinhard.bauer@phwien.ac.at
Baumgartner, Peter
Department of Interactive Media and Educational Technologies, Danube University
Krems, Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Strasse 30, A-3500 Krems
peter.baumgartner@donau-uni.ac.at
According to Christopher Alexander, each pattern re-

presents a generic rule for making a kind of living cen-
ter. With this in mind, a pattern language essentially
seeks to define generic centers that may be used in
designing projects. Hence the principle task of any pat-
tern language writer involves trying his or her best to
convey the information contained in the whole system
of patterns. The authors of this paper identified and
described 38 patterns that formed the basic vocabu-
lary of a constantly evolving pattern language for wor-
king with e-portfolios. Consequently, the main purpose
of this paper is to show how the recorded language as
a system of patterns (or centers) works as a whole, and
has the capacity to promote the sustainable develop-
ment of living e-portfolios.
E-Portfolio Design; Pattern Language; Living Centers;

Structure-Preserving Transformations; Wholeness
163
1. Introduction
What is an e-portfolio? What does it represent for learners and their learning facilitators
(teachers, peers, friends, etc.)? At the simplest level, an e-portfolio is both a system in which
learners can record electronic evidence of lifelong learning (texts, multimedia, images, blog
entries, hyperlinks, etc.), and a social networking system which provides a way for learners
to interact with their learning facilitators and create their own online communities (com-
munities of practice, communities of interest, etc.). The selected and reflected e portfolio
content (= artifacts) a learner wishes to show to his or her learning facilitators is arranged
into meaningful webpages called “e-portfolio views” (cf. Figure 1).
Figure 1: Screenshot of an e-portfolio view1 created with the open-source e-portfolio software
Mahara
The work on a learner’s first own e-portfolio views starts by systematically gathering all the
information that might be relevant for its design. Similarly to any other design project, this
requires, especially for non-experienced and novice users, quite a number of capabilities
and skills. Even for e-portfolio experts it is sometimes hard to explain how to best use
an e portfolio for learning purposes. There are a few guidelines that help with the basics
(cf. Brunner, Häcker & Winter, 2006; Himpsl-Gutermann & Bauer, 2011; Jabornegg, 2004),
but what we found what was missing was a common language for describing e-portfolio
practice.
1 Retrieved December 30, 2014, from http://www.mahara.at/view/view.php?id=741
164
E-Portfolio Design: Generic Rules for Creating Centers
Bearing this in mind, we created a pattern language for working with e-portfolios (cf. Bauer
& Baumgartner, 2012a, 2012b). Our intention was to represent the basic vocabulary in the
form of different patterns (cf. Appendix, Figure 6 & Figure 7) that could help lecturers and
students to work on and with e-portfolios. We argue that, compared to conventional di-
dactic guidelines, the identified e-portfolio patterns supported a wider variety of application
scenarios. Just as the basic vocabulary of a natural language consists of different parts of
speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) with specific functions in terms of possible combina-
tions (at the sentence and text level), our language of e-portfolio patterns also describes
different functions: e.g. patterns for the implementation of e-portfolios in courses or pat-
terns for the creation and design of e-portfolios. Along the lines of a generative grammar
that enables speakers to understand and to generate an infinite number of sentences, even
though there are only a finite number of words available, the recorded patterns enable
learners to create an infinite number of e-portfolios and e-portfolio views.
Alexander notes that, “[a]t] the beginning of every building design process, it is necessary to
get an idea of what is going to happen in the building, how it is going to work” (Alexander,
2002, p. 342). Alexander regards design as an activity of defining functions ahead of time.
Furthermore he argues that all of these functions, “when they are working well in a building,
are associated with living centers”, and therefore they “need to be expressed as rules for
making centers” (ibid., emphasis in original).
What Alexander mentions in the context of architectural design also applies to e portfolio
design. In our opinion, at the beginning of every e-portfolio project, it is indispensable for
students to think about the purpose of the project. They should be aware that the main
purpose of an e-portfolio is to communicate with others. Thus, every e-portfolio should tell
a story: “Portfolios are students’ own stories of what they know, why they believe they know
it, and why others should be of the same opinion” (Paulson & Paulson, 1991, p. 2). An e-port-
folio, therefore, is not a mere collection of different data gathered in a non-systematic and
incoherent way, but rather “a purposeful and coherent collection that communicates what
learnings have taken place” (ibid.). The degree of life of these stories (= e-portfolios) de-
pends upon the intensity of the events (= centers) recorded, and is determined by how they
are linked together in a sequence and by the meaning (= function) that is attributed to them.
Against this background, in the following sections, we attempt to outline how our system
of patterns works as a whole, i.e. in what sense the different patterns can be regarded as
generic rules for creating centers.
165
2. Creating a System of Patterns for Working with

E-Portfolios: Preparatory Work
As a starting point for compiling our catalogue of patterns on e-portfolio work we used the
taxonomy for e-portfolios, which was developed during a two-year research project called
“The use of e-portfolios at (Austrian) universities” (cf. Baumgartner, 2012). These e-portfolio
patterns are linked to one another and in this way already form a kind of limited pattern
language. The system of categories and characteristics of e-portfolios, which was developed
through processes of analysis and monitoring, formed the theoretical basis for the inducti-
ve pattern mining process.
There are, on the one hand, the three main types of e-portfolios (reflection, development,
and presentation portfolios), and, on the other hand, the main activities (selecting, asses-
sing, organizing, planning, presenting, networking, and reflecting) with the corresponding
secondary activities (deciding, identifying, inspecting, approving, judging, giving feedback,
appreciating, linking, and discussing), which are important for the creation of an e-portfolio.
Activities like collecting, documenting, illustrating, and elaborating, which – regardless of

the type of portfolio – are absolutely essential for any portfolio work, are considered invari-
ant with regard to the practical work of creating e-portfolios and are recorded in the cata-
logue of patterns, despite the fact that these activities could not be incorporated into the
taxonomy due to their insufficient selectivity. The same applies to the activity of production,
even if it generally precedes any portfolio work. It also applies to patterns that fundamen-
tally affect the organization and implementation of e-portfolio work.
Alexander notes that the definition of the pattern itself, as an activity, may also be regarded
as structure-preserving (cf. Alexander, 2002, p. 347). In our opinion, this is the context in
which our preparatory work for creating a pattern language for working with e-portfolios
should be understood.
3. Structure-Preserving Transformation and

E-Portfolio Design
In the second volume of The Nature of Order, entitled “The Process of Creating Life” (2002),
Alexander talks about “structure-preserving transformations”:
The process of choosing or defining functional centers, if it is to be part of a living process,

must itself derive, then, in some fashion, from the existing wholeness. Like the elaboration
166
of geometry itself, the pre-operational phase when centers-to-be are being defined must
be drawn from the existing wholeness by structure-preserving transformations (Alexander,
2002, p. 343).
What does this mean in the context of e-portfolio design? Going back to storytelling as a
metaphor for illustrating what an e-portfolio is all about, at the beginning of every e-portfo-
lio design process, students have to be aware of what kind of story they want to tell (here:
what kind of e-portfolio they want to develop, i.e. a reflection, development, or presentation
portfolio). In general, all stories have the same elements (plot, protagonists, setting, etc.) and
identifying these elements increases the students’ understanding of their stories. It must
be taken into account that writing an interesting story (here: the design of an interesting
e-portfolio) is an “unfolding” rather than an “assembling” process. That is to say, if an author
presents only a detailed set of isolated descriptions of the setting and the characters who
are involved in a story (here: a series of e-portfolio artefacts not connected to one another
at all, or only loosely connected), the key interests of a reader will not be met. Facts, charac-
ters and events of a good story have to be connected in reasonable and interesting ways. In
this respect, the most important aspect of wholeness is the recognition that everything is in
relationship with everything else. Regarding this matter, Alexander writes:
Each pattern is a rule which describes a type of strong center that is likely to be nee-
ded, on a recurring basis, throughout a particular environment or class of environments.
Further, a pattern not only describes a recurring center, but also describes a relation bet-
ween other generic centers. The pattern both describes a generic center, and describes a
generic relation among other generic centers. But it must be remembered that the pattern
describes a generic center, not a particular center. In this sense the pattern is not so much
like an element in an erector set, but more a rule for making a certain kind of center ca-
pable of making an infinite number of particular centers of the same type, whenever they
are needed (ibid., p. 345, emphasis in original).
With regard to the pattern language on e-portfolio work, the following example may illustra-
te the significance of Alexander’s idea: Taking a random pattern from the list (cf. Appendix,
Group 4: Patterns for Reflective Learning), the pattern MY MIRROR is at first connected
to certain larger patterns: COMPULSORY EXERCISE and VOLUNTARY EXERCISE; but also
connected to certain smaller patterns: ASSESSING, LINKING, and REFLECTING. The meaning
of the patterns COMPULSORY EXERCISE and VOLUNTARY EXERCISE are incomplete unless
they contain MY MIRROR; and similiarly, MY MIRROR is itself incomplete, unless it contains
the patterns ASSESSING, LINKING, and REFLECTING.
167
What this means in practical terms is that by reflecting on their personal learning processes
or on certain artifacts using the pattern MY MIRROR, students must not only follow the ins-
tructions that describe this pattern itself, but must also try to embed their reflections in the
patterns COMPULSORY EXERCISE and VOLUNTARY EXERCISE. This succeeds further when
they use the patterns ASSESSING, LINKING, and REFLECTING.
There are no isolated patterns or centers: each pattern or center is supported by other
patterns that surround it or are embedded in it. Only in this way it will be possible that one
center can be strengthened by other centers.
Following this approach, the structure of an e-portfolio unfolds just like the plot of a story,
i.e. step by step, all artifacts connected and related to each other, at the same time never
losing track of the whole.
Bearing this in mind, the following ten features of living processes, which Alexander relates
to the field of architecture, may, in our opinion, also be considered as fundamentally useful
for designing living e-portfolios (cf. ibid., pp. 229 et seq.):
»» Step-by-step adaptation
»» Using each step to enhance the whole
»» Creating a center such that that it is shaped by the next step in the differentiation
»» Generative sequences as keys to success
»» Uniqueness of every part
»» Patterns as generic rules for making centers and life enjoyable
»» Production of deep feeling
»» Creating a coherent geometric order
»» Building a form-language from theory
»» Simplicity
In the following section we will briefly describe and clarify these structure-preserving trans-
formation principles within the field of e-portfolio design.
168
4. Comprehending Alexander’s Transformation

Principles Within the Field of E-Portfolio Design
Alexander’s fifteen fundamental properties of living centers (cf. Alexander, 2002a, pp. 239
ss.) are best understood as suggestions for structuring any kind of planning and design
process. Therefore, they can also be applied for e-portfolio design. It must be observed,
however, that not the individual properties themselves are important, but so are their in-
teractions within the wholeness of a system (cf. Bauer, 2015, p. 4). In this context Alexander
notes:
The interdependence of the properties seemed to contain a hint of something else, so-
mething richer and more complex than the properties themselves – and also more unitary
– which somehow lay behind the properties. I began to realize that these fifteen properties
were indicators, rough approximations of some deeper structure which looked and felt
like “all of them together”. […] this “something” must be some kind of field in which centers
create wholeness and wholeness intensifies centers (Alexander, 2002a, p. 238).
Creating e-portfolios and learning with e-portfolios is complex and demanding and poses
many challenges for learners. Decisions taken by the learners organize the design process
and cause changes. In this context, Alexander refers to “structure-preserving transforma-
tions” (Alexander, 2002b, pp. 51 et seq.), i.e. individual steps that create and affect centers.
Similarly we asked ourselves the question: what role do these transformations play in the
process of creating living e-portfolios?
4.1. Step-by-step Adaptation

How do learners create a new e-portfolio view? In reference to this, we identified three
pattern groups that support the portfolio process that learners have to work on: patterns
for individual (cf. Figure 2), reflective (cf. Figure 3) and collaborative learning (cf. Figure 4).
169
Figure 2: Individual Learning
Patterns for individual learning help students to organize, manage and structure data. The pattern
MY PERSONAL LEARNING ARCHIVE is connected to smaller patterns like SELECTING, PLANNING,
PRODUCING, ORGANIZING, and PRESENTING. Some of these smaller patterns, in return, are in
close interaction with other patterns: PRODUCING is linked to COLLECTING, DOCUMENTING, ELA-
BORATING and ILLUSTRATING which uses FOR THE EYE and FOR THE EAR (cf. Appendix, Figure 6).
Patterns for reflective learning refer to the possibility of documenting personal learning pathways
and commenting on the development of various skills. MY MIRROR is supported by the patterns
ASSESSING, LINKING and REFLECTING (cf. Appendix, Figure 6).
Figure 3: Reflective Learning
170
Finally there are patterns for collaborative learning. Generally speaking, an e-portfolio is a
tool or rather a method to support personal learning processes. If it is intensively used over
a period of time, it may become a kind of a personal learning environment that facilitates
formal and informal learning activities among friends and peers: for these purposes, e-port-
folio software usually offers appropriate tools for making friends, working and learning in
groups etc. In this context, collaborative learning (cf. Figure 4) means that I as a learner
invite MY FRIENDS to DISCUSS issues with me. I ask them to APPRECIATE, JUDGE, APPROVE
of my work and to GIVE FEEDBACK. Thus using the e-portfolio as a personal learning en-
vironment enables NETWORKING with other learners (cf. Appendix, Figure 6).
Figure 4: Collaborative Learning
The creation of an e-portfolio is a slow, gradual process. It corresponds to what Alexander

describes as the most basic and necessary feature of any living process, as the core of all
living processes:
The living structure emerges, slowly, step by step, and as the process goes forward step by
step there is continuous feedback which allows the process to guide the system towards
greater wholeness, and coherence, and adaptation (Alexander, 2002b, p. 230).
The living structure of an e-portfolio cannot be created by static design and production; it
can only be created by the unfolding process itself. As a first step, students collect appropri-
ate data and documents (= individual learning), then they reflect on the selected data (= re-
flective learning) before they begin networking with their peers and asking them to provide
feedback on their work (= collaborative learning). Continuous feedback by others permits
the optimization of the learner’s own work and helps the learner to deepen and expand his
or her own skills, i.e. to improve his or her performance.
171
4.2. Attempt of each step to enhance the whole

Alexander states “that in a living process everything that happens, goes step by step” (Al-
exander, 2002b, p. 250). In this process each step contributes to enhance the whole. Thus,
in order to produce a living e-portfolio it is essential to form a vision of the emerging e-port-
folio in our mind’s eye and not in sketches on paper. Words and interior visions “allow the
unfolding to go forward more successfully. […] the centers which evolve, one by one within
the living process, are not hampered by arbitrary information and decisions that come too
early” (ibid., p. 257). An e-portfolio as a personal learning environment always emerges du-
ring the design process. However, as mentioned above, in the early stage learners have
to think about the type of e-portfolio (reflection, development or presentation portfolio)
they want to create. Selecting appropriate artifacts for an intended audience particularly
depends on the type of e-portfolio the learner chooses to create (cf. Figure 5).
Figure 5: Decision-Making in reference to Artefacts and Audience
4.3. Creating centers in a way that they are shaped by the next step in the
differentiation
From the point of view of wholeness, “[c]enters are not atomic, and are not in any normal
sense building blocks” (Alexander, 2002b, p. 268). According to Alexander, one has to see
that living centers are not only interrelated and support each other but also change the
structure of the whole.
In this line of reasoning, creating a living e-portfolio is not a mechanical task of adding one
page to the next, each page independent from the ones before. LINKING does not only
relate one page to another but also changes each page itself. The content of one page is
shaped and changed by the presence and content of the pages linked to it.
Apart from that, in this context, LINKING has a special role: “[t]he main job, of any task of
172
creating centers is always to melt away the divisions between things” (Alexander, 2002b,
p. 294, emphasis in original). But LINKING not only transforms the structure of the whole:
Every new piece of content – if it is not added as an isolated building block but rather with
the attempt to create “not-separateness” and to create a new center which supports the
whole – transforms not only the whole but all the other centers as well.
For e-portfolios it is obvious that all the activities of MY FRIENDS (DISCUSSING, APPRECI-
ATING, JUDGING, APPROVING, GIVING FEEDBACK) change the character of my work tre-
mendously as they frame my work from another perspective and change my monologue
to a dialogue. But this is also the case when I PRODUCE another image for ILLUSTRATING
and PRESENTING one of my thoughts. The expression of my view is no longer the same;
the thought itself perhaps has not changed but it has taken another form, found another
expression.
4.4. Generative Sequences are the Key to Success

A living e-portfolio cannot be created in a single blow. This is evident in the case of the
REFLECTION PORTFOLIO and the DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO but it is also valid for the
PRESENTATION PORTFOLIO because the learner has to present his or her material step-by-
step in a certain sequence. As one thought or piece of information after another is added,
the living character of the e-portfolio slowly unfolds.
Alexander emphasizes that for wholeness to emerge, all the steps have to be taken in a cer-
tain order and that it is of vital importance to find the “right” sequence (Alexander, 2002b,
p. 300 et seq.). For e-portfolio work, this may seem a bit strange, as software is very flexible
and text, pictures, hyperlinks, and so on can be changed easily. Further, our pattern map
(cf. Appendix, Figure 6) may give the impression that it consists of an interrelated network
of actions without any predefined sequence.
But this assumption is not correct and the fact becomes more clear when one takes into
account the fact that there are three distinct different portfolio types immediately following
the entry pattern. It is also clear that a learner cannot start PRODUCING or ORGANIZING
without COLLECTING material first. In contrast to traditional guidelines, where exactly one
event follows the other in a linear and cumulative way, the sequences for creating life are
structure-preserving. They unfold the whole by means of differentiation and “[e]ach diffe-
rentiation acts on the product of the previous differentiations, and as it does so new cen-
ters are formed und unfolded, and in turn themselves – later – get differentiated further”
(Alexander, 2002b, p. 302).
173
In order to help newcomers to e-portfolio work to find appropriate generative sequences,

we visualized the pattern language from Figure 6 also in a more traditional, hierarchical way
(cf. Appendix, Figure 7).
4.5. Uniqueness of every part

The uniqueness of parts arises from the interaction between them and their interaction
with the whole. Living structures do not have unconnected, isolated parts but parts that
function as centers in a unified whole. A part “becomes unique because each part is adap-
ted to its context and because, in the large, no two contexts are ever the same” (Alexander,
2002b, p. 324).
Even if one uses the same curriculum vitae in two different e-portfolios (say one for presen-
ting learning outcomes of a master’s degree, the other one to present one’s own experien-
ces during a career of playing chess tournaments) these two résumés form different kind of
centers as they relate to a different context.
However, in order to strengthen these centers and to improve their aliveness, it would be
beneficial to adapt the CVs to their overall function in a special context. For Alexander, ad-
apting repetitive elements to their context so that they become unique is the formula for all
living processes: “If you pay attention to the wholeness, intensify it, intensify it some more
– gradually then it becomes unique” (Alexander, 2002b, p. 337).
4.6. Patterns as Generic Rules for making Centers and Life Enjoyable
In collaboration with his colleagues, Alexander developed the overall concept of the pattern
language and presented one for architecture (Alexander, Ishikawa, & Silverstein, 1977; Al-
exander, 1979). In the context he described, pattern languages worked as generative sys-
tems to create centers for living human environments:
A pattern language is essentially a way of defining generic centers, and then using them,
sequentially, in design projects. The entities we called patterns were – albeit in an early
formulation – somewhat similar to the entities I now call centers. One might say that every
pattern which was defined under that theory was, in effect, a rule for making or partly
making some important type of center, necessary to the life of a living human environment
(Alexander, 2002b, p. 344).
As Pattern languages have to fulfill various human needs, we identified the following:
»» Each culture has its own pattern language. For instance our e-portfolio pattern language
is tailored to the needs of a culture where REFLECTING and COLLABORATING are the
174
preferential way of learning. For instance, in our pattern language there is no center (or
pattern) for rote learning but there are patterns for DISCUSSING, GIVING FEEDBACK,
NETWORKING and so on.
»» Although pattern languages for working with e-portfolios vary from one learning cul-
ture to another, there is an invariant structure for all pattern languages for working with
e portfolios because they should address the basic needs of MY PERSONAL ARCHIVE
(PLANNING, PRODUCING, ORGANIZING, SELECTING, and PRESENTING).
»» Patterns explicitly provide the rules for the creation of centers and for relating then to
the whole (context) and therefore should “allow discussion, debate, and gradual impro-
vement of the material” (Alexander, 2002b, p. 345).
»» Today, people tend to understand the importance of pattern languages and try to de-
velop suitable patterns. However, some patterns are not suitable for providing the ge-
nerative rules for creating a living whole system or environment. Pattern languages have
to comprise “everything that needs to be said about a given […] situation, and that the
various patterns it contains work together as a whole system which accounts for all mor-
phology that is required […]” (ibid.).
4.7. Production of Deep Feeling

In science, the notion of “feeling” often arouses skeptical brow-knitting because it is confu-
sed with personal emotionality, which is supposed to be excluded from so-called “objective”
scientific method. FromAlexander’s perspective, however, “feeling” is “the mode of percep-
tion and awareness which arises when a person pays attention to the whole” (Alexander,
2002b, p. 371). Thus, whenever we pay attention to the whole, we experience feeling. This
gives us the possibility to enhance the liveliness of a certain structure, if we choose steps
that intensify the positive feeling for the emerging whole. According to Alexander, it is very
difficult to judge this feeling in absolute terms. Rather only by comparing two objects, two
different steps (or centers) can one get a sense of how they change the whole. According
to Alexander, we can produce a relatively objective judgment about an object because the
feelings are reproducible in different people. For Alexander, a feeling produced by focusing
the awareness on the wholeness of a configuration is precise, accurate, reliable and stable.
This is a much-disputed claim and all the experiments that Alexander carried out to prove
his assertion failed to convince the scientific community at large. When we tried to repro-
duce some of these experiments ourselves (cf. Baumgartner, 2013) we did not get a clear
confirmation of his claim. However, this does not necessarily refute Alexander’s claim. Our
175
experiments may have been influenced by technical difficulties and semantic ambiguities
(e.g. presentation mode, the verbal presentation of the questions).
On the one hand, feelings cannot be clearly captured verbally, visually or aurally. This makes
it impossible to communicate them objectively. I am able to communicate my toothache,
but ultimately the pain remains mine and not yours. There is some inner subjective quality
about feeling that makes it difficult to describe them objectively, as philosophers have poin-
ted out many times (e.g. Searle 1983, Nagel 1989).
On the other hand, manifest and evident differences really do exist in the world, such that
a comparable judgment can be made in an interpersonal, reproducible and stable manner.
In these cases people (from the same culture, and with the same background and needs)
may judge the same objects in the same way, e.g. as being ugly or beautiful. In these cases
we can at least say that it is possible to issue a reliable “aesthetic” verdict about the qua-
lity of life of an object. Even if this does not constitute an anthropological constant in the
Alexandrian sense, it does show at least that certain groups of people (“target groups” in
public relation parlance) share at least some profound common basis that can be used to
improve design.
We think that our argument is not in conflict with Alexander’s. If we compare the feelings
aroused by focusing on our awareness of the wholeness of two situations, we must conce-
de that seeing the underlying “deep structure”
»» is in practice very hard and needs practice,
»» has a clearly subjective dimension (“Does it increase my own wholeness?”), and
»» depends on the imagined or constructed context of the situation
For example, Alexander tries to demonstrate how to choose from different doors according
to the degree of feeling (Alexander, 2002b, p. 376 et seq.). He sketches different doors and
asks people to describe the feelings these doors arouse, remarking in a footnote:
Of course I am simplifying the situation drastically, since in a real case, my decision will
be affected by the extent to which this door in its context, has the most feeling. That would
make an enormous difference (Alexander, 2002b, p. 396).
Therefore it is important that in our pattern language for e-portfolio work choosing the
right context as the basis for further judgment is essential (regardless of whether it is a RE-
FLECTION PORTFOLIO, DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO or PRESENTATION PORTFOLIO). Even if
all artifacts do to some extent affect the whole and – seen in their context – arouse certain
176
feelings, there are two patterns that are particularly predestined to provoke feelings: FOR
THE EYE and FOR THE EAR.
4.8. Creating a Coherent (Geometric) Order

What is a coherent order? Put simply, a coherent order refers to a logical progression in
which each part naturally follows the previous one. Alexander describes this process in
relation toother living processes when he notes:
All living processes use unfolding to create geometric order. […] the unfolding of coherent
order – especially through the use of the fifteen transformations – occurs continuously. […]
when we contemplate any living process at all, we always see that the length and breadth
of the process will be suffused by steps through which a coherent geometry unfolds. (Al-
exander, 2002b, p. 402 s.).
Later in his text, Alexander states that “a similar ‘brutal’ and purely geometric process always
occurs somewhere in other kinds of unfolding that generate living order. […] something si-
milar is going on in poetry, in dance, in the formation of social structure, in planning […]”
(Alexander, 2002b, p. 429). Alexander answers pivotal questions as to whether the formal
creation of geometry really applies to other living processes - such as the formation of a
community or the unfolding of a melody played on a flute, - with a clear yes. In his opinion,
it applies “to the emergence of any coherent whole, in almost any medium” (Alexander,
2002b, p. 430).
Working with and on e-portfolios is a process that includes creating a coherent narrative
about the past, the present, and the future. This unique unfolding description of a learning
experience takes the following center-generating transformations into account (cf. Table 1,
based on Salingaros, 2012, pp. 102 et seq.; diagrams drawn by Helmut Leitner):
Table 1: Center-Generating Transformations
Stepwise: Perform one step at a time
It is impossible to complete an e-portfolio view all at once. The lear-

ners have to start with (a) the context definition (choice between the
patterns REFLECTING PORTFOLIO, DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO or
PRESENTATION PORTFOLIO), and then to continue with (b) the col-
lection (PRODUCING, COLLECTING, DOCUMENTING, ELABORATING,
ILLUSTRATING), (c) the reflection (LINKING, DISCUSSING), (d) the selecti-
on (IDENTIFYING, INSPECTING, DECIDING), (e) the projection (ASSES-
SING, APPRECIATING, JUDGING, APPROVING, GIVING FEEDBACK), and,
finally (f) the presentation (PRESENTING, DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO,
PRESENTATION PORTFOLIO).
177
Reversible: Test design decisions using models; “trial and error”; if

it doesn’t work, undo it
Using the pattern MY FRIENDS, and being supported by the smaller

patterns of NETWORKING and DISCUSSING constitutes an opportunity
for judging whether or not an individual design step has indeed led clo-
ser to a whole and living e-portfolio that is a coherent narrative of the
past, the present, and the future. Such an e-portfolio view should make
a learner’s special skills and knowledge to him-/herself and to others.
Undoing a design step is necessary if it fails to do so.
Structure-preserving: Each step builds upon what is already there
Mehaffy and Salingaros (2011) see this as “the theoretical and philoso-
phical underpinning of all of Alexander’s […] work. The most complex,
yet adaptive and successful designs arise out of a sequence of co-ad-
aptive steps and adjustments that preserve the existing wholeness.
On the other hand, designs that arise all at once are for the most part
simplistic, non-adaptive, and dysfunctional. A trivial algorithm cannot
generate living structure. And even a single step away from wholeness
can derail the system.” This also applies to the design of an e-portfolio
view: the selection of appropriate artifacts starts with the pattern IDEN-
TIFYING followed by INSPECTING, DECIDING, etc.
Reversible: Test design decisions using models; “trial and error”; if
it doesn’t work, undo it
By using the large patterns MY MIRROR and MY FRIENDS combined

with related smaller patterns like REFLECTING, DISCUSSING, etc. it
becomes possible to create an improved overall coherence.
New from existing: Emergent structure combines what is already
there into a new form
Mehaffy and Salingaros (ibid.) state that “a functionally complex system

evolves through cumulative steps, changing and getting better and
more complex and thus acquiring more advanced capabilities. […] de-
signing from evolving wholeness will introduce features – asymmetries,
symmetries, connections, new scales – that are inconceivable within
an assembly approach to design.” This also applies to the design of an
e-portfolio view: e portfolio systems provide a large data repository for
user files. Therefore, learners can create different assemblages out of
the existing data files, i.e. e-portfolio views targeted towards particular
audiences.
4.9. Building a Form-Language from Theory

If a pattern language works well, it follows rules to create living centers. Alexander’s pattern
language, together with the 15 properties he describes in Volume 1 of “The Nature of Or-
der” (2002a) form the theoretical underpinning for a formal language that can be used on
every object or situation in a specified domain.
178
The goal of a pattern language is to carry out formal transformations and to create a cohe-
rent order, a place where people can enjoy their lives. For Alexander it must a geometric
order because living centers in space are defined geometrically. Of course, this geometric
approach cannot be applied to all other relevant design domains. In these cases, the pre-
dominantly geometrically defined 15 properties must be adapted to those domains. We
have explored this in different ways with regard to education in other contributions in this
volume (cf. Bauer, 2015; Baumgartner & Bergner, 2015).
While working on our pattern language for e-portfolios we did not explicitly refer to the 15
properties as transformational aides. This is because they did not make sense to us in the
way Alexander formulated them. However, we believe that a logical next step is to develop
a pattern language for e-portfolio work now, having already adapted Alexander’s 15 proper-
ties to the educational domain.
4.10. Simplicity
Alexander defines simplicity in a procedural way:
In my description on the fundamental process, I have stated that what happens next (at
any moment in the unfolding of a living process) is the simplest thing that can be done to
intensify existing centers. It is necessary that it must be simple because if there is too much
extraneous clutter, the clutter gets in the way, makes less room for new necessary structure
that the unfolding process is trying to achieve. Thus, “doing the simplest thing,” only the
thing which is required and nothing beyond what is required, is a practical and efficient
necessity (Alexander, 2002b, p. 463, emphasis in original).
According to Alexander, there is an internal or psychological quality, which he calls “purity

of heart” (ibid., p. 464) that is essential to the generative process. During this process we
have to critically question every (new) distinction. Any distinction that is unnecessary should
be removed and replaced with a symmetrical counterpart. Asymmetrical structures tend to
induce unnecessary centers that interfere with already existing wholeness and are prone to
destroy the liveliness achieved so far.
Figure 6 (cf. Appendix) envisions our network of 38 related patterns. Even though it appears
complex and seems to counteract the maxim of simplicity, its actual task is to show the
wholeness of structure that is our e-portfolio language. Figure 7 (cf. Appendix) illustrates
the same pattern language in a visually simpler way.
Each transformation caused by one of the 38 patterns is pretty simple. But this does not
mean that beginners and experts will produce similar results. Becoming aware of whole-
179
ness takes time, experience, and practice. To help practitioners of all levels to work effi-
ciently and effectively, we have therefore applied the same structure to every pattern in
our pattern language. Each pattern is built with the same sequence, It includes: (a) name
of the pattern, (b) photo, (c) environment, (d) problem, (e) forces, (f) solution, (g) details, (h)
stumbling blocks, (i) advantages, (j) disadvantages, (k) examples, (l) types of user, (m) tools,
(n) related patterns, and (o) references.
5. Conclusion
The main goal of this paper was to provide background information and explanations to
demonstrate that our pattern language for working with e-portfolios is in alignment with
Christopher Alexander’s general thrust and theoretical. Even if we did not appreciate some
of the philosophical remarks Alexander made in “The Nature of Order” at the time when we
developed our pattern language, we still believe that the 38 patterns we identified for our
pattern language are effective in designing living e-portfolios and thus can be said to qualify
as real patterns.
In order to understand and facilitate the use of our pattern language for working with e
portfolios we plan to design a set of E-Portfolio Pattern Cards. By “playing” with these
cards, learners will be able to review and deepen their knowledge about about e-portfolio
design, e-portfolio patterns, and the art of useful pattern combining.
6. References
Alexander, C. (2002a). The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature
of the Universe, Book 1 - The Phenomenon of Life. Berkeley, California: Center for Environ-
mental Structure.
Alexander, C. (2002b). The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature
of the Universe, Book 2 - The Process of Creating Life. Berkeley, California: Center for En-
vironmental Structure.
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S. & Silverstein, M. (1977). A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings,
Construction. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bauer, R. (2015). Planning Living Lessons: Christopher Alexander‘s Fifteen Structural Pro-
180
perties of Living Centers in an Educational Context. In Purplsoc Preparatory Workshop.

Krems: Danube University Krems
Bauer, R., & Baumgartner, P. (2012a). Schaufenster des Lernens: Eine Sammlung von Mus-
tern zur Arbeit mit E-Portfolios (1st Ed.). Münster: Waxmann.
Bauer, R., & Baumgartner, P. (2012b). Showcase of learning: towards a pattern language for
working with electronic portfolios in higher education. In Proceedings of the 16th European
Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (pp. 6:1–6:30). New York, NY, USA: ACM.
doi:10.1145/2396716.2396722.
Baumgartner, P. (2013, May 18). Workshop on 15 Properties of Christopher Alexander.

Weblog “Gedankensplitter”. Retrieved November 3, 2014, from http://peter.baumgartner.
name/2013/05/18/workshop-on-15-properties-christopher-alexander/.
Baumgartner, P. (2012). Eine Taxonomie für E-Portfolios: Teil II des BMWF-Abschlussbe-

richts “E-Portfolio an Hochschulen” (Forschungsbericht No. GZ 51.700/0064-VII/10/2006).
Krems: Department für Interaktive Medien und Bildungstechnologien, Donau-Universität
Krems. Retrieved November 3, 2014, from http://www.peter-baumgartner.at/schriften/
pdfs/ep-taxonomie-2012.pdf.
Baumgartner, P., & Bergner, I. (2015). Designing lively learning scenarios: How to adapt
Alexander’s 15 properties for educational design patterns? In Purplsoc Preparatory Work-
shop. Krems: Danube University Krems, pp. ?.
Brunner, I., Häcker, T., & Winter, F. (2006). Das Handbuch Portfolioarbeit. Konzepte–Anre-
gungen–Erfahrungen aus Schule und Lehrerbildung (1st Ed.). Seelze/Velber: Kallmeyer bei
Friedrich.
Himpsl-Gutermann, K., & Bauer, R. (2011). Kaleidoskope des Lernens: E-Portfolios in der
Aus- und Weiterbildung von österreichischen LehrerInnen. In Zeitschrift für E-Learning.
Lernkultur und Bildungstechnologie, 6/3, pp. 20-36.
Jabornegg, D. (2004). Der Portfolio-Ansatz in der Schülerbeurteilung der USA und seine
Bedeutung für die Schülerbeurteilung in der neuen kaufmännischen Grundbildung (NKG).
Doctoral Thesis. St. Gallen: Universität St. Gallen, Hochschule für Wirtschafts-, Rechts- und
Sozialwissenschaften (HSG). Retrieved November 3, 2014, from http://www1.unisg.ch/www/
edis.nsf/SysLkpByIdentifier/2883/$FILE/dis2883.pdf.
Mehaffy, M., & Salingaros, N. A. (2011, October 24). The “Wholeness-Generating” Techno-
logy of Christopher Alexander. In Point of View: The Metropolis Blog. Retrieved December
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25, 2014, from http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/October-2011/The-Whole-

ness-Generating-Technology-of-Christopher-Alexander/.
Nagel, T. (1989). The View From Nowhere. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Paulson, P. R., & Paulson, F. L. (1991). Portfolios: Stories of Knowing. In Claremont Reading
Conference 54th Yearbook. Knowing: The Power of Stories, 1–8.
Salingaros, N. A. (2012). Twelve Lectures on Architecture. Algorithmic Sustainable Design.

Notes from a Series of 12 Lectures Applying Cutting-Edge Mathematical Techniques to Ar-
chitectural and Urban Design. Solingen: Umbau-Verlag.
Searle, J. R. (1983). Intentionality: An Essay in the Philosophy of Mind. Cambridge, UK: Cam-
bridge University Press
7. Appendix
In this appendix we give a brief overview of our pattern language for working with e-portfo-
lios in the form of a list of patterns and two pattern maps (cf. Bauer & Baumgartner, 2012).
As with the basic vocabulary of a natural language, which consists of different parts of spe-
ech (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) which have specific functions in terms of possible combi-
nations (sentence and text level), our pattern language describes e-portfolio patterns with
different functions such as patterns for the implementation of e-portfolios in courses and
patterns for the creation and design of e-portfolios. Just as a generative grammar enables a
speaker to understand and to generate an infinite number of sentences even though there
are only a finite number of words available, the described e-portfolio patterns enable users
to create an infinite number of e-portfolios. Our pattern language for working with e-port-
folios represents the basic vocabulary in the form of different patterns that help lecturers
and students to work on and with e-portfolios.
The pattern map presented in Figure 6 shows the relationship between the 38 e-portfolio
patterns we have identified so far and how they support each other. They can be divided
into different groups (visualized by different shades of grey) on different levels (cf. Figure
7): Some patterns are applied to special types of e-portfolios and their organization, while
others address the motivation behind e portfolio work while still other patterns are more
important for individual, reflective, and collaborative learning. Thus, the recorded pattern
language basically comprises three main levels that address the following questions:
182
»» Level 1: Which fundamental types of e-portfolios are at the learner’s disposal?
»» Level 2: How can e-portfolio work be organized in a motivational way?
»» Level 3: Which possibilities are offered for e-portfolios design?
For better orientation within the pattern language and for better locating individual pat-
terns, our catalogue of e-portfolio patterns is divided into five large groups of overall pat-
terns which contain other (sub-) patterns:
Level 1
Group 1: Patterns for E-Portfolios
1. E-PORTFOLIO (= Entry Pattern)
2. REFLECTION PORTFOLIO
3. DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO
4. PRESENTATION PORTFOLIO
Level 2
Group 2: Patterns for the Organization and Motivation of E-Portfolio Work
5. ORGANISATION FORM
6. UNITY MODEL
7. CENTRIFUGAL MODEL
8. CENTRIPETAL MODEL
9. PARALLEL MODEL
10. MOTIVATION
11. COMPULSORY EXERCISE
12. VOLUNTARY EXERCISE
Level 3
Group 3: Patterns for Individual Learning
13. MY PERSONAL LEARNING ARCHIVE
14. SELECTING
183
15. IDENTIFYING
16. INSPECTING
17. DECIDING
18. PLANNING
19. ORGANIZING
20. PRODUCING
21. COLLECTING
22. DOCUMENTING
23. ELABORATING
24. ILLUSTRATING
25. FOR THE EYE
26. FOR THE EAR
27. PRESENTING
Group 4: Patterns for Reflective Learning
28. MY MIRROR
29. ASSESSING
30. LINKING
31. REFLECTING
Group 5: Patterns for Collaborative Learning
32. MY FRIENDS
33. NETWORKING
34. APPRECIATING
35. JUDGING
36. APPROVING
37. GIVING FEEDBACK
38. DISCUSSING
184
Depending on the particular role users of this pattern language play in the overall structure
of e-portfolio work, they can select those patterns which are most relevant to their indivi-
dual needs, and are relevant to the specific phase of the e portfolio work in which they are
involved.
185
186
Image: Tony Hisgett | www.flickr.com/photos/hisgett
187
Evaluating the
Applicability
of Alexander’s
Fundamental
Properties to
Non-Architec-
ture Domains
188
Kohls, Christian
University of Applied Sciences Cologne, Steinmüllerallee 1, Gummersbach, Germany
christian.kohls@fh-koeln.de
Köppe, Christian
HAN University of Applied Sciences, Ruitenberglaan 26, Arnhem, Netherlands
christian.koppe@han.nl
In his late work, the four-volume book The Nature of Or-

der, Christopher Alexander introduces 15 fundamental
properties that contribute to the “degree of life” a struc-
ture has. The concept of “degree of life”, a concept Al-
exander introduces in that work, is a more specific, (at
least theoretically) measurable indicator that refers to the
wholeness of a form and whether it has the “Quality wi-
thout a Name”. In our research we are interested whether
the 15 properties can be found in domains other than ar-
chitecture. Alexander himself claims that the properties
are universal and he shows many examples in nature,
including forms of animals or cells that have these pro-
perties and that are alive and vivid. However, all of these
examples draw from the physical and therefore geome-
tric world. Do we find the same or similar properties in
non-geometrical domains such as education, organizati-
onal structure, or software design? Moreover, can these
properties really improve the quality – or in Alexander’s
words the “degree of life” – in existing forms?
Educational Patterns, Lecture Design, Degree of Life,

Wholeness, Nature of Order
189
1. Introduction
The 15 fundamental properties are being increasingly found in domains other than archi-
tecture. In this paper we want to investigate the extent to which this mapping of the proper-
ties onto other domains actually works. Thus we will explicitly not reflect on the 15 proper-
ties in their application to architecture and geometric forms, but rather on their application
to other domains and spaces (such as time-related or semantic spaces). Christopher Al-
exander himself (2002) indicated that the concept is applicable in other domains such as
education. In order to find out whether the 15 properties actually work in other domains as
well as in architecture, we developed a method to systematically search for the properties
in existing forms of other domains. Instead of simply speculating about their meaning for
other domains, the method fosters an open discussion by experts. Based on an analysis
of design patterns of that domain, common properties are identified. By definition, design
patterns should capture good and proven designs. Therefore, we can assume that we are
likely to find most of the 15 fundamental properties in these patterns if they are actually
necessary for vivid solutions in their respective domains. We do not assume that all of the
properties are present in each pattern. However, we do assume that some of the proper-
ties are more often or are even always present and that there might be some (hierarchical)
relations between them. We also differentiate between the structure that evolves during
the application of a pattern (which especially in a non-physical domain might be volatile and
short-living) and the resulting environment, which has been changed by this short-living
structure. The potential properties found in these domains may be relevant for both the
structure of the unfolding process and the structure of the resulting environment.
Our method evaluates the degree to which a given property is either directly present (wi-
thout re-interpretation), indirectly present (mapping the meaning of the property onto the
new domain with some re-interpretation), or absent in a given pattern. We also attend to
the essential design goals or properties that are common in the specific domain. This enab-
les us to find mappings from the 15 fundamental properties to their meaning in the given
domain. If we cannot map all of the fundamental properties onto the specific properties of
the domain, this could mean that the 15 fundamental properties are not all present for this
domain. On the other hand, it could also mean that the domain has not yet defined all the
properties that make designs more alive. To which extent the 15 fundamental properties
can help to make better – more vivid, more alive - designs in other domains can be tested
by (1) checking their presence in good solutions and (2) see how solutions can be improved
by them.
In the following, we will provide a short overview of how other researchers have tried to
190
Evaluating the Applicability of Alexander’s Fundamental Properties to Non-Architecture Domains
map the fundamental properties to new domains. Then we will describe our method in
more detail. To exemplify our method and its result, we will apply it to five educational
patterns about lecture design: SUITABLE CONTENT SELECTION, SUITABLE DELIVERY FORM
SELECTION, REGULAR ATTENTION RECUPERATION, LECTURE STRUCTURING, and IMAGINA-
TION STIMULATION (Köppe & Schalken-Pinkster, 2013). Finally we will discuss the results
and the lessons learned.
2. The 15 properties and their abundant

interpretations
There are a number of attempts to use the 15 fundamental properties in other domains.
These include interpretations for software design (Coplien & Appleton, 1997; Coplien, 1998;
Wirfs-Brock, 2008; Wirfs-Brock, 2010; Waguespack, 2010), computer mediated interacti-
on (Schümmer, 2005; Schümmer & Lukosch, 2007), poetry (Gabriel, 2008) and education
(Bauer & Baumgartner, 2011). There are also three works that discuss The Nature of Order
and give summaries and cross-domain explanations of the fifteen properties: Delight’s Muse
(Quillien, 2008), Mustertheorie (Leitner, 2007) and Thriving Systems Theory and Metaphor-Dri-
ven Modelling (Waguespack, 2010).
The challenge is that the 15 properties express a high level of abstraction and do not direc-
tly translate to all domains. Thus many different interpretations of their meaning exist. In
the domain of software development, Waguespack (2010, p. 12) maps the 15 properties of
centers onto choice properties for system design: “to apply Alexander’s concepts of physical
structure to information systems, they must first be translated from a language of physical
space to a language of cognitive space where physical positions and distance correspond
to concepts and consonance in ‘fields’ populated by abstractions rather than shapes. The
term choice serves well for that translation of Alexander’s term center into this cognitive
space.” Some of his mappings are intuitively comprehensible, for example the mapping of
Boundaries onto Encapsulation or of Good Shape onto Correctness. Other mappings are
less comprehensible and are in conflict with other interpretations.
Let us consider two example properties: “Alternating Repetitions” and “Good shape” to get
an idea how different the interpretations can be.
2.1. Alternating repetition

According to Alexander, “alternating repetition is the way in which centers are strengthe-
ned when they repeat, by the insertion of other centers between the repeating ones” (Al-
191
exander, 2002). In time, alternating repetition could be considered as rhythm: “Alternating

Repetition comes into play when different phases in the group process require a different
level of involvement. Group members will follow a rhythm of participation and passivity,
which is then used to participate in other social contexts” (Schümmer & Lukosch, 2007).
It is a sequence of centers that repeat but every repetition is adapted to its local surroun-
dings: “strong centers repeated with alternating centers; not simple repeating: pattern with
variation” (Gabriel, 2008b). In educational scenarios we find many alternating repetitions: a
script or textbook has repeating elements (it is better structured if the same elements such
as overview, discourse and summary are found again and again, alternating with the various
topics); a rhythm of question and answer in lessons; presentation slides that separate to-
pics and provide orientation are both boundaries and alternations to the content slides; the
headlines in research papers alternate with the text. In programming, a loop with various
parameters or a recursive call is an alternating repetition (Kohls, 2014).
2.2. Good shape

“Good shape is the way that the strength of a given center depends on its actual shape, and
the way this effect requires that even the shape, its boundary, and the space around it are
made up of strong centers” (Alexander, 2002). It seems that good shape is a rather complex
quality of interacting centers that themselves together form a good shape, i.e. a strong
form or a clear gestalt. This is similar to the law of Prägnanz in gestalt psychology (Quillien,
2008). There are different causes of Prägnanz. Something can be prägnant because it is the
simplest interpretation of the perceived data; another cause is the familiarity with a form
because known forms or categories can more intuitively be grasped. “Good shape” has an
aesthetic meaning. It means that something is the way it should be. “Good” means to be a
good exemplar of a category, an ideal in a Platonic view or a good schema in an Aristotalian
sense. Gabriel (2008) calls something with “good shape” “a center that is beautiful in itself”
so one can say that good shape means to be in a state of harmony and balance – to be be-
autiful. Coplien considers the idea of the good shape as an abstraction (Coplien & Appleton,
1997) or in terms of simple shapes “that are pleasing the eye (triangles, circles, stars, etc.)”
(Coplien, 1998). This view is coherent with the law of Prägnanz.
However, complex shapes that are familiar can also become simple: familiarity with even
a complex entity eventually makes it simple. In the field of software design, Wirfs-Brock
(2010) considers a good shape to be “a shape that comprises recursive compact coherent
centers, each exhibiting characteristic properties [such as] roles and patterns of collabora-
tion, layers, sub-assemblies, modules, [and] domains”. Waguespack (2010, p. 17) interprets
good shape as overall correctness: “Good Shape brings us to the point of examining the
192
core of the concept, the essence of choices themselves. Together, the collective of choices
constitutes the knowledge and understanding of the system under consideration. Relevant,
complete, clear, and concise are the characteristics of choice quality, its Good Shape.”
In pedagogy, a good method is one that satisfies its purpose and goals without violating the
feelings of the students or teacher. A good “hands on practice” is one in which the student
actually practices and has a positive and sustainable learning effect, e.g. the application of
a math skill under supervision of a teacher or trainer. A bad shape of “hands on practice” is
one that is too hard (students drop out), too simple (students get bored), without guidance
(students get no feedback or help), or does not practice the skills that should be gained.
Good shape means both a method or pattern that fits to the context (the intent) and its
right implementation.
3. A method for mapping Alexander’s fundamen-

tal properties
Our method consists of three iterative phases. The first phase consists of two steps and is
performed by a group of researchers. First, their goal is to find general properties of the
domain. Second, they work on a commonly agreed upon mapping from the 15 fundamental
properties onto quality properties of a given domain. The second phase consists of three
steps in which researchers independently evaluate patterns and check for the presence of
the fundamental properties (first step), which additional properties exist (second step), and
how the fundamental properties may improve existing patterns (third step). The third phase
consolidates the evaluation of the independent reviewers.
3.1. Phase 1: General mapping of properties

In a first step, we list common properties of quality for the given domain, without having Al-
exander’s 15 fundamental properties in mind. For example, in education we want to engage
students, motivate them, help them reach their learning objectives etc. Other properties we
might find include active or passive participation, positive relations between students, and
moments of flow or enlightenment.
In a second step we try to find mappings from the 15 fundamental properties to the quality
properties of the domain. We can either find a direct mapping, an indirect mapping or no
mapping at all. A direct mapping is a straight-forward mapping that does not require any
re-interpretation of the property. For example, alternating repetition is found many times
in educational contexts: the repetition of lectures and pauses, the repetition of chapter
193
elements in textbooks (e.g. learning objectives – introduction – content – examples – exer-

cises). Alternating repetition can also be found in social learning contexts, where groups
constantly switch between forms of collaboration.
It is important that the similarity should not be on a superficial level but is coherent with Al-
exander’s deeper meaning of the property. This requires referring Alexander’s original texts
to check whether the structural similarities are given. Focusing on the deeper meaning of a
property can also help us to find a new interpretation of it for the domain. For example, “The
Void” which is in Alexander’s terms “the way that the intensity of every center depends on
the existence of a still place – an empty center – somewhere in its field” (Alexander, 2002a)
could be interpreted for the field of pedagogy to include methods for concentration such as
letting one’s mind wander, having time to relax, calming down in the classroom, and sinking
into a book (Kohls, 2013). However, this is no longer a direct mapping but a re-interpreta-
tion that draws from the deeper meaning of the property. Obviously this can lead to some
ambiguousness and in the long term we need an open discourse between experts whether
it is an acceptable re-interpretation.
While the first two steps should be done in an open collaboration, involving the sharing of
views and thoughts, the next three steps should be performed by at least 2 independent
reviewers who evaluate patterns on their own. The main reason for using independent
reviewers is to address ambiguousness. If independent reviewers come up with similar
judgements it is more likely that there is substance to them.
3.2. Phase 2: Evaluating patterns for the 15 fundamental properties

The third step is to review more and more patterns of the domain and look for the presence
of the 15 fundamental properties. The reviewer evaluates one pattern at a time and check
for each fundamental property whether it is present in the pattern or not (or alternati-
vely created/evolved by the pattern application). The reviewer decides whether s/he sees
one of the fundamental properties directly in the pattern. A more challenging judgement
is whether a property can be found indirectly. This is because one has to re-interpret the
property for the domain. The common proposal of mappings (from step 2) can guide the re-
viewer. However, since the indirect mapping involves some ambiguousness, reviewers may
find the presence of different properties based on their own interpretations. Therefore it is
important that at least 2 independent reviewers tackle the same pattern. If 2 independent
reviewers find the same properties or use the same re-interpretations it is more likely that
the property is actually present in the pattern.
In the fourth step, reviewers write down which other properties, or domain specific values,
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they can see in the pattern. For these properties they should briefly explain why they cannot
be mapped onto any of the 15 fundamental properties.
In the fifth step, the reviewers consider the fundamental properties that are not present in
the pattern. For each absent property they should briefly reflect in a thought experiment
how the property could potentially improve the solution and write down their ideas.
3.3. Phase 3: Consolidation

The sixth and last step is to analyse the reviewers’ independent evaluations and consolidate
them. For each pattern the following attributes are identified:
»» which properties have been found directly by one or more reviewers,
»» which properties have been found indirectly by one or more reviewers with the same
re-interpretation
»» which properties have been found indirectly by one or more reviewers with different
re-interpretation (indicating a certain level of arbitrariness),
»» which additional properties have been identified by one or more reviewers,
»» which potential ways exist to improve the solution by refining it towards the fundamental
properties.
From the consolidation we can discern the extent to which the properties are actually pre-
sent and how they help to form a better solution. As reviewers may come up with different
re-interpretations, these can be included in the discourse about a meaningful mapping of
the fundamental properties to the domain.
4. Applying the method to the domain of lecture

design
To apply our proposed method we have chosen to focus on a specific field of higher educa-
tion: the design of good lectures. Both authors have experience in delivering lectures, ho-
wever, with a significant difference. Christian Köppe has delivered many lectures in a univer-
sity context. The five foundational patterns for lecture design (Köppe & Schalken-Pinkster,
2013) are based on his experience and the experience of his colleagues as well as common
literature. Christian Kohls has delivered many conference presentations and trainings. He
now faces the task of designing new lectures as he recently became a professor. He can
195
use the five patterns as design guidance in planning his lectures. Hence, we have two per-
spectives on the same patterns: the perspective from the author/expert (who has already
experience in designing lectures) and the perspective from the user/novice (who wants to
use the expert’s knowledge captured in the patterns to design a new lecture).
4.1. Quality Properties of lectures

Following the first step in phase 1, we tried to extract the most important qualities of good
lectures. Given that lectures are ubiquitous in higher education one would expect that a
clear and common understanding of these qualities can be found in the pedagogical lite-
rature. However, this is not the case. We reviewed several pedagogical guidelines found
on the internet. The quality that “effective lecturers can communicate the intrinsic interest
of a subject through their enthusiasm” can be found on learningspark.com but is not pre-
sent in many other lists. Since e-learning offers many alternatives to traditional lectures,
the authors believe that such social effects (“spark the enthusiasm”) are likely to be more
relevant in reference to traditional on-site lectures. We also found a good summary of po-
sitive functions of lectures on e-teaching.org, a portal to foster the use of digital media in
higher education: teachers present state of the art and basic knowledge, lectures create the
knowledge base for further activities (projects, practice), provide motivation for the domain,
are a starting point for self-directed learning and give an overview over a whole topic/do-
main. Both authors of this paper also independently brainstormed what they expect from a
“good” lecture. In an online discussion, we identified a list of important qualities of lectures.
The list below summarizes the findings of the literature review and the brainstorming. It
focuses on the most relevant properties (from the author’s perspectives):
1. Domain coverage: Provides a good introduction and basic knowledge of a domain.
2. Effectiveness: Imparts knowledge and understanding.
3. Motivation: Catalyses motivation and interest in the domain.
4. Inspiration: Enables self-directed learning and further activities.
5. Excitement: Is exciting in a way that cannot be replaced by textbooks or films.
6. Flow: Does not overwhelm or bore, supported by a balanced level of challenge.
7. Economy: Makes use of the available time in the most efficient way.
8. Engagement: Promotes active involvement of students with the topic during the
lecture.
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4.2. Applying Phase 1: Mapping the 15 properties to educational

properties
After we had agreed on these eight properties as a working list, we were able to reflect on
potential mappings from these eight properties to Alexander’s 15 fundamental properties.
As a supporting step we first looked for occurrences of the 15 fundamental properties in
lectures in general. Deriving from these examples, we found mappings to the educational
properties.
We invite the reader to reflect upon whether s/he agrees with the mappings, which of the
mappings are direct or indirect, and which other mappings come to mind. What we can see
already is that there are several potential mappings for each of Alexander’s 15 properties.
This means that one Alexandrian property can support more than one educational property.
Levels of Scale can be mapped onto Domain Coverage by having smaller knowledge
chunks that build on each other to cover a whole topic.
Levels of Scale can be mapped onto Flow (not overwhelming or boring students) by pro-
viding knowledge that fits and integrates into a bigger picture and dividing more difficult
challenges into smaller and easier challenges (“divide and conquer”).
Levels of Scale can be mapped onto Economic by efficiently providing knowledge and buil-
ding/stabilizing the big pictures by smaller foundations.
Strong Centers can be mapped onto Domain Coverage, Effectiveness and Economic by
providing a mixture of information, multiple views, being a whole and structured unit, and
by bundling knowledge fragments instead of splitting apart what belongs together.
Strong Centers can be mapped onto Inspiration by building/connecting the content to

other activities, or being the “glue”, by bringing students together to connect and share
experience, and by making announcements and tips available for all attendees.
Strong Centers can be mapped onto Economy by having a lecturer with experience who
guides students effectively through the basics.
Boundaries can be mapped to Motivation by separating and connecting theory and ex-
amples to real-world problems.
Boundaries can be mapped to Engagement by providing social boundaries, (e.g. in which

the professor and students physically face each other) and by avoiding distractions (i.e.,
pauses to separate lectures from previous thoughts or activities – pauses provide time to
shift focus and attention).
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Alternating Repetition can be mapped onto Domain Coverage by providing an optimal

and reliable sequence of presentation styles, ensuring that important information (ex-
amples, teaching goals) is provided on a regular basis and ensures that students know what
to expect.
Good Shape can be mapped onto all of the eight educational properties since a good sha-
pe – that is a good lecture – should show all of these qualities.
Local Symmetries can be mapped onto Domain Coverage and Effectiveness by presenting
coherent content and adapting the content to an audience with similar skill level.
Local Symmetries can be mapped onto Motivation and Flow by being coherent and
matching the expectation of students.
Local Symmetries can be mapped onto Excitement as student meet friends and can inter-
act with them and with the lecturer.
Deep interlock and ambiguity can be mapped onto Motivation if the knowledge strongly
relates to students expectations, their goals, problems and experience.
Deep interlock and ambiguity can be mapped onto Inspiration because “guidance” to
self-directed activities is an ambiguity.
Contrast can be mapped onto Domain Coverage and Effectiveness by showing what is im-
portant and what is not, by understanding cause and effect, and by assuming that knowled-
ge is indeed a differentiation of the world (as in ontologies).
Contrast can be mapped onto Excitement if the body language and excitement of teacher
signals what is relevant for real life (or for exams), and by involving many more senses than
books or video lectures.
Contrast can be mapped onto Economy by highlighting content, developing it step by step,
and drawing conclusions.
Gradients can be mapped onto Domain Coverage and Effectiveness by having a well-sha-
ped sequence that builds up the big picture step by step and avoiding unexpected changes
of direction, and by making everything fit together and feel coherent.
Gradients can be mapped onto Motivation by not loosing students with too-difficult chal-
lenges at the beginning and increasing the level of difficulty stepwise, and by letting stu-
dents experience progress and reach milestones.
198
Gradients can be mapped onto Flow by constantly adapting the level of difficulty, and in-
creasing the level of challenges step by step.
Gradients can be mapped onto Economy by directly leading students down the path to the
learning goal, from the unknown to the known.
Roughness can be mapped onto Motivation by changing the standard content and accoun-
ting for current affairs and problems, integrating the latest results of research, and allowing
the lecturer to avoid becoming bored from having to present the same things again and
again.
Roughness can be mapped onto Inspiration by providing spontaneous tips for further re-
sources, leaving gaps to be filled in by students and by allowing students to explore their
own solutions.
Roughness can be mapped onto Excitement by adapting to the current needs and skills of
the audience, integrating surprises and providing space for anecdotes and jokes.
Roughness can be mapped onto Flow by making it possible to adapt the level of difficulty
and constantly evaluating the reaction of students, and by allowing students to ask ques-
tions.
Roughness can be mapped onto Engagement by allowing interaction with students,

connecting with students and not being serious all the time. Additionally, committing the
occasional faux-pas makes a lecturer more natural.
Echoes can be mapped onto Effectiveness by learning through repetition and induction of
mental schemas.
Echoes can be mapped onto Inspiration and can support self-directed learning if the cont-
ent is echoed in scripts, text books, exercises and other resources.
Simplicity and Inner Calm can be mapped onto Doman Coverage and Effectiveness by
making content more accessible, by making complexity easier to grasp, by dividing and
conquering, chunking information, and by having coherent content that does not irritate.
Simplicity and Inner Calm can be mapped onto Motivation by not overwhelming students
(“I can do this”).
Simplicity and Inner Calm can be mapped onto Flow and Economy by making things sim-
ple without oversimplifying.
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Simplicity and Inner Calm can be mapped onto Engagement because students can follow
the content and contribute.
The Void can be mapped onto Inspiration by letting the mind wander, providing gaps that
can be filled with life by students.
The Void can be mapped onto Inspiration by providing pauses for reflections and letting
the content “sink” in.
Positive Space maps onto Domain Coverage as each text/content section gets its meaning
from the surrounding content sections. The meaning of a phrase depends on its context.
Positive Space maps onto Motivation because in a learning community (students sitting
together in the lecture hall) there are shared goals and social identity emerges; students
define themselves in relation to other students who are present.
Positive Space maps onto Economy because learning materials should be accessible and
designed for optimal perception.
Not-Separateness can be mapped onto Domain Coverage and Effectiveness by providing

content that builds on and relates to other content.
Not-Separateness can be mapped onto Motivation by connecting content to the goals and
interests of students, connecting content with other activities and real world problems, and
providing meaning.
Not-Separateness can be mapped onto Inspiration by referring to other activities (“you

will need this to solve the next programming exercise or understand this drama”), and by
referring to further resources.
Not-Separateness can be mapped onto Excitement through social experiences and a stron-
ger commitment of students who show up.
Not-Separateness can be mapped onto Economy by connecting to existing content (which

is very effective), by building skills and providing information required for higher level activi-
ties, and by making the curriculum whole.
Not-Separateness can be mapped onto Engagement by socially involving students and

connecting the content to the students’ interests.
200
4.3. Applying Phase 2: Finding the properties in the patterns

The second phase of our method evaluates the 15 properties not with regard to lectures
in general but rather with regard to lecture design patterns. Here we looked at the five pat-
terns that are intended as a foundation for good lecture design (Köppe & Schalken-Pinkster,
2013). The findings for one of the patterns are described next.
The pattern “Suitable Content Selection” has the following properties (drawing from both
the 15 fundamental properties and the eight educational ones). In what follows, “dm” stands
for direct mapping, “im” for indirect mapping and “ep” for educational property .
Each author independently selected aspects of the pattern and mapped them onto the
properties. Hence, two different aspects could lead to the same property. For example,
author #1 indirectly mapped “Separate different content types” to Strong Centers, whereas
author #2 mapped “Content best be presented by lecturer” directly to Strong Centers.
»» Suitable Content Selection – Mappings of pattern aspects to properties by author #1:
»» Separate different content types -> Strong Centers (im), Boundaries (im), and Contrast
(dm);
»» Identify content that is available in other resources -> Not-Separateness (dm) and Inspi-
ration (ep);
»» The checklists define what the conceptual difference between the content types is ->
Contrast (dm);
»» Provide the big picture in lectures -> Not-Separateness (dm);
»» Examples in lectures -> Alternating Repetition (dm), Echoes (dm), and Local Symmetry
(im);
»» Link knowledge to existing knowledge -> Not-Separateness (dm);
»» Reduce lecture content to those content types that require personal presentation ->
Simplicity and Inner Calm (im) and Excitement (ep);
»» Avoid being boring or overwhelming -> Good Shape (dm), Flow (ep), and Economy (ep);
»» Adapt examples to audience -> Roughness (dm) and Motivation (ep);
»» Put in larger context, i.e. implications for society, organizations -> Not-Separateness (dm)
and Motivation (ep).
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In addition, we can identify these positive properties: Take diversity into account, connect to
larger context (societal), create value and meaning for students, provide only the essentials
/ starting points, feedback, interaction, provides the big picture.
Alexander’s properties Our educational Additional educational

properties properties
Levels of Scale Provide basic knowledge Take diversity into account
Strong centers Gain knowledge and under- Connect to larger context
standing (societal)
Boundaries Motivation and interest for Create value/meaning for
domain students
Alternating repetition Self-directed learning, Provide only the essentials /
further activities starting points
Positive space Exciting event, no replace- Feedback, interaction
ment possible
Good shape Flow experience Big picture
Local symmetries Effective, efficient
Deep interlock and ambi- Active involvement of
guity students
Contrast
Gradients
Roughness
Echoes
The Void
Simplicity and Inner Calm
Not-separateness
Table 1: Mappings of author #1
Suitable Content Selection – Mappings of pattern aspects to properties by author #2:
»» Content best be presented by lecturer -> Strong Centers (dm) and Effectiveness (ep);
»» Pointing to self-study content -> Boundaries (dm), Contrast (dm), Simplicity & Inner Calm
(im), Not-Separateness (dm), Inspiration (ep), and Economy (ep);
»» Covers interrelationships of elements -> Strong Centers (dm), Boundaries (dm), Contrast
(dm), Not-Separateness (dm), Domain Coverage (ep), and Effectiveness (ep);
»» Critical content parts -> Strong Centers (dm);
»» General feedback on students’ performance -> Inspiration (ep) and Effectiveness (ep)
202
»» showing wider implications/perspective -> Not-Separateness (im), Motivation (ep), and

Excitement (ep);
»» Relevant examples -> Strong Centers (dm), Good Shape (im), Not-Separateness (im), Ef-
fectiveness (ep), and Motivation (ep);
»» Linking old to new -> Alternating Repetition (dm), Not-Separateness (im), and Effective-
ness (ep).
In addition, we can identify these positive properties: feedback as “confirmation” or for cor-
rection, linking new to big/surrounding (giving it a broader contextual meaning).

Levels of Scale Provide basic knowledge Feedback as confirmation/
correction
Strong centers Gain knowledge and under- Linking new to big/surroun-
standing ding
Boundaries Motivation and interest for
domain
Alternating repetition Self-directed learning,
further activities
Positive space Exciting event, no replace-
ment possible
Good shape Flow experience
Local symmetries Effective, efficient
Deep interlock and ambi- Active involvement of
guity students
Contrast
Gradients
Roughness
Echoes
The Void
Simplicity and Inner Calm
Not-separateness
Table 2: Mappings of author #2
4.4. Applying Phase 3: Consolidation

It is important to remember that the analysis of the patterns was made independently by
each of the authors. This is the reason why their mapping is based on different aspects of
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the pattern’s solution. In a third and final phase we consolidated the mappings. That is, if
one of the authors found a property (e.g. Echoes) and the other did not, the consolidation
still expressed that Echoes was found in the pattern. However, in the consolidation we also
quantified how many times a property was identified and whether it was mapped directly
or indirectly.

Levels of Scale Domain coverage: 1 mapping Take diversity into account
1 mapping by author #2
Strong centers: 5 mappings Effectiveness: 5 mappings Connect to larger context
4 direct mappings by authors #2 5 mappings by author #2 (societal)
1 indirect mapping by author #1
Boundaries: 3 mappings Motivation: 4 mappings Create value/meaning for
2 direct mappings by author #2 2 mappings by author #1 students
1 indirect mapping by author #1 2 mappings by author #2
Alternating repetition: 2 mappings Inspiration: 3 mappings Provide only the essentials /

1 direct mapping by author #1 1 mapping by author #1 starting points
1 direct mapping by author #2 2 mappings by author #2
Positive space Excitement: 2 mappings Feedback, interaction

Good shape: 2 mappings Flow experience: 1 mapping Big picture
1 direct mapping by author #1 1 mapping by author #1
Local symmetries: 1 mapping Economic: 2 mappings Feedback as confirmation/cor-
1 indirect mapping by author #1 1 mapping by author #1 rection
Deep interlock and ambiguity Engagement Linking new to big/surrounding

Contrast: 4 mappings
2 direct mappings by author #1
Gradients
Roughness 1 mapping
1 direct mapping by author #1
Echoes 1 mapping
1 direct mapping by author #1
The Void
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Simplicity and Inner Calm: 2
mappings
Not-separateness: 9 mappings
Table 3: Consolidation of both author’s mappings
5. Conclusions
Our most obvious finding was that we found many of Alexander’s 15 properties in the pat-
tern – indeed more than we expected. In most cases a mapping onto the property was
found by both authors. However, there were differences as to how many mappings they
found and whether they directly or indirectly mapped onto the property. Almost all of the
educational properties were found for the pattern by at least one author. There is no dif-
ferentiation between direct and indirect mapping for education properties, since they are
already rooted in the educational domain and require no re-interpretation. Both authors
also identified additional educational properties for the pattern.
5.1. Reflections on the 15 fundamental properties applied for education

Another noteworthy result is that some of Alexander’s properties show a more intense pre-
sence than others. We found several occurrences of strong centers, contrasts and not-se-
parateness. While we selected only one pattern for illustration, the same can be found for
the other patterns. Strong Centers, Echoes and Not-Separateness where indeed identified
multiple times for each of the five patterns. We can also report that all of the 15 properties
were identified in at least one pattern. Positive space and Simplicity & Inner Calm were only
identified once. All the other properties were also identified several times but could not be
found in all of the patterns. One of the reasons that Strong Centers, Echoes and Not-Se-
parateness were found more frequently could be that for each of these properties we also
found many different mappings to educational properties (see previous section).
As for the educational properties, we found that all of the properties were present in one
pattern or another. However, none of the educational properties was present in all five
patterns. This implies that the interplay of multiple patterns is required to achieve all of the
educational properties (or values).
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5.2. Reflections on the educational properties and their relation to other

properties
In the process of analysing each of the patterns we also identified additional educational
properties that were present in multiple patterns:
»» Diversity: address different student skills, interests and learning styles
»» Contextualization: connect to existing context, student‘s interests and societal contexts
»» Social Interaction: provide feedback, adapt to the current situation and to social inter-
action
»» Orientation/Big picture: orient students to, the big picture and understanding of the
learning goals and help them relate the content to these goals
»» Curiosity: surprise students, and foster exploration and experimentation
Diversity may be generated by Alternating Repetitions, Gradients, Contrast, Local Symme-

tries (instead of global ones) and Deep Interlock and Ambiguity. Contextualization may be
generated by Levels of Scale, Gradients, and of course Not-Separateness. Social Interaction
may be generated by Strong Centers, Boundaries, Positive Space, Echoes and Not-Sepa-
rateness. Orientation and the Big Picture may be generated by Levels of Scale, Gradients,
Good Shape, Simplicity & Inner Calm, and Not-Separateness. Curiosity may be generated by
Roughness, The Void, and Deep Interlock and Ambiguity.
We have previously seen that one of Alexander’s 15 properties can be mapped to multi-
ple educational properties. We have also argued that the additional educational proper-
ties can be generated by several of Alexander’s properties. This suggests that there is a
many-to-many relation between Alexander’s 15 properties and the educational properties
rather than a 1:1 relationship. Also note that we have speculated that these properties
can be “generated” by some of the fundamental properties. Alternatively we could say that
some of Alexander’s properties support a specific educational property. It is an open ques-
tion as to whether the idea of “supporting” is also better than “mapping”, i.e. a fundamental
structural property rather supports an educational property than being mapped onto an
equivalent. For example, Level of Scales supports Domain Coverage, Flow and Economy
rather than saying that Level of Scales directly or indirectly maps onto Domain Coverage,
Flow and Economy, assuming that this fundamental structural property and the mapped
educational properties are the same.
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5.3. Hierarchy of abstraction

Besides the many-to-many relationship (rather than a 1:1 relationship), we also found a
different hierarchy of abstraction for the educational properties. Domain Coverage, Effec-
tiveness, Motivation, Inspiration, Flow, Economy, Engagement, Diversity, Contextualization,
Social Interaction, Orientation, and Curiosity do not always have a structural nature but are
rather abstract values or achievements. As such, they are rather emergent qualities that
are based on the 15 fundamental structural properties. They are on an intermediate level
between the ultimate goal of wholeness and the fundamental structural properties. While
they are more abstract (various fundamental structural properties can lead to the same
educational values) they are also more specific because they provide meaning for a specific
domain. We could say that we have a hierarchy of abstraction in which
1. wholeness is the ultimate goal,
2. the interplay of educational properties (values) makes education whole,
3. the interplay of structural properties supports or generates educational properties

and therefore wholeness,
4. patterns are general forms, or wholes, in which an interplay of structural properties

manifests and therefore leads to (educational) values and wholeness, and
5. actual implementations of such patterns inherit these properties if and only if they
maintain the structural properties, i.e. they do the right thing the right way.
We have said that our educational properties are emergent values. An interesting explora-
tion would be to analyze the relations of all educational dimensions that have a structural
nature, i.e. differentiate learning environments or educational spaces. Baumgartner (2011)
has identified 29 such dimensions (e.g. time, group size, use of tools and media, partici-
pation, self-direction etc.), and each dimension is differentiated on an ordinal scale into
five sections. If we consider a specific educational form (such as one of the lecture design
patterns), we can locate the structure of this form in the 29-dimensional space implied by
Baumgartner and see whether Alexander’s fundamental properties can be found in that
space. The difficulty of this approach is that it is difficult to imagine a manifestation in the
29-dimensional space. Each of the dimensions is meaningful for differentiating and distin-
guishing different educational forms. However, to consider all 29 dimensions for one form
as a whole and in parallel is very difficult. One expectation would be that pattern descrip-
tions could do exactly that because they describe one whole by analysing it.
207
One of the questions we have not answered yet is whether each lecture design pattern can
be improved by having more of the fundamental structural properties or/and more of the
educational properties. This was planned in the original scheme of our method but has not
yet been addressed.
5.4. Reflections on applying the analysis method

We would like to have been able to present a polished method and to claim to have found
an ultimate path to map the 15 properties for education, or rather any domain, but within
the scope of this paper, this was not our intent. Rather we used the method as an experi-
ment and indeed changed our approach at some points.
One deviation from our original plan made by one of the authors was to first look for occur-
rences of the 15 properties in lectures in general (instead of focussing on the five patterns).
For example, lectures consist of many Strong Centers: Interesting lectures are a mixture
of many different content types: definitions, demonstrations, arguments, questions, illus-
trations, statements, explanations, anecdotes, summaries, surprises and so on, whereas
monotonous lectures are boring and dead. The mixture is spicy; each part enriches the
others. The anecdote is meaningless if it is not set into context within an argument or a de-
finition. The lecturer (or lecturers) constitutes a Strong Center, a person that connects with
all students. Content is also a Strong Center. Students concentrate on the content provided.
A lecture is one unit, a connected time slot of presentation activities that are all interrelated
and strongly connected. The lecture itself is a Strong Center because it connects with many
other activities: practice sessions, exercises, tests, and projects. Different media, including
chalk-boards, projections, experimental setups and screens, also constitute strong centers,
as they require students’ attention.
This pre-evaluation of the 15 properties for lectures in general certainly influenced the later
mapping of the properties as well as the identification of the properties in the particular
patterns. Another deviation from our original plan was that we ended up not distinguishing
between direct and indirect mappings for the properties. The reason is that we soon dis-
covered that for each fundamental property, several mappings onto various educational
properties existed. In the more specific analysis of the patterns, however, the fundamental
properties were marked as a direct or indirect mapping.
While we did not follow our own proposed method exactly we did find that the method pro-
vided very good guidance for us to reflect on the meaning of the 15 fundamental properties
for a given domain. Moreover, the method made it possible to identify the existence of the
fundamental properties in good educational designs. However, this is not proof that these
208
properties always lead to positive educational effects. For example, in a teacher-centered

educational setting the lecturer could be a Strong Center who dictates the pace, the cont-
ent and the lecture flow. In such a situation we would hardly find Inspiration, Engagement,
Excitement, Flow experiences, Motivation or Diversity.
The method presented in this paper is not the final word but it led to a deep reflection on
Alexander’s 15 properties in a structured and systematic way. It encouraged a discourse
and brought new insights for both authors. One of the reasons for this is that the method
required us to focus on specific tasks such as finding educational values, agreeing on the
most important ones, mapping the properties and analyzing concrete patterns.
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acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1449814.1501018. (05.05.2011) Nashville, TN: ACM.
Wirfs-Brock, R. (2010). The Nature of Order: Inspiration or Esoteric Distraction? Keynote at

PLoP 2010. Reno, Nevada.
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Image: THOR | www.flickr.com/photos/geishaboy500
211
From a
Pattern
Language
to a Field of
Centers and
Beyond:
Patterns and
Centers,
Innovation,
Improvisation,
and Creativity
212
Neis, Hans Joachim (Hajo)
Department of Architecture, University of Oregon Portland, 70 NW Couch Street, Port-
land OR 97209, USA
hajoneis@uoregon.edu
In this article we want to trace some of the theoretical

and practical developments of the pattern method and
its realization in practical projects. We want to explore
how particular challenges and opportunities resulted in
the adaptation of the pattern language method into va-
rious forms of pattern project formats and formulations
including ‘pattern languages’ and ‘project languages.’ We
want to look at the various forms of innovations and
techniques that deal with theoretical improvements as
well as the necessity of adaptation for practical cases and
projects. Finally, we want to understand how the principle
of patterns and pattern languages was modified and ad-
apted for theoretical and practical project reasons, slowly
developing into a sizable body of knowledge and practical
application, supplemented with new principles that were
added to make the principle of patterns work better in
complex contexts and real applications. Here, in particu-
lar, we want to explore the principle of the ‘Formation of
Field of Centers’ that helped to give geometric structure
to the more functional structure of patterns.
213
Illustration 1: University of Oregon in Portland Downtown Urban Campus

The Campus is located in downtown Portland in refurbished old warehouse buildings, designed
in the Oregon pattern language method with the principles of patterns and user participation.
The White Stag building facilities are open since 2009.
1. Introduction
What we call now the ‘overall pattern language approach’ in architecture, urban design, and
planning has grown from its original principle of ‘pattern and pattern language’ into a large
and solid body of theory and professional work. Today, pattern theory and practice inclu-
des a large number of principles, methods, techniques and practical project applications
in which patterns themselves play a specific part within this larger body of knowledge. Not
only has the pattern language approach grown in its original area of architecture, but it has
also (though less triumphantly than silently) expanded into a large number of other discip-
lines and fields, in particular computer and software science, education, biology, community
psychology, and numerous practical fields. Nevertheless, we first have to acknowledge that
the pattern approach originally started with a single principle almost 50 years ago, the prin-
ciple of patterns and pattern languages that gave the name to this school of thought and
practical professional project work.
In this article we want to trace some of the theoretical and practical developments of the
pattern method and its realization in practical projects. We want to explore how particular
challenges and opportunities resulted in the adaptation of the pattern language method
into various forms of pattern project formats and formulations including ‘pattern languages’
and ‘project languages.’ We want to look at the various forms of innovations and techniques
that deal with theoretical improvements as well as the necessity of adaptation for practical
214
From a Pattern Language to a Field of Centers and Beyond: Patterns and Centers,
Innovation, Improvisation, and Creativity
cases and projects. Finally, we want to understand how the principle of patterns and pat-
tern languages was modified and adapted for theoretical and practical project reasons,
slowly developing into a sizable body of knowledge and practical application, supplemented
with new principles that were added to make the principle of patterns work better in com-
plex contexts and real applications. Here, in particular, we want to explore the principle
of the ‘Formation of Field of Centers’ that helped to give geometric structure to the more
functional structure of patterns.
2. Life as the Essence and Starting Point

Let me first briefly talk about the essential notion and umbrella of pattern theory, which ma-
kes patterns meaningful and shows how patterns are connected within a pattern language,
like blood connects different parts of the body, and similarly connects aspects of different
disciplines in a social system-like fashion. The notion of life can be considered the essential
philosophical starting point and category, and life is also the central practical focus of work
with the intent of making the notion of life an integral part of a scientific method. The central
idea here is the understanding of a gradually increasing quality of life. This quality of life, or
as Alexander originally called it, ‘the quality without a name,’ can be attributed to all systems
and structures, including biological as well as non-biological systems. And while this at first
seems unusual, it is not as strange as one might think. And for a practicing architect and
builder this notion indeed helps very practically to do good work with building structures,
material, space and functional life.
Speaking from today’s multidisciplinary perspective, we can say that the overall pattern lan-
guage approach has reached a point where we can describe it as a general theory and a
practice of development (design and building) that has become relevant for many discip-
lines, organizations and social systems. The main goal of this thinking is the improvement
of life, human development, and the improvement of the environment in which we live. And
while it has always been a central task of philosophy to explain the good life, the pattern
language school of thought may offer a new way of dealing with and thinking about the wor-
ld today that opens up new ways at looking at and solving problems in a practical fashion,
starting with an advanced understanding of life defined by gradual steps that enhance the
quality of life.
215
Illustration 2: OLD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE

“Old People need old people, but they also need the young, and young people need contact with
the old.” From APL p. 216. (pattern 40) 2a. Old woman playing with young boy. 2b. Diagram of
web of patterns supporting the pattern of ‘Old people everywhere.’
The key central category and practical starting point of this endeavor is the notion of the
pattern. Here, we are not interested in just any kind of pattern but specifically, those kinds
of patterns that support life. We are interested in patterns that have the capacity to solve
practical problems, which we call problem-solution patterns.
3. Patterns as Atoms of the Environment1

The idea of a pattern in this specific understanding is first based on the observation of
repetition of particular building elements, such as TATAMI FLOOR in the Japanese House,
or ENTRANCE DOOR, COURTYARD, OLD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE (Illustration 2), and PEDES-
TIAN STREET, elements which form substantial knowledge of a building culture or culture in
general when we include other kinds of patterns such as BIRTHDAY, COMMUNAL EATING,
MARKET, BANKING, MEDICATION, SUNBATH, and HOLIDAYS. Looking at specific contempo-
rary or traditional cultures and finding archetypal solutions to fundamental problems is a
good starting point for beginning to understand the notion of patterns. Hundreds of these
patterns may define the building knowledge of a given culture, and thousands might descri-
be close to the overall cultural knowledge of a given culture.
But repetition alone is not enough to define a pattern. More specifically, a pattern in this
approach is a general planning or design principle, a rule which addresses a clear problem
1 Understanding patterns as atoms of the environment was expressed in an earlier publication by Chris Alexander and Barry Poyner, “The
Atoms of Environmental Structure,” Ministry of Public Building and Works, 1st edition, 1967.
216
which may occur repeatedly in the environment, states the range of contexts in which this
problem will occur, and gives the general features required by buildings or plans which
solve it. Patterns in this understanding can be defined as a method for solving recurring
problems:
Pattern = Problem – Discussion – Solution
Problem: For example, a problem that occurs repeatedly in the United States and elsewhe-
re is that of the ENTRANCE TRANSITION. In the book A Pattern Language, a problem with
entrances has been formulated in the form of a hypothesis: Buildings and especially houses,
with a graceful transition between the street and the inside are more tranquil than those which
open directly off the street.
Discussion: Then the range of contexts in which this problem will occur is discussed based
on evidence, i.e., in residences or other cases that thrive on a sense of seclusion such as
churches, public libraries, or clinics. After this investigation, a general solution based on
empirical and/or analytical evidence is proposed to solve this problem. In the case of the
entrance transition, the proposed general solution is as follows:
Solution: Make a transition space. Bring the path which connects street and entrance through
this transitional space, and mark it with a change of light, a change of sound, a change of di-
rection, a change of surface, a change of level, perhaps by gateways which make a change of
enclosure, and above all with a change of view.
Illustration 3: ENTRANCE TRANSITION (APL pattern 112)

The example of a good solution to the problem of entrance transition is taken from Obidos in
Portugal (Photo: Sara Ishikawa).
217
Based on this brief description of a solution-pattern, we can see that a pattern is formula-
ted in such a way that its correctness or incorrectness can be supported by evidence. In
this way, the formulation of a pattern follows scientific procedure. Yet, a pattern is, above
all, oriented towards practical application. It can be discussed in public, and according to
the outcome of the discussion, it can be adopted or not - for example by a planning board,
which might be responsible for community building design guidelines. In that sense we may
say that a ‘problem-solution-pattern’ is an empirically or analytically grounded imperative,
which states the precondition for the solution of an environmental or building problem, or
any other problem in society that can be approached in this way.
The underlying theory of patterns and the pattern language design approach was laid out
in a book by C. Alexander entitled The Timeless Way of Building. (Alexander, 1979) Here we
find that the format of a single pattern is much more elaborate than the threefold division
of problem-discussion-solution, and for good reason. Since we want to arrive at a Pattern
Language as a system of patterns, the format needs a structure that actually connects the-
se various patterns in a meaningful and understandable way. It begins with the title of the
pattern and a photo, which introduce you to the topic and also illustrate a solution to the
problem. Then there is a short definition of the problem, an extensive discussion of the
problem with possible solutions, followed by a formulation of the proposed problem soluti-
on and a diagram to illustrate it. Furthermore, patterns have stars that accompany the title
that indicate the validity or quality of the pattern itself: Two-star patterns such as in LOOPED
LOCAL ROADS have the highest validity while one star or no stars indicate lower levels of
universality.
What is important for our discussion here is the notion of a Pattern Language as a network.
Here, each pattern has sections at the beginning and at the end that make direct references
to other patterns. The section at the beginning of a pattern refers to patterns connected
at a higher level of hierarchy, and the section at the end refers to patterns at a lower level.
The pattern ENTRANCE TRANSITION (112) for example is connected at a higher level to the
pattern MAIN ENTRANCE (110) and at a lower level to the pattern ENTRANCE ROOM (130).
In this way we build up a network of patterns that are all connected allowing one to enter
the network at any level and let the connections lead us to other patterns and clusters of
patterns. It is these connections in a network that transform isolated patterns into pattern
languages and make them relevant for understanding and designing with complexity. And
while this system was developed before any personal computers were in place more than
40 years ago, avant la lettre, it is a system that is ideal for computer application, and was in
fact later adopted and used by many other disciplines including computer science after it
first started in the field of architecture. (See Illustration 4)
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Illustration 4: Graphic Representation of A Pattern Language (APL)

Stefan Tietke and his students have used the software “GraphViz” in order to show the hidden
connections of all 253 patterns from APL. Arch+ 189. October 2008, pp. 18-19
4. A Pattern Language or APL – the Book

The book A Pattern Language, written by Alexander, Ishikawa, Silverstein, and others (Alexan-
der et al, 1977) is a collection of 253 patterns that range in scale from the large region to the
cities and town to the construction detail.2 Here, the traditional use and idea of patterns
has been transformed into a modern mathematical system, which can be used by designers
and builders today. A pattern can be defined as a generic solution to an environmental con-
text problem, derived from functional arguments. And a pattern language can be defined as
a coherent set of generic solutions which can be used in various combinations - quite langu-
age-like - by architects, craftsmen, users and clients for creating their own particular spaces
and environments. Patterns can also be considered archetypal solutions to environmental
problems, examples of good environments, which can be applied repeatedly to similar con-
texts or used and adapted to local conditions and specific communities. A Pattern Language
provides a general reference and point of departure for creating pattern languages for vari-
ous types of projects in different locations. The principle of patterns and pattern languages
is therefore closely connected to the principle of user participation, because it provides
the users an organized procedure to help make sense out of otherwise complex situations
such as planning, design, and decision-making processes. In most of the projects that I have
applied pattern languages, the principle of user participation also was part of the process of
starting and guiding a project.
2 The book APL is also one of the most well-known and recognized books of architecture with more than 200,000 copies sold. It has been trans-
lated in various languages, including Japanese, German, Chinese, Spanish, and Dutch.
219
These archetypal patterns cover four or more major levels of scale of the built environment
such as regions and cities, urban areas and neighborhoods, buildings and spaces, const-
ruction, and engineering and materials. The importance of using a Pattern Language is that
it combines all of the different visions and needs of the people involved into a common
language that everyone can understand. As different agents such as users, architects, buil-
ders, and planners continue to work on individual aspects of the project, they can work wi-
thin the framework of a common language so that the resulting physical spaces, buildings,
apartments, gardens, streets, and gateways will all have the intended structure and a family
resemblance. The simplest form of applying a pattern language to a given design project -
for example a residence - is to select a set of patterns and use these solution-patterns as
archetypal starting points for a design and building process.
5. Project Pattern Language: The Oregon

Experiment
A ‚Project Pattern Language‘ can be defined as a pattern language that is applied to a parti-
cular project. While various projects have been developed at different scales with pattern
project languages as their starting point, the example which is of interest here is the langu-
age developed for the University of Oregon in Eugene, reported in the book The Oregon Ex-
periment. (Alexander, Silverstein, et al 1975) It shows the first modifications and alterations
of pattern formulation and presentation. After almost 40 years this book still serves as the
basis of the Main Campus Plan at the University of Oregon. (Campus Plan, 2005) It was this
book that also prompted the invitation for us to work in Japan on the design and construc-
tion of the Eishin High School and College Campus.
The book describes the formation of the Oregon campus master plan, based on various
principles including the principle of pattern languages. The full list of main principles is enu-
merated in the table of contents as chapters: 1) Organic Order, 2) Participation, 3) Pieceme-
al Growth, 4) Patterns, 5) Diagnosis, and 6) Coordination. As a starting point the architects,
users, and campus planners identified and selected 37 broad patterns from the book A
Pattern Language that were appropriate for solving problems in the campus at the time in-
cluding: LOCAL TRANSPORT AREA, NETWORK OF LEARNING, IDENTIFIABLE NEIGBORHOOD,
FOUR STOREY LIMIT, ACCESS TO WATER, MINI- BUSES, PROMENADE, and so on. These 37
patterns were rather general and did not take into account some of the important specifics
of the university and the local situation. And this is of course very typical. Patterns from
the book APL are solutions that had been developed as examples of good patterns. It was
never intended that they would cover all possible cases, which might run into the tens of
220
thousands in any building culture. Each new project requires work on a new set of patterns
that are appropriate for that particular project alone. It is therefore critical that pattern
development takes place in each project as innovation and creative work in an otherwise
rather complex situation.
Consequently the planners together with the users derived another 18 patterns specifically
for this university project. The first six of these specific patterns were the following: UNI-
VERSITY POPULATION, OPEN UNIVERSITY, HOUSING STUDENT DISTRIBUTION, UNIVERSITY
SHAPE AND DIAMETER, UNIVERSITY STREETS, LIVING LEARNING CYCLE, as pars pro toto.
When these two sets of patterns are interwoven, we get a single list and discussion of 55
patterns, which form the basis for the Campus plan that is still in use today and updated
every 5 years. It is this set of 55 patterns that also forms what we call the project’s ‚Project
Pattern Language‘ (sometimes also Pattern Project Language). The detailed list and expla-
nations of these patterns as proposed solutions can be read in The Oregon Experiment,
pages 101-143. In terms of pattern presentations, we find a first modification or simpli-
fication in which patterns are not represented in their full form but in the much shorter
problem-solution form.
Illustration 5: University of Oregon Campus in Eugene, Oregon (Air-photo)

The University of Oregon has been continuously applying the principles of patterns and user
participation since 1974 in the planning and design of their campus.
The most important lesson in this section is to understand that each project is different and
unique in its own way and therefore needs its own Project Pattern Language as an import-
ant aspect of innovation, originality, and creativity within a larger complex system of func-
tionality and harmony. New patterns are being developed in various projects all the time.
221
The latest set of new project patterns was developed for the new UO University Campus in
Portland, Oregon, where an urban block of three 4-6 story buildings was remodeled for the
purpose of providing a new urban Campus to the University of Oregon about two hours’ car
drive from Eugene.3 (see Illustration 1)
6. Project Language – Eishin Campus in Japan

A ‚Project Language‘ forms the next step in the evolution of the design and building langua-
ge for particular projects. As mentioned earlier, we want to understand how challenges and
opportunities resulted in adaptations of the pattern language method into various forms
of pattern project formats and formulations, such as the format of a ‘project language.’
The idea and development of what we call a project language is defined first by the way
one works with users and second by the form of the language or the way the language is
presented. Working with users assumes a rather fluid relationship in which those users are
encouraged to present all their specific proposals, ideas, dreams and wishes for a particular
project. Since these ideas, proposals, visions and wishes more often than not take the form
of individual projects, or are expressed as such, the results may or may not be patterns
in the formal sense (or it might take a lot of time to formulate simple ideas into elaborate
problem-solution-pattern format). Still, even a Project Language may contain quite a few
patterns in their solution or hypothesis form. The task of the architect or planner is then to
start creating a coherent product or project program out of these various (sometimes con-
flicting) projects, proposed by various users. The outcome of this work is a story, a narrative
that tries to capture and describe all the various individual projects in one coherent form.
A Project Language distills and describes the essence and character that a specific building
or urban planning project will have, and defines its connection to the town or landscape and
to each of its individual occupants. The particular character of the project is presented in
the Project Language as a carefully structured sequence of statements, which arise from
observation and interviews with users and other interested participants. The key aspect of
a Project Language is that it describes the particular nature, essential components, and
relationships a project and all of its elements will have, while at the same time maintaining
a childlike openness and ambiguity as to the exact form of the project and its elements.
Thus, the Project Language defines the framework within which the exact form will arise
directly from work on the site and in the process of building. The language is also presented
in a sequential fashion, and with descriptive headings. Just by reading the headings (or first
3 Neis, Hajo, Theodoropoulos, Christine, Thallon, Rob. “New Facilities and Expansion of the University of Oregon Department of Architecture,”
in City Campus: Proceedings of the 2007 Fall ACSA Central Fall Conference, pp.1/22-1/33. Riverside Architectural Press, University of Waterloo
2007.
222
sentences) in a sequence one should be able to build up a picture of the important features
of the overall project and possibly draw a picture that represents the narrative.
Illustration 6: Two Diagrams of Eishin Project (Pattern) Language Representation

Diagram
Diagram a) shows a graphic representation of the Pattern Project Language for the Eishin Cam-
pus with an Inner and Outer Precinct in plan for an ideal Site.
Diagram b) shows the inner precinct with an interpretation of possible buildings.
The concept of project languages emerged, developed, and was first applied in a larger pro-
ject for the design of the Eishin College and High School Campus in Japan. The Eishin project
language is recorded in a document of about 100 pages describing a whole new campus as
if it were already existing. It consists of 8 chapters, each one dealing with a different aspect.
One (non-illustrated) version of this Project Language can be found in the book The Battle
for the Life and Beauty of the Earth (Alexander, Neis, Alexander Moore, 2012). With it, one
can start to actually develop an understanding of this method of language formulation and
presentation and, in our case, appreciate the practical differences in format from a ‘pattern
project language‘.
Other projects in which I have applied the format of a ‚Project Language’ are also worthy of
mention. One is the Christian Music Village in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The project langua-
ge describes the overall structure of the village in the mountains of Fujimi and was partially
built. Likewise, the formation of a project language for the Saida Project in Lebanon was
published as “Weaving in Life.” And the project language for the Wertheimer Tor Project in
the Castle Town of Breuberg, Germany, is presented in a short solution version and a longer
format version. Each of these project languages is formulated in a sequential fashion and
223
sometimes in a short and long version, so that one can understand these projects quickly
and/or in more detail.4
7. From a Pattern Language to a Project

Language: Innovation, Improvisation
and Creativity
Modifications and adaptations of pattern language formats to particular contexts as well as
changes into new formats arose mostly out of very practical considerations and necessities,
as well as opportunities in real project situations. But there are also theoretical issues that
have to do with innovation, improvisation, complexity, creativity and appropriateness of
response.
Projects should be dealt with at the appropriate level of context, principle selection, and
formulation, especially when working with users. For particular contexts, it is indeed refres-
hing that not every little idea, issue, or dream is handled as a pattern. (It is also not quite
appropriate when the world is carved up into millions of patterns.) Quite often it seems
to be appropriate to initiate a process that is different from the precise formulation of a
pattern or pattern language. This might be a narrative or project language, a story, even a
poem. There should be a loose variety of approaches, giving flexibility, permitting improvi-
sation, innovation, joy and creativity. Other new forms are being tested in various contexts.
Notably, sequential formulations are being tested that can be combined more directly with
architectural and urban design processes. All of these various approaches still have at their
heart the improvement of life and the problem-solving intention that is the core principle
of design patterns.
The discussion and development of patterns and pattern languages is still going on con-
tinuously in a variety of different groups and different locations around the world, either
strictly in the rigorous format of patterns, or in more loosely organized project languages
for particular projects, and also in specialized formats and applications. A recent effort invo-
vled starting to develop an innovative repository for space patterns and pattern languages
by members of the Building Process Alliance (BPA) and other related groups, in a format
4 The Christian Music Village in Nagano Japan is captured in a poetic project language. Published as an HNA Working Paper with numerous
illustrations of building designs and completed buildings. HNA 1997. 2) The formation of the Project Language for the Saida Project in Lebanon
for the Prince of Wales Urban Design Task Force (UDTF) 1997 was published in ‘The Lebanon Project,’ Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture,
1998, pp. 70-80. Hajo Neis “Weaving in Life: The Formation of a Project Language for Zoutini.” A full Project Language for the Project is also
available as a HNA Working Paper: “New Memory for the Old City of Sidon,” 1998. 3) The Wertheimer Tor Project in Breuberg, Odenwald, is do-
cumented in a summary version and in a richly illustrated long version (HNA documents). Also see: Hajo Neis. ”Planning Designing and Building
Three villages.” ACSA Regional Meeting. Designing in the Democratic City. Hampton University, Virginia, October 1996. Published in Conference
Proceedings. And: Hajo Neis and Susan Ingham. “Planning and Designing for Making Urban Villages.” International Making Cities Livable Confe-
rence, IMCL, Carmel, California, March 1996.
224
similar to that of a wiki. In fact, one of the pioneers of the wiki, Ward Cunningham, exp-
lained in one of our conferences in Portland how the idea of the wiki is based on the idea
and format of a pattern.5 Another recent development addresses the idea of anti-patterns.
These so-called anti-patterns were first simply ‘rejects’ in the original pattern language de-
velopment because they created more problems than they solved, including the ‘madhouse
balcony’ that Chris Alexander sometimes talks about. More recently, people have started to
develop anti-anti-patterns intended to avoid all kinds of existing wrong solutions to prob-
lems.6 People are also working on different kinds of pattern language formats. Card decks
have become popular ways for communicating and working with patterns because they
allow users to more easily access and use them in a playful and intuitive fashion.7
Illustration 6a: 91 Cards’ Deck: A Pattern Language for Bringing Life to Meetings and other
Gatherings (by Group Works, 2012)
The strongest quality of any pattern or pattern Language in its formal problem-solving ar-
ticulation seems to be the fact that it is a system based primarily on functional considera-
tions. Most people can easily understand how a pattern works, how various patterns work
together, and how they solve problems in architecture and in many other fields. It is for this
reason – their universal applicability to almost any problem with a problem-context-solution
situation - that patterns and pattern languages have been so successful in many discip-
5 Fall 2009 International PUARL Symposium 2009. Current Challenges for Patterns, Pattern Languages &Sustainability. Published by PUARL
Press. 2010. 2) Michael Mehaffy and Nikos Salingaros have also taken up this topic in an article called ”The Pattern Technology of Christopher
Alexander.” Friday, October 2011. http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20111007/the-pattern-technology-of-christopher-alexander
6 Doug Schuler is working on a project that he calls quite dramatically: How to Destroy the World and Make Life a Living Hell for Most People in
the Process: A How-To Guide also known as A Diabolical (Anti-) Pattern Language. Evergreen College, Spring 2013.
7 1) Tree Bressen and Group Works have developed a pattern language deck in solution form with instructive illustrations: Group Works: A
Pattern Language for Bringing Life to Meetings and Other Gatherings. The deck was published in 2012 by Group Works and can be bought as a
deck or downloaded for free: http://www.groupworksdeck.org. 2) Doug Shuler is finishing a deck of pattern cards as part of his project and book
“Liberating Voices.”
225
lines. It is the universal format of patterns that is of interest here, and which seems to have
the potential to tackle and solve complex problems in interdisciplinary ways, especially the
ever-more complex problems that we are faced with today. We will come back to the issue
of interdisciplinary use of patterns and pattern languages in complex problem-solving at
the end.
However, the fact that we are dealing here primarily with functional arguments and logical
organization can also be considered to be a weak point of the principle of patterns, at least
for architects, and certainly for people who primarily work with space, geometry, materiality,
and color. For architects, a pattern language can (but does not have to) form the starting
point of a building project or a design. Even with a pattern language or a project language
as a programmatic starting point of design, for the architect the building still needs to be
designed as a physical and spatial entity, and for the builder the building still needs to be
built physically according to spatial and physical ideas, plans and instructions. Many people,
especially pattern language enthusiasts, scholars, and supporters seem to think that the
main work of a design project is the formulation of a pattern language, and that it may be at
least 50% or more of a project. In reality, work on a pattern language may be about 5-10%
of any building project’s design work. This means that 90% of the work is related to other
aspects and principles of the building design and construction process. Here, it means first
of all that you have to understand space and geometry as major categories for creating a
successful building project.
8. Patterns, Centers, and Fields of Centers

Space and geometry are such essential features in any architecture, that we may as well
consider them at least as important as functional elements such as patterns. It is Chris
Alexander’s second major achievement in his overall pattern language theory and school
of thought to integrate space and geometry into this theory and practice with a new and
innovative perspective. The first important element in this conception is the understanding
of space as a life-giving feature. The second important innovation is the formulation, refor-
mulation and combination of 15 partially known properties of space and geometry, and the
third critical element is the combination of these two features into what is called a field of
centers.
Space as a basis of life is an age-old idea that appears in religion as well as philosophy. What
is new in the theory on space and spatial quality is that it is considered part of the modern
scientific world and therefore subject to the scientific method. Life occurs and starts in spa-
226
ce because of a life-giving potential and opportunity that exists in space, similar to the fact
that gravity, which is equally invisible, exists in all bodies of matter. Centers are essential in
this theory, specifically the geometric relationships between them. A center emerges in spa-
ce and supports other emerging centers to create more life. Space is not a lifeless container
but rather an active entity that together with centers forms the foundation of life.
Centers are observable everywhere in both nature and man-made objects. They are perva-
sive all around and take on different forms. Over a long period of study, Alexander found 15
kinds of geometric centers that can be identified by their different kinds of qualities depen-
ding on their position in space and their configuration in a whole. These fifteen centers or
geometric properties of life are the following:
1. Levels of Scale
2. Strong Center
3. Boundaries
4. Alternating Repetition
5. Positive Space
6. Good Shape or Form
7. Local Symmetries
8. Deep Interlock
9. Contrast
10. Gradients
11. Roughness
12. Echoes – Family Resemblance
13. The Void
14. Inner Calm/Simplicity
15. Connectedness – Not Separateness
The notions of centers and fields of centers were first tested in a larger project at the San
Francisco waterfront in a general formulation without the fifteen properties of living space,
published in A New Theory of Urban Design (Alexander, Neis, Anninou, King, 1987). The
full human geometry or fifteen geometric properties are fully discussed in The Nature of
Order (Alexander, 2003). Here also, the relation of centers to patterns is discussed in a way
227
that centers can also be understood as patterns and patterns can also be understood as
centers. Sometimes, specific geometric centers can be connected with very specific pat-
terns. For example, the geometric property DEEP INTERLOCK can be found in the pattern
COUNTRY CITY FINGERS, the geometric property BOUNDARIES can be found in the pat-
tern ARCADES, and the property GRADIENTS can be identified with the pattern ENTRANCE
TRANSITION.
The principle of centers and fields of centers has been applied in numerous projects. Excel-
lent examples have been carried out in their purely geometric form in the following pro-
jects: 1) The façade of the Sakura Tsutsumi Building in Japan exhibits beautifully the proper-
ties of UNIFYING CONTRAST and ALTERNATING REPETITION with its alternating diamond
shaped exterior concrete elements. 2) The property of GRADIENTS is well shown in the
overall volumetric structure of the Emoto Apartment Building in downtown Tokyo. 3) The
property of VOID exists peacefully in the lake at the center of the Eishin Campus in Japan. 4)
The property GOOD SHAPE is marvelously embedded in the windows and window frames
of the West Dean Visitor Center in West Sussex, England. 5) The property of POSITIVE SPACE
can be strongly felt in the Vineyard Farmer’s Market in Fresno, California, with its wonderful
heavy wooden trellis structure. 6) The properties of BOUNDARIES and DEEP INTERLOCK
can be strongly felt in the courtyard arcade of the Julian Inn Shelter for the Homeless in San
Jose, California. 7) The property of FAMILY RESEMBLANCE or ECHOES is a major feature of
the Agate Student Housing Project in Eugene, Oregon. 8) And finally, the Eishin Campus in
Japan is probably the best example of a large urban built project with FIELD OF CENTERS
qualities.8 (see illustration 7)
8 The Sakura Tsutsumi Building by HNA is published in: Howard Davis. The Culture of Building. New York: Oxford University Press,
1999. The Emoto Apartment Building by CES is published in: Nikei Architecture. “Maison de Louran: Good Reaction to the Landscape and Urban
Space – It succeeds to Interweave with Delicate Shape. 6-13-1988.
228
Illustration 7: Expression of geometric Properties as designed and built in Projects
How to work with the two essential principles of patterns and centers and pattern langua-
ges and fields of centers, individually or together in an integrated fashion in project formu-
lation, design, construction, and development, is an ongoing process of theoretical explora-
tion in creative thinking, practical application, improvisation, and creative experimentation.
One such exploration was the development of a new Form Language, in which centers
and patterns, as well as urban and architectural context concerns were all combined and
connected in a way that created a form language for a particular urban project design. Form
229
Language principles were researched and developed by Chris Alexander together with the
author of this article and students from the University of California at Berkeley in a way that
was very specific for a local project on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley and, at the same time,
was general enough so that most of them could very well apply to other urban projects in
different urban locations. Thirteen principles were identified including, for example, ‘posi-
tive space,’ ‘building volumes are formed by positive space,’ or ‘structure and building con-
struction is real.’ A key point here is to understand that form languages differ considerably
from New Urbanism form-based codes. When using a form language, the principles that
are developed for each urban project are meant to be a dynamic part of the actual develop-
ment, design, and construction of a project but are not fixed beforehand in regulations and
finished design form. At the ‘Formensprachen Symposium’ in Dresden, Germany in 2001,
the results of the form language work were presented and later published in the German
Architecture Theory Journal ’Wolkenkuckucksheim.’9 Form Language exploration has cont-
inued at the University of Oregon with a Form Language for downtown Portland as well as
other explorations and ongoing coursework at the UO.
Here we want to summarize some basic points regarding the understanding of these con-
cepts and principles of the overall pattern language approach, and we also want to explore
possible new avenues of research and project applications in various contexts, including
interdisciplinary arrangements.
9. Summary
Innovation, Improvisation and Creativity in the Pattern Language
Approach - Solving Complex Problems with Patterns and Centers
First of all it is important to acknowledge that the Pattern Language Approach itself is an
important and innovative theory and method that helps us to understand and organize the
world in a new and helpful way, but it also helps us find new ways of solving complex prob-
lems in architecture, urban design, and planning, as well as many other disciplines.
In particular, the principle of patterns lays out a way of tackling problems so that we can try
to find solutions in a problem-discussion-solution format. Furthermore these patterns are
formulated as archetypal patterns, which means that they are understood as general so-
lutions that can find endless forms in specific solutions and applications according to their
context and interpretation in manifold creative ways.
9 Hajo Neis. “Versuche einer neuen Formsprache in der Architektur.” Howard Davis. “Architektonische Fakten bei der Suche nach einer Sprache.”
In: Wolkenkuckucksheim. Thema Formsprachen. 6.Jg. , Heft 2 (Januar 2012). http://www.tu-cottbus.de/theoriederarchitektur/Wolke/deu/Themen/
themen012.htm
230
Many patterns together can form pattern languages for particularly large and difficult pro-
blems and complex situations. Numerous patterns together as a pattern language can also
be understood to form the knowledge of a particular building culture or even a specific
spatial culture as a whole. Some people critically look at pattern languages mostly from the
perspective of knowledge and information management, but at the same time, they miss
the more important point that they represent a body of collective knowledge based on
qualitatively good solutions to environmental and building problems.
Patterns and pattern languages were first invented and applied in the combined fields of ar-
chitecture, urban design and planning for project program formulation and project design.
Patterns and pattern languages are one particular kind of principle that can be applied in
combination with other relevant principles to develop an architecture, building or planning
project. For example, combining the principles of patterns and pattern languages with the
principles of user participation, organic order, and piecemeal growth will create a project in
which process becomes relevant (because of the inclusion of piecemeal growth).
Experience in real world projects in architecture and urban design had an impact in mo-
difying and even changing pattern languages into what is called a project language. In a
project language, patterns are no longer the only defining elements. Instead all kinds of
specific ideas, dreams, and visions can come together to make up a coherent language for
a particular project. Narratives, stories and poems can also serve as starting points for a
project and can serve as starting points of innovation, improvisation and creativity.
Patterns and pattern languages are determined by functional arguments and functional
considerations. For an architect, function is not quite enough to design a building, and pat-
tern languages do not replace design, but they are part of the design process. A building
project still needs to be designed at a minimum in spatial and geometric terms. Conse-
quently, a complimentary principle was developed that deals with space and geometry to
help the design of buildings and spaces. This principle is called centers and fields of centers,
or, when expressed in terms of action, called ‘formation of centers and fields of centers’ to
help to create more life in space and in buildings.
Space is not an empty container but contains the beginnings of life in the form of centers
that support each other to create more centers and more life. Centers are expressed in
fifteen different geometrical building blocks that together create fields of centers in endless
variations. Centers and fields of centers are key innovations in the overall Pattern Language
approach that make the theory much richer as a body of knowledge, and make the practice
of designing and building quite a bit more specific, artistic, playful and fun.
231
By now numerous projects have been designed and built with the principles of centers and
patterns, pattern languages and fields of centers. The Eishin Campus in Japan is a prime
example, and the Emoto Apartment Building, also in Japan, is another. The Agate Student
Family Housing project at the University of Oregon, the Visitor Center in West-Sussex, Eng-
land, the Market in Fresno, and the Sakura Tsutsumi Building in Tokyo, are other examples
of succesful built work by CES or HNA.10 At a planning and larger urban design level, one
earlier project by CES stands out: Gusasare New Town in Venezuela was planned as a new
mining town in the jungle close to the Colombian border. The principles of patterns and
centers were used there in an innovative dynamic-growth pattern system, clearly demonst-
rating how the city can grow over time, reflecting a combination of certainty and uncertainty
or organized improvisation. More recently, two projects by PUARL for the City of Tigard in
Oregon explicitly include the principle of patterns and implicitly also include the principle of
centers for a town center and an urban corridor. By now we can count numerous examples
of architecture and urban projects by many of the architects who use the pattern language
approach in their work. Some also work explicitly and successfully with the geometric prin-
ciple of fields of centers.
Illustration 8: Urban Design Axonometric of the Downtown of the City of Tigard

(Developed and designed by Portland Urban Architecture Research Laboratory PUARL, 2009)
10 CES stands for Center For Environmental Structure. It is the main organization of the pattern/center approach to architecture urban design
and planning, with Chris Alexander as its president. HNA stands for Hajo Neis Atelier, which is my own architecture office. Recently I gave a
lecture at Meiji University in Tokyo featuring works of both companies in Japan “CES and HNA in Japan.” Meiji University December, 2012.
1) New Town Guasare Project in Venezuela, published in The Nature of Order by Chris Alexander. 2a) TIGARD HW99W CORRIDOR: Pacific
Highway to a Sustainable Future. PUARL Research Report 2010. (Hajo Neis, PI) 2b) TIGARD DOWNTOWN FUTURE VISION: A Visual Refinement of
the TDIP. PUARL Research Report, 2009. (Hajo Neis, Managing PI) puarl.uoregon.edu
232
The individual application, but even more so, the combination of these two major principles
of centers and patterns, are now seen as key principles for trying to create buildings and
environments with life, or at least with the beginnings of life according to pattern language
theory and practice. And while there are a number of other relevant principles for getting
a building or an urban design project to succeed, here we want to specifically emphasize
those connections to other disciplines and interdisciplinary work in research and creative
projects that have less to do with architecture than with social organization, but which still
employ the pattern principle.
It was certainly fun and exciting to be involved in the interdisciplinary MICC research project
(as a Verbundpartner) during my research year 2010 in Germany, a project that has little to
do with architecture and urban design, but a lot to do with patterns and pattern languages
(and a little with centers). The project exhibited the rich variety of applications of the princi-
ple of patterns and pattern language for Music, Innovation and Corporate Culture (MICC)11.
But what was even more impressive for me was the recognition of the great potential that
is implicit in this principle. With so many disciplines already using the principle of patterns in
different forms as a problem solving method, there seems to be a huge potential for trying
to connect these various disciplines for solving relevant problems that might not so easily
be solvable otherwise. This could be done by being part of a larger pattern language project
within one’s own discipline while working together with other disciplines; it could also be
accomplished by expanding and extending outside one’s own discipline with a project in
another discipline.
10. References
Alexander, C., Neis, H., Moore Alexander, M. (2012). The battle for the life and beauty of the
earth. New York: Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (2004). The nature of order : An essay on the art of building and the nature of
the universe (Vols. 1-4). Berkeley, California: Center for Environmental Structure; and New
York: Oxford University Press.
11 Music_Innovation_Corporate Culture MICC is a research project by Professor Dr. Wolfgang Stark und Professor Christopher Dell at the Uni-
versity of Duisburg-Essen, based on a research grant in the research cluster on ‘Innovation Strategies Beyond Traditional Management,’ funded
by the German Government and the European Science Foundation. “In a quest to disclose the secrets of innovative cultures, our methodological
approach aims to identify the patterns of innovative cultures in organizations and communities by using musical thinking and the patterns of
improvisation.” (Dell 2002)
This article is a shortened and modified version of my MICC publication contribution to Wolfgang Stark and his team at the University of
Duisburg-Essen in Germany. It also forms the basis of my keynote presentation at the Danube University in Krems at the PURPLSoc Workshop in
November of 2014.
233
Alexander, C., Neis, H., Anninou, A., & King, I. (1987) A new theory of urban design. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Davis, H., Martinez, J., & Corner, D. (1985). The production of houses. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (1979) The Timeless Way of Building. New York: Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S. & Silverstein, M., et. al. (1977) A Pattern Language. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Silverstein, M., Shlomo, A. Ishikawa, S., and Abrams, D. (1975). The Oregon
Experiment. New York: Oxford University Press.
ARCH+ 189. Entwurfsmuster: Raster, Typus, Pattern, Script, Algorithmus, Ornament. Zeit-
schrift fuer Architektur und Staedtebau. 41, Jahrgang, Aachen, October 2008.
Davis, Howard. “Architektonische Fakten bei der Suche nach einer Sprache.” In: Wolkenku-
ckucksheim. Thema Formsprachen. 6.Jg. , Heft 2 (Januar 2012). http://www.tucottbus.de/
theoriederarchitektur/Wolke/deu/Themen/themen012.htm
Dell, C. (2002). Prinzip Improvisation (Principles of Improvisation). Koeln: Walter Koenig.
Leitner, H. (2007) Mustertheorie – Einfuehrung und Perspektiven auf den Spuren von Chris-
topher Alexander. Graz: Nausner & Nausner, 2007. (Pattern Theory – Introduction and Per-
spectives on the Tracks of Christopher Alexander)
Neis, H. J., Brown, G., Gurr, J. M., & Schmidt, J. A.eds. (2012) Generative process, patterns,
and the urban challenge. Portland, OR: PUARL Press.
Neis, H. & Brown, G., eds. (2010) Current challenges for patterns, pattern languages, and
sustainability. Portland, OR: PUARL Press.
Neis, H. (2002) “Versuche einer neuen Formsprache in der Architektur.” In: Wolkenkucku-
cksheim. Thema Formsprachen. 6.Jg. , Heft 2. http://www.tucottbus.de/theoriederarchitek-
tur/Wolke/deu/Themen/themen012.htm
University of Oregon Planning Office. (2005). Campus Plan. Eugene, OR: University of Ore-
gon.
Schuler, D. (2008). Liberating voices: A pattern language for communication revolution.

Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
234
Stark, Wolfgang. (2012) “Tacit knowledge and innovation patterns for communities and so-
cial systems.” In: Hajo Neis et al, eds. Generative process, patterns and the urban challenge.
Portland OR: PUARL Press, pp. 89-95.
235
Pattern
Languages as
Media for
Creative
Dialogue:
Functional
Analysis of
Dialogue
Workshops
236
Iba, Takashi
Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Endo 5322, Fujisawa Kanagawa, Japan
iba@sfc.keio.ac.jp
This paper presents the Dialogue Workshop as an ap-

plication for using pattern languages as media for cre-
ative dialogue. The workshop provides participants an
opportunity to reflect on their experiences, talk about
them with others, and visualize the future using pat-
tern languages. This paper elucidates the functions of
the Dialogue Workshop. The manifest functions of the
Dialogue Workshop are [M1] Good Opportunity for
Dialogue with Others, [M2] Building Images of Actions
from Stories, and [M3] Rediscovering Self. The latent
functions of the Dialogue Workshops are [L1] Discover-
ing the Pleasure of Dialogue, [L2] Becoming Encoura-
ged toward the Future, and [L3] Discovering Meaning.
These functions are confirmed by feedback from work-
shop participants.
Pattern Language; Dialogue, Workshop, Learning;

Functional Analysis
237
1. Introduction
The idea of using pattern languages to describe design knowledge was proposed by Chris-
topher Alexander (Alexander et al., 1977; Alexander, 1979). His intent in creating pattern
languages was to help people become involved in the design process for their towns and
buildings (Alexander et al., 1985). At the stage (in about 1985) that I call “Pattern Language
1.0” (Iba, 2011a, 2012, 2014), architects used pattern languages to share design knowledge
with laypersons. Ten years later, Alexander’s concept of the pattern language was adopted
into the software design field (Beck and Cunningham, 1987). In this new stage, which I call
“Pattern Language 2.0,” the pattern language began to be used differently. Although it de-
scribed design knowledge for software development, its main purpose became filling the
technical gap between expert and less experienced designers.
Thereafter, pattern languages expanded into creative human actions such as education (Pe-
dagogical Patterns Editorial Board, 2012), organizational change (Manns and Rising, 2005),
collaboration (Iba and Iba Laboratory, 2014a), learning (Iba and Iba Laboratory, 2014b), and
presentation (Iba and Iba Laboratory, 2014c). At this stage, which I call “Pattern Language
3.0,” the use of pattern languages turned toward the sharing of stories of experience. In sta-
ges 1.0 and 2.0, people learned from the description of a pattern itself. In stage 3.0, patterns
helped users to illuminate less noticeable parts of their experience, which helped them to
reconsider the experience, talk about it, and share it with others. In this way, people beco-
me familiar with others’ diverse experiences, and can learn much more than the content of
the patterns themselves. In addition, based on the patterns, there is room for one to think
creatively about one’s own ways. Thus, stated simply, pattern languages act as media for
creative dialogue on experience.
In this study, I introduce the Dialogue Workshop as an application of pattern languages as

media for creative dialogue. This study conducts a functional analysis of the workshop and
confirms the analysis with feedback from the workshop participants.
2. Dialogue Workshop with a Pattern Language

The easiest implementation of pattern languages as media for creative dialogues is orga-
nizing a Dialogue Workshop (Iba, 2011b, 2011c; Iba et al., 2012). The workshop provides
participants an opportunity to reflect on their experiences, talk about them with others, and
visualize the future using pattern languages. In this workshop, first, participants are asked to
recall their experiences in terms of the provided pattern language. They are asked to choo-
238
Pattern Languages as Media for Creative Dialogue: Functional Analysis of Dialogue Workshops
se five patterns they wish to master in the near future. Then, participants are free to mingle
and to find and talk with other participants. When they find someone who has experienced
a pattern they want to master, they listen to the other participant’s story.
So far I have held over 70 workshops, both in Japan, in United States, and at international
conferences, for various groups including college students, teachers, business people, de-
signers, and engineers, using the Learning Patterns, the Collaboration Patterns, and the
Presentation Patterns. Since 2011, Dialogue Workshops with Learning Patterns (Iba and Iba
Laboratory, 2014b; Figure 1, and see also Appendix) have been held for all freshmen — 900
students annually — at the Faculties of Policy Management and Environment and Informa-
tion Studies at Keio University (Figure 2). The same workshops have also been organized at
U.S.- an university and international conferences (Figures 3 and 4).
Figure 1: Overview of the Learning Patterns
239
Figure 2: Dialogue Workshop with Learning Patterns (Keio University, Japan, 2013)
Figure 3: Dialogue Workshop with Learning Patterns (University of North Carolina at Asheville,
USA, 2014)
Figure 4: Dialogue Workshop with Learning Patterns (International Conference on Collaborative

Innovation Networks, Switzerland, 2012)
240
3. Analysis of the Participants’ Feedback of

Dialogue Workshop
Based on my intent, the manifest functions, i.e., the intended results, of the Dialogue Work-
shop are as follows: [M1] Good Opportunity for Dialogue with Others, [M2] Building Images
of Actions from Stories, and [M3] Rediscovering Self. The latent functions, i.e., the unin-
tended results, are as follows: [L1] Discovering the Pleasure of Dialogue, [L2] Becoming
Encouraged toward the Future, and [L3] Discovering Meaning. A functional overview of Dia-
logue Workshops is shown in Figure 5. In what follows, I provide feedback on each function
from workshop participants.
Figure 5: Overview of the functions of the Dialogue Workshop
The following are the examples of feedback from participants of the Dialogue Workshop
with Learning Patterns at Keio University in April 2014. In total, 912 freshmen participated.
The author translated the comments and added emphasis by underlining them.
[M1] Good Opportunity for Dialogue with Others. In the workshop, participants are ins-
tructed to talk only to people they do not know. This rule provides them with a sense of the
extraordinary. Of the many survey comments received, many workshop participants said
that they were able to talk to people they had never talked to before. About 20% of partici-
pants wrote comments similar to the followings.
241
»» This workshop was a good opportunity for me to meet and talk to many new people.
»» The talks in the workshop were a precious experience for seeing the different values that
people have.
»» It was a surprise to find out so many people around me had ideas that I never thought
of before. Talking to people who would listen closely to my stories and answer my ques-
tions generously made the workshop very inspiring.
»» At first, I felt uneasy talking to new people, but once the workshop started, it was a lot
of fun.
»» Honestly, I am very shy and usually don’t speak to anyone I don’t know. However, once
I started to talk with my peers, it was interesting to find out about their thoughts and
values that that were clearly different from mine.
»» At first, I felt resistance in speaking with people I didn’t know. However, once the work-
shop started, I realized how much fun it is to learn about different viewpoints that people
have and also to talk to these people with pure interest. This workshop, which provided
me a good experience of talking to people without any hesitation, was truly fun.
[M2] Building Images of Actions from Stories. Another type of comment participants
commonly provided involved how they gained ideas about specific actions they could take.
»» By having other people explain with their stories the patterns that I want to adopt, the
rather abstract image of the patterns became more concrete and started to seem fea-
sible.
»» Although I felt I understood the patterns in my head, it was a good experience hearing
actual stories from other people, since doing so added reality to the information.
»» By hearing stories of other peoples’ experiences, I was able to get a clear image of the
process of how the patterns I want to take on can be actually be pursued. Before that,
I just had a vague goal of using the patterns, but the stories provided me ideas and a
chance to think about what types of specific actions I could take or how I could engage
with my study topics.
With a limited number of patterns, the participants tended to think that only similar stories
would emerge. In contrast, however, numerous different kinds of stories arose from the
same pattern. In addition, the participants discovered that the same pattern could have
various applications, since the workshop asked participants to collect as many stories as
242
possible about their five chosen patterns.
»» I was thinking about the amount of experience everyone has. The stories from my peers
made me realize how much more there still is for me to experience and learn.
»» I was surprised at how much diversity there is in what people have experienced in their
lives, just in Japan.
»» The workshop made me realize one simple fact: all human beings live different lives.
»» I found out through the workshop that people could have different types of stories even
though they are based on the same pattern.
»» We all had different styles of learning, which we each found to fit us best.
»» When I was reading through the Learning Patterns in preparation for the workshop, I
was imagining how I would put the patterns to use. I participated in the workshop thin-
king that other people would have experienced the patterns similarly, but in reality, the
stories I heard were all different, which made the workshop an interesting experience.
Not only did the workshop participants listen to the stories, they were able to share and
solve problems they faced.
»» We usually don’t get a chance to talk about how we face learning and what types of
thoughts or experiences we have with it. Therefore, listening to stories of my peers in this
class provided me new perspectives.
»» By listening to people sharing their stories, I was able to discover interesting learning
styles from my peers.
»» Talking to my peers, I found many who have similar learning styles, goals, and plans to
myself. I also found out that they face the same problems and worries as I do. Talking to
them about these topics, I felt my worries that I had since I started attending this school
being washed away.
»» The workshop was a good chance to talk to others about worries we were keeping to
ourselves. Interestingly, since the conversations are not one-way but more about sharing
our thoughts, everyone was accepting of each other.
»» Through the workshop, I was able to find a solution to a problem I had been worrying
about since I started college.
243
[M3] Rediscovering Self. Interestingly, in addition to learning new things from other peo-
ple’s stories, some people commented that they discovered new aspects of themselves.
»» This workshop was a good opportunity for me to organize the experiences I have had
up until now. I was able to figure out things that I still need to work on and things that I
want to start working on.
»» I thought I had only a typical “have-experienced” list of patterns, but at the workshop,
more people asked me about the pattern “Firm Determination” than I expected. This
made me realize how each one of us is full of unique experiences. This also made me
realize how valuable my past actions are, and it helped them become a source of confi-
dence for me.
»» Through today’s workshop, I was able to realize the originality of my experiences and the
fact that they could become a “weapon.” I have experienced the pattern “Be Extreme”
multiple times before, and it was something I could enjoy without any special effort. But
the workshop became a chance to look back at these experiences since “Be Extreme”
was the most frequent pattern I was asked about.
In some cases during the dialogues, participants gained better understanding of a pattern
that led them to discover that they did have experience with a pattern that they thought
they didn’t have experience with. Dialogues using patterns led to a better understanding of
the patterns and therefore to a better understanding of the self.
»» At first, the pattern didn’t seem fitting for me, but after hearing stories about it, there
were cases where I realized that I had a similar experience as the story had described.
»» I thought that hearing stories about the patterns we don’t have experience with would
provide us a better understanding of the pattern. This is because when I was listening to
someone’s story, I thought that if that is what this pattern means, then I have a similar
experience. I was probably thinking of each pattern in too complicated a manner, but
at a smaller and more local level, I had already achieved that pattern. This provided me
confidence for further challenges in the future.
»» My biggest finding was the fact that even though I might think I haven’t done something
before, I still have experience with it.
Such findings by workshop participants were due to using the patterns to talk about them-
selves.
»» By talking to other people about my experiences with the patterns, I found new aspects
244
of myself that I didn’t know before.
»» The experience of talking to other people about my experience itself became an expe-
rience of being a “Talking Thinker” from the Learning Patterns. Since I don’t usually get
to speak about such experiences in an organized manner, by talking about them in the
workshop, I found that I got a better understanding of myself.
»» New ideas kept coming into my head even while I was talking to someone else. This hel-
ped me organize my thoughts.
[L1] Discovering the Pleasure of Dialogue. Of the participants, 20% commented that the
workshop was “fun” or “interesting.” This is significant since the workshop’s theme was lear-
ning — something students do not usually consider fun or interesting. In addition, over 10%
of the participants said they were shy and did not like talking to people they did not know.
Soon, however, they experienced it as being fun.
»» Speaking to someone new about a story of my experience was something I have never
done before and was fun.
»» Listening to a story of someone I have never met, and then telling them a story of my
own was a fresh new experience for me. I found out how much fun it is to communicate
with others.
»» The workshop was simply fun. At the beginning, I felt shy and couldn’t keep from hiding
behind my friend, but once I came near the pond [where the workshop was held] and
started the workshop, I found out it was fun listening to other people’s stories and spea-
king of my own. I felt I found a new part of myself through the workshop.
»» First of all, the workshop was very fun!! I am usually very shy, and therefore was afraid
when I heard I would have to talk to people I didn’t know in the workshop. But this fear
disappeared within the first five minutes. Everyone was full of ideas I would never have
thought of, and I thought I saw a whole new part of the world I didn’t know before. I felt
I was able to break out of my shell, and I understood what it means to “learn through
dialogue.”
Why were these shy people able to talk and enjoy the workshop? One answer might be that
the workshop’s atmosphere and rules made it comfortable for people to talk.
»» Although it is usually tough to start talking to someone I don’t know, the workshop’s pro-
viding a common goal among the participants made it easy to start talking.
245
»» When I try to start talking to someone, I usually hesitate for fear of annoying them or of
them having no interest in what I have to say. However, in the atmosphere created by
this workshop, everyone had a legitimate reason to have interest in anyone else there.
Therefore, even I, who usually hesitate to talk to other people, was able to become ent-
husiastic about talking, so much so that I found the end of the workshop a little disap-
pointing.
»» Since I am very shy, I was nervous about this workshop. However, I was surprisingly able
to speak naturally to the other participants. I think this was due to the preparation we did
where we wrote down specific episodes with the patterns beforehand. With the written
down note in hand, I didn’t have to get nervous every time I had to tell my story. This rule
was only a small preparation, but its effect was huge. The achievement of being able to
speak to other people without getting nervous raised my confidence.
»» “Rule No. 1: You must speak only with people you don’t know.” The moment I saw these
words, I started to get scared. I am very shy and don’t like talking to people I don’t know.
However, since this is a class assignment, I had to stand up and start talking. I probably
never had spoken to so many people I don’t know in one day. Once the workshop began,
the warm and fun atmosphere helped me to start speaking to different people.
Furthermore, interestingly, some participants said they made new friends through the
workshop.
»» I actually made several new friends.
»» Although only a few, I made some new friends in the workshop.
»» Surprisingly, I met a peer who wanted to study something close to what I wanted to do in
college, and we were able to trade email addresses too.
[L2] Becoming Encouraged toward the Future. The dialogue workshop using pattern
language brought out more than just the sharing of stories between participants. The parti-
cipants became stimulated by their peers and increased their motivation.
»» I was simply astonished by the people who had abilities in things I can’t do, and at the
same time, I hoped others would think the same about me.
»» There are many people around me who have experienced many different things. They
also have different ways of thinking. These are not visible in their plain looks, and we
must listen to their stories to truly understand them. I was impressed by them, and
they became a good stimulus for me. I sometimes even envied them. “I want to exceed
246
beyond them,” I thought; “I want to become able to compete equally with these great
peers.”
»» From listening to the stories of my peers, I was surprised to find something I can respect
in each one of them. I found out there is no need to underestimate my possibilities, nor
should I be afraid of and avoid making any mistakes. I should step forward confidently
and accept my mistakes gracefully.
How did the participants change through the workshop? The survey shows that they gained
a wider viewpoint on others and their “worlds.”
»» I met people who had a whole different view of the world, and they became a great ins-
piration for me.
»» I realized what a small part of the world I was looking at. By listening to other people’s
experience with the Learning Patterns, I could see what type of background they have.
This becomes a good source of inspiration for thinking about how I want to be in the
near future. I thought it would be good if we could continue this workshop periodically to
widen and deepen our thoughts and views even more through synergy.
»» I realized through today’s workshop that the world I have experienced until today is only
a small part of the larger whole. I also realized how much I don’t know. Although I don’t
know very much, I was able to see the different possibilities that await me, and how much
I could grow through the experiences that yet are to come.
[L3] Discovering Meaning. What did participants learn from the workshop? Were the pat-
terns really able to help participants in their learning? In the survey, a few participants com-
mented on how they changed their perspectives on learning itself.
»» We all have different lives, and everything from big events in our lives—happy or sad—to
small and local events in our daily lives shape our experiences. This was my finding th-
rough this workshop.
»» I found out through the workshop that I am already practicing the Learning Patterns on
a very small and daily level. Therefore, I thought that if I started with small things I could
start improving how I learn.
»» I thought that learning starts from having an intention to change.
»» From listening to the stories of lots of people, there were two types of stories that I found
useful: stories of things I liked and stories where I found out something new. This led me
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to notice how important it is to jump into a new, unknown field of study to find something
I really like that I could learn about.
»» I was able to realize through the dialogues that things I want to learn about are lying in
front of me, and it is up to me to take the opportunity. I think that many of the people I
talked to had grown because they took actions with determination. Therefore, from now
on, I should not only think in my head but actually take actions based on my thoughts.
In addition, some participants commented on what the Dialogue Workshop made clear for
them.
»» The workshop was not only beneficial because we heard others’ stories, I thought it was
also helpful because it helped us to put our achievements from the past into words and
connect them to future achievements.
»» Talking to people we don’t know about our experiences is we usually don’t do, but it was
interesting to do since we were able to connect other peoples’ past experiences to future
experiences of our own.
»» I learned through today’s workshop that something normal for me is not necessarily
normal for others. Something abundant and normal for me could be something very
precious for someone else and vice versa. It was a good opportunity to realize how im-
portant it is to listen to other people. Listening to other people’s stories means that you
are tracing their life experiences, and for sure, that would let you realize something you
haven’t realized before. Finding this out was the biggest thing I learned today.
»» Listening to someone’s story and then telling him or her one of my own was something I
have never done before. It was a fresh experience, and I was able to feel what “learning
through dialogue” means.
Another interesting phenomenon was that the students were already using the pattern na-
mes — such as “Open Learning,” “Consequential Encounters,” “Field Diving,” and “Discovery
of Growth” — as part of their vocabulary in their comments.
»» I thought this workshop itself was an experience of doing “Open Learning.” It was a good
experience to share a learning experience with lots of people and to thereby mutually
enhance our motivation.
»» I was able to experience “Field Diving” in this workshop by talking to people I don’t know
and sharing information in order to find out about things I didn’t know about. I was also
able to make new friends in the workshop.
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»» I noticed that even though we each have a different field of study, we still have com-
mon aspects that we can share on how to learn. This was a good learning from “Hidden
Connections.”
4. Conclusion
In sum, the Dialogue Workshop using a pattern language had the following merits: First,
participants could talk to people they have never talked to before. By making a rule that
participants had to talk only to people they did not know, the workshop became an extraor-
dinary and interesting event and was still feasible even if participants were shy and did not
like talking to new people. This is because the atmosphere and rules of the workshop made
it more comfortable for people to talk. Moreover, the workshop was fun and interesting
even though its theme was learning, and the participants even made new friends.
Second, to implement the patterns they wanted to do, the participants gained ideas about
specific actions they could start taking and also learned that the same pattern can have vari-
ous applications. In this workshop, participants could become stimulated by other people’s
attitudes and experiences of learning, and from seeing the diversity of others’ experiences.
Through the workshop, the participants gained a broader view of the world and themselves,
and it helped them share and solve the problems they were facing.
Third, the workshop not only allowed participants to know about others but also to find new
aspects within themselves by using the Learning Patterns to talk about themselves. In the
dialogues, they also sometimes discovered that they had experience with a pattern they
thought they had not experienced, and these experiences changed how the participants fa-
ced learning itself. Some participants were already using the pattern names as part of their
vocabulary and making emphatic comments about what the Dialogue Workshop actualized
in them.
As the comments above demonstrate, the Dialogue Workshop causes not just simple con-
versation involving the trading of information, but becomes a place for “Creative Dialogue.”
5. Appendix: Summary of the Learning Patterns

The patterns in the Learning Patterns are all written in the same specific format: Pattern
Name, Introductory Sentence, Illustration, Quotes, Context, Problem, Force, Solution, Action, and
Consequence. Here, the Context, Problem, and Solution statements of each pattern are sum-
249
marized: The Pattern Name gives the pattern a short and memorable name that describes
well the pattern so that it can be easily referred to. The Context describes the conditions for
when the readers should apply this pattern. The Problem describes a difficulty that often
occurs in the context, which is not easily overcome. Finally, the Solution describes how to
solve the problem, with Actions offering concrete methods to put the solution into practice.
The patterns are:
0. Design Your Learning: You’ve recognized that continual learning is an essential acti-
vity in a complex and fluid society. In this context, it is not easy to learn how to learn.
Therefore, learn the way of learning from the Learning Patterns, which will help you
achieve good methods for learning.
1. Opportunity of Learning: You are ready to learn, perhaps having some expectations.
In this context, there are few good opportunities for learning compared with your
expectations. Therefore, make opportunities for learning by yourself, based on your
interests.
2. Learning by Creating: You have started to learn, and maybe you want more excite-
ment. In this context, you are unwilling to learn just by acquiring knowledge and skills.
Therefore, launch your own project and carry it out to improve your knowledge and
skills.
3. Open Your Learning: You have already learned to some extent, and you want to
deepen your learning. In this context, learning tends to be closed. It is difficult to
deepen your understanding only by yourself. Therefore, share your learning process
and collaborate with others to deepen each other’s learning.
4. Jump In: You have already found the new environment that you wish to be in and
are about to start a new challenge. In this context, you are still doubtful whether the
community is really suitable for you. Therefore, jump into a new environment to learn
something new.
5. Copycat Learner: You have just started to learn new skills, maybe after doing Jump In
(No.4). In this context, it is difficult to find your own way from the beginning. Therefore,
begin learning by imitating the ways of others.
6. Effective Asking: You got stuck, and you cannot figure out the way to go forward
by yourself. In this context, it is difficult to get the right answers when you ask vague
questions. Therefore, clarify where you got stuck and then seek advice.
7. Output-Driven Learning: You are working on acquiring new knowledge and skills. In
250
this context, it is difficult to keep learning if the necessity is unclear. Therefore, create
an output in order to acquire knowledge and improve your skills.
8. Daily Use of Foreign Language: You’ve recognized that you need to read, write, or
speak in a foreign language in the near future. In this context, it’s difficult to improve
the language without any practice. Therefore, engage yourself in reading, writing and
speaking in a foreign language in your daily life.
9. Playful Learning: You find yourself bored by the process of learning. In this context,
learning as a duty is ineffective and painful. Therefore, take “play” into the process of
learning.
10. Tornado of Learning: You’ve found that there are a lot of resources, for example
books, articles, and courses, about what you are interested in. In this context, an
effective learning is not brought about by passively receiving information. Therefore,
collect information related to your interests like the vacuum of a tornado.
11. Chain of Excitement!: You have made some progress of learning, and perhaps you
think that you’ve almost achieved your initial goal. In this context, it is not easy to keep
active in explorations and studies. Therefore, the strong emotion of accomplishment
will motivate your learning.
12. Quantity brings Quality: You are realizing that you have only a shallow understan-
ding of what you are interested in. In this context, it is difficult to continually deepen
your understanding. Therefore, collect a lot of information about the target you wish
to learn, and understand it from various angles.
13. Skill Embodiment: You want to acquire a skill, and maybe you’ve started to learn. In
this context, it is not enough to memorize the “how to.” Therefore, continue practicing
a skill again and again until it becomes unconscious.
14. Language Shower: You want to have a good command of a foreign language. In this
context, mastering the language is tough. Therefore, set up an environment where
you can always listen and read in the foreign language you wish to learn.
15. Tangible Growth: You need to continue practicing for acquiring Skill Embodiment
(No.13) or taking Language Shower (No.14). In this context, it is not easy to keep your-
self motivated to learn. Therefore, record the activities of your learning so you can
reflect on your path and improve.
16. Thinking in Action: You have been studying by reading books, articles, or other writ-
ten materials. In this context, it is difficult to get out of the situation when you beco-
251
me stuck. Therefore, deepen your thought process by making prototypes and doing
fieldwork.
17. Prototyping: You have an idea and are almost ready to implement it. In this context,
you cannot clarify an image of what you will create. Therefore, make some prototypes
and consider how it can be made better.
18. Field Diving: You are thinking about and have an interest in an actual problem. In this
context, you cannot touch upon reality only by referring to documents. Therefore,
dive into the field and work with the people actually concerned while maintaining the
viewpoint of an outsider.
19. A Bug’s-Eye & Bird’s-Eye: You are studying what you want to understand or working
on creating an output. In this context, you have trouble improving the quality of an
idea or a mediocre result. Therefore, take turns viewing the whole and the details.
20. Hidden Connections: You are studying something from typical points of view. In this
context, unexpected discoveries rarely manifest themselves from a conventional clas-
sification. Therefore, explore hidden connections among things to attain inspiration.
21. Triangular Dig: You’ve been interested in something, but you have only a shallow
understanding of it. In this context, you do not know how to develop your understan-
ding of what you only roughly know. Therefore, acquire knowledge indirectly related to
what you want to understand, and you will understand it better.
22. Passion for Exploration: After acquiring knowledge and improving skills, you final-
ly need to decide the subject to explore from now on. In this context, it is hard to
choose a subject for which you will be able to carry out an exploration. Therefore,
choose a topic that you can be passionate about – something that you can feel “love”
or “passion” for.
23. Brain Switch: You are creating an output, and you’ve had some progress. In this cont-
ext, logical thinking is not enough to achieve a breakthrough without intuitive thinking,
and vice versa. Therefore, switch between the two modes of logical and intuitive
thinking.
24. Fruit Farming: You are planning to create an output, but your vision might be too big.
In this context, it is difficult to grow a big result all at once. Therefore, do your best to
put your idea into shape, and then nurture it.
25. Attractive Expressions: You are starting to make your presentation to share your
idea or product with others. In this context, your idea / product seems not to be at-
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tractive to others. Therefore, find better ways of expression to attract others.
26. The First-Draft-Halfway-Point: You are writing your ideas in order to share them
with others. In this context, the initial draft is not suitable to be read by others. There-
fore, after finishing an initial draft, brush it up with the view of considering whether or
not readers will be able to easily understand it.
27. Acceleration to the Next: You have almost achieved your goal. In this context, your
motivation is faltering even though the goal is within reach. Therefore, set and accele-
rate towards the next goal in order to pass through the current goal without slowing
down.
28. Community of Learning: You’ve realized that what you are starting to work on is a
challenging problem or activity. In this context, what you want to study is too big and
too hard to explore alone. Therefore, build a community of learning with people who
share similar interests.
29. Serendipitous Encounters: You want fellows to share and discuss the topics related
to what you are interested in. In this context, there are few opportunities to meet
people who have similar interests as you. Therefore, find people who have similar
interests as you by getting involved in the field you are interested in.
30. Good Rivals: You’ve realized that you need to spend a lot of time for working toward
your goal. In this context, it is difficult to keep making the effort alone. Therefore, find
a partner that can be a good rival so that you can inspire each other.
31. Talking Thinker: You’ve worked on developing your idea, but it is not so clear. In this
context, thinking alone often brings you to a dead end. Therefore, explain what you
think verbally to someone else to improve your idea.
32. Learning by Teaching: You’ve studied a certain topic to some extent so far. In this
context, you have no idea how you can improve your superficial understanding of it.
Therefore, teach others your knowledge while considering their levels, and you can
gain an understanding on various levels.
33. Firm Determination: You are facing a challenge. In this context, it is tempting to give
up on your goal. Therefore, firmly determine what you are going to do, and set up the
environment to concentrate on it.
34. Questioning Mind: You’ve dedicated yourself to a certain activity. In this context,
you cannot find any obvious reasons for what you are doing. Therefore, confirm your
assumptions by questioning yourself again.
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35. The Right Way: You are working on your activity in a certain way. In this context, the
wrong way will lead you away from your goal. Therefore, consider whether your cur-
rent way is actually correct or not; then quickly change your approach as necessary.
36. Brave Changes: You’ve just realized that there is no clear purpose to your activity or
that your current approach is inappropriate. In this context, there seems to be no so-
lution to break through the current dilemma. Therefore, throw away previous themes
or approaches to achieve a wider view for the future.
37. Frontier Finder: You’ve started to engage in your exploration. In this context, you
have to know where the frontier of exploration is in order to undertake valuable acti-
vity. Therefore, grasp the frontier of the field, and then acquire the knowledge needed
to reach that line.
38. Self-Producer: You’ve had a clear goal and started to engage in your activity. In this
context, it is difficult to design your career despite your attempts. Therefore, design a
concrete plan to achieve your goal while inventing your future.
39. Be Extreme!: As a result of your dedication to activities, you’ve established a reputa-

tion for them. You, however, feel that it is not enough. In this context, in spite of your
best effort, you and your results hardly see the light of day. Therefore, think strategi-
cally where you can/want to be distinguished from others.
6. References
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M., Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I., and Angel, S. (1977)
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (1979) The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C., Davis, H., Martinez, J., and Corner, D. (1985) The Production of Houses, Oxford
University Press.
Beck, K. and Cunningham, W. (1987) “Using Pattern Languages for Object-Oriented Pro-
grams,” OOPSLA-87 workshop on the Specification and Design for Object-Oriented Pro-
gramming.
Iba, T. (2011a) “Pattern Language 3.0 Methodological Advances in Sharing Design Knowled-
ge,” in the International Conference on Collaborative Innovation Networks 2011 (COINs2011).
Iba, T. (2011b) “Experience Mining and Dialogues Workshop with a Pattern Language for
Creative Learning,” Workshop, in the International Conference on Collaborative Innovation
Networks 2011 (COINs2011).
254
Iba, T. (2011c) “Experience Mining and Dialogues Workshop with the Learning Patterns,” in
the 2nd Asian Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (AsianPLoP2011).
Iba, T. (2012) “Pattern Language 3.0: Writing Pattern Languages for Human Actions,” Invited
Talk, in the 19th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (PLoP2012).
Iba, T. (2014) “Using pattern languages as media for mining, analysing, and visualising expe-
riences,” International Journal of Organisational Design and Engineering: Special Issue on
Creative Networks, 2014 Vol. 3, No. 3/4, 2014, pp. 278–301.
Iba, T. and Iba Laboratory (2014a) Collaboration Patterns: A Pattern Language for Creative
Collaborations, CreativeShift.
Iba, T. and Iba Laboratory (2014b) Learning Patterns: A Pattern Language for Creative Lear-
ning, CreativeShift.
Iba, T. and Iba Laboratory (2014c) Presentation Patterns: A Pattern Language for Creative
Presentations, CreativeShift.
Iba, T., Shimomukai, E., Nakamura, S., Isaku, T., and Tamefusa, A. (2012) “Dialogue Workshop
using the Learning Patterns,” in the 19th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs
(PLoP2012).
Manns, M. L. and Rising, L. (2005) Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas.
Addison-Wesley.
Merton, R. K. (1996) On Social Structure and Science. Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press.
Merton, R. K. (1948) Social Theory and Social Structure. New York: The Free Press.
Pedagogical Patterns Editorial Board (2012) Pedagogical Patterns: Advice For Educators,
Createspace.
255
Pattern
Languages
for Public
Problem-
Solving
Cultivating
New Seeds for
Social Change
256
Schuler, Douglas
The Evergreen State College, 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW, Olympia, Washington
98505
dschuler@evergreen.edu
The pattern languages perspective for the design and

development of the built environment was populari-
zed by Christopher Alexander and his colleagues in the
late 1970s. Although many people have adopted the
pattern language philosophy and framework in a vari-
ety of design / problem domains, there is a small but
growing awareness that this orientation could serve a
much broader and influential function than it currently
does: organizing around and with pattern languages
could provide much needed support for addressing
complex problems, by supporting direct and indirect
distributed collective action with more flexibility and re-
spect for local context. Eleven „seeds“ that could help
improve our public problem solving capacity with pat-
tern languages are presented. These seeds promote
better understanding of our work, enhanced sharing
approaches, publicizing the work, and organizing and
enhancing our own communities.
Pattern language; public problem-solving, civic

intelligence; collaboration
257
1. Patterns and Problems

With the publication of A Pattern Language in 1977 the world was introduced to the concept
of a pattern language. Christopher Alexander and his colleagues presented 253 „patterns“
that could be used to design and build structures for human habitation that were both
beautiful and „alive.“ The assertion that each pattern „describes a problem that occurs over
and over again in our environment, and then describes the core of the solution to the pro-
blem, in such a way that you can use this solution a million times over, without ever doing it
the same way twice“ is especially relevant for public problem-solving. In the years after the
original publication, the pattern language perspective has been proposed and adopted in a
variety of fields, including human-computer interaction (Gamma, Helm, Johnson and Vlissi-
des,1995), object-oriented programming (Tidwell, 1999), conservation economy (Conserva-
tionEconomy.net -- The Pattern Map), communication for liberation (Schuler, 2008), creative
collaboration (Iba 2014), group processes (Bresson et al), transition culture (http://transi-
tionculture.org/2010/06/04/rethinking-transition-as-a-pattern-language-an-introduction/),
distance learning (Angel et al, 2014), costumes (Fehling 2014), systemic transformation (Fi-
nidori 2014), and many, many others. In spite of the broad popularity, there seems to be a
growing feeling that the potential uses of the pattern language philosophy and framework
are critical and vast, yet relatively undeveloped. Its potential as a tool for global thinking and
for thinking globally will require extensive thinking, discussing, and experimenting, if that
potential is to be realized.
Figure 1: Krems 2014 workshop
I share the assumptions and aspirations of the original pattern language work (Alexander et
al 1977) that pattern languages can be useful in our efforts to make the world more livable
and more beautiful. That was certainly the idea behind my work coordinating the Libera-
258
Pattern Languages for Public Problem-Solving
ting Voices pattern language project. The effort to develop the initial pattern language took
place over an eight year period. During that time 85 authors developed 136 patterns for
social engagement and social change that were included in our book (Schuler 2008). Since
then I‘ve been involved in numerous related projects including design workshops (Fig. 1),
online games, and anti-pattern work that I coordinated in an undergraduate educational
setting (Wagaman et al 2013). This paper is basically a prolegomenon to what I believe are
the major aspects of our focus on the pursuit of pattern languages for societal change. My
intent in this article is to help support the general formulation of our collective enterprise.
For over a decade I‘ve been exploring and developing the concept of civic intelligence (Schu-
ler 2001), the ability of people working together to address shared challenges effectively and
equitably. I have also written (Schuler 2010) on the particular suitability of pattern languages
for advancing civic intelligence. This is basically for three reasons: (1) The problems we face
today, from environmental degradation and climate change to inequality and the threats of
pandemics and war are urgent, severe complex, and distributed. They show up differently
in different locations, each with its own set of contextual circumstances. The problems are
more-or-less fractal, they exist at small scales as well as large ones. The problems can’t be
solved simply, nor do the solutions require the attention of a one (or other small number of)
disciplines or sectors. (2) People are needed to address the problems yet they speak diffe-
rent languages, are separated via distance and experience level; and have different tasks.
They need to work together but they don’t communicate effectively, work at cross purposes,
and are often not motivated. (3) We need shared plans. These must combine thought and
action, the must be provisional and not overly prescriptive. They need to be accessible and
be amenable to local customization.
For many reasons pattern languages have the potential to provide ways for people to di-
rectly organize around complex issues as well as ways to indirectly coordinate with other
people and groups. Pattern languages have an intentional inclination towards thought
and action. They have specific features that help make sense of the problem domain while
also pointing toward meaningful action. The embracing of disparate, interrelated elements
(namely, the multiple patterns that constitute a pattern language) rejects simple-minded,
universalist „solutions“ to social challenges. Pattern languages are systemic, agnostic as to
discipline, open-ended, flexible, fractal, and generative. Their inclination towards holism hel-
ps promote completeness of the system; pattern language developers notice (and look for)
gaps in their pattern languages and strive to plug them, i.e. with another pattern. Moreover,
pattern languages have intrinsic appeal — at least to many of us! They appeal to the need
for an orderly presentation of knowledge; they seem to represent „whole“ systems; they are
259
illuminating in that they often bring together disparate facts or observations and provide
coherent meaning. Incidentally this was very clear with the anti-pattern work in which my
students — undergraduates in my Evergreen classes that focus on civic intelligence — and
I identified and described the patterns that ensured continued social domination and en-
vironment degradation). In this enterprise we observed that many of the problems that we
collectively face are not necessarily eternal but are actively maintained and reinvented each
day, both consciously and unconsciously.
With the pattern language approach ends and means often overlap and are not easily se-
parable. In other words, pattern languages offer a potentially powerful intellectual approach
that is best advanced through ongoing interactions of ends and means. As with any organiz-
ation, medium, meme, perspective, artifact, or technology, that is seen to be rich in potential,
latent capacity which is ready to be used and relied upon, to enable a next step, it is only
when that thing is used that it influences the future. In the case of pattern language use,
the intent is to steer away from undesirable directions in which we appear to be heading.
The body of this paper consists of seeds regarding patterns and pattern languages (which
in this paper I’ll generally treat as one thing and abbreviate as pattern languages). I believe
that collectively addressing these seeds intellectually and through actions will be critical to
any degree of success in our pursuit. Seeds, of course, are instruments for life and growth.
For me, the purpose of each seed in this paper is to help explore how to make the pattern
language approach more useful in our pursuit of positive societal change. As one might ex-
pect the seeds are deeply interconnected. Addressing one of them will often help address
the others. For example, how we want to use pattern languages will help define audiences
for the pattern languages or suggesting new forms that the pattern languages take.
2. Eleven Seeds
2.1. Diverse Users and Uses (Seed 1)
If we are to promote the pattern language approach, we need to gain a deeper under-
standing of who, what, and why people use — or might use — pattern languages. For one
thing we may be underestimating the breadth of the audience. For example we make as-
sumptions about the users of pattern languages but my students more than once have
suggested that developing pattern languages for elementary school children, a group gene-
rally not considered, would be a useful endeavor. We need to have a better understanding
about how pattern languages are actually used and also about ways they could potentially
be used. For example, my students, when using the Liberating Voices pattern cards in de-
260
sign workshops, have on occasion changed the title of a pattern when they felt it better sui-
ted their needs. Others used the title but changed the narrative of the pattern while keeping
the essence of the pattern intact.
We know — or at least strongly suspect — that there are many more uses to be considered
than we generally acknowledge. We also know that the list of uses is already quite diverse.
The University of Oregon, for example, uses a pattern language as the master plan for its
campus (University of Oregon). Miguel Angel Pérez Alvarez and his colleagues are using a
pattern languages as a lingua franca for consolidating their shared knowledge on distance
education in Mexican higher education (Alvarez et al 2014). Personally I‘d like to explore
pattern languages as they might apply to theory and action networks and to public / civic
alternatives to Facebook or Google.
Figure 2: Student-designed game based on LV patterns
I share the assumptions and aspirations of the original pattern language work (Alexander et
al 1977) that pattern languages can be useful in our efforts to make the world more livable
and more beautiful. That was certainly the idea behind my work coordinating the Libera-
ting Voices pattern language project. The effort to develop the initial pattern language took
place over an eight year period. During that time 85 authors developed 136 patterns for
social engagement and social change that were included in our book (Schuler 2008). Since
then I‘ve been involved in numerous related projects including design workshops (Fig. 1),
online games, and anti-pattern work that I coordinated in an undergraduate educational
setting (Wagaman et al 2013). This paper is basically a prolegomenon to what I believe are
the major aspects of our focus on the pursuit of pattern languages for societal change. My
intent in this article is to help support the general formulation of our collective enterprise.
261
My belief is that we are still just scratching the surface in terms of workshops, games, and
other structured social encounters using pattern languages. In classroom settings and at
conferences, we have convened workshops with the Liberating Voices pattern language.
These are generally focused on conceptualizing response to a design prompt, that is so-
metimes supplied by the conveners, sometimes by the participants, and sometimes ran-
domly via a set of focus cards and product cards (references). One of the more creative
projects was for students to design civically intelligent games based on the cards such as
the urban _____ game shown in figure 2. And while I have involved students in design work-
shops using the patterns and having students develop patterns and pattern languages, one
thing I have not tried is having student teams to design their own workshops using ideas
from participatory design (Schuler and Namioka 1993).
2.2. Pattern languages as Social Objects (Seed 2)
Figure 3: Activist Mirror
The expression „social object“ can be used in many ways. Here we mean a „thing“, material
or virtual, that can be used by people is social settings. In addition to written forms like
books which are generally ready by individuals, pattern languages can be manifested in
various other forms including as social objects. Successful social objects help engender crea-
tive, focused, productive dialogue. Schuler (2011) suggests that „accessibility, transferability,
annotatability, manipulability, promiscuity (the ability to interact with many other patterns),
clarity, interaction promoting, and learning promoting,“ are potentially important features
for successful social objects. The Liberating Voices and the Group Works pattern language
projects, for example, both created physical card decks which can readily be used „socially.“
And while these decks generally lend themselves to face-to-face uses such as workshops
262
or games, we’ve also used the Liberating Voices patterns in an online „Activist Mirror“ game
in which players find out what type of activist role they are likely to assume (Moyer 1987)
and which Liberating Voices patterns might be interesting to them. This game employs the
patterns in an active way but is currently used by one person at a time although, of cour-
se, more than one person can be playing the game at the same time simply by watching
the screen and commenting on the questions. On the other hand, we do view the current
activist game as helping to lay the foundation for interactive systems in which two or more
play people work (or play) together with their patterns online. Another form is a poster (see
Figure 3, poster by Jaime Alarcon, including the original English text and Spanish translation
(also done by Alarcon, 2013).
Figure 4: Jaime Alarcon’s poster
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2.3. Life-Cycle and Methodology (Seed 3)

Looking at the life-cycle of patterns and pattern languages — development, test, use,
evaluation, etc. — would be useful in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the
pattern language approach. For example, it may be true that people are inspired by pattern
languages but then rely on some other approach to actually realize the intended outcome.
If, for example, we had that information, we could try to help people with the integration of
the two approaches. We could also possibly transform the style or structure of the patterns
in some way so they continued to inspire and inform pattern users throughout other pha-
ses of the life cycle as well.
Ken Gillgren, a long-time contributor to the Liberating Voices project developed several
very engaging and educational workshops. After the development of the pattern language
he developed and convened several workshops with my evergreen students using the pat-
tern language. Gillgren developed several useful worksheets that were intended to move
incrementally from initial conception of a project into a more fully realized design and cor-
porate planning elements including timing, use of resources and intermediate and final
deliverables.
Figure 5: Gillgren worksheets ~~ Three-part planning grid & Action Timeline
While different groups are likely to take different approaches for dealing with pattern lan-
guages, it still would be worthwhile to pool our wisdom (or at least pool it better) and codify
our best practices into a methodology that could be widely shared. Alexander’s approach,
the Group Works Pattern Language, Liberating Voices (and the anti-patterns), and the Pat-
tern Language of Programs Design (PLoP) community all seem to take different approaches.
Perhaps it would be most useful to better document what we do find useful and to see
where we fall short. Approaches that employed aspects of each other could be developed.
Alternatively, a reference model that was basically a superset of features from the variety
264
of approaches used could be developed. I should mention that the Oregon Experiment
(Alexander 1975) in which the pattern language approach is used in the development of all
new University of Oregon buildings provides an example of both a life-cycle approach and
an innovative approach to pattern language use.
2.4. Barriers and Opportunities (Seed 4)

There are a wide ranges of barriers as well as opportunities to the development and use of
pattern languages. And diminishing the impact of the barriers is probably as important as
providing additional opportunities. Some barriers may be absolutely intrinsic — I’ve heard
criticisms, for example, that pattern languages are too general and that they are too specific.
Maybe that’s a function of its “middle-range” focus, but maybe there are workarounds even
for that. For example, if there were good examples of how pattern languages were used
and there was easy access to them, then the problem about a lack of specificity would be
diminished. At any rate, we need to become cognizant of the barriers, be they personal or
institutional, intrinsic or artificial, if we are to develop strategies for overcoming them. Some
barriers, such as lack of motivation, may not just be barriers to the use of pattern languages
but to broader social problems including rejection of engaging in social change or, even,
to any meaningful social dialogue at all. We need to think about making pattern languages
more useful. Letting the world know about pattern languages would obviously help, and
pointing to successes would also be useful. Making appropriate patterns and pattern lan-
guages easier to find (and integrate) would also be important. And once people find them,
examples, ideas for use, additional resources, and other useful commentary couldn’t hurt.
Also, presumably, the advent of the computer and online environments provides oppor-
tunities for making pattern languages more available and accessible. The development and
user communities are now more likely to be distributed and online systems should help
with that. But new distributed methodologies may come at a price: Can the virtual digital
world support the same rich, social interplay that using patterns in synchronous in-person
environments does? Online systems allow substantial opportunities for using patterns as
hubs, or a focus of discussion:
There is a need to create useful information spaces and, in general, build on new techno-
logical opportunities. These include support for annotations, workspaces, and community
building, each of which is strongly related to the others. We are using the term „annotation“
to describe any comment, question, or reference that a user associates with a given pattern
on the website. A user, for example, might annotate the Activist Road Trip pattern (LV 134)
with the URL of an organization that takes people to see the aftermath of open pit mining.
Another user might have a question about using the Mirror Institution pattern (LV 94) or
265
some advice on how to use Experimental Schools (LV 89). (Schuler, 2009)
Online systems could also provide workspaces:
We are also developing capabilities that will allow groups for groups to establish workspa-
ces related to a specific goal or topic that they are interested in. This will allow them to build
pattern languages from scratch or with existing patterns that they can optionally annotate.
Users of a particular workspace will be able to establish the ownership approach that best
suits their needs, from an individual orientation towards pattern ownership and modificati-
on rights to a more community-oriented Wiki-style approach. (Schuler, 2009)
We also must remember that the Wiki approach itself was developed as a platform for pat-
tern language development and, also, that the creator of the Wiki, Ward Cunningham, is also
still active in the development of workspaces for pattern language development (Sustasis).
2.5. Meta Pattern Languages (Seed 5)

Basically meta pattern languages are pattern language whose domain is pattern languages.
In theory this pattern language could be used to help design workshops, construct sub-lan-
guages using existing and new patterns, and manage ongoing pattern-based projects. Aldo
De Moor and I developed a short list of possible candidates for this language. Our tentative
list is included below.
Generating Annotating Categorizing

Selecting Discussing Incentivizing
Configuring (arranging) Critiquing Problem mapping
Refining Combining Visualizing
Linking Splitting Stakeholder identifying
Using (to generate ideas; Evaluating
for planning; for fostering Validating
imagination, group skills,
etc.) Indexing
As with other pattern language approaches a meta-pattern language approach can be seen
as a way to help generate knowledge, ideas, insights, and inquiries as well as a way to repre-
sent knowledge. Currently we are working to discover how the meta-patterns are actually
used with other patterns to help provide insights and advice for future users. It might be
the case that the pattern names we identified are actually pattern language categories and
one or more patterns belong within that category. Because meta-cognition (Bransford et al
1999) is such an important aspect of individual intelligence, meta-pattern languages, speci-
fically and directly address this issue. When meta-patterns are used fluidly and intentionally
266
in an experimental fashion patterns can be used but, perhaps more importantly, users can
also become more adroit with using the patterns as a language which, of course, is one of
the putative objectives of the pattern language approach.
2.6. Remix (Seed 6)

An individual or group might want to use a pattern language approach but doesn’t real-
ly care which pattern language they are drawing patterns from. (And could blame them?)
They might want to use one pattern from one pattern language and three from another.
They may even want to slice and dice patterns, using the problem statement of one and
the solution statements of two others. They may want everything from one pattern except
they’d like to use their own introductory image. They may also want to transduce, subclass,
or make links across pattern language borders. Computers could make this easier — but
it’s far from where we are now. And reassembling may be more difficult than tearing apart!
As part of an open-ended exploration, I wrote a simple „shuffle“ program to randomly select

patterns from three pattern languages (A Pattern Language, Group Works, and Liberating
Voices) as a very simple remixing experiment (one set of results in Figure 6). The question
that this approach surfaces is whether random selections from disparate pattern languages
might be useful for groups of people who were working on shared projects or problems.
Any expectation of a positive result relies on concept of forced connection (Liu & Schönwet-
ter 2004), a technique for encouraging creativity that appears to be validated quite often in
the workshops that I convene. From the first attempted I noticed one evocative grouping
consisting of Retreat and Reflection, Seasoned Timing, and Connection to the Earth. I also
note that the Group Works pattern language contains a Purpose pattern whereas the Libe-
rating Voices pattern language contains a Shared Purpose pattern. Arguably, he least rele-
vant of the randomly selected patterns is Floor Surface from APL, but on reflection, this too
can probably be integrated / adapted to the others; if Floor Surface is seen as the interface
for “grounding“ for the group’s activities.
Voices of the Unheard (LV) Online Deliberation (LV) Power Research (LV)
Retreat and Reflection (LV) Floor Surface (APL) Go Meta (GW)
Seasoned Timing (GW) Purpose (GW) Seeing the Forest, Seeing
the Trees (GW)
Connection to the Earth Spirit (GW)
(APL)
Big Tent for Social Change
(LV)
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Figure 6: Forced Connections Can yield natural and fertile relationships
Additionally, while people generally select the patterns they use, the set that they start with
could include randomization as we often do with our workshops. And games, of course,
nearly always employ randomization of some sort; players slough off the cards they don’t
need and develop coherent approaches towards the goals with the ones they retain.
2.7. Process Mapping (Seed 7)

This seed builds on the idea of the diagram used in A Pattern Language “which shows the
solution in the form of a diagram, with labels to show its main components” (Alexander et
al. 1977). If this could be done in a more rigorous manner the patterns could be more use-
ful – they could be more falsifiable and more amenable to testing; they could also be more
useful for “real-life” problem domains where we hope to employ them. This aspect could
also be used in our quest for validation criteria. If, for example, pattern language developers
agreed on a graphic modeling approach and, probably, some agreed-upon vocabulary, it
might be possible to see to a greater degree how the patterns worked but, also, how they
could work together, in a somewhat more rigorous manner. Based on this approach it might
also be quite a bit easier to locate other patterns from a collection of independently de-
veloped pattern languages, that would help a given person or group in their assembly of a
pattern language that was tailor-made for their specific needs. My students and I hoped to
uncover deep connections among the anti-patterns we developed but have not yet tackled
the project of deeply interlinking the entire pattern language via process mapping. It seems,
for example, using the anti-patterns (Figure 7) that Violence, Environmental Degradation,
and Consumerism all spring from Civic Ignorance but also Civic Ignorance can be exacerba-
ted from applications of the other three. Helene Finidori’s paper (2014) on PLAST, a pattern
language for systemic transformation, presents many insights that are especially relevant
to this seed.
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Civic Ignorance Violence
Civic ignorance describes how well a group

or person ignores the civic ideas, problems, Much can be achieved through dominance
or solutions of those surrounding them. The and submission by using violence. If the
need to solve problems intelligently and subject cannot be subdued psychologically
taking account of all solutions is cast away through fear, then injury can be inßicted. If
in favor of the quick, the easy, and the injury is not enough, then the subject can
brutal. Maybe the problem will just go away? ultimately be eliminated by murder. This is
Critics of this should be marginalized, ultimately the underlying threat of violence.
ignored or otherwise disabled or destroyed.
Environmental Consumerism
Degradation
Quality of life is ultimately measured by on

The natural environment; including but not the acquisition and display of material
limited to soil, water, air, ßora, and fauna, goods. At the heart of consumerism is the
has a natural balance. Through pollution, thought that the “good life” can be
over usage, and lack of stewardship, the purchased. Consumerism also contains a
balance is broken causing the natural set of standards through which people can
networks that sustain life on this planet to be judged based on material wealth.
suffer.
Figure 7: image of four anti-patterns
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2.8. Characterizing Pattern Languages (Seed 8)

While there are generally strong „family resemblances“ between the myriad pattern langu-
ages that have been developed, they are far from identical in the forms they assume, let
alone in the their objectives or, even, their definition of a pattern. A reference model that
was basically a superset of current pattern language characteristics cold help address the
problem of incommensurable pattern languages. This would include standard metadata
such as the title and author, but also metadata that was specific to pattern languages, num-
ber within the pattern language, name of the pattern language, status, license, which fields
were used — such as introductory graphic, diagram, problem, context, solution and the
like — and whether it was a translation or a card based on a pattern. It would also include
information on how to access the pattern or pattern language thus forming a sort of digital
card catalog of patterns. One of the primary uses of this would be to provide online for
support for pattern language work. Ideally there would be application program interfaces
(APIs) that would enable digital integration of patterns in new ways (e.g. see the Remix seed
above) or online workshops.
Figure 8: Russian LV cards memory & responsibility and demystification & re-enchantment
2.9. Public Problem Domains (Seed 9)

To help focus our efforts and to advance to the next stage of our collective learning pro-
cess, it is probably necessary to identify certain problem domains that would be amenable
to collaborative pattern language work. This approach could provide important impetus
for consideration of many of the seeds in this paper. And it could also encourage the de-
velopment of the new ones. Some of these problem domains could include sustainability,
270
anti-corruption, anti-poverty, climate change mediation and adaptation. Those fit the bill
for important, distributed, complex problems. And a long-term community commitment to
developing one or more pattern languages, promoting their use, and continuously evalua-
ting and revising them, would be significant. One possible approach would be to issue a
Call for Patterns as we did for the 2002 Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing
conference sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (http://cpsr.org/
prevsite/conferences/diac02/index.html/). We used „Patterns for Participation, Action, and
Change“ as the conference title and over one hundred pattern submissions were made
on our online site. These are still online (http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns_pool)
and formed the basis of the Liberating Voices book.
2.10. Community Development (Seed 10)

We need to build our community, share our ideas, and better coordinate our efforts. Clearly
the recent steps to explicitly open up a pattern language community that is transdisciplinary
are significant. We also need to integrate people from various pattern language commu-
nities and extend this community to include the people who would like to empower their
work, work better with allies, etc. but who may have never heard of pattern languages. This
group can not only use the patterns languages that are developed but work on the de-
velopment of new ones. They can also assist the development and theory community who
desperately need ideas, data, and feedback from the real world.
Figure 9 (from Schuler 2008) depicts various relationships (represented as arrows) between
pattern languages, relevant communities (various types of „users“) and the „real world“
which includes the physical, human (social), and knowledge- (or information-) based worlds.
An inspection of the various areas (nodes) and the relationships between them should be
useful in helping us to think about the goals and tasks associated with each in our efforts
to make pattern language use more effective in bringing the results that we‘d like to see.
Although the focus of the figure is broader, we can use it to describe aspects most relevant
to pattern language developers for whom this article is primarily directed. According the
figure, the main job of the developers could be seen as developing pattern languages ba-
sed on some particular view of the „real“ and potentially real world which is reflected in the
pattern language domain.
271
Figure 9: Ecosystem of Pattern Language Roles (?!)
This ecosystem of pattern language relationships reminds us that language „goodness“

must include usefulness. Pattern languages, at least for our purposes here are not intended
as purely aesthetic objects to be admired. Part of our job will be to make the pattern langua-
ges as useful as possible. This means that they should, first, be able to be readily discovered
by potential users — probably on the Internet. Whenever possible we should license our
patterns (or cards based on the patterns) as creative commons, which would allow people
to duplicate and remix them. We‘ve done this with the Liberating Voices cards but, presu-
mably, without outreach people won‘t know how to use them — or whether they exist at
all. Secondly, it must be clear how to use them. This means that the patterns themselves
must have suggestions for using them within the text. It probably also means that there are
useful resources available that describe uses for them. This would include suggestions as
to appropriate methodology, „kits“ for conducting design workshops, case studies, and a
community that is standing by in order to assist them with all phases of pattern language
development and use.
We believe that dedicated communities — online, offline, and hybrid — will be necessary for
the development of the civic intelligence that we need for the future. While the technology
to support groups and discussion related to pattern language development, evaluation,
and use is required, the desire to push on and the ability to collaborate will depend on the
people and the character of the communities we create. This can take several forms; Hel-
mut Leitner (email correspondence), for example, has suggested a „pattern card working
272
group“ with three roles: „(1) collect best practices how to use pattern cards in workshops
and similar events; (2) find ways to produce pattern card decks at low costs to ease their
use and circulation. And maybe, in the end, (3) find a publisher that specializes on pattern
language books and materials.“
2.11. Research and Theory (Seed 11)

This concept is listed last, but not because it is less important. The theory of pattern langu-
ages (and, probably, the superset that Christopher Alexander calls the Nature of Order (Al-
exander 2003)) is a critical aspect of this and many others including Mehaffy and Salingaros
(Mehaffy & Salingaros 2012; Salingaros 2000), and many others. I‘ve focused more on other
elements in this prolegomenon because I believe there is an urgent need to address the
critical problems before us and pattern languages could play a vital role in addressing them.
Theory development and theory deployment (via the patterns) are vitally intertwined; both
will gain if the people working in each area conscientiously learn from each other.
To my mind I envision three important areas that are open to theory development. The first
is the theory of patterns and pattern languages themselves, as distinct forms. This explores
aspects of pattern languages such as generativity: How might we evaluate these features?
Why might pattern languages be more suited than other approaches? How should patterns and
pattern languages be validated? The second is that of pattern languages in use. This focuses
on the wide range of how people use pattern languages: Can pattern languages help inte-
grate disparate communities? How do we evaluate the effectiveness of pattern language use?
What forms (e.g. pattern cards or pattern work best for what groups? Why does using multiple
patterns seem to be successful at suggesting new possibilities? What can we as pattern language
advocates do to accelerate and inform the use of pattern languages. What elements of the pattern
language are most important (e.g. the diagram?) The third aspect focuses on pattern language
domains: What type of domain is most suitable? Are there ways of portraying or representing
the domain that will make it more suitable for pattern language treatment? These questions
are only a beginning. There are undoubtedly lots more that we can and will ask ourselves.
3. Next Steps
Pattern languages instill fierce devotion in many people — including myself. We are impres-
sed with their range, relevance, beauty, and elegance. Although the idea has gained some
purchase in the fields of architecture and digital technology pattern languages are far from
providing the compelling, important, and ubiquitous roles that many of us believe they are
well-suited for.
273
We are now seeing a transdisciplinary movement to establish pattern languages as a use-

ful addition to humankind‘s problem-solving toolbox. For this to happen we will need the
various parties to understand the seeds discussed in this article more thoroughly and to
understand the dynamics of use by actively fielding different projects and collaborating with
diverse communities. We are advocates for the pattern language approach. How we do this
moving forward will help determine who else might share our passion in the years ahead
and how can we collectively channel that passion?
4. References
Alarcon, J. Translations. Retrieved October 30, 2014 from http://publicsphereproject.org/si-
tes/default/files/Spanish%20Language%20Liberating%20Voices%20pattern%20cards.pdf.
Alexander, C. (1975). The Oregon Experiment. New York: Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. et al. (1977). A Pattern Language. New York: Oxford University Press.
Alvarez, M. (2013, September 23). Conferences en Línea - Seminario: Visiones sobre la Me-
diación Tecnológica en Educación. Retrieved October 30, 2014, from https://sites.google.
com/site/seminarioemep2013
Bransford, J., Brown, A, and Cocking, R. (eds.) (1999). How people learn brain, mind, experi-
ence, and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Finidori, H. (2014). A Pattern Language for Systematic Transformation.
Group Pattern Language Project. (2011). Group Works: A Pattern Language. [Cards]. (Avai-
lable from www.groupworksdeck.org)
Iba, T. (2014). Collaboration Patterns: A Pattern Language for Creative Collaborations, Cre-
ativeShift Lab.
Liu, Z., & Schönwetter, D. (2004). Teaching Creativity in Engineering. International Journal of
Engineering Education, 20(5).
Mehaffy, M and Salingaros, N. (2012) “The pattern technology of Christopher Alexander.”

Metropolis POV (blog). Retrieved December 20, 2014, from http://www.metropolismag.
com/pov/20111007/the-pattern-technology-of- christopher-alexander
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Moyer, B. (1987). Activist Role Typology essay. The Movement Action Plan: A Strategic Fra-
mework Describing The Eight Stages of Successful Social Movements. Retrieved October 30,
2014 from http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/moyermap.html
Rittel, H., & Webber, M. (1973). Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning. Policy Sciences, 4.
Salingaros, N. (2000). The Structure of Pattern Languages. Architectural Research Quarterly, 4.
Schuler, D. and Namioka, A. (1993). Participatory Design: Principles and Practices. Hillsdale,
NJ: LEA.
Schuler, D. (2001). Cultivating Society’s Civic Intelligence: Patterns for a New ‘World Brain’.
Journal of Information, Communication and Society, 4(2).
Schuler, D. (2008). Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution.

Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Schuler, D. (2010). Pattern Languages as Critical Enablers of Civic Intelligence. In H. Neis

(Ed.), Fall 2009 International PUARL Symposium: Current Challenges for Patterns, Pattern
Languages & Sustainability. Portland, OR: PUARL Press.
Schuler, D., Gillgren, K, and O’Neil, M. (2012). Pattern Workshops and Pattern Games: Gene-
rating Civic Intelligence with the Liberating Voices Pattern Language. In H. Neis, G. Brown,
J. Gurr, and A. Schmidt (Ed.), Fall 2011 International PUARL Conference: Generative Proces-
ses, Patterns and the Urban Challenge. Portland, OR: PUARL Press.
Schuler, D., and Wagaman, J. (in press). The Surprising Power, Vitality, and Potentiality of Ex-
amining the “Dark Side:“ The Collaborative Production of the Restraining Voices Anti-Pattern
Language in an Educational Setting. In H. Neis (Ed.), Fall 2013 International PUARL Conferen-
ce: Battle For the Life and Beauty of the Earth. Portland, OR: PUARL Press.
Sustasis, (2014). Frontiers of Pattern Language Technology. Retrieved October 30, 2014
from http://www.sustasis.net/Frontiers-of-PLs.pdf
University of Oregon. (February 7, 2014). University‘s use of the Pattern Language. Retrieved
October 30, 2014 from http://uplan.uoregon.edu/faq/FAQPatternLanquage.html
Wagaman, J., Selon, A., Schuler, D. and Social Imagination and Civic Intelligence students at
The Evergreen State College. (2013). Restraining Voices Anti-Patterns. Retrieved October
30, 2014 from http://publicsphereproject.org/sites/default/files/anti-patterns.ALL_.reduce-
dres_0.pdf
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PatternPedia –
Collaborative
Pattern
Identification
and Authoring
276
Fehling, Christoph
Fehling@iaas.uni-stuttgart.de
Barzen, Johanna
Barzen@iaas.uni-stuttgart.de
Falkenthal, Michael
Falkenthal @iaas.uni-stuttgart.de
Leymann, Frank
Leymann@iaas.uni-stuttgart.de
The process of identifying and authoring patterns often

involves multiple domain experts. This paper introduces
PatternPedia – a collaborative tool chain for documenting
existing solutions and managing the patterns abstracted
from them. We present an extensible pattern metamo-
del specified in the Unified Modeling Language to enable
this tool support. Examples of metamodel extensions de-
scribe the domains of cloud computing and costumes in
films in order to capture concrete existing solutions and
patterns in these domains. Respective solution reposi-
tories and pattern repositories have been implemented
based on these metamodel extensions. Tool support for
pattern document display, pattern reference visualization,
277
as well as queries on the costume solution repository are
presented.
Pattern Repository; Solution Repository; Pattern

Authoring; Wiki; Collaboration
278
PatternPedia – Collaborative Pattern Identification and Authoring
1. Introduction
Patterns are human-readable documents that describe proven solutions in particular do-
mains, such as architecture, IT, and education. Patterns reference each other to form a
network of related solutions. A set of related patterns in a given domain are referred to as
a pattern language. In our accompanying article (Barzen & Leymann, 2014), we described
the process of identifying patterns related to costumes used in films: by documenting and
analyzing costumes in different movies, the identification of patterns is systemized. The de-
scription format of existing solutions (costumes) is formalized, existing solutions are captu-
red, and patterns are identified in the set of solutions. Following such an approach, the ori-
gin of a pattern becomes clearly visible and traceable to ensure pattern provenance. Such a
systematic approach to pattern discovery often involves many participants, for example, to
review films and capture costumes scene-by-scene. In other domains where we conducted
pattern research, such as cloud computing, the collection and classification of information
sources was also handled by many parties (Fehling, Ewald, Leymann, Pauly, Rütschlin &
Schumm, 2012). These collaborative tasks of information collection, pattern identification,
and pattern authoring should therefore be supported by a collaborative tool chain. While
Barzen & Leymann (2014) introduced a formal model for costumes and costume patterns,
this paper provides (i) an extensible pattern metamodel for the formal model and (ii) a tool
chain (PatternPedia - http://www.patternpedia.net) for the collaborative documentation of
solutions and the identification of patterns. Both the extensible pattern metamodel and
the tool chain are used in the domain of cloud computing (IT applications) and costumes
in films.
Here, we will first cover the relevant related work on wiki-based pattern management and
pattern authoring in Section 2. We introduce the pattern research methodology supported
by PatternPedia, cover its abstract system architecture, and its use in pattern research in
Section 3. The remaining sections describe the formal basis of the PatternPedia data struc-
ture and the technical implementation of PatternPedia:
The pattern metamodel and its extensions for the domains of cloud computing and costu-
mes is expressed by the Unified Modeling Languge (UML) (Object Management Group,
2011) (Section 4). This modeling language is commonly used for IT applications to describe
the abstract structure of data elements and their instances. The metamodel, therefore,
specifies a data structure that can be instantiated multiple times to represent multiple in-
stances of the described entity. The description of IT systems using such modeling activities
is known as Model Driven Design (Raistrick, Francis, Wright, Carter & Wilkie, 2004). The-
refore, the pattern metamodel describes the reoccurring data structure of patterns and
279
solutions as they become manifested in the supporting tool chain. It coordinates the colla-
borative work of participating researchers. The concrete implementation of PatternPedia is
governed by models (Section 5) and based on MediaWiki1, the wiki software that supports
WikiPedia2, and semantic extensions provided by SemanticMediawiki3. We chose to use
and extend this well-established wiki software to benefit from the existing collaboration
functionality that can support the pattern research domain without adaptation. The paper
concludes with a summary and outlook in Section 6.
2. Related Work
We considered existing pattern language formalizations and pattern repositories as the
foundational work for PatternPedia. Wikis were used early on in the pattern research do-
main to coordinate the work of multiple pattern authors. Existing pattern repositories are
often not available as open source and they often do not support typed references among
patterns. Through reference typing, our tool chain explicitly supports different links bet-
ween patterns, to express, e.g., that two patterns are related, or are often used in combi-
nation etc. While reference typing seems to be a minor detail, the magnitude of references
within a pattern catalog can quickly become unmanageable if reference types are omitted.
Some existing pattern repositories support typed references, and their functionality has
been investigated especially to determine the requirements on the PatternPedia tool chain.
Existing methodologies for authoring and improving patterns without any tool support were
also considered, especially, how they could be integrated with the PatternPedia tool chain.
2.1. Existing Pattern Languages and Pattern Language Formalizations

The pattern metamodel describes the structure of the pattern documents and references
among them. To find an adequate extendable metamodel, the formats of existing patterns
and pattern languages were investigated focusing on how they reference other patterns.
Zdun (2007) formalized pattern descriptions and the use of formal grammars describing
the selection of patterns. Pattern primitives are considered by Zdun & Avgeriou (2005) to be
a means to capture domain-specific concepts that are not patterns themselves, but smaller
artifacts forming larger patterns. In the domain of costumes, such primitives are the pieces
of clothing comprising a costume (Schumm, Barzen, Leymann & Ellrich, 2012). In general,
when authoring patterns, domain-specific primitives should be defined as to be used in
solution descriptions and pattern descriptions. Hanmer (2012) covers the structure of a
1 http://www.mediawiki.org
2 http://www.wikiepedia.org
3 http://semantic-mediawiki.org
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pattern catalog in the domain of IT applications. He describes a means for pattern users to
collect their individual set of patterns and interconnect them based on their own experien-
ce and development processes. The pattern language of Alexander, Ishikawa & Silverstein
(1977) was considered the most influential source of patterns for the domain of building
architecture. These patterns describe the design of cities, neighborhoods, houses, indivi-
dual rooms etc. A clear order of consideration and refinement of details is visible in this
pattern language. Even though the pattern format used by Alexander et al. (1977) neither
uses section headings nor does it label references, a clear semantic is visible in the separate
sections of each pattern, describing the problem, context, solution etc. Regarding reference
types, the order of consideration and the use of alternatives are visible.
Regarding the domain of IT applications, the patterns of Hohpe & Woolf (2004), Gamma,
Helm, Johnson & Vlissides (1994), Buschmann, Meunier, Rohnert, & Stal (1996), Fowler
(2002), and Hanmer (2013) were reviewed. Hohpe and Woolf describe patterns for enter-
prise application integration. Their format highly influenced our own cloud computing pat-
terns (Fehling, Leymann, Retter, Schupeck & Arbitter, 2014). Gamma et al. and Buschman
et al. describe patterns in the domain of object-oriented application design. Fowler covers
patterns for enterprise applications that incorporate the business case, its domain model,
and how it is refined to application architectures. Hanmer covers patterns in the domain of
fault-tolerant distributed applications. All of these pattern catalogs have been analyzed with
respect to their pattern formats and references among patterns. The pattern metamodel
introduced in this work aims to support all of these formats through extension.
2.2. Existing Pattern Repositories

The need for a central pattern repository and, especially, the use of wiki software for pattern
management has long been identified as promising (Leuf & Cunningham, 2001). Pattern
repositories have since been established for many different topics. In many cases, the mo-
tivation for these repositories is publishing the contained patterns and not the reuse of the
software for other patterns, which may have different formats. Many consider collaboration
aspects, such as rating or recommending patterns. Table 1 summarizes the aspects analy-
zed for some of these pattern repositories. It shows the name and internet-address of the
repository and gives the main topic addressed by the contained patterns if applicable. While
this list may not be exhaustive, we argue that it represents a significant portion of the pat-
tern repositories available today. A more detailed evaluation of existing pattern repositories
can be found in Fürst (2013) and Willig (2014).
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Table 1: Overview of considered Pattern Repositories
The pattern library for interaction design covers user interaction patterns and mainly focu-
ses on their presentation. The BRIDGE pattern library was developed in a European rese-
arch project. It mainly focuses on the collaborative authoring of patterns. Requirements for
a collaborative pattern repository that are implemented in the BRIDGE pattern library are
published in Reiners, Falkenthal, Jugel & Zimmermann (2013). The open pattern repository
is a customized wiki implementation for pattern management. Especially, the addition of
existing pattern documents is well supported by the user interface. Links in this pattern
repository are similarly typed as those in PatternPedia. The Portland pattern repository
is possibly the oldest pattern repository and is also based on wiki software: WikiWiki4. The
Yahoo design pattern library again focuses on user interface design and its main purpose
is providing these patterns to the public. The pattern format and reference types of these
existing pattern repositories were considered from a conceptual perspective during the
design of the extensible pattern metamodel.
The BRIDGE pattern library and the open pattern repository seemed the most accessible in
terms of their existing source code implementations. The implementation of PatternPedia
described in Section 5, nevertheless, was realized using MediaWiki as a basis, for two main
reasons. First, this open source wiki software addresses most of the desired collaboration
features directly. Second, the semantic extensions enable the desired reference typing and
queries based on these reference types. By relying on such an existing code base combined
with some extensions, the need for custom implementations and future maintenance effort
could be reduced. Again, please refer to Fürst (2013) and Willig (2014) for a detailed evalua-
tion of wiki software and available extensions relevant to pattern research.
2.3. Existing Best Practices for Pattern Authoring

Existing methodologies for identifying, authoring, and improving patterns still have to be
4 http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiWikiClones
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considered regardless of whether or not a tool chain is used to support pattern resear-
chers. Wellhauser & Fießler (2011) cover how pattern documents should be designed to be
accessible to readers. Meszaros (1997) covers patterns that should be considered during
pattern writing. These best practices once again describe the structure of pattern docu-
ments and good writing practices. Harrison (1999) provides patterns for the subsequent
review cycle of initially written pattern documents. Lucrédio, de Almeida, Alvaro, Garcia & Pi-
veta (2004) describe how to review and improve patterns during research conferences. Iba
& Isaku (2012) present patterns on how to conduct interactive workshops in order to find
and author patterns collaboratively. PatternPedia does not aim to replace these methods
and techniques. Collaboration during pattern identification should be supported during the
times when face-to-face interaction is impossible. Also, the traceability of patterns should
be increased by documenting existing solutions in the same tooling environment. This also
enables pattern users to learn from existing solutions to a higher degree. However, using
PatternPedia will not alleviate the need to conduct face-to-face discussions and interactive
workshops for identifying and authoring patterns.
3. Pattern Research Methodology and

Architecture of PatternPedia
To describe how PatternPedia is used and which functional components it is comprised of,
we now cover the research methodology that is supported by the PatternPedia tool chain.
Then the abstract functional components are described to give an overview of the archi-
tecture of PatternPedia. A central artifact governing the use of this tool chain is the pattern
metamodel, which homogenizes the data created by different users. The structure and
adaptation of this metamodel to the domains of cloud computing and costumes in films are
covered separately in Section 4.
3.1. Pattern Research Methodology supported by PatternPedia

The tasks of identifying, abstracting, and applying patterns depicted in Figure 1 are sup-
ported by the PatternPedia tool chain. The figure furthermore shows the data generated
by these tasks as well as the involved user roles. Each role can be fulfilled by one or more
PatternPedia users. One user or user group can also fulfill multiple roles.
The initial task is to document solutions in the domain under consideration for pattern re-
search, i.e., to capture how existing IT applications work, or how costumes look, etc. This
activity collects such information from various sources, such as written documents, mind-
maps, spreadsheets etc. and homogenizes their format as well as abstracts their content
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to describe concrete solutions. A domain expert, who has created the existing solutions and
a solution collector, who is familiar with the process of abstracting the required information,
collaborate on this task.
In a second step, solutions are analyzed for similarities by the pattern author to identify
pattern candidates. A pattern candidate proposes a pattern, which is then reviewed by a
larger group of pattern authors as part of the succeeding task of authoring patterns. The
best practices for pattern writing and improvement (see Section 2.3) should be used here
in particular. Of course, there may be existing patterns in the considered domain. In paral-
lel to the author patterns task, such patterns are imported to PatternPedia in order to be
interconnected with newly found patterns.
Figure 1 – Pattern Research Methodology
A content manager handles this task of transforming existing patterns from books, conferen-
ce proceedings etc. into the same format as the newly created patterns.
After patterns have been found in the researched domain, a solution architect can use this
set of patterns to create new solutions. This could be a new IT application, a costume etc.
In the scope of PatternPedia, such a concrete solution is considered the description of the
solution that can be managed by PatternPedia. Thus, it is a written document following the
format specified by the pattern metamodel that describes the solution. The solution itself,
i.e., the code of an application or the tangible costume is not managed by PatternPedia. A
solution architect starts to create such new solutions by identifying patterns that are appli-
cable to a particular problem. This identification is part of the task of finding patterns.
284
Applicable patterns are then refined by the solution architect as part of two parallel activi-
ties. The solution that has been design is created, thus, the details are added with respect
to the abstract pattern description and multiple patterns are combined into a new solution
design. During this task, the solution architect may also analyze existing solutions to not
only learn from the pattern itself but also from all of its previous applications. As a result,
new concrete solutions are created that may again be analyzed to identify new patterns.
This research methodology, therefore, describes a continuous process that is followed ite-
ratively.
3.2. Functional Architecture and Use of PatternPedia

In every domain where patterns are researched, the information is commonly available in a
very unstructured format. As shown on the left of Figure 2, such information sources may
include movies, documents, mindmaps etc. These information-sources are provided by the
role of a domain expert, who is familiar with current solutions and best-practices. The Pat-
ternPedia tool chain, whose components are depicted in the center of Figure 2, does not
manage these information sources.
The solution input component is used by the solution collector to enter information about
existing solutions obtained from the domain expert and from information sources into the
solution repository. The pattern metamodel ensures that the information contained in the
solution repository follows a homogenous data format. Solutions can then be browsed fre-
ely, but more analysis functionality can also be offered to query solutions.
Figure 2 - Abstract Architecture of PatternPedia
285
While the solution repository can be supported by the wiki-based implementation covered
in Section 5, it is often realized as a separate custom tool. This is due to the fact that do-
mains differ greatly regarding the aspects of the solutions that are captured to support pat-
tern identification. For example, in the domain of cloud computing, architectural goals such
as availability or performance have been used to categorize the documented solutions. In
the domain of costumes, detailed ontologies and taxonomies have been used to describe
pieces of clothing, their colors, structure etc. in order to homogenize the solution format
(Barzen & Leymann, 2014). Section 4 covers the concrete metamodel extensions used in
these domains. A custom tool can better support such extensions, especially, regarding the
enforcement of the desired solution format and queries to the solutions in order to find
patterns. Such queries are especially helpful to the pattern author who accesses the soluti-
on repository to query and analyze solutions in order to identify new patterns.
Patterns are documented in the pattern repository. Multiple pattern authors may work on
a pattern simultaneously during its authoring. Again, functionality is provided to input and
browse these patterns. The pattern metamodel describes the format of the pattern docu-
ment, i.e., its sections and their semantic, as well as the types of references between multi-
ple patterns. Such pattern references are used by pattern authors to express that patterns
form alternatives, are often used together, should be considered in a certain order etc. The
component for solution and pattern referencing shown in Figure 2 supports the creation of
such pattern references: as the number of patterns increases, those patterns written later
tend to have fewer incoming references. By the time other patterns have been written, ne-
wer patterns do not exist for referencing. Such conditions may be identified automatically
by the tool to suggest references that can be added.
The pattern references are fundamental to be able to browse and find applicable patterns.
The solution architect uses the references among the patterns to navigate the catalog of pat-
terns as part of the functionality provided by the pattern search component. As the solution
architect traverses the catalog, the references provide the order of pattern consideration,
related patterns, alternatives etc. Furthermore, the references between solutions and the
patterns identified from them are also maintained. Such references between patterns and
solutions enable the solution architect to access information about existing solutions to
refine his or her design. He or she may learn from the existing solutions while the pattern
provides the abstract best practices. After design and implementation of a new solution,
the solution architect documents his or her design in the solution repository. A reference to
the implemented pattern ensures that this new solution can also be accessed in all future
applications of the pattern. In order to integrate existing patterns published in books, con-
286
ference proceedings etc. into the pattern repository, the content manager converts existing
pattern documents into an import format that can be understood by the pattern repository.
We use the Extensible Markup Language (XML) (World Wide Web Consortium, 2008) for this
purpose as described in Fehling & Leymann (2014).
4. Formalizing the Pattern Metamodel

Patterns and solutions are documented in a well-defined data model in PatternPedia. This
ensures format homogenization if multiple authors participate in the documentation pro-
cess of identifying and authoring patterns (Section 3). Also, it enables later querying of solu-
tions and pattern documents. The metamodel depicted in Figure 3 is specified in UML. The
central entity in this model is the abstract Referenceable Document, which is associated with
the Category. Such Categories can be used to organize the referenceable documents ma-
naged in PatternPedia. A referenceable document manifests either in the form of a Solution
or a Pattern. Solutions are the documents from which patterns are abstracted. The pattern
language metamodel does not enforce that a solution is structured, thus, it is constituted
by arbitrary ImageElements and TextualElements. These two entities are also used in patterns,
but patterns are structured to an additional degree. In the pattern metamodel, patterns
are constituted by Intro entities and Section entities. Sections describe the patterns’ format
and, thus, have a distinct name – their heading. Intro entities are used for textual or graphic
elements that are included more loosely, often in the beginning of pattern documents – for
example in the form of a picture or icon that readers will associate with the pattern. Two dif-
ferent reference entities can be used to reference documents. Textual References are used
in pattern sections or intros. The reference itself is then displayed as the textual element in
the pattern document. Global References are not displayed in pattern documents as discrete
textual elements. Instead, they are often used for visualization purposes outside of pattern
documents, for example, to render a graph indicating the order in which patterns should
be considered.
In the generic pattern language metamodel, two Reference Types are included. The RelatedTo
reference type is used to point to patterns that are relevant in the context of the described
pattern, that are often used together with the described pattern etc.
287
Figure 3 - Pattern Metamodel in UML
In itself, the RelatedTo reference type is, thus, very generic. The InContextOf reference type
is used to point to patterns forming the setting in which another pattern can be applied.
These two reference types are the intersection of the sets of reference types used in pat-
tern languages considered as related work in Section 2. Commonly, this set is extended for
a pattern language, for example, to denote alternatives and compositions between patterns
or to point to solutions via a known use reference. The concrete extensions for the cloud
computing patterns and costume patterns are described in the sections below.
4.1. Extending the Pattern Metamodel for Cloud Computing Patterns

Given the architectural goals of cloud computing applications, information sources were
analyzed to identify and extract cloud computing patterns (Fehling et al., 2014). Therefore,
how existing applications achieve the architectural goals was documented. For provider
documentations, guidelines to achieve the goals were documented. The extracted pattern
documents use the pattern metamodel with the following extensions. It was extended at
four locations as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4 - Overview of Extension Points for Cloud Computing Patterns
288
Extension points one and two describe a more specific pattern format. Extension point
three introduces additional reference types that are used to interconnect the patterns of
the cloud computing pattern language. Extension point four refines the information captu-
red about solutions in order to identify patterns. The specific model extensions are detailed
below.
4.1.1. Extension of the Pattern Format
The pattern format extension describes (i) the used pattern introduction at the beginning
of each pattern document and (ii) the specific names of pattern sections to be used. Figure
5 displays the extension of the pattern metamodel with specific intro elements. These are
used in the beginning of each document without individual section headings.
Figure 5 - Extension for specific Introduction Content of Cloud Computing Pattern
The Intend in each cloud computing pattern summarizes the complete pattern very briefly,
giving readers a very quick overview. The Icon in each cloud computing pattern is its graphi-
cal representation. Thus, the Icon in particular is intended to be used in (i) other architectu-
ral patterns composing the pattern and (ii) architectural diagrams using the cloud compu-
ting patterns. The Driving Question finally articulates the question meant to be answered by
the pattern. Thus, it allows the reader to identify the applicability of the pattern to his or her
own architectural questions in a given use case. Figure 6 shows an intro format refinement
of the public cloud pattern from the website http://cloudcomputingpatterns.org.
Figure 6 - Refinement of the Intro in the Pattern Format for Cloud Computing Patterns
289
After the introduction elements, the cloud computing patterns use a specific set of sections.
The corresponding metamodel extension is shown in Figure 7.
The Context section describes the conditions under which the problem solved by a pattern
arises. In particular, other patterns may be referenced here that form the environment in
which the pattern is applied. Other influencing factors that lead to the problem - so called
forces - are also listed here, so that the reader may compare them to the real life problem
he or she is trying to solve. The Solution section then briefly states how the pattern sol-
ves the problem. This statement is given in an imperative form to quickly tell the reader
what must be done when applying the pattern. Each solution section contains one or more
images – the Sketch of the pattern. This sketch is a graphic representation of the solution.
It shows the reader abstract components to be implemented, other patterns to be compo-
sed, an abstract process that the implementation has to realize etc.
Following the solution section, the Result section describes the outcome of the pattern ap-
plication in greater detail. Especially, it may describe additional problems that may arise
after the application of a pattern. The Variations section describes alternative applications
of the pattern. If these variations are not significant enough to justify their description as
separate patterns, they are listed in this section. The Related Patterns section lists other
patterns that may be relevant for consideration if the pattern is applied. These may be
alternative patterns following a different approach or patterns that are often used together
with the pattern etc.
Figure 7 - Extension for specific Sections of Cloud Computing Patterns
Finally, the Known Uses section closes the pattern. In this section, all information sources
are summarized from which the pattern has been abstracted, especially if they are existing
applications. Remember that the pattern metamodel allows the capturing of known uses
as separate documents – the solutions. Thus, they may be referenced by patterns just like
other patterns, but they do not follow the same document structure.
4.1.2. Extension of the Pattern References
Within the scope of the cloud computing patterns, both reference types in the pattern meta-
model may be used. Furthermore, additional types have been defined as shown in Figure 8.
290
Figure 8 - Extension for specific Reference Types of Cloud Computing Patterns
The ConsiderAfter reference type is used to describe an order of pattern consideration for
the cloud computing patterns language. For example, these references are used to suggest
that readers should first consider cloud offerings and then application component patterns,
which guide to build applications on top of such offerings. More specifically, if the reader
considers using a blob storage offering5 to store data, the ConsiderAfter reference may
point to strict consistency6 and eventual consistency7 as patterns that describe the offering
behavior in greater detail. Also, the data access component8 pattern may be referenced,
because after the reader has chosen a storage offering, he or she should consider how
to build an application component that interacts with the storage offerings and provides
data accessibility to other application components. The Alternative reference type connects
patterns that cannot be combined but form different approaches to solve similar problems.
This ensures that if a reader finds a pattern relevant to his or her problem but the solution is
unsuitable, the alternative references might point to similar patterns that may be applicable
instead. The Composition reference is used to point to other patterns that are used in the
solution of the described pattern. More complex patterns may thus combine other patterns
to form more complex solutions. The KnownUse reference type is the only one that does
not connect two patterns. Instead, it connects patterns with solutions, which have been
documented during the information-collection phase. Readers can use these references
to learn how the described pattern may be applied from existing solutions. While most of
these reference types are special forms of the generic RelatedTo relationship type, modeling
them explicitly enables a better interpretation by supporting tool chains to ensure a higher
level of usability.
4.1.3. Extension of the Solution Format
The cloud computing patterns (Fehling et al., 2014) were extracted from information sour-
ces such as cloud provider documentation or documentation about existing applications.
See Fehling et al. (2012) for a detailed list. These information sources are captured as so-
lutions in scope of the pattern metamodel. For every information source, the following as-
pects were collected. The metamodel was extended respectively as shown in Figure 9.
5 http://www.cloudcomputingpatterns.org/Blob_Storage
6 http://www.cloudcomputingpatterns.org/Strict_Consistency
7 http://www.cloudcomputingpatterns.org/Eventual_Consistency
8 http://www.cloudcomputingpatterns.org/Data_Access_Component
291
Figure 9 - Extension for specific Solution Format of Cloud Computing Patterns
Author, Source Name, Address, and Data capture general information about the informati-
on source. Summary is a Textual Element that briefly captures the essence of the solution.
The domain is used to classify information sources. A large set of Architectural Domains has
been identified that is relevant for cloud applications (Fehling et al., 2012). Similarly, chal-
lenges such as scalability, performance etc. are used to group information sources. Finally,
the summary is abstracted to make provider-independent statements. These abstractions
were identified in multiple information sources to find patterns. Exemplary information
source for cloud computing patterns:
Author: Jinesh Varia
Source Name: Cloud Architectures
Address: http://jineshvaria.s3.amazonaws.com/public/cloudarchitectures-varia.pdf
Date: 01. Jun 08
Summary: Cloud resources should be started and stopped automatically.
Domain: Cloud Application Management
Challenge: Scalability
Abstraction: Cloud resource management has to be automated.
Please download the pattern authoring toolkit9 (Fehling et al., 2012) for a complete list of
9 http://cloudcomputingpatterns.org/authoringtoolkit.zip
292
information sources from which the various patterns were abstracted.
4.2. Extending the Pattern Metamodel for Costume Patterns

Patterns in the domain of costumes in films require analogous extensions of the pattern
metamodel, as explained for cloud computing patterns above. Although the explained ex-
tensions are not considered to be final at the moment due to ongoing research in the field
of costume patterns, it is worth introducing the current structure of a costume pattern at
this point. As with cloud computing patterns, there are also specific extensions that incor-
porate special needs for costume patterns, which are explained below. The general meta-
model is extended at three locations depicted in Figure 10. Extension points one and two
detail Intro and Sections according to costume patterns, while extension point three details
the format solutions are captured into.
Figure 10 - Overview of Extension Points for Costume Patterns
4.2.1. Extension of the Pattern Format
The costume pattern format likewise extends the metamodel by introducing costume spe-
cific intro elements as well as sections. Figure 11 shows the two intro elements Purpose and
Icon used in costume patterns to specify extension point one. A costume pattern contains
an icon that illustrates the pattern’s quintessence, similarly to a cloud computing pattern.
Also, it additionally contains a brief textual description of its purpose – similar to the intent
of a cloud computing pattern. Thus, the reader can realize the effect of a costume without
studying the pattern as a whole.
293
Figure 11 – Extension for specific Intro Elements for Costume Patterns
The second extension point deals with specific sections of a costume pattern as illustrated
in Figure 12. While Context and Related Patterns are similar to the corresponding sections of
the cloud computing patterns, there are differences in the presentation of the result and
respectively, the purpose. Description details the Purpose section of the intro by means of
textual explanations.
Figure 12 - Extension for specific Sections of Costume Patterns
The solution of a costume pattern is provided by a composition graph of all parts of a

costume within the Composition section. The formal language of a costume’s composition
graph is described in Barzen & Leymann (2014). Thus, composition captures all the parts
that a costume is made of, the so-called base elements and how they are layered. The
composition graph is represented graphically as exemplarily depicted in the excerpt of the
“High-School-Queen” pattern shown on the left of Figure 13. Besides the graph structure,
all the base elements are textually listed as well, which is omitted in the figure for the sake
of brevity.
Figure 13 - Composition and Application of the exemplarily High School-Queen Pattern
294
Further, the section Application additionally provides graphic instructions about how to
dress an actor step by step in the costume as depicted on the right of Figure 13. Finally, the
Known Uses section covers a list of concrete solutions captured by the costume solution re-
pository in order to establish a clear pattern provenance. Thus, costume patterns are linked
to entries in the solution repository. This allows navigation from generic solution knowledge
within a costume pattern to detailed concrete solution knowledge in the form of captured
costumes for films.
4.2.2. Extension to the Solution Format
The extension of the solution element of the generic pattern metamodel shown at point
three in Figure 10 is based on the technical report (Barzen, 2013) where a set of descriptive
costume properties are introduced and discussed. Solutions in the domain of costumes
in films are documented costumes. Thus, solutions are gathered by investigating clothes
worn by roles in specific film scenes. Since costumes vary extremely in their appearance, it
is necessary to define a common structure to achieve comparable descriptions of costumes
captured by different solution collectors. Thus, in contrast to text-based descriptions as
presented in the solution format of cloud computing patterns, costumes are described by
assigning categorical properties to costume entities. This assures that the same properties
are considered and that predefined categorical values are assigned for each costume. Hen-
ce, a fundus of solutions is gathered, while the solutions’ properties enable to query and
analyze solutions in order to identify patterns. Since a costume consists of all the clothes
worn by an actor in a scene, it is also important to capture which items of clothing are part
of the costume. The items a costume is made up are called base elements. Base elements
are composed to form a costume, so the composition structure must be captured (Barzen
& Leymann, 2014). Finally, base elements are comprised of primitives, which are the atomic
elements of investigation in the context of costumes in films. In the following, those circum-
stances are put into an extension of the solution metamodel for costumes in films. The
general metamodel adaption is depicted in Figure 14.
The extended solution metamodel introduces the entities Costume, Base Element and Primi-
tive as the conceptual parts of which a concrete costume solution consists. While Costume
captures all holistic properties valid for a costume as a whole, a Base Element captures
properties, which are specific to components of the costume (e.g., a jacket or a shirt etc.).
Since each base element in turn is made of several parts, properties to describe those parts
are captured by Primitive.
295
Figure 14 - General extension of the solution metamodel for costumes
Composition indicates the composability of base elements in order to describe how parts
of a costume are precisely worn together (e.g., shirt is worn on body, jacket is worn abo-
ve shirt). For each relation between base elements of a costume, composition informati-
on is stored to finally represent a composition graph of all base elements of a costume.
Consequently, a composition relates a subject base element via an Operator to an object
base element. The semantics of a relation between two base elements are captured by the
Operator as shown in Figure 15. For the sake of brevity the illustrated operators are just a
subset of all available types, which can be studied particularly in Barzen & Leymann (2014)
and Schumm et al. (2012).
Figure 15 - Composition Types
Further, the class Property shows the generic and structured manner of the description of
costumes. Predefined properties are assigned to costumes, base elements as well as primi-
tives in order to provide descriptive categorical information about them.
Before the refinement of properties is detailed for costumes, the general principles, which
are valid for all properties are explained in detail. Properties are the means to define a set
of characteristics, which are investigated in order to describe a costume, its base elements
and their primitives. For instance, if we investigate how to describe the color of a base ele-
ment in detail, we encounter that there is a multitude of different colors to just describe a
plain yellow shirt, since there are so many nuances of the color yellow: yellow, translucent
296
yellow, maize, bright yellow, dark yellow, brazen yellow etc. So, to handle the vast number
of different possible values for properties, it is inevitable to predefine a subset of values de-
scribing the granularity needed to capture the details relevant for the specific domain. For
this purpose, sets of categorical descriptive values for properties are defined by means of
taxonomies to formulate a valid domain model in order to describe costumes in films (Bar-
zen & Leymann, 2014). Figure 16 exemplarily shows branches from the taxonomy of valid
values for the property “color” (Barzen, 2013). The depicted taxonomy limits the number of
valid yellow tones to exactly four – vanilla, lemon, postal-yellow and amber. Thus, it shows
the principle to limit valid values through means of taxonomies by example. In total, the
taxonomy contains 38 colors, although not all of them are depicted in the figure since the
branches of achromatic, secondary, tertiary and glossy colors are not extended.
Figure 16 - Taxonomy of valid values for the property color
This way, a predefined set of properties limits the number of characteristics to describe a
costume on the one hand and reduces the vast quantity of possible values for each pro-
perty on the other. The set of values that are sufficient to detail each property is defined by
domain experts.
4.2.3. Costume Properties
The detailed extension of the solution metamodel is shown below in Figure 17 by the entity
Costume as an example. Properties assigned to a costume provide information about its
characteristics as a complete outfit, i.e., details about its parts are not covered. Valid pro-
perties are depicted in Figure 17 as attributes of the entity Costume. ShortText and Scene-
Description are used to provide a rough textual description of the costume and the scene in
which it occurs. In order to understand how often and how long a costume can be seen du-
ring a film, all occurrences are captured using Timecodes. A Timecode captures the starting
297
time and the end time of each occurrence of a costume. DestinationOccurrence determines
if the scene is played indoors, outdoors or both. RelevantForStereotype indicates whether or
not a costume should be considered to describe the stereotype (see next section) of the
role wearing the costume. DominantColor is used to define the main color of a costume that
dominates, although base elements and primitives can have additional colors. The same
applies to DominantFunction and DominantStatus, while they define the main purpose, such
as if the costume contains the function of being business clothes, sport clothes or rain pro-
tection clothes etc., as well as if it is clean, damaged, wet or ironed etc. CharacterTraits lists
all the traits the role shows in the scenes while wearing the costume. This supports under-
standing of how a costume facilitates the specific character traits of a given role.
Figure 17 - Valid properties to describe a costume
A list of specific modifications of the role, such such as if he or she is without make-up or if
he or she is blond with curly hair etc. is provided by ModificationsOfBody. Since a costume
often occurs several times during a film, and because the interaction of the scenery and a
costume has an effect on what a costume “tells” us, also the places, where the scenes play
are stored in a list of Venues. Each Venue captures the concrete location like United States of
America or Germany etc. as well as a textual description like “restaurant” or “office” etc. for
that reason. Further, the impressions of age as well as optionally the known age of the cha-
racter during the scenes where the costume is worn are captured by ImpressionsOfAge. To
understand a costume’s communicative effect in relation to the period with respect to the
concrete time the costume is played in a film, a list of Seasons is provided. Therefore each
Season is detailed by a categorical placement in time, e.g, “Baroque” if the scene plays at that
time as well as the concrete time period by use of year dates if the information is available.
Finally, the daytimes a costume occurs during a film is captured in TimesOfDay.
All the properties and the complex types of the properties are populated by categorical
298
textual information predefined in (Barzen, 2013) as well as numerals or boolean values.

The entities Base Element and Primitive likewise provide a predefined set of properties
specific to them, in the manner of the explained entity Costume. For the sake of brevity,
Base Element and Primitive are not described in detail at this point because the principle
of predefined description categories in the form of properties is applied to all parts of a
costume, thus, also to Base Element and Primitive. So, the method of extending the general
metamodel to be suitable for all parts of a costume is applied accordingly to Costume.
4.2.4. Categorization of costume solutions by roles and films
In order to bring costume solutions in line with a corpus of films, which means a representa-
tive set of movies in a selected genre, they are related to characters as well as concrete films
(Barzen & Leymann 2014). Therefore, the solution metamodel for costumes is extended
by the entities Role and Film as depicted in Figure 18. They provide information to catego-
rize costumes into genres or even the costume fundus of a specific costume designer by
properties assigned to Film. Further, Role holds additional information about the generic
character of a role, due to the assignment of the property Stereotype to each role. Stereoty-
pes are manually assigned categories, which describe a role’s behavior and thus provide a
means to specify candidates for patterns. If several roles are annotated to be, e.g., a “Sheriff”
or a “Saloon-Lady” the related costume solutions provide properties that have to be queried
and analyzed in order to find commonalities that make up corresponding patterns.
Figure 18 - The classes Film and Role provide means to categorize costume solutions
The introduced extension of the generic PatternPedia solution metamodel is due to the
very domain specific character of solutions. In contrast to the solution format of cloud pat-
terns that can be handled in the MediaWiki, the much more complex structure of solutions
in the domain of costumes in films is supported by a custom solution repository for costu-
mes. The extension of the generic metamodel for solutions to a very fine-grained structure
of properties to enable detailed querying of the data by means of data mining and analytics
methods is explained in the next section.
299
5. Implementation of the PatternPedia Tool Chain

The extensible pattern metamodel forms the basis for a web-based patterns and solutions
management tool. This PatternPedia tool chain can be extended just like the metamodel
to support different pattern formats, pattern reference types etc. The solution repository
covered in this section is specific to the costume domain to respect the intensive metamo-
del adjustments covered in Section 4.2. Figure 19 displays the software stack of the pattern
repository on the left and the software stack of the solution repository for costumes on the
right. Both stacks are based on Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP (LAMP), while the solution
analyzer component of the solution repository is additionally based on Microsoft Windows
Server. As mentioned above, PatternPedia is then based on MediaWiki and its semantic
extensions. Since capturing costumes requires a very detailed data structure as mentioned
in Section 4.2.2, separate front- and backends were developed by means of Angular.js10,
Twitter Bootstrap11 and Node.js12, to implement an optimized environment to document
costumes. While Angular.js is used to provide a convenient web-based user interface, the
backend is realized by Representational State Transfer (REST) web services implemented
in Node.js. Further, the solution analyzer is implemented on the Microsoft business intel-
ligence stack using Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Analysis Services. In the following
the user interfaces shown on top of the software stacks in Figure 19 are covered in detail.
Figure 19 - Software Stack of PatternPedia and the costume repository
5.1. Pattern Browser and Pattern Search

PatternPedia visualizes pattern documents as wiki articles. The pattern name, intent, icon,
and driving question are visualized similar to the book Fehling et al. (2014) to increase ac-
cessibility of the content. In the left of Figure 20, the categorization of the cloud computing
patterns can be seen. The reference box on the upper right part is automatically generated
from references contained in the textual elements of the pattern sections. Any typed refe-
rences to other pattern documents are shown here, grouped by their type to enable quick
navigation among patterns. Searching is currently based on the standard full text search
10 https://angularjs.org
11 http://getbootstrap.com
12 http://nodejs.org/
300
functionality provided by MediaWiki. In Fürst (2013) additional functionality has been de-
scribed to support the search of patterns based on questionnaires and pattern references.
This functionality will be integrated into the PatternPedia tool chain in the future.
Figure 20 - Screenshot of the Public Cloud Pattern in PatternPedia
5.2. Pattern Input

Above the reference box seen in Figure 20, a link can be followed to edit a pattern do-
cument using a pattern format-specific input form. This form is shown in Figure 21. It is
comprised of input fields according to the pattern format that has been specified using the
pattern metamodel. References to other patterns can be added anywhere in the textual
elements of these form fields.
Figure 21 - Editing the Public Cloud Pattern
301
5.3. Pattern Referencer

The pattern references box in the pattern browser is generated based on the typed re-
ferences among patterns, but other graphical visualizations may also be used. Figure 22
shows an interactive graph of the references among cloud computing patterns of the cloud
fundamentals category. Pattern names are arranged in a circle with links among them as
seen on the left of the figure. Whenever a user hovers one of these pattern names with the
cursor, all incoming and outgoing references to and from this pattern are highlighted for
easier navigation.
Figure 22 - References of Patterns in the Cloud Fundamentals Category – without highlighting

(left) and highlighted incoming and outgoing references of the “Infrastructure as a Service pat-
tern” (right)
5.4. Costume Browser and Costume Input

The solution repository displays costumes in a custom-developed user interface. Its imple-
mented using Angular.js and is provided by a web server as a single site web application.
The website is delivered at the first request just one time from the web server to the brows-
er and interacts afterwards only by asynchronous calls to the REST backend in order to load,
manipulate or delete data. The display logic is handled by Angular.js in the local browser,
thus, the web server is not responsible for rendering web sites dynamically.
The current entry point of the repository is a list of films of all captured costumes. A user
can navigate from a film to the roles that fall under the film. Based on the roles of a film, he
or she can navigate to the costumes associated with the roles. Therefore, in order to enter
a costume to the solution repository, the corresponding film and role has to be entered
initially.
302
Angular.js is used in combination with the CSS framework Twitter Bootstrap to support
fast interactions with the data pool, while all control elements of the web site are especially
tailored to the entry process of new costumes. This is due to the time-consuming effort
necessary to capture costumes because of the input of many properties. Therefore, the
web front end of the solution repository is optimized to allow user inputs to be as efficient
as possible. This shows up in several specific implementations of control elements of the
user interface, e.g., a special tree selector that allows browsing the taxonomies of valid
values for properties. It is provided for cases when a user does not feel certain which of the
values of a taxonomy to key in. In this case the user can expand the several branches of a
taxonomy in order to navigate to the desired entry. The control element combines this with
search functionality that enables to directly enter values, if the user already knows them.
Further, it is often the case that multiple values have to be entered for a property. Therefo-
re, special control elements enable many values for properties to be entered efficiently. All
this is shown by an excerpt of the view to display, input and edit a costume in Figure 23 by
the property character traits at the bottom.
Figure 23 - User Interface to Enter, View and Maintain a Costume
303
Further, the formally described composition of base elements in Barzen & Leymann (2014)
is supported by another control element depicted in Figure 24. A user can define the re-
lation between two base elements due to the selection of a subject base element and an
object base element and a specific operator that defines the semantic of the relation. By
clicking the blue “plus” button in the upper right corner, two base elements are composed
with specific semantics. So, the shirt of the high school queen depicted in Figure 13 could
be selected and connected with the bra using the worn above relationship.
Figure 24 - Control Element to Compose Base Elements
5.5. Costume Query

In order to derive patterns from concrete solutions, an equivalence function must be ap-
plied on the fundus of solutions to indicate the similarity of several solutions (Barzen & Ley-
mann, 2014). The extended metamodel for costumes enables users to compare different
solutions using assigned categorical properties. Thus, solutions can be investigated based
on their properties to find similarities. In a current project, we investigate how to apply me-
thods from data mining and analytics to implement the equivalence function for costumes.
The current approach is to use data cubes, which are multidimensional data structures, to
compare costumes. Each property of a costume is handled as a dimension of a data cube.
Since the values provided by the taxonomies are hierarchical, it is possible to implement
aggregation functions that allow analyzing the data pool from different aggregation levels
within a data cube.
For example, to analyze the colors of costumes of a specific genre, the properties color and
genre are the dimensions of a data cube. Selecting one specific genre removes all costumes
from the analysis that do not belong to a role of a film of that genre. So, the complete fundus
of costumes can be limited in order to analyze specific questions. Further, an aggregation
function can be defined that counts all occurrences of a color in costumes. Each hierarchy
304
level in the taxonomy is, therefore, an aggregation level within a data cube. For instance,
since all specific variants of blue are hierarchically beneath blue tones, the taxonomy of co-
lors enable the user to role up and drill down along its branches as illustrated in Figure 25.
There, only the results for the genre high school comedy are shown due to a filter applied
to the genres property. Further, a list of films and costumes for those films is indicated on
the left. The dimension of colors is drilled down to the most detailed level for the blue tones
(rectangle one), while yellow and red tones are not expanded (rectangle two). Therefore,
the number of occurrences of the color blue in costumes is shown for every fine-grained
tone of blue, but is also summed up for all blue tones. Since yellow tones and red tones are
not expanded, only the values of the aggregation level of the respective tones are shown.
Figure 25 - Analysis of Costume Properties by Means of a Data Cube
This demonstrates that the aggregation function calculates the number of occurrences for
all hierarchical levels. The analysis is also supported by means of graphic representations of
the data, as also depicted by the bar chart in Figure 25 at the bottom area.
Thus, these analysis functionality combined with graphic representations of the results en-
able the user to analyze how often various colors are used in costumes of a specific film
genre and may lead to general statements about the colors of costumes for a genre.
If this approach is generalized to cover all properties of costumes, base elements, primiti-
ves, roles and films, it is possible to detect commonalities of costumes in order to abstract
the essence into patterns. Thus, data cubes can be used to create implementations of the
formally described equivalence function in Barzen & Leymann (2014).
305
6. Summary and Outlook

In this article, we introduced PatternPedia as a tool chain to support the capturing of exis-
ting solutions as well as the identification and authoring of patterns. An extensible pattern
metamodel was used to describe the data structure supported by this tool chain to capture
solutions, patterns and references among them. The tool chain was used in the domains of
cloud computing and costumes with respective metamodel extensions. As the extensions
for solution documents in the domain of costumes were very significant, a custom tool for
the capturing of costumes was presented.
In the future, the applicability of PatternPedia for the management of additional pattern
catalogs is planned. The functional overlap with other existing pattern repositories (see
Section 2) is currently being investigated and is aimed at the integration of complementary
functionality. In particular, rating and recommendation of patterns will be considered. Ano-
ther important functional aspect is the accessibility of managed patterns while the catalog
grows in size. In Fehling et al. (2012), Davidkov (2014) and Strauch, Andrikopoulos, Thomas,
Karastoyanova, Passow & Vukojevic-Haupt (2013) decision support methods and functiona-
lity are covered to find applicable patterns easily – for example using questionnaires. Such
functionality should be integrated with PatternPedia as well to help users find patterns
applicable in their use case more quickly. Additionally, analysis functionality for the costume
solution repository will be further developed in order to support abstraction and generaliz-
ation of concrete solution knowledge into patterns.
7. Acknowledgements
The work published in this article was (partially) funded by the Co.M.B. project of the Deut-
sche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under the promotional references SP 448/27-1, LE
2275/5-1.
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Image: Adam | www.flickr.com/photos/kristin-and-adam
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Performative
Pattern
Languages
and the
Improvisational
Field
Wolfgang Stark
Organizational Development Lab, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Wolfgang.Stark@uni-due.de
Based on the notion that contemporary organizations

and social systems have to deal with accelerated com-
plexity and growing uncertainties and ambiguities, this
paper tries to show the contradictive tension between
rational process thinking and the improvisational field
in our world. It offers a path to developing tools for
dealing with complexity and using the strength and the
art of improvisation by developing a Performative Pat-
tern Language (PPL). The PPL is based on improvisation
theory and aims to allow people to use tacit knowledge
in social systems to increase their flexibility, creativity
and performance in settings of uncertainty and ambi-
guity. These kinds of settings provide the culture where
innovative approaches emerge.
This paper is the next step in “Means for Making” written by Schümmer, Haake & Stark (2014) and
submitted for EuroPlop 2014. Many of the insights of this paper are results of extensive discus-
sions with Till Schümmer and Jörg Haake, Department for Mathematics and Computer Science,
FernUniversität Hagen, Germany.
Parts of this paper are an extended version of a chapter by Wolfgang Stark and Christopher Dell:
Tuning into Organziational Innovation: Music as a Metaphor for Improvisational Fields in Orga-
nisations – published in „Grossmann, R; Mayer, K.; Lenglacher, M. & Scala, K. (2012): Learning for
the Future in Management and Organizations, Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC, USA“
and is based on two keynote papers given in Vienna, Austria at MOT-Conference 2010 and at the
PUARL-Conference 2011 Portland, Oregon.
People in organisations and social systems can act and create new solutions either by ana-
lysis and planning, by intuition or by improvisation. However, the vast majority of organizati-
onal learning and innovation accepted today still seems to follow one type of procedure: ra-
tional planning based upon analysis. For most of last century, and still today, organisational
theory and innovation management is based on this rational cognitive mode. Management
and engineering are focused upon numbers, influenced by rational industrial thinking, and
characterized by measurement and focus on accountability. In the last 20 years, this rather
one-sided approach has also been adopted by society at large and professional communi-
ties alike, and has infected our everyday way of thinking.
Because of this, even patterns and pattern languages, as they try to detect the knowledge
implicit in social systems, are mostly based on a rational world view – as if everything (in-
cluding organisations, social systems, and relationships) could be designed exclusively by
following a rational plan. Especially for pattern languages which aim at social and institutio-
nal change, a rational cognitive approach can lead to dangerous over-simplifications which
suggest that complex problems of interaction can be solved by simple recipes written in a
pattern format. As has been argued previously (Schümmer et al. 2014), patterns that are
initially intended as a practical “means for making” can be misunderstood as prescriptive
rules that limit our perception of reality and thus also limit our capability of envisioning a
future that goes beyond the habits which are encoded in the patterns.
Rational thinking and rational design patterns are based on the assumption that technical
and social challenges can be overcome by an objective, step-by-step, rational approach.
Although many social scientists, as well as many practitioners, know that this approach cap-
tures only a small part of the processes and dynamics existant in both social systems and
312
Performative Pattern Languages and the Improvisational Field
organizations, it seems to work well for traditional organizations (both profit and non-profit)
that are based on the hierarchical model of top-down decision-making and planning. Ne-
vertheless, modern network-type social systems must encourage soft factors like commu-
nity-building and organizational culture in order to survive in their complex and constantly
changing organizational environment. Even organizational systems which rely heavily on
“rational” key performance indicators (KPI) based on numbers end up discovering the value
of “soft” cultural organizational processes when they are confronted with unexpected dyna-
mics or find that they must use creativity to build corporate cultures of trust and innovation.
A phenomenon that exists today and is likely to be even more the case in the future is that
complex social systems like companies, non-profits, political and informal communities are
very often not determined by clearly defined goals and strategies. Most web-based social
networks (including facebook, vimeo, cool ideas society, seats2meet, intrinsify.me and many
others)1 and many web-oriented companies use the idea of serendipity2 – that is, they use
opportunities that emerge from non-planned networking. Gradually we (re)discover that
more and more settings in which we live and work are governed by unkown situations
and ill-defined factors. The ability to be creative, to design innovative environments and to
improvise in an ostensibly rational and structured situation may be key factors for survival
in a world that is in reality unpredictable and subject to serendipity. Although non-linear
and non-deterministic factors should not be ignored in a world of constant change (Looss
2002), they usually are not addressed by a rational approach, and thus are also neglected
in engineering and the (social) sciences. Indeed, the dynamic process of organizing (Weick
1989) is bound to a culture of numbers, results and rationality. The complex network of re-
lations is neither seen nor tackled, since practice and perception are both oriented toward
attaining goals, maintain control, and setting strategies. More problematically, designers,
decision makers, and practitioners typically lack a language to describe their “tacit knowled-
ge” (Polanyi 1966) (including both: restrictions, fears and opportunities, wisdom) in this land
of uncertainty.
1. Tacit Knowing and the Improvisational Field

The economy of production and organisational technology unfolds in a texture of coopera-
tion of diverse models of partnership – from (a) the small cooperative cell (the team) within
an organisation or company, (b) to the organisational design of a company or non-profit-or-
ganisation as an entity in itself with explicit structures and implicit knowledge, to (c) the stra-
1 Although facebook and vimeo seem to be well known and linked, smaller and more specialized social networks need links to be seen:
http://coolideassociety.com, https://www.seats2meet.com, http://intrinsify.me.
2 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serendipity
313
tegic alliance between different types of organisations and stakeholders. These different
relations share a common challenge: they all are driven inherently by implicit and „tacit“
knowing, and, quite often, emotionally-based decision-making and processes. In contrast,
especially in organizational settings, most processes are determined by rational planning
which does not grasp the hidden power and potentials of tacit knowing. Nevertheless, the
more complex a situation and setting gets, the more planning and rationality loose ground
in the process of organizing (Weick & Westley 1996). As shown in a previous paper (Schüm-
mer, Haake & Stark 2014), up to now in our “rational world” of buildings, business-statistics
and computer/machine-based processes, complexity has not led to the use of emergent
and creative processes based on the tacit knowledge of the many. Instead, decision-making
still pretends to be built on planned structures that are explicit and too often planned solely
using rationality, which try to reduce complexity to a level that is handleable using rational
thinking. This limits our ability to cope with the ambiguity and uncertainty that is built into
modern organizational dynamics.
In social systems such as like organizations or communities, the improvisational field is the
layer beneath planning and acting. It is built upon tacit knowing and experiential wisdom.
Dorothy Leonard (Leonard & Swap 2005), who analyzed this phenomenon calls it “deep
smarts”. She writes that deep smarts (i.e. tacit knowing) and the rational field of structures
and numbers cannot be separated; instead, they need to rely on each other. Therefore,
improvisation and its performative patterns do not replace the rational, cognitive mode: just
as the muscle system in the body is needed for and skeleton to move, to balance and to be
alert, the improvisational field and performative patterns are needed to balance structures
and rules, as well as ambiguities in each situation new to routine and to be alert to innova-
tions and creative oppunities.
To detect the language of tacit knowing we must experiment with new sensorial channels:
for instance, if we could “hear” the dynamic processes of organizations, the communicative
sensorium in the workplace could be expanded to a new and deeper level which would
allow us access both aesthetic and emotional dimensions of processes. Music, as a perfor-
ming art3, can be one key to the “deep level of organizing and innovative processes” which
can be used as a reflective tool for both managers and employees but also for people in
communities to start a dynamic and creative process of learning for social systems and
individuals. To “imagine community processes as a piece of music” opens up social and
organizational systems which are often stuck in strategic plans and work-flows, and helps
them to creatively re-design the system.
3 Of course, also other types of performance such as art, dance and theater, as well as modern, performative ways of painting, could be helpful
in detecting the potentials of tacit knowledge beyond rational planning (Forsythe 2003). Based on our research at www.micc-project.org, we
focus in this paper on music as not only as a metaphor, but also as an analytical tool.
314
Here, a special form of musical production is necessary in order to foster learning proces-
ses in complex and constantly changing settings, which call for the ability for continious
sense-making and serendipity (Weick & Westley 1996): the technology of improvisation
has already inspired organizational theory as a metaphor (Weick 1995, Hatch 1999, Barrett
1998); improvisational patterns will be even more important for organizational processes
and social systems, if we look at music not only as something that can be received or in-
terpreted, but also as a tool for sense-making. Improvisation then will open up the ability
not only to cope with unknown potentials and uncertain processes, but also to redesign
patterns and mininal structures in a creative way (Dell 2012; Stark 2014).
This is true not only for music using arts of improvisation such as Jazz, but has also been
admired in many pieces of Johann Sebastian Bach, or in the base-lines of Indian music (Kurt
& Näumann 2008). It also is common ground for many forms of performative contempo-
rary art such as theater, dance or performing art itself (Johnstone 1987; Forsythe 2003;
Fischer-Lichte 2012). In everyday-life, we discover the art of improvisation in many sports
activities like modern soccer, sailing, and skiing. One can therefore assume that whenever
human creativity and playfulness are triggered, the art of improvisation is one of the keys to
joy and self-awareness and furthermore develops skills to cope with ambiguity and uncer-
tainty. Thus, the inventive production of improvisation becomes a norm in itself: challenge
and possibility.
Coping with unpredictable processes also is an everyday challenge in organisations and

communities. In addition to codified rational procedures, members of social systems usual-
ly will develop a set of tacit procedures which prove to be viable (Glasersfeld 1992). Similar
to improvisation in jazz music, where musicians interact on the basis of well-known explicit
and implicit “jazz patterns” (Coker et al. 1970), this kind of process can be viewed as cont-
inuously re-designing and re-arranging implicit and explicit procedural patterns based on
experiential (implicit) knowledge: they interact based on already known patterns, and they
also refer to other, already existing or traditional patterns, and by re-designing and re-ar-
ranging they also create a constant flow of new patterns which are added to their body of
experiential knowledge (Barrett 1998).
2. Improvisation: Managing the Unexpected

Research on a technology of improvisation, while using knowledge from the performing
arts (especially jazz and contemporary “new” music, but also modern forms of theatre and
dance), develops practical tools for innovation processes in organisations and social sys-
315
tems. Testing and researching it opens up new models of improvisation. While taking into
account that improvisation practice enables us to navigate through new social spaces which
are characterised by new dimensions of abrupt change, uncertainty and insecurity, the or-
ganization then becomes a transitional place, choreographed by a huge, complex variety of
rhythms in which we navigate and perform at the same time.
Originally, the term improvisation was used to describe an approach to repairing a thing or
a situation, a way to correct it in a sloppy way when the original plan was failing. Although
improvisation also was inherently associated with high flexibility and mobility, it was only
ever meant to be temporary in its use. Now the situation seems to shift: complex social spa-
ce like modern “fractal” or “fluid” organizations or networks take on the qualities of perma-
nent improvisation. The lifestyle of transition and transformation becomes one of the key
features of everyday life. Therefore, organizational patterns also, originally being exemplars
of linear planning, decision-making and evaluation, must adapt to a situation of complexity
and awareness and towards the art (or technology) of improvisation.
Improvisation etymologically descends from the Latin „improvisus“, which means unfore-
seen, unexpected. The term improvisation belongs to the realm of what-is-not-yet (Dell
2002, 2012). Thus, improvisation cannot be described in itself, but rather can be localized
as a continuous readiness and an ability to act-in-an-instant (Scharmer 2009). Everything
else will come out of the situation and its processes. Field, network, and variation principles
are the categories of action on fluid ground. Therefore, to improvise in situations of ambi-
guity, alertness and presence will become key features of any organisation or social system.
Improvisation positions itself as a technology that also takes into account commitment and
trust, self-confidence of actors and their interdependence, as well as autobiographic cha-
racteristics of the individual in a group process.
Schön (1983), in describing the “reflective practitioner”, refers to the challenge of jazz-mu-
sicians to use improvisation in order to create coherence in unpredictable situations: mu-
sicians – while collectively trying to develop a creative and inspiring new dynamic of sound
– use metric, melodic and harmonic patterns that they are all familiar with to shape the tune
or the sound. Musicians most of the time only intuitively grasp the idea of where the tune
is developing based on their performance: they will be able to pick up the new sense and
adapt their individual playing toward the new goal. Successful improvisations are not only
inspiring examples of “reflective practice”, says Donald Schön, but organisational improvisa-
tion can also be seen as the basis of a new praxis of organizing complex systems which are
innovative in nature (Johnson 2011).
316
Improvisation does not differentiate between thinking and acting, but intensifies the mo-
vement between the systems of the body (i.e., the systems/components of the organisati-
on). Improvisation therefore acts as a controlling system in the navigation between inter-
subjective openness and solipsistic moments of subjectivity. Then, intellectual work, social
experience and practical-intuitive competence converge – as do the difference between the
individual and the collective in social systems, and the difference between the past and the
future in time (Scharmer 2009).
3. Improvisational Learning
At first sight, improvisation works in a disorderly fashion and seems to be either unprofi-
table or ineffective. But this first impression also shows that the process works, because
the process triggers those questions that it wants to trigger. In other words: improvisation
works because it contains difference, gaps, looseness, and intermediate spaces, which are
available for the active interpretative work of the recipients, thus helping to qualify their ex-
perience (Hatch 1999). In an improvisational process, the actors develop those sensors that
they need in order to grasp directly the ambivalence of a situation, to interpret it, and make
it usable. Cunha (2005) says: “In the improvisational mode, people act in order to learn.”
Improvisation thus can be described as a technique which allows its practitioner to integra-
te serendipity as a learning process and involves proactive learning. Rational analysis is not
excluded, rather the opposite: the performative aspect of learning is put into focus. Analysis
in the context of improvisation concentrates on the re-arrangement and re-interpretation
of material that is gathered through the improvisational process in such a way that it is
connectable to new processes in time. The analytic work then relies on qualified experience
and the development of complexity-sensors that should lead to a transformation of atti-
tudes and thus enable ecological change. But in order to do this, the improviser needs to
develop the abilities needed to recognize change, allow it and help design it.
According to Mintzberg and Westley (2001), people in organisations and social systems can
learn by using analysis, intuition or improvisation. Analysis is a structured process that may
or may not lead to surprising findings. The analytical mode proceeds from the assumption
that an ontological basis is externalized from existing situations. The intuitive mode derives
its learning results from establishing connections that were not previously proposed. The
improvisational mode is structured very differently: people not only act in order to learn,
but they also try to incorporate analytical frameworks into action which itself then becomes
a learning laboratory for the “reflective practitioner” (Schön 1983). Graebner (2008) showed
317
that an important source for creating value is a mode of serendipity4 that is caused by expo-
sure to different practices.
Our research practice aims exactly at this mode of serendipity. It aims to trigger its process
and to use the fact that the different practices offer different forms of surprise. In this way
we try to apply what we analyze to our own process. The only way to do this is to include
improvisation in the experimentation and research process itself and to make that visible.
Improvisation is the mode of action that ensures the independence of the structures it
contains as value and precisely in this way maintains the content of design while keeping
the process open. That implies that those who practice improvisation also practice reco-
gnizing patterns that others overlook, and that they use patterns pragmatically, subtly, or
even ‘trendily’ – as a layer beneath rational planning and design patterns. From this, one
important factor emerges: the fact that improvisation does not, as often is expected, need
less time and planning. The opposite is the case: a constructive handling of disorder as
a cooperative transgression of the plan is potentially more difficult, needs more time for
preparation and follow-up. To be too open in the process can also weaken the process and
rob it of direction. Therefore improvisation requires high concentration on coordinating
activities and interactions.
Improvisation often is avoided because there is no time available for interpreting ambi-
valent data Why is it worthwhile to invest time in improvisation, i.e., active interpretation?
Because those who take the time to reflect on situations and their potentials and try to
integrate these reflections into open processes of action, are able to accept ambivalence,
thus expanding their scope of activity and their effective degree of freedom. Why? Because
they are able to recognize when ambivalence is functional and when it is dysfunctional.
Here both can be functional on a situation’s meta-level. If one´s improvisational abilities
are expanding, the ability to process ambivalence in a given time frame rises because an
ongoing practice of improvisation may enable a person to recognize and play on global time
horizons as well as macro-rhythms.
4 „Serendipity“ means a „fortunate happenstance“ or „pleasant surprise“. It was coined by Horace Walpole in 1754. In a letter he wrote to a
friend Walpole explained an unexpected discovery he had made by reference to a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip. The princes,
he told his correspondent, were “always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”. The notion of
serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of scientific innovation such as Alexander Fleming‘s accidental discovery of penicillin
in 1928 and the invention of the microwave oven by Percy Spencer in 1945. (...) Ikujiro Nonaka[5] points out that the serendipitous quality of
innovation is highly recognized by managers and links the success of Japanese enterprises to their ability to create knowledge not by processing
information but rather by „tapping the tacit and often highly subjective insights, intuitions, and hunches of individual employees and making
those insights available for testing and use by the company as a whole“. (...) Serendipity is used as a sociological method in Anselm L. Strauss‘
and Barney G. Glaser‘s Grounded Theory, building on ideas by sociologist Robert K. Merton, who in Social Theory and Social Structure (1949)
referred to the „serendipity pattern“ as the fairly common experience of observing an unanticipated, anomalous and strategic datum which
becomes the occasion for developing a new theory or for extending an existing theory (Wikipedia-Entrance: Serendipity, 1.11.2014)
318
4. Improvisation Technology in Organizations and

Social Systems: the Improvisation Lab
In organizations, patterns of tacit knowing can be used as procedures to cope with as-yet
unknown challenges in a creative way in order to find new solutions to given problems. Op-
posite to instruction manuals or user´s guides, performative patterns define the principles
that define the solutions that can be adapted to various settings and situations.
Going beyond traditional social science methods such as interviews and participant obser-
vation, we elaborate two specific methods in order to detect improvisational patterns in
organizations: in a first step, the Musical Learning Journey develops a format of a “conver-
sational performance” or “performance lecture”, in which a Jazz Combo, working as part of
the project group, tries to grasp the artefacts and basic values of the organizational culture
in question and to render it as a musical performance as a basis for a cultural discourse
about it. This activity serves to open peoples´ minds and organizational cultures to musical
thought as an alternative way of organizing ones understanding.
In a second step, the members of the social system in question (the community, organiza-
tion, etc.) develops a diagrammatical musical notation (score) which is also found in con-
temporary music in the Classical music tradition (sometimes known as “New Music”): the
scores consists of a graphic notation which comes to life through its performance instead
of through the interpretation of a given piece of music. In the process of the performance,
the sound emerges in a creative, rather than an interpretive act.
Thus, non-representational notational (diagrammatic) scores found in contemporary music

focus on the relationship between design, recording, repetition, interpretation, reproducti-
on and improvisation.
The goal here is to detect and analyze patterns of intra- and inter-organizational relations
and communication processes based on organizational studies and analysis. Organizational
Scores attempt to use artistic processes and methods of communication to describe and
understand temporal and occupational relationships in organizations. In artistic modes of
production, notations and diagrams function as working tools that alter the form of art
itself, as well as the way it is made and reflected. Organizational Scores use the language of
diagrams which has been invented for the notation of Contemporary Classical Music. There,
a diagrammatic notation presents the ideas of the composers and also gives plenty of space
for interpretation of the musician in a performance.
For organizational scores, employees and managers are asked to sketch their idea of their
319
work as if it would be a piece of music. Doing this, we ask for the hidden blueprint of their
work existing in their minds and bodies based on their individual experience. Based on this
peculiar picture of the tacit knowing of their work, we identify the patterns and principles
why they believe their work is successful. By revealing their tacit knowing we enable both
employees and managers to redesign their work and to elaborate on the art of improvisa-
tion in organizations.
Fig 1: Organizational Score as a musical script of a work-in-progress
The analysis of improvisational (performative) patterns in organizations is based on C. Al-

exanders (1977) concept of “a pattern language“ and its transformational use in organiza-
tional contexts (Keidel 1995, Manns & Rising 2005) and social systems (Schuler 2008). Ac-
cording to this concept, patterns of values and principles of organizational cultures unfold
and change over time and function as flexible forms of (implicit) tacit problem solving which
have proved to be viable and succesful in practice.
Therefore, patterns both represent and create sets of relationships which prove to be viable
for defined challenges, but, based on the forces they display, also create new patterns and
relationsships when they are performed. Keidel (1995) analyzed the fundamental forces
which have an impact in organisations and determine the types of relationships that occur
within their social systems and discovered three of them: “autonomy” describes the phen-
omenon of individuals and groups acting and deciding in a self-determined manner, while
“control” represents the wishes of organisations and individuals to reach their separate and
common goals and to balance individual interests and motivations. Finally, “cooperation”
describes the integrative power of community and the necessity to collaborate in order to
be innovative. Keidel therefore proposes a triadic view of challenges in organisations and
social systems instead of the very commonly held dualistic one.
Improvisational patterns therefore exhibit the built-in dynamics of repetitive principles and
solutions combined with extreme variability and complex time frames which we also find
in fractals.
320
Fig. 2: Mandelbrot set Fractal Picture and the „Serpinski-Triangle“ as an example

for repetitive creative systems
Organizational and community innovation today is based on improvisation which works by

asking how and when patterns can create new dynamics and new sets of patterns which
themselves create new unexpected combination of patterns as part of their performance
process.
5. Improvisation in Mode 2: a Tool to Perform

Implicit Knowledge to support Innovative Social
Systems
Improvisation follows Latour’s (2005) dictum that we cannot externalize. A research process
is not a space where we determine what is already there, but rather a space that is perme-
ated by possibilities. It is a field of possibilities yet to be discovered. In traditional research
settings we pretend that the epistemological space that we analyse is an objective spatial
structure which is only ruptured when something “goes wrong”. Then we “fix the situation“
and everything continues like expected according to the plan. This way of problem-solving
in complex situations might be called improvisation in mode 1. Here we improvise in the
sense that we react to perceived problems: we repair a percieved lack of order or a problem
in the process.
Our concern here, however, is to reveal the mode of production of current organizational
reality while performing, i.e. to view ourselves as performative organizational designers. Th-
erefore, Improvisation in mode 2 aims to transform learned practices, routines and existing
patterns into anticipatory concepts. As a permanent experiment and continuous navigatio-
nal exercise, which sometimes is more and sometimes less in crisis, improvisation in mode
2 tries to transgress planning as a transversal process. This notion of improvisation (mode
2) creates space and opportunities.
321
Improvisation in this sense is a methodology in the spirit of the word “techne” (craftsmans-
hip). Just like many forms of art, it cannot be standardised. In this sense, an improvisational
technology is a social technology that helps to organize opportunities. But, simultaneously,
it also serves to help us percieve reality. It is an ontology of transformation, which shifts our
focus while organizing from the object to the relationship and from the relationship to the
process. Technology becomes improvisation because on the one hand it generates infor-
mation from its procedures (in turn providing future orientation for the actors involved) and
on the other hand opens up the space for new procedural opportunities.
Today, “production is immediately consumption and recording process (Enregistrement), wi-

thout mediation. The recording process and consumption accord directly with production,
although they do so within the production process itself. Hence everything is production.”
(Deleuze & Guattari 2009). Revealed patterns in the process of improvisation only make
sense when shown in their dynamic process, for they are either representations or the
bearers of relationships of people (Weick 1987). The diagrams of organization, or organiz-
ational scores, are not directly representative. Rather, they are earers of relationships and
distributors of agents. In this respect, the interdisciplinary set-up of research we use is not
to interpret the organization or community as music, but is rather an excercise to introduce
musical (artistic) thought5 into the analysis of the organization-as-performative process.
6. Performative Pattern Language: Linking Logical

Reasoning and Creativity to produce an Impro-
visation Technology in Organizations
If we want to use the patterns and the wisdom they embody as basic elements of com-
plexity and tacit knowing, we need to develop the ability to cope creatively with ambiguity.
We propose that this ability can be supported by a PERFORMATIVE PATTERN LANGUAGE.
Performative Patterns will need to go beyond the current trend of design patterns, which
considers patterns as rational constructs built on pure reason (discussed in more detail in
Schümmer et al., 2014). The ability to be creative and to design innovative environments
and the art of improvisation in an “only assumed” rational and structured situation may be
a key-factor for survival in a world of unpredictability and serendipity. Patterns of creative
action need to interact with rational patterns in order to unleash the potential in their com-
bination. Therefore, identifying patterns of implicit procedures (performative - or improvi-
sational patterns) such as those in music is important to understanding and to managing
5 „thought“ in this sense is not to be reduced to a strict cognitive process, but to a conceptual embodiment (Forsythe 2003)
322
codified and documented procedures. This is what we call the “Improvisational Field” in or-
ganisations and social systems. It is a level of action where experience and intuition create
emerging structures and movements run in parallel to rational thinking. It may be just as
important for social systems as it is for the human body to carry out coordinated contrac-
tions and extensions of muscles (PERFORMATIVE PATTERNS) in order to move the skeleton
(RATIONAL PATTERNS). PERFORMATIVE PATTERNS create a PERFORMATIVE PATTERN LAN-
GUAGE because they create new situations and results out of a situation – omitting ratio-
nal planning procedures before acting. PERFORMATIVE PATTERNS constitute the emerging
praxis of communities and organisations. They are their built-in procedural knowledge. They
are characterized by recursive procedures, viability, performance, and their ability to be
re-combined and re-designed creatively and adaptively within given settings. This is what
improvisation in music, theatre, dance, and even the world of sports can teach us.
In organisations, PERFORMATIVE PATTERNS can be used as procedures to cope with yet

unknown challenges in a creative way and find new solutions to given problems. Opposite
to instruction manuals and user´s guides, they define the principles of solutions that can
be adapted to a wide variety of settings and situations.
The analysis of performative patterns in organisations, although based on C. Alexander’s

(1977) concept of “A Pattern Language”, develops a transformational use of patterns in
organisational contexts (Keidel 1995, Manns & Rising 2005) and social systems (Schuler
2008). According to this concept, patterns unfold and change within the values and princi-
ples of organisational cultures as flexible forms of (implicit) tacit problem solving which are
proven to be viable and successful in practice. It has much in common with the concept
of unfolding wholeness, as it was presented in Alexander’s more recent works (Alexander
2004; Alexander et al. 2013). Starting from a perceived “minor non-homogeneity in space“
(Alexander et al, 2013, p. 430), i.e., a focal point for a new centre, the space is improved by
“wholeness-extending transformations” (ibid, p. 428) in order to unfold a new structure trig-
gered by the initial centre. “Morphogenesis then occurs by the repeated application of the
fifteen transformations on the centers in a configuration” (ibid, p. 430).
A Performative Pattern Language needs to support and creatively play with at least three
types of transformations: (1) BASIC ACTION PATTERNS which enable people to act-in-an-
instant which can be continuously and creatively recombined or in some cases even re-
designed in order to develop new processes and results; (2) SYNCHRONISATION PATTERNS
which orchestrate different “moves and sounds” and develop the “groove” of an organisa-
tion or social system, and (3) REFLECTION PATTERNS which allow people to continuously
evaluate the effects of their current actions and the current degree of wholeness of the
organization.
323
Improvisation paves the way from a technology-related world-view toward a view of organiz-
ations as social systems.6 Instead of considering patterns as rules for design, we should con-
sider them as mediators between two different views of design (problem-solving (rational)
and performative). This requires patterns to respond both to their dynamic relationships
with one another and with the self of the pattern author. Patterns should have both value
(dynamic force) (which enables to relate to other patterns) and a subjective component
where the pattern author talks about the feelings/values that they create for her or himself.
Therefore, in order to create a PERFORMATIVE PATTERN LANGUAGE, we should analyze the

cultural assumptions underlying a pattern and/or a pattern language. Questions such as
the following should be answered by the pattern author and should extend the traditional
way of writing patterns: “Does the pattern author aim at increased efficiency in the design?
What does efficiency mean for the author? How does the author define the balance bet-
ween forces? More questions such as those articulated by Schümmer, Haake & Stark (2014)
hopefully will help pattern authors to better understand their positions as authors and lead
to patterns that are more strongly creative and performative.
If we were asked to formulate a research agenda for the design patterns field, we would
call for a revision of existing pattern literature: issues of creative design, cultural values, and
the author as a self must undergo a self-reflection process. For a pattern-oriented design
approach, we argue that patterns of rational design and patterns of creative performance
(PERFORMATIVE PATTERNS) should enter a dialogue throughout the design process. This
means that design activities for innovation would include creative performance as well as
rational construction, each intertwined in a continuous process of creation. Hypotheses ba-
sed on this concept cannot be tested in controlled experiments. Thus, case-based analysis
such as the one described in Alexander’s recent work (Alexander et al. 2013) seems to be
the only way to collect data on the impact of the proposed design process on design quality.
Patterns can be the key to understanding the principles of organisations and the deep le-
vels – “the unknown” - of complex modern organisational cultures. But patterns and pattern
languages in organisations today must go beyond the status quo and must enhance flexibi-
lity instead of stability. Further, they must support the creation and detection of new forms
of conversation and relationship (“serendipity” acc. to Cunha 2005). They should allow inter-
play between “move” and “structures”, i.e. moves as the creative unfoldings of strong cent-
res triggered by perceived tensions, and structures as the integrative order that connects
the different moves in a coherent whole.7 Therefore the built-in principles of patterns and
6 like formal organizations, enterprises or public institutions or less formal community of practice which are both based on social relationships
7 The distinction between moves and structures has been borrowed from two works in modern homiletic: Buttrick, David: Homiletic Moves and
Structures, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1987; Allan, Ronald: Patterns of Preaching. Christian Board of Pubn, 1998.
324
pattern languages (the „patterns of patterns“) must meet the double challenge of providing
continuity and variability which is analysed in non-linear systems (Brockman 1995).
This paper attempts to highlight the less obvious, rather hidden side of implicit or tacit kno-
wing in organisations and social systems, which prooves to be extremely important when it
comes to effective innovation and action. Based on the wisdom and technology of improvi-
sation in music and other artistic forms, we have discussed the first steps toward establis-
hing a performative pattern language which helps people to creatively employ patterns of
implicit knowing as a central part of innovation and learning in social systems.
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keit. Transcript: Bielefeld
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327
Planning
Living Lessons:
Christopher
Alexander’s
Fifteen
Structural
Properties of
Living Centers
in an
Educational
Context
328
Bauer, Reinhard
Department for Interdisciplinary Education, Center for Educational Technology and
Innovation, University of Teacher Education Vienna, Grenzackerstrasse 18, A-1100
Vienna, Austria
reinhard.bauer@phwien.ac.at
The purpose of this paper is to rethink lesson design using

Alexander’s theory of wholeness and centers. In his late
work, Alexander presented a set of fifteen fundamental
properties which, he claimed, appearing repeatedly in
living things or systems. The life of such a thing or system
depends upon the life of its component centers and their
density. In other words, the more of these fifteen proper-
ties a thing or system has, the more whole and alive it is.
Transferring this idea to education, in the present case,
and more specifically to the problem of lesson design, in-
itially requires a translation of these structural features
from the language of physical space into that of cognitive
space. An analysis of existing educational models of les-
son design shows that teachers need to make a variety of
planning decisions. However, these are not independent
decisions. Rather, they rely on and reinforce each other,
just as centers in the Alexandrian sense are strengthe-
ned by one another. This suggests that the concept of the
decision may illustrated how Alexander’s concept of the
center can be applied to cognitive space. The extent to
which a planning decisions contributes to the wholeness
of a lesson, finally determines its degree of life.
Education; Lesson Design; Wholeness; Living Centers;

Fifteen Fundamental Properties
329
1. Introduction
There are a significant number of different models for preparing lessons (cf. Kron, 2008;
Meyer, 2007; Peterßen, 2000; Terhart, 2009), each of which is founded on a different lear-
ning theory, and each favoring particular learning techniques and methods. When it comes
to planning and designing a coherent lesson, novice teachers frequently have difficulty cre-
ating concrete plans from these models. For teachers with little or no experience, these
models may seem too complex to be comprehensible. Bridging the gap between theory
and practice in the classroom is therefore of great importance. However, the issue is not
whether a model is good or bad, what the essential principles and elements for designing
a good and coherent lesson are. Experienced teachers tend to have planned and taught a
lot of lessons and therefore have individual lesson schemata or templates in mind on which
they map their planning decisions. By comparison, trainee and novice teachers do not have
these. Thus, they look for concrete concepts, for applicable guidelines and ready-made
templates or blueprints for their design tasks. But designing a lesson is not like cooking
from a recipe or following a route. Preparing and planning a good and coherent, in the spi-
rit of Alexander living, lesson remains a challenge for novice teachers. The key issues are:
what design principles might be important beyond the existing models for lesson design?
And what is the potential of their general applicability within the planning process? To ans-
wer these questions we need a new perspective, with special regard to the needs of novice
teachers and their problems. Leslie J. Waguespack (2010) attempts to translate Alexander’s
fifteen properties of physical design quality into the abstract domain of information systems
and modeling. This paper will explore the possibilities of translating them into the domain
of educational systems and lesson design.
Sections 2 through 4 below provide a general and a more comprehensive introduction to

the key elements of Alexander’s concept of life, wholeness, and centers. They provide a
better understanding the subsequent sections. Sections 5 through 8 will apply Alexander’s
concept to the educational context of planning living lessons and clarify its special value
with the aid of an example.
2. Alexander’s Concept of Life

Alexander’s use of the concept of “life” encompasses far more than our traditional biological
understanding of it. Life stands for a quality that can be found anywhere in space:
330
Planning Living Lessons: Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Structural Properties
of Living Centers in an Educational Context
life is not a limited mechanical concept which applies to self-reproducing biological ma-
chines. It is a quality which inheres in space itself, and applies to every brick, every stone,
every person, every physical structure of any kind at all, that appears in space. Every thing
has its life (Alexander, 2002, p. 28).
The phenomenon of life in physical space is a general perceptible state that appears in
different degrees in objects. In this sense, it is objective, not subjective. Unlike the scientific
perspective, Alexander’s concept of “alive” is not of “dead”, but rather is a quality that exists
on a scale between its two extremes:
What we call “life” is a general condition which exists, to some degree or other, in every
part of space [...] The key to this idea is that every part of space – every connected region
of space, small or large – has some degree of life, and that degree of life is well defined,
objectively existing, and measurable (ibid., p. 77).
Wordings such as “every physical structure” and “every connected region of space” indicate
that Alexander’s focus is no longer on individual objects but more on the relations between
them and the resulting whole. In other words: life evolves from structure and order.
3. Alexander’s Concept of Wholeness and Centers

Alexander tries to develop a language that allows us, on the one hand, to understand how
life evolves in buildings, i.e. objects physical space, and, on the other hand, to describe this
phenomenon. The outcome of this attempt is his theory of wholeness and centers, which
facilitates our understanding life as a structure:
In order to understand life as a phenomenon, it is necessary to define something which

I call “the wholeness” and also certain crucial entities which I call “centers”, the building
blocks of wholeness. [...] the wholeness as I define it, and the centers I shall define as the
building blocks of wholeness are, in my view, the indispensable tools needed to understand
life. With these definitions, we shall be able to see the way that life comes about the structu-
ral features which all life has [...], the nature of function and ornament [...] the groundwork
for our ability to understand life as a structure (ibid., p. 80).
3.1. Definition of „Wholeness“

Alexander proceeds on the assumption that the beauty of a building, its life, and its ability
to support life must be regarded as a whole. He proposes that we have to see a building “as
a part of an extended and undivided continuum” which “is not an isolated fragment in itself,
331
but part of the world”, and which “contains many wholes within it – also unbounded and
continuous in their connections” (ibid.). This makes clear “that the wholeness in any part of
space is the structure defined by all the various coherent entities that exist in that part of
space, and the way these entities are nested in and overlap each other” (ibid., p. 81).
Alexander demonstrates this basic idea of wholeness by considering a simple structure:

When placing a tiny dot on a blank sheet of paper, its wholeness, i.e. its gestalt, changes
dramatically (cf. Figure 1). Including the sheet of paper itself, twenty overlapping entities
emerge in the space of the paper. Even if their genuine characteristics do not appear clear-
ly, the entities achieve more visibility and intensity.
Figure 1: Illustration of the Changing Structure of a Sheet of Paper Introducing a Tiny Dot (Al-
exander, 2002, p. 82)
3.2. Definition of “Centers”

According to Alexander, the apparent paradox of the nature of wholeness lies in the fact
that wholeness is formed by parts which are themselves created by wholeness (cf. ibid.,
pp. 83 et seq.). These parts or local entities or wholes and sub-wholes are called “centers”.
Alexander uses the word center “to identify an organized zone of space” (ibid., p. 84). When
talking about a center, he basically always refers to the physical space: “Even when the
center is a social or cultural center, it is still ultimately spatial as well: it occurs in space,
and always has a spatial locus” (ibid.). However, this reference to social and cultural centers
leaves room for interpretation with regard to the notion of the “center”: in Alexander’s con-
ception, centers are synonymous with structural elements. Structural connections exist in
non-geometric spaces as well, including temporal, social, and content and thematic spaces
332
(cf. Bauer & Baumgartner, 2010, 2011). In a way that is analogous to the nature of centers in
geometric space, these entities are nested in and overlap each other. We therefore offer a
wider interpretation than that of Alexander, proposing that the concept of the center need
not apply only to spatial structures.
Alexander considers all coherent entities in the world to be centers, not wholes. This is
because wholes have more of a feeling of boundedness or separation, which may result in
less awareness of their actual or potential relationships. Thus, each center is not isolated
but is always connected to its environment. It is part of a larger center: “It is essential to note
that centers always become centers as a result of the configuration as a whole” (Alexander,
2002, p. 85, emphasis in original). The strength of any given center is not only created by its
internal shape, but is a result of many other factors such as its symmetry, connectedness,
boundaries, etc., and its function within the whole: “The sub-wholes – or centers – are in-
duced within the wholeness, and come from the wholeness. And because of this, the parts
are adapted and modified, in shape and size, by their position within the whole” (ibid., p. 87,
emphasis in original).
With this in mind, Alexander offers an impetus for a new way of looking at reality: The whole
is not created out of parts as elements of some kind, which implies that parts already exist
before the whole, but rather “[...] it is always the whole, the wholeness as a structure, which
comes first. Everything else follows from this wholeness, and from the centers and sub-cen-
ters which are induced within it” (ibid., p. 88).
4. The Secret of Living Structures

According to Alexander, life evolves, from wholeness, whose essence derives precisely from
the fact that it is neutral, i.e. that it simply exists:
At each place in the world [...] there is, at any instant, some given wholeness; that is, some
definite, well defined system of centers that creates the organization of that part of the wor-
ld. And wholeness always exists in some form, whether that place is good or bad, lifeless or
alive (Alexander, 2002, p. 106).
The basic structural elements of wholeness are centers, whose characteristics may be sum-
marized as follows:
1. Centers themselves have life.
2. Centers help one another: the existence and life of one center can intensify the life of
another.
333
3. Centers are made of centers (this is the only way of describing their composition).
4. A structure gets its life according to the intensity of centers which have been formed
in it. (Ibid., p. 110)
These four properties of centers reveal “the secret of living structures” (ibid.), and help us
understand how life evolves from wholeness: each center itself is more or less alive, its life
is intensified by other surrounding centers and smaller centers existing in it, respectively.
Thus. its degree of life increases with the strength and density of other centers.
This once again raises the question of whatever else might constitute a center. In this ques-
tion Alexander sees the key to the problem of order as well as the complex problem of living
structures.
When centers are made of other centers, then a single center can be defined only in re-
lation to the others. This close and reciprocal relationship between different centers is an
example of recursiveness: “The nature of [...] centers can [...] be understood only reflexively,
or recursively” (ibid., p. 116). In order to understand the idea of a center and its recursi-
veness Alexander suggests that a center should be considered as a field: “What makes a
center ‘centered’ is that it somehow functions as an organized field of forces in space. It has
a structure of centrality, it communicates centrality, it creates a spatial feeling of centrality”
(ibid., p. 119). This approach ultimately results in what he describes as “living structure”:
Each center is a field of other centers. By this definition, each of these centers must
then also be a field of centers. Thus a center is a field of centers, and within that field each
center is a field of yet other centers. There are no ultimate elementary components of the
field, except the centers themselves (ibid., pp. 120 et seq., emphasis in original).
To illustrate how centers can help to create life from wholeness, let us look at a photograph
from 2010, taken during a visit to a school in a small village in the Thar Desert of India (cf.
Figure 2).
The dominant center for the viewer of the photograph is a child sitting cross-legged on the
ground, listening to the explanations of his teacher while copying what is written on the
blackboard. The field effect of this center arises from other centers and sub-centers around
him. The arrows emanating from these centers refer to the contribution that they make to
intensify the life of the center “cross-legged child”. The strength of these centers varies, the
interaction of all the centers, however, results in a compact, complex structure, which is very
close to what Alexander calls “living structure”. Life evolves from centers, from the interacti-
on of living centers. But how do centers come to life?
334
In the opinion of Alexander, making living centers “depends on a certain limited number of
practical rules” which “control the ways that living centers can be made from other centers”
(ibid., p. 140). In a research process lasting about twenty years, he managed to identify fif-
teen structural properties that appear again and again in living things.
From my point of view, these structural properties may be transferred to education and
discussed with regard to their interpretation and applicability within the context of lesson
design.
Figure 2: Field of Forces of a Dominant Center Within a Photograph (Bauer, 2014, p. 225)
5. Making Living Lessons

The criteria in Alexander’s listing of the fifteen structural properties of living centers are
primarily based on architectural or spatial aspects. For instance, the position and distances
between one center and another is very important. Nevertheless, as stated above, Alexan-
der decidedly does not exclude the transfer of the fifteen properties to other fields: “[...] the
wholeness is not restricted to buildings or works of art, but is valid and essential even those
parts of the world we have historically believed to be mechanical in nature” (Alexander,
2002, p. 467). The transfer of these structural features to education, in the present case,
to the field of lesson design, initially requires their translation from physical into cognitive
space.
During their preparatory process teachers must act analytically and constructively, i.e. they
need to formally structure their up-coming lessons (cf. Peterßen, 2000, p. 361). They make
decisions with regard to teaching and learning objectives, educational content and me-
335
thods, working and learning interactions between learners and teachers, teaching and lear-
ning resources, and assessment of learning outcomes.
Against this background, the notion of the decision may serve as a way to translate Alexan-
der’s notion of the center into cognitive space.
The extent to which planning decisions contribute to the wholeness of a lesson determines
its degree of life. Put into concrete terms this means that teaching, in general, is a living
thing. The only difference between two lessons is their degree of life. Thus, when designing
lessons, teachers must pay particular attention to filling each phase of a lesson with life.
Structure and order are indispensable prerequisites for good and living lessons.
The transfer of the fifteen properties to the field of lesson design requires a generalizing
abstraction. Alexander’s concepts must be translated into the common terminology of
education. The educational concepts adapted this way can be assigned to a set of action
verbs that characterize and summarize the planning decisions made in designing the lesson
plan. The aim is to ensure that individual planning decisions (= centers) are not made in
isolation but always in interactive context with other decisions. The fifteen structural pro-
perties therefore support decision-making in lesson-planning, and the design process as a
whole provides an important contribution to the degree of life of any lesson.
Table 1 (cf. Appendix) gives an overview of the fifteen structural properties of living centers
applied to lesson design, the action verbs assigned to them, and a short description of each
planning principle.
6. Dependency Matrix of the Fifteen Properties

The fifteen structural properties of living centers cannot be considered independently:
They overlap. In many cases we need one of them to understand the definition of another
one. […] The more carefully we think about each property, and try to define it exactly, the
more we find out that each property is partly defined in terms of the other fifteen proper-
ties. Although the fifteen properties seem distinct at first, they are in fact intertwined and
interwoven (Alexander, 2002, p. 237).
Using a “dependency matrix” (Leitner, 2007, p. 60) we can see how Alexander’s properties
are related to each other. The fifteen properties are labeled in the rows to the left of the ma-
trix and in the columns above the matrix. If property A depends on property B or property
B is necessary for a complete understanding of property A, then this interaction is marked
with an X in cell AB.
336
All the interactions referred to in this matrix (cf. Table 2 in Appendix) apply accordingly
to lesson design, which means that if the structural properties are used as principles for
lesson design, it is clear that they are connected to other ones. For example, the property
“Stepwise Refinement” interrelates closely with “Coherence”, “Differentiation”, “Adaptation”,
and “Contrasting”. It is also apparent from the matrix that it is not necessary that all of the
fifteen properties are taken into account when planning a particular lesson. The different
properties have to be understood as suggestions for structuring a planning and design
process. It is not the individual properties themselves that are important, but rather their
interactions within the wholeness of a system, in this case, a lesson.
In the following section I will briefly describe and clarify the interactions of the fifteen pro-
perties taking “Stepwise Refinement” as an example.
7. “Stepwise Refinement as an Example of the In-

terplay Between Structural Properties A and B
Figure 3 shows “Stepwise Refinement” (= Prop. A) as one of the fifteen structural properties
of living centers and its interaction with four other properties (= Prop. B). The main action
verbs in this case are: divide, refine, structure, separate, connect, adapt, contrast and com-
pare. These verbs are an essential part of the description of the various properties. They are
meant to support teachers in their lesson planning or evaluation processes.
Figure 3: Example of the Interplay Between Structural Properties A and B
337
7.1. Stepwise Refinement: Divide and Refine

“Stepwise Refinement” is an expression taken from computer programming. It embraces
more or less the idea that we always have to understand the big picture before we can
implement all the necessary details. This principle can certainly be applied to the design of
teaching and learning processes.
The concept of the strong center in Alexander‘s definition of “Levels of Scale” is “[A] way
that a strong center is made stronger partly by smaller strong centers contained in it, and
partly by its larger strong centers which contain it” (Alexander, 2002, p. 239) . This may be
replaced by the decision regarding teaching and/or learning objectives. Detailed objectives
(goals or sub-goals for different phases of teaching) strengthen overall objectives (goals for
a whole lesson), and these in turn strengthen general objectives (curricular aims) and over-
all guiding principles as general educational goals. Each of these three levels of objectives
is a self-contained unit. It represents a center that only achieves its full strength through
the objectives at lower and higher levels. This should be considered for lesson planning.
However, it does not mean that lessons must always be planned strictly “top down”, i.e.
by deducing specific and general objectives at a lower level only from general educational
goals at a higher level. One of the basic conditions for formulating objectives is described in
the theory of didactic analysis (cf. Klafki, 1991).
Activities that are based on the principle of “Stepwise Refinement” can solve the problem
of excessive workload. A good example for this is Bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains,
which classifies cognitive learning objectives according to their degree of complexity and
distinguishes between the following processes:
»» Remembering
»» Understanding
»» Applying
»» •Analyzing
»» Evaluating
»» Creating
Transferred to a concrete planning process, for example the design of a lesson in the field
of foreign language education, this means that the process of creating (e.g. the production
of a text in a foreign language) is only possible and will only be successful if the students
338
can build on their prior knowledge. They must be able to understand, to analyze and to
evaluate the components of a text before they can produce a text of their own. Skipping
fundamental processes according to Bloom’s taxonomy by, for example, starting at the final
stage (in this case the production of one’s own text) is counterproductive: the students will
not reach the intended objective and will end up feeling irritated and will be unable to cope
with the task.
7.2. Coherence: Structure

In the context of lesson design, coherence means that teachers have to make their deci-
sions in a logical, coherent, and comprehensible way. This relates to the content-related,
temporal and spatial dimensions of any lesson in question.
Lipowsky (2007) defines coherence as the degree to which all the individual aspects of an
entity are linked to form a comprehensible whole. Alexander’s theory of strong centers,
implies that teachers should consider various aspects at the same time:
»» content-related aspects: what needs to be learned for which purpose?
»» temporal aspects: when should it be learned?
»» spatial aspects: where should it be learned?
»» social aspects: who needs to learn with whom, how and by what means?
Each of these decisions corresponds to a strong center which at once depends on other
decisions and supports them.
The complex interplay between decisions that a teacher has to make may be illustrated by
using the exercises of Wikipedia in class. Teachers have to consider questions such as: why
should students work with Wikipedia in the first place? What should the learning outcomes
be? How much time should be available for the work? What will be possible within this
timeframe? Do all the students have access to computers and the internet at school or at
home? Will the students work in teams? And so on. None of these decisions can be made in
isolation and all of them are dependent on one another.
7.3. Differentiation: Separate and Connect

When teachers present content, they usually make decisions concerning the individual ta-
lents, abilities and interests of their learners. In this sense, differentiation or, more precisely,
inner differentiation, addresses the special needs and skills of a student. Thus educational
content, process and product are adapted to each student’s readiness, interest, and lear-
ning profile.
339
According to Alexander, boundaries fulfill two functions: on the one hand a boundary in-
creases the strength of a center within it, i.e. it intensifies its wholeness. On the other hand,
it also connects this wholeness with its environment, with its surrounding centers. Thus, dif-
ferentiated instruction not only refers to “inner” differentiation but “outward” differentiation
as well: advanced and less advanced learners may take different routes according to their
skills and interests, but working together cooperatively their learning outcomes contribute
to the overall result.
On the micro level of the lesson, the jigsaw technique is a good example of differentiation:
students are divided into small “jigsaw” groups that work on different parts of a given task
or problem. Each individual student group is responsible for a certain subtask. After the
preparation phase, learners are reorganized into “expert” groups containing one member
from each jigsaw group, working together to solve the task or problem together. Later they
return to their “jigsaw” groups to share their findings. In this way, the learning outcomes of
the expert groups are quickly disseminated throughout the class. At the same time, each
student takes responsibility for sharing one piece of the puzzle.
7.4. Adaptation: Adapt

Adapting the teaching and learning processes to individual talents, abilities and special inte-
rests of learners facilitates a good, coherent and living lesson. As Alexander writes:
It is easiest to understand good shape as a recursive rule. The recursive rule says that the
elements of any good shape are always good shapes themselves. Or, we may say this once
again in terms of centers. A good shape is a center which is made up of powerful intense
centers, which have good shapes themselves (Alexander, 2002, p. 179 s.).
In the field of lesson design, teachers make all their decisions with regard to their target
group and are aware that all their decisions must correspond to their overall objective. This
can best be illustrated using the example of the “exercise”.
An exercise is “good” when learners can actually practice what they have learned. In com-
parison, an exercise is “bad“ if learners have no chance or time to practice. If the teacher
has not accordingly prepared an exercise for the students, then it is difficult for them to un-
derstand the instruction and they will consequently waste time on trying to understand the
task that could have been spent practicing. Therefore, teachers should work to ensure that
exercises are neither too difficult nor too easy for their learners. An exercise only supports
learning if it is precisely tailored to the skills of the learners.
340
7.5. Contrasting: Contrast and Compare

About the property “Contrast” Alexander states:
Life cannot occur without differentiation. Unity can only be created from distinctness. This
means, that every center is made from discernible opposites, and intensified when the
not-center, against which it is opposed, is clarified, and itself becomes a center. The “op-
posites” take many forms. But in all of them, contrast of some kind is visible (Alexander,
2002, p. 200).
If this is translated to the concrete planning process of using the internet in class, this means
that teaching with technology always requires two different lesson plans: one for working
with the internet and another for working without it, due to possible technical problems.
This makes it necessary to develop multiple lesson plans simultaneously (here: teaching
with computers versus without computers) and to compare the potential consequences
these have for the teaching and learning processes that the teacher wishes to produce.
8. Conclusion
Alexander’s fifteen structural properties of living centers can be translated to the field of
education. In this context they can be construed as aids for teachers to help them in their
lesson planning and design. However, not only the individual properties are of importance,
but their interplay within wholeness, with the goal of designing of a living lesson.
9. References
Alexander, C. (2002). The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature
of the Universe, Book 1 - The Phenomenon of Life. Berkeley, California: Center for Environ-
mental Structure.
Bauer, R. (2014). Didaktische Entwurfsmuster: Diskursanalytische Annäherung an den

Muster-Ansatz von Christopher Alexander und Implikationen für die Unterrichtsgestaltung
(engl. Educational patterns: a discourse-analytical approach to Christopher Alexander’s pat-
tern theory and its implications for lesson planning) (Dissertation). Alpen-Adria-Universität
Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt. Retrieved December 25, 2014, from http://tinyurl.com/o4ywqxr.
Bauer, R., & Baumgartner, P. (2010). The potential of Christopher Alexander’s theory and
341
practice of wholeness: clues for developing an educational taxonomy. In Proceedings of the

15th European Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (pp. 12:1–12:21). New York,
NY, USA: ACM. doi:10.1145/2328909.2328924.
Bauer, R., & Baumgartner, P. (2011). A First Glimpse at the Whole: Christopher Alexander’s
Fifteen Fundamental Properties of Living Centers and Their Implication for Education. In
Investigations of E-Learning Patterns: Context Factors, Problems, and Solutions. Hershey,
Pennsylvania: IGI Global.
Klafki, W. (1991). Didactic analysis as the core of preparation of instruction. In Journal of

Curriculum Studies, 27(1), 13–30.
Kron, F. W. (2008). Grundwissen Didaktik (5th, extended Ed.). Stuttgart: UTB.
Leitner, H. (2007). Mustertheorie (1st ed.). Graz: Nausner & Nausner.
Lipowsky, F. (2007). Was wissen wir über guten Unterricht? Im Fokus: die fachliche Ler-
nentwicklung. In Friedrich Jahresheft: Guter Unterricht. Maßstäbe & Merkmale - Wege &
Werkzeuge, XXV, 26–30.
Meyer, H. (2007). Leitfaden Unterrichtsvorbereitung: [Der neue Leitfaden]. Berlin: Cornel-

son Scriptor.
Peterßen, W. H. (2000). Handbuch Unterrichtsplanung: Grundfragen, Modelle, Stufen, Di-

mensionen. München: Oldenbourg.
Terhart, E. (2009). Didaktik: Eine Einführung. Stuttgart: Reclam (Vol. 18623).
Waguespack, L. J. (2010). Thriving Systems Theory and Metaphor-Driven Modeling. London

& New York: Springer.
10. Endnote
This work is based on my PhD thesis “Educational patterns: a discourse-analytical approach
to Christopher Alexander‘s pattern theory and its implications for lesson planning” (2014)
at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt (Austria), which is available under http://tinyurl.
com/o4ywqxr.
342
11. Appendix
Table 1: Overview of the Fifteen Structural Properties of Living Centers Applied to Lesson Design
Alexander’s Principles Action verbs Short description of the

fifteen proper- for lesson planning principles
ties design
1 Levels of Scale Stepwise divide, refine The overall learning objec-
Refinement tives are divided into short
sequences and refined. The
teacher describes in detail
each individual step in the
planning process and assigns
appropriate and objectives for
each step.
2 Strong Centers Coherence structure Temporal and spatial cohe-
rence as well as coherence in
content are established.
3 Boundaries Differentia- separate, The lesson is structured and
tion connect the learning steps are differen-
tiated in a way that is prima-
rily adapted to the learner’s
individual abilities, skills and
interests. Thus, different lear-
ning paths lead to the same
learning outcomes.
4 Alternating Repe- Rhythm vary An appropriate rhythm (an
tition alternation of tension and re-
laxation) facilitates a student’s
learning process. Therefore, a
lesson is divided into different
phases classroom activity for-
mats and uses of media.
5 Positive Space Modulariza- reduce, sim- Reduction to the essentials
tion plify, cluster is very important. Therefore,
content is adapted qualitati-
vely and quantitatively to the
learners. This means that le-
arning content is reduced and
simplified, as well as clustered
into different content groups
(modules). At the same time, a
positive learning atmosphere
is created.
343
6 Good Shape Adaptation adapt The teaching process is

adapted to the learners.
Special measures are taken
to effectively, efficiently and
sustainably meet pedagogical
and educational goals.
7 Local Symmetries Transpa- expose All of the decision-making pro-
rency cesses that affect teaching and
learning are taken through
an exchange of ideas bet-
ween all the actors involved.
This makes these processes
clearer, more transparent and
understandable.
8 Deep Interlock Interdiscipli- complement The contents of different sub-
and Ambiguity narity jects are integrated into each
lesson so that they comple-
ment each other.
9 Contrast Contrasting contrast, Possibilities for designing
compare lessons are compared with
regard to related consequen-
ces for the teaching-learning
process.
10 Gradients Progression arrange Learning content is arranged
so as to enable learners to
proceed from the known to
the unknown, from easy to
difficult, and from the concrete
to the abstract.
11 Roughness Incomplete- interact, Lesson plans are always
ness adapt incomplete and a lesson can
never be exactly repeated. As
a consequence, the teacher
should interact with the
specific context and should
adapt his or her lesson plan if
conditions change. Therefore,
lessons should be designed so
that they can be expanded, re-
vised, optimized and updated
continuously.
12 Echoes Analogy exemplify, Explaining something new
compare, builds upon the already
relate known. Exemplification and
comparison of content lead
to a deeper understanding of
the new.
344
13 The Void Openness open up A person’s learning proces-

and Free- ses are linked to his or her
dom personal growth and de-
velopment. Thus, the teacher
should provide sufficient
scope for development and
personal freedom to learn,
research, and create. Instruc-
tion should alternate with (re-)
construction, and tension with
relaxation. Personal freedom
to learn opens up insight and
allows the development of a
new outlook on (new) learning
content.
14 Simplicity and Clearness restructure Learning content is generally
Inner Calm and Relia- restructured on the basis
bility of prior knowledge. Thus,
it should be simplified and
generalized as the learning
proceeds, so that the learner
is able to understand it.
15 Not-Separateness Cross-lin- link, integrate Lesson design is not merely
kage and the simple addition of different
Integration teaching-learning phases, but
is the cross-linkage of them.
Each step is linked with other
steps and the considerations
and results with regard to one
single step are respectively in-
tegrated into the others. Thus,
they complement each other.
The different steps go hand in
hand; they are complemen-
tary.
345
Table 2: Interactions of the Fifteen Properties (according to Alexander, 2002, p. 238)
Property B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Cross-linkage and Integration

Openness and Freedom
Clearness and Reliability
Stepwise Refinement
Interdisciplinarity
Incompleteness
Modularization
Differentiation
Transparency
Progression
Contrasting
Adaptation
Coherence
Analogy
Rhythm
1 Stepwise Refine- X X X X
ment
2 Coherence X X X X X X
3 Differentiation X X X X X X
4 Rhythm X X X X X X
5 Modularization X X X X X X X X
6 Adaptation X X X X X X X X
Stepwise Refinement
7 Transparency X X X X
8 Interdisciplinarity X X X X X X
9 Contrasting X X X X X X
10 Progression X X X X X X X
11 Incompleteness X X X X X X
12 Analogy X X X X X X
13 Openness and X X X X X X
Freedom
14 Clearness and X X X X X
Reliability
15 Cross-linkage and X X X X X X X
Integration
346
Image: Shane Gibbons | www.flickr.com/photos/shanegibbons
347
Service
Learning in
Higher
Education:
A Pattern
Language
348
Miller, Joerg
Ruda, Nadine | Stark, Wolfgang | Meyer, Philip
University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
joerg.miller@uni-due.de
At German universities it has become increasingly me-

aningful for the university leadership to move closer
together with the local community. The implementa-
tion of innovative didactic methods that connect aca-
demic education to civic partners is an effective and in
many respects profitable measure to fulfill this ‘third
mission’. The pattern language Service Learning in Hig-
her Education is the first attempt to record success cri-
teria and strategies for such an innovative method and
make them accessible and applicable to faculty mem-
bers and staff. In this paper the development of the
pattern language will be briefly presented and empha-
sis will be put on the results of the three-year project.
The categorization of the pattern language will be ex-
plained and the two different forms of patterns that
have emerged will be put up for discussion.
349
In the past few years a growing number of universities in Germany and Austria have started
to interact with local community partners and have integrated civic engagement into their
curricula by using the service learning pedagogy. Both the didactic and strategic approa-
ches to campus community partnerships have become more relevant for higher education
institutions who want to focus on their ‘third mission’ beyond teaching and research (Al-
tenschmidt and Miller and Stark 2009, Baltes and Hofer and Sliwka 2007). As a result, the
nation-wide higher education network Education for Social Responsibility has been cons-
tantly growing since 2009 and is now the largest non-partisan higher education network in
Germany.
In order to foster the exchange between practitioners in the field (i.e. teachers, young re-
searchers, students, community partners, coordinators and policy makers) and to enhan-
ce the self-awareness and identity of universities and colleges for social responsibility, we
thought about developing better ways to better comprehend and use the full potential of
service learning in higher education.
The pattern approach has proven to be of particular value for this objective. For us it see-
med important to identify ‘hidden’ knowledge and record it in a problem-solution structure
that could support people with different backgrounds in different settings. One major ad-
vantage of a pattern language for us is that it allows us to develop a tool that can be custo-
mized by users. The second important advantage, especially in contrast to the format of
the guideline, is that pattern languages are never finished or finalized. The central value of
the pattern approach is that the pattern language as a whole can always be extended and
that the patterns and their interconnections can be steadily improved. In the field of educa-
tion, which is characterized by constant change, patterns have repeatedly proven to be a
useful methodology to enable explicating tacit knowledge and encouraging discussions on
teaching practices between experts (Anthony 1996; Baumgartner 2012). Many educational
design patterns have already been published, also on problem-based learning (see e.g.
Fricke and Völter 2000 or Schmolitzky 2007), but none of them explicitly discuss the aspect
of integrating community organizations and civic actors into teaching practices. Still, the
presence of a ‘third actor’ requires competencies and teaching strategies, which differ from
traditional models.
In this paper we will offer a definition of service learning and related terms and will explain
the development and the structure of our pattern language and its advancements. Because
patterns are developed in a participatory process in a pragmatic fashion and authors from
very different backgrounds are involved, no complete map of the contained patterns can
be drawn. Pattern authors are coordinators, trainers, lecturers and students who have had
350
Service Learning in Higher Education: A Pattern Language
individual experiences with the service learning pedagogy and thus offer a broad range of
perspectives. On the one hand, there is a need to extend the pattern language to more
general patterns that deal for example with communication, group work and interaction in
projects. On the other hand, there are various specific areas of expertise for which experi-
ence with good practice has yet to be collected in order to write more specialized patterns.
This applies for example to service learning with international students or service learning
as it intersects with e-learning.
1. SERVICE LEARNING AND RELATED TERMS

The three terms civic engagement, service learning and campus community partnerships
are closely interconnected. Service learning describes the pedagogical method of integra-
ting civic engagement into academic teaching by addressing real- world problems of the
community within the framework of student projects (Seifert and Zentner 2010, Kaye 2010).
These practical projects connect the students’ academic education with needs of real-life
civic beneficiaries (Altenschmidt and Miller 2010). Thus society benefits through campus
community partnerships while students can address significant actual issues in self-organi-
zed and responsible ways. This service experience produces an action- and experience-ori-
ented learning environment that encourages strategies that diverge from common ways of
thinking that include substantive and continuous reflection and the experience of practical
problem solving (Sliwka 2007, 2009).
Thus service learning promises to be a positive influence on the personal and social de-
velopment of youths, allowing them to gain a clearer sense of their identity, self-worth and
belonging and to develop fundamental key competences. On the one hand, service learning
can make education more meaningful and relevant, and on the other hand campus com-
munity partnerships have the potential to close the gap between educational institutions
and their communities (Eyler and Giles 2001).
Because many actors contribute to the field of service learning, the following visualization
shows which actors are likely to be represented or to play a role in the pattern language in
the future.
351
Actors Represented in the Pattern Language
2. THE PATTERNS AS FERTILE GROUND FOR

EXCHANGE, INSPIRATION AND IMPROVEMENT
OF SERVICE LEARNING
In this paper we offer three patterns for discussion: INVOLVE NEW FACULTY MEMBERS,
WELCOME PACKAGE, and PROVIDE ROLE MODELS. These patterns are not representative
of the pattern language; indeed, we believe none are. We chose these patterns because
we felt that they are particularly closely interlinked to one another, as they are mainly de-
veloped by authors with similar positions and experiences. Thus, all three patterns derive
from one of the seven categories into which the pattern language is categorized, namely
ENABLE FACULTY MEMBERS. The other categories are: BE VISIBLE, ENABLE NEW LEARNING,
MAKE JOINT DECISIONS, OPEN UNIVERSITIES, RENEW EDUCATION, SHARE THE BENEFITS
and SHOW APPRECIATION. These categories contain 75 patterns, of which some are shor-
ter and others are more complex.
352
Pattern Categories
The following exemplary patterns revolve around the acquisition of new service learning
teachers at a university. INVOLVE NEW FACULTY MEMBERS and PROVIDE ROLE MODELS
focus on people and their interpersonal communication, whereas WELCOME PACKAGE pre-
sents a tool that is implemented on a higher organizational level.
The methodology applied to develop the patterns and arrange the content is first of all
grounded in the theoretical work of Christopher Alexander (1977, 1979). The final structure
of the patterns presented in this article was mainly influenced by Doug Schuler’s elabora-
tions in A Pattern Language for Communication (2008) and by other pattern languages that
focus on educational issues (Baumgartner 2012, Pedagogical Patterns Project, Fricke and
Völter 2000, Schmolitzky 2007).
The format inherent in the patterns is divided into smaller sections. For us, the most signi-
ficant parts of the patterns are the problem and solution. The analysis of the forces is the
most abstract step for authors, thus it is particularly challenging but at the same time very
productive for the pattern as a whole, as it identifies the conflicting influences that generate
the problem. There are numerous factors of influence in every challenge (such as social,
economic or spatial circumstances or different participating actors and their interrelations)
and this section describes which forces are dealt with in the pattern. For the reader or user
of the pattern, the description of the context in which the solution has proved useful helps
to decide, whether the pattern is helpful in his or her situation and whether or how it has
to be adapted to new circumstances. Advantages and disadvantages, newly resulting prob-
353
lems and weaknesses and other issues that could be or have been notified are mentioned
in the subsequent discussion. This is a part of the pattern language that can very well be
edited by different authors. The new situation, which is the consequence of applying the
pattern, goes back to the beginning in a way such that it reflects upon the circumstances
again. For the user of the pattern, this section makes definite what is likely to be the outco-
me of making use of the pattern at hand.
The patterns in this paper, just like all the other patterns in our language, are the outcome
of compiled practical experience that we identified in expert interviews with people who
have been practically involved in service learning, either as a teacher, student, partner or
coordinator. Furthermore, a special workshop format was created to support the identifi-
cation of hidden practical knowledge. These so-called Patongo Storms (cf. http://www.pa-
tongo.de/) enabled the participants to discuss and record typical problems in campus com-
munity partnerships in small groups. These problems were uploaded and made accessible
for all the other smaller groups, so that in a next step they could directly answer and offer
potential solutions that they might have tried at their universities. The outcomes of those
workshops were problem-solution-pairs that were then further developed by the workshop
participants afterwards. The collecting of experiences and knowledge and the collaborative
work done on the patterns project took place on the online platform ‘Campus vor Ort’ (cf.
www.campus-vor-ort.de). This online wiki made it easier to see overlaps and connections
between the patterns. It also facilitated the open feedback process and led to significant
improvements of the patterns.
These patterns are of various lengths and complexities; they are publicly accessible at Cam-
pus vor Ort and available for faculty members, students and partner organizations who
want to start a service learning project or seminar or who want to reflect on their activities.
The development of the pattern language, which has taken place over the last three years
and in which many people have been involved, was a process in which we learned a lot
about service learning. The exchange with others, the identification of the value of our ex-
perience and the writing of the patterns were so fruitful that we now want the application
of the patterns to be in focus. To make the use of the patterns easier and to enable group
interaction with them, to make the use effective and most of all more versatile, we decided
to publish the patterns in a card deck. There are various pattern languages on different to-
pics that have been published as card decks. They are closely connected to each other and
to our pattern language, and thus benefit from being combined. By providing the patterns
on cards in a consistent format, users can pick out patterns and combine them as they wish
to and form their own custom pattern language.
354
Having a pattern physically in hand in the form of a play card makes room for less scientific
discussion and more practical application. To arrange the cards spatially and to pick out and
swap the patterns is, for us, the best way to access a pattern language.
Example German Pattern Card
This pattern is the German version of INVOLVE NEW FACULTY MEMBERS. The three major
components are the image, the title and the text. The image illustrates the pattern, appeals
to the user and gives him an intuitive reference point. The title is very important for the
group work with patterns as people usually refer to them by their names. The text on the
cards is the very core of each pattern. It always contains problem and solution, while using
constructive and encouraging language, and may pick up relevant or obvious forces. The
category (to the left of the title) and the related patterns (at the bottom) are elements that
are especially significant for pattern cards. They enable users to align patterns with each
other, to draw connections between them and to arrange them spatially. The categories
and the objectives that the assigned patterns aim at are the following:
BE VISIBLE
Bringing civic engagement into higher education is quite a new method in Germany. Thus it
is of major importance to make it known and to win over faculty members and staff. Public
relations work is not only essential to promoting service learning among people at universi-
ties but is also needed to make it visible outside of the university.
355
ENABLE NEW LEARNING
Integrate service learning into higher education offers many new possibilities and oppor-
tunities, but at the same time faculty members must test their skills and broaden their
capabilities. In new settings they need to redefine their roles and the relationship to their
students. Instead of being experts, they employ new methods to enable the students to
work self-reliantly and in a self-organized way.
MAKE JOINT DECISIONS
Service learning projects can solve social and regional problems if they react to real-world
needs. Close cooperation between faculty members and partners is a prerequisite for de-
veloping good concepts for projects. Openness, a strong relationship, honest communicati-
on and mutual understanding enables both parties to make joint decisions.
OPEN UNIVERSITIES
To open universities for civic engagement means that decision-makers get involved in the
method and a culture supportive of service learning arises. Resources are provided for
coordination and networking between the university and society. Strategic planning and
emphasis on engagement as shared values promotes the sustainable implementation and
realization of service learning in universities.
RENEW EDUCATION
In problem- and action-oriented projects, students can experience completely new learning
environments to which they are introduced and which they can explore on their own. They
recognize their new competencies, take responsibility, make decisions independently and
reflect on their actions.
SHARE THE BENEFITS
In service learning projects students not only interact with faculty members but also with
partners from outside the university. When this new relationship has been prepared well,
faculty members keep themselves in the background to encourage the students’ indepen-
dence and enable them to reflect on their actions afterwards.
SHOW APPRECIATION
Faculty members and students that participate in practice projects get the respect and
appreciation that they deserve. Successful projects and partnerships are celebrated and fa-
356
culty members get attention for their innovative teaching methods. Incentives and support
reward the faculty members and students for their voluntary additional work.
ENABLE FACULTY MEMBERS
Faculty members can play an important role in the realization and spread of service lear-
ning. By bringing parties into contact with each other and enabling exchange, they enable a
network to be built that contributes to the improvement of the method and leads to broa-
der attention and acceptance.
These categories do not only enable easier orientation for users; they are also the central
element that makes ‘playing’ with the cards possible. Uses that we suggest are for example
taking the cards of one category and evaluating what has been achieved at your university.
You can also discuss which categories are covered by activities at your university and which
are not. Also it is possible to use the card deck as a reflection tool, either in service learning
classes with students, in service learning trainings for faculty members or in team meetings
of service learning coordinators. Arranging the cards can be helpful for planning sessions
and workshops, and for getting inspiration or new ideas for oneself or in the context of di-
scussions. There are numerous concrete ‘games’ that we suggest in our short manual and
there will be room to discuss, revise and improve them at Campus vor Ort.
The more complex versions of the patterns, of which three are presented below, will not
only be available at Campus vor Ort, but also in a series of brochures that will deal with
specific areas of expertise and experience with service learning and that will show the best
practices from which the patterns are derived.
These results of a three-year grant on ‘Developing Service Learning and Social Responsi-
bility within Higher Education’ funded by the German Federal Ministry for Families, Senior
Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) aim at promoting communication and cooperation
between institutions of higher education and civil society. The work on the pattern language
itself, the online platform, the card deck and the brochures will serve as a basis for practiti-
oners’ discussion, further research and expert training.
357
INVOLVE NEW FACULTY MEMBERS

Authors: Joerg Miller, Nadine Ruda
©Rido (shutterstock) (This image is excluded from the Creative Commons Licence CC-BY-ND)
Problem
Long standing faculty members usually have well-established formats for their seminars.
They believe that they proficiently offer education, and thus they do not want to put additio-
nal resources into finding and dealing with innovative teaching methods. They feel insecure
about the unknown and they do not know the concrete benefits of service learning. Thus it
is difficult to win them over to the method.
Context
Winning faculty members over to service learning is quite a challenge, especially at univer-
sities where there have not yet been any practical projects based on cooperation with part-
ners from outside the university. This pattern is helpful for people who have just started the
acquisition of teaching staff. At the same time, approaching newly hired faculty members
is a strategy that can be effectively used to sustainably ensure awareness of the method.
Forces
Longstanding faculty members are accustomed to their usual ways. Normally they do the
same class over and over again for many semesters and once they have developed a format
that runs well, it is likely they will not be open to adaptations. Furthermore, there is a range
of responsibilities for faculty members and research and publications are generally more
respected than innovative education.
Newly hired members of the staff, however, have to orient themselves at the university
first. They are more likely to explore the services offered. They have no contacts to other
teaching staff yet and may lack a network of regional actors and status in the scientific com-
358
munity. They have no experience with the local student body and they will have to start from
scratch with their classes.
Service learning is a good way for a university teacher to establish contacts at the university
and in its surrounding community. Furthermore, if there is a service learning coordinator
who supports and accompanies the class, the teacher can benefit from his or her experi-
ence.
Solution
To establish service learning at a university it is a promising approach to directly propose it

to faculty members when they start their employment. They have not yet developed their
seminars and are therefore more open towards ideas for innovative teaching methods.
They will gladly accept support and they will enjoy finding access to the region around the
university.
Faculty members who have been at the university for a long time are easier to win over
when there are some good examples among their colleagues. That way, the benefits of
service learning are more concrete for them and they can be sure that extensive support
is being offered.
Discussion
The measures needed to reach newly hired teaching staff in their acclimatization phase
have to be well-planned. Factors such as insecurity about new and unknown settings, finan-
cing and legal questions that may concern the teaching staff have to be considered.
New Situation
Early contact in the acclimatization phase can establish good and long-lasting relationships
to faculty members. Then a network can develop on which basis it will be easier to reach out
to teaching staff that have been at the university for longer.
Card Deck Pattern Version
Newly hired teaching staff is particularly interesting for the acquisition of faculty members
for service learning. They still have to find formats for their seminars and they are more
curious about innovative teaching methods. They might be more open to cooperation with
partners from outside the university and be happy to benefit from support.
359
Related Patterns
»» CONCENTRATE SUPPORT
»» PROVIDE ROLE MODELS
»» WELCOME PACKAGE
WELCOME PACKAGE
© Syda Productions (shutterstock) (This image is excluded from the Creative Commons Licence
CC-BY-ND)
Problem
When new employments at a university start, the new faculty members and staff are over-
whelmed with offers and requests. There is a huge variety of different activities at the uni-
versity that they could join or include in their research or teaching.
They will usually be guided by their former fields of practice and their interests. In most
cases they will not be adequately informed about didactical programs.
Context
The problem occurs at almost all universities because decentralized structures lead to an
unsatisfactory quality of information exchange. The problem is particularly pronounced at
bigger universities because they are decentrally orgnized and each faculty has its indepen-
dent existence. Due to the flood of information, information is often subjectively selected
before passed on.
360
Forces
New didactic methods are of rather minor significance and such offers that are optional
mostly go unutilized.
If the rector or the president of the university hands the Welcome Package over himself, he
can put special emphasis on the didactics of service learning.
However, if there is more information material exchanged it is possible that the Welcome
Package is disregarded by the newly hired staff member. It is definitely crucial that the com-
piled information is comprehensible and manageable. A follow-up phone call is crucial to
establish contact successfully.
Solution
It is necessary to draw attention to service learning and to establish contact between the
new staff members and a service learning coordinator. Therefore, extensive information
about service learning programs, that is, all relevant information about the method, good
examples of service learning classes and supportive measures at the university are handed
over as early as possible.
Discussion
The quality of the welcome package determines its success.
It works particularly well in combination with a whole range of follow-up measures, such as
informative meetings, invitations to service learning classes and info events.
It is necessary to cooperate with the university administration so that the welcome package
can be handed over when the contract is signed. This will lead to more attention being paid
to the material and it conveying the message that service learning plays an important role
at the university.
New Situation
After the information has been conveyed, contact to the new faculty member should be
established. A strategic plan for the follow-up measures can be developed to ensure sus-
tainable acquisition of new teaching staff. The quality and efficiency of the welcome package
and follow-up measures can be evaluated to constantly improve them.
361
Newly hired teaching staff should be informed about service learning and the possibility to
be supported early on. A welcome package that contains a quick guide and information on
support measures should be handed over by the university leadership when the contract
is signed. That way, it attracts attention and shows that service learning is important to the
university.
Related Patterns
»» ANALYZE SUCCESS PATTERNS
»» CREATE INCENTIVES
»» INVOLVE NEW FACULTY MEMBERS
»» MAKE EXPERIENCE KNOWN
»» WIN OVER THE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION
PROVIDE ROLES MODELS

©Elena Elisseeva (shutterstock) (This image is excluded from the Creative Commons Licence CC-
BY-ND)
Problem
Acquiring new service learning teachers, that is, convincing faculty members to lead service
learning classes mostly happens through personal meetings. Hearing about practical ex-
amples of preceding classes that went particularly well is something that a potential service
learning teacher can relate to. However, this cannot be very well conveyed by a Service Le-
362
arning coordinator who might not have experienced service learning as a teacher and who
has a natural self-interest in spreading the method.
Context
This is an everyday challenge for a service learning coordinator and is an ongoing task.
Bringing service learning into academic classes is the essential step to implementing it sus-
tainably at a university. Without a growing range of teachers that do service learning in their
classes this will hardly be possible.
Forces
When trying something unknown we need helpful information and honest communication.
Practical experience is more concrete and the opportunity to talk to other service learning
teachers is particularly helpful.
Solution
At information events and in personal meetings, teaching staff who can talk about their in-
dividual good experiences with service learning classes can function as contact persons for
new service learning teachers. They give short presentations on their classes and talk about
their own fears and challenges. Afterwards they can answer questions and exchange with
new service learning teachers.
Discussion
For such events and meetings there needs to be one or more teachers that are willing and
have the time to talk about their experiences. The pre-condition for their advocacy is that
they have had their own experiences and that they were positive.
New Situation
A network is created by bringing faculty members that have already done service learning
into contact with those that have not yet. By stabilizing and supporting this network, valuab-
le knowledge can be identified and passed on and the quality of service learning can be
constantly improved.
Winning over teaching staff for service learning is a challenge that should not be unde-
restimated, as service learning teachers need to give up their learned routines and show
particular engagement. If there are respected faculty members that have done service le-
363
arning classes and can exchange with others about their experience, they can increase the
attention it receives and its acceptance, as they are particularly authentic and credible. That
way, service learning can be spread broadly and attract more attention.
Related Patterns
»» AVAILABLE POINTS OF CONTACT
»» BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
»» INVOLVE NEW FACULTY MEMBERS
»» MAKE EXPERIENCE KNOWN
»» PROVIDE ROLE MODELS
3. REFERENCES
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Language. Towns, Buildings, Construction. New York.
ALEXANDER, C. 1979. The Timeless Way of Building. New York.
ALTENSCHMIDT, K. AND MILLER, J. 2010. Service Learning in der Hochschuldidaktik. In: Auf-
erkorte-Michaelis et al (Ed.), Hochschuldidaktik für die Lehrpraxis. Interaktion und Innovati-
on für Studium und Lehre an der Hochschule. Opladen & Farmington Hills. 68-79.
ALTENSCHMIDT, K. AND MILLER, J. AND STARK, W. (Ed.) 2009. Raus aus dem
Elfenbeinturm? Entwicklungen in Service Learning und bürgerschaftlichem Engagement an

deutschen Hochschulen. Weinheim & Basel.
ANTHONY, D. L. G. 1996. Patterns for classroom education. In Pattern Languages of Pro-

gram Design 2, J. Vlissides, J. Coplien, and N. Kerth, Eds. Addison-Wesley Longman Publis-
hing Co., Inc., Boston. 391-406.
BALTES, A.M. AND HOFER, M. AND SLIWKA, A. (Ed.) 2007. Studierende übernehmen Verant-
wortung. Service Learning an deutschen Universitäten. Weinheim.
BAUMGARTNER, P. 2012. Schaufenster des Lernens. Eine Sammlung von Mustern zur Ar-
beit mit E-Portfolios. Münster.
364
EYLER, J. AND GILES, D.E. et al. (Ed.) 2001. At a Glance: What we know about the effects of
Service-Learning on college students, faculty, institutions and communities. Nashville.
FRICKE, A. AND VÖLTER, M. 2000. Seminars - A Pedagogical Pattern Language about tea-
ching seminars effectively. In Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Pattern Lan-
guages of Programs, EuroPLoP 2000. Number Dec 12, 2002. Irsee.
KAYE, C. B. 2010. The Complete Guide to Service Learning. Minneapolis. PEDAGOGICAL

PATTERNS EDITORIAL BOARD. 2012. Pedagogical Patterns: Advice for Educators. Joseph
Bergin Software Tools.
SCHMOLITZKY, A. 2007. Patterns for Teaching Software in Classroom. In Proceedings of

the 12th European Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (EuroPLoP 2007). Irsee.
SCHULER, D. 2008. Liberating Voices A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution.

Boston.
SEIFERT, A. AND ZENTNER, S. 2010. Service-Learning - Lernen durch Engagement: Methode,

Qualität, Beispiele und ausgewählte Schwerpunkte. Weinheim Freudenberg Foundation.
SLIWKA, A. 2007. Giving Back to the Community: Service Learning als universitäre Pädagogik
für gesellschaftliches Problemlösen. In A.M. Baltes, M. Hofer, A. Sliwka (Ed.), Studierende
übernehmen Verantwortung - Service-Learning an deutschen Universitäten. Weinheim. 30-
34.
SLIWKA, A. 2009. Reflexion: das Bindeglied zwischen Service und Learning. In: K. Alten-
schmidt, J. Miller, W. Stark (Ed.), Raus aus dem Elfenbeinturm? Entwicklungen in Service
Learning und bürgerschaftlichem Engagement an deutschen Hochschulen. Weinheim &
Basel. 85-90.
365
Study of
human visual
perception
with the usage
of information
entropy
analysis of
patterns
366
Rychtáriková, Renata
Institute of Complex Systems, FFPW and CENAKVA, University of South Bohemia, Zá-
mek 136, 373 33 Nové Hrady, Czech Republic
rrychtarikova@frov.jcu.cz
Malečková, Dita
Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship, Faculty of Arts, Charles University in
Prague, U Kříže 8, Prague 5-Jinonice, Czech Republic
ditamorg@gmail.com
Urban, Jan
urbanj@frov.jcu.cz
Bárta, Antonín
abarta@frov.jcu.cz
Novotná, Markéta
makulina99@seznam.cz
Zhyrova, Anna
zhyrova@frov.jcu.cz
Náhlík, Tomáš
nahlik@frov.jcu.cz
Štys, Dalibor
stys@frov.jcu.cz
367
We introduce a new research methodology based on

the Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) statistical
method to examine human perception of shapes and
patterns in a set of images. The matrix of predictors was
formed by a computed spectra of dependency of a new
information-entropic variable ̶ Point Information Gain
Entropy ̶ on a dimensionless coeficient α. It distinguis-
hes between the semantic, syntactic, and total informati-
on brought by each image. The matrix of responses was
gained from a sample of the human population. The ma-
trix is a set of classification vectors assigning the identity
number of the classification group to each image for each
human evaluator. For each evaluator, we analyzed weigh-
ted regression coefficients (outputs of the PLSR model),
which give weights of the coefficients α for classification
of images into groups. Testing the method on a group of
86 evaluators with black-and-white drawings by František
Kupka shows relatively uniform classification, which cle-
arly relates to the computed semantic information (mea-
ning) of the image.
Pattern recognition; Visual complexity; Image analysis;

Rényi entropy; Sensometrics
368
Study of human visual perception with the usage of information entropy analysis of patterns
1. Introduction
Order is a necessary condition for anything the human mind is to understand. Arrange-
ments such as the layout of a city or building, a set of tools, a display of merchandise, the
verbal exposition of facts or ideas, or a painting or piece of music are called orderly when
an observer or listener can grasp their overall structure and the ramification of the struc-
ture in some detail. Order makes it possible to focus on what is alike and what is different,
what belongs together and what is segregated. When nothing superfluous is included and
nothing indispensable left out, one can understand the interrelation of the whole and its
parts, as well as the hierarchic scale of importance and power by which some structural
features are dominant, others subordinate. (…) In many instances, order is apprehended
first of all by the senses. The observer perceives an organized structure in the shapes and
colors or sounds facing him. But it is hard, perhaps impossible, to find examples in which
the order of a given object or event is limited to what is directly apparent in perception.
Rather, the perceivable order tends to be manifested and understood as a reflection of an
underlying order, whether physical, social, or cognitive. (Arnheim, 1971)
Vision is the most informative and complex sense among higher organisms such as hum-
ans. People receive 90% of information about their environment through vision. Sensation,
perception, and thought exist only as subjective realities within the inner world of an indivi-
dual. To emulate this nonmaterial world, we must investigate an objective physical system
that generates such subjective realities – the human brain (Yarichin, 2008).
Observations made by the mind and soul have been accompanied by mathematical calcu-
lations and formal scientific methods since the time of early philosophers (Zielinski, 2008).
The questioning about human perception of reality reaches back to the most ancient of
philosophers, such as Empedocles or Democritus to Plato and Aristotle. An epistemology
of perception was established at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries (Descartes, Reid,
Locke, Hume, Berkeley). Throughout the 20th century a lot of elaborated theories (e.g.,
philosophy of phenomenology) and new scientific disciplines connecting philosophy, art,
and science (Whitehead, Bergson, Arnheim) were established. Many theories of art were
often developed by artists themselves (Cézanne, Kandinsky, Kupka) including the pattern
language of the architect Christopher Alexander (Beck & Cunningham, 1987; Alexander et
al., 1977). The development of theories of perception was accompanied by the develop-
ment of psychology – mainly cognitive psychology, behaviorism, gestaltism, psychoanalysis,
experimental psychology – and neuroscience.
Since the 1960´s (Youguo et al., 2008) there has been a strong trend of studying informati-
on transmission in humans mediated by human sensory perception and (re)cognition using
369
exact (mathematical and algorithmical) methods. This approach has been made possible
by the extensive development of computer hardware as well as programming tools, which
enable algorithm development and implementation for a variety of tasks. In this way, it is
possible to test virtually any statement. This provides tests not only of the aspect under stu-
dy, but also of the statement itself, namely its self-consistency. This approach is epistemolo-
gically anchored in systems theory, cybernetics, complexity, and information theory. It is im-
plemented with multivariate analysis,and statistical approaches to analysis of phenomena
resulting from nonlinear dynamics (e.g., Fouda et al., 2014; Zhang & Xiao, 2014; Shatheesh
et al., 2014), namely various types of information entropy and multifractal analysis (e.g.,
El-Sayad et al., 2013; Abry et al., 2013).
Nevertheless, models and algorithms of perception and mind are still far from being com-
plete, chiefly due to the vast complexity of the processes underlying brain functioning. The
necessity to create new recognition algorithms which resemble human perception, is still
unfulfilled (Scheirer et al., 2014).
In this article, we aim to analyze the perception of a piece of visual art as a reflection of
a Lyapunov stable object – the human brain in a given dynamic state – interacting with a
perceived image of the object. (a discussion of Lyapunov stability in relation to living struc-
tures is given by Zhyrova et al., 2015 in this volume.) We introduce a new method whose
novelty lies in the usage of the information entropy approach – Point Information Gain
PIGα,x,y and Point Information Gain Entropy PIEα (Štys et al., 2011a; Štys et al., 2011b) – which
enables us to measure the contribution of an element (pixel) to the semantic and syntactic
information of the studied images – a set of treated black-and-white drawings by a Czech
20th century artist František Kupka. With the use of sensometric methods, the goal is to
find the most proper weight of individual PIEα values of the PIEα spectral dependency on the
Rényi coefficients α (dimensionless coefficients in the PIGα,x,y/PIEα calculations) which would
map the automated analysis onto the human perception of shapes and patterns in the
images in the given sample of human population as well as possible.
2. Method
2.1. Description and processing of digitized pictures
For the classification by human volunteers, 35 digitized reproductions of the series Four
stories of black and white (about 1925, released in 1926) by the Czech artist František Kupka
(1871 - 1957) were obtained from the Kampa Museum of Prague (CZ).
370
2.1. Description and processing of digitized pictures
For the classification by human volunteers, 35 digitized reproductions of the series Four
stories of black and white (about 1925, released in 1926) by the Czech artist František Kupka
(1871 ̶ 1957) were
Studyobtained fromperception
of human visual the Kampa Museum
with the usage of of Pragueentropy
information (CZ). analysis of patterns
These original
These original reproductions
reproductions werewere thentransformed
then transformed into
intoblack-and-white images
black-and-white (Figure (Figure
images 1) 1)
2
and normalized to the same resolution of 1452  1985 px via computation of global image
and normalized to the same resolution of 1452 x 1985 px 2
via computation of global image
threshold using Otsu's
threshold method
using Otsu‘s in Matlab®
method software
in Matlab® software(Mathworks, USA).
(Mathworks, USA).
The information of each

The information black-and-white
of each black-and-white digital picturewaswas
digital picture calculated
calculated in Matlab®
in Matlab® using using
modifiedmodifi
Rényi information
ed Rényi entropy.
information Firstly,
entropy. Firstly,aa unique
uniquevaluevaluewaswas calculated
calculated forpixel
for each eachof pixel of
each image ̶ Point
each image Information
– Point InformationGain
Gain(PIG
(PIGα,x,y
α,x,y
) )
– ̶ describing
describing change
change of of information
information when thewhen the
pixel at any
pixel given position
at any given is omitted
position (Štys
is omitted (Štysetetal., 2011a;Štys
al., 2011a; Štys et al.,
et al., 2011b)
2011b) as as
1 ∑𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼
𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖=1 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖,𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥,𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃α,𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥,𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 = 1−𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 log 2 ∑𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼 ,
𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖=1 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
where the
wheredimensionless
the dimensionless coefficient characterizes
coefficient ααcharacterizes the distribution
the distribution of probabilities
of probabilities of oc- of
occurrence of given
currence intensities
of given intensities(39 values
(39 values of of = {0.1,
α =α{0.1, 0.2, 0.9,
0.2, 0.3,…, 0.3,…, 0.9, 4.0}
1.1, 1.2,…, 1.1,were
1.2,…, 4.0} were
used).
used). The logarithmic terms with probabilities p
The logarithmic terms with probabilities pi,x,y and pi werei,x,y and p
calculated
i were
from the probabilityfrom the
calculated
probability density
density function
function without without andexamined
and with the with the pointexamined point(x,y),
at coordinates at respectively.
coordinates (x,y),
Further, i was the examined digital level and n was the number of digital levels (n = 2 for a
respectively. Further, i was the examined digital level and n was the number of digital levels
black-and-white image).image).
(n = 2 for a black-and-white
Page 3 of 15
Consequently,
Consequently, Point Point Information
Information Gain
Gain (PIEα), ),a cumulative
Entropy (PIE
Entropy valuevalue
a cumulative uniqueunique
for eachfor each
α
image sized
image sized s  srx rpx2 and characterizing information carried by all studied pixels was calcu-
px2
and characterizing information carried by all studied pixels was
lated
calculated asas
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃α = ∑𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥=1 ∑𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦=1 𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝛼𝛼𝛼𝛼,𝑥𝑥𝑥𝑥,𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 .
The PIGα,x,y/PIEα values were calculated in two ways:

The PIGα,x,y/PIEα values were calculated in two ways:
1. by the Whole method in which we created statistics of the occurrence of intensities from
1. by the Whole method in which we created statistics of the occurrence of intensities
the whole image and obtained semantic information of an image (PIEα,Wh) and
from
2. by the the whole
Cross methodimage
in and obtained
which semanticoccurrence
the intensity information ofwasan image (PIEα,Wh)from
calculated and the intensities
of a 2.cross whose shanks intersect at the examined point giving syntactic information of
by the Cross method in which the intensity occurrence was calculated from the
an image (PIEα,Cr).
intensities of a cross whose shanks intersect at the examined point giving syntactic infor-
mation
The total of an image
information of (PIE
eachα,Cr
). picture of the studied series at a given α parameter was
evaluated as a vector PIEα,Tot = [PIEα,Cr, PIEα,Wh].
The total information of each picture of the studied series at a given α parameter was
evaluated as a vector PIEα,Tot = [PIEα,Cr, PIEα,Wh].
371
Figure 1: Examples of treated black-and-white pictures by František Kupka used for the expe-
riment on human perception of shapes and patterns. a - Picture 6 with the highest average
value of PIEα,Wh = (10.700 ± 9.8705) x 10-8 bit and PIEα,Cr = (-16.302 ± 12.139) bit, b - Picture 26
with the lowest average value of PIEα,Cr = (-242.2 ± 89.63) bit, c - Picture 27 with the lowest avera-
ge value of PIEα,Wh = (5.0698 ± 2.867) x 10-7 bit. The average value of PIEα was calculated for
spectrum of α = {0.1, 0.2, …, 0.9, 1.1, 1.2,…, 4.0}
2.2. Human evaluators

The group of human volunteers (evaluators) who classified 35 pictures arbitrarily into 5
groups consisted of 86 members: 40 males (46.51%, Evaluators 1-46) and 46 females
(53.49%, Evaluators 47-86). To achieve the highest possible correlation of classification vec-
tors between evaluators, the matrix of classification vectors was remapped via evaluation
of cosine similarity and percentage of overlapping for each vector between each pair of
evaluators. The groups of vectors were labeled in ascending order, i.e., the group with Pic-
ture 1 corresponding to the majority of evaluators was labeled No. 1.
2.3. Multidimensional data processing

The matrix of PIEα = f(α, Pic. No.) consists of predictors (X-matrix), whereas the correlated
vectors of classification obtained from human volunteers were responses (Y-matrix) of the
Partial Least Square Regression (PLSR; NIPALS algorithm, cross validation, 32 factors for
PIEα,Wh and PIEα,Tot, and 25 factors for PIEα,Cr) using Unscrambler X® software (CAMO, Norway).
The weighted regression coefficients βw obtained from the PLSR were normalized to the
0-1 range to show the weight of PIEα, which corresponded to each coefficient α for human
classification of the pictures.
372
3. Results and discussion

3.1. Design of experiment on human visual perception
The domain of our research extends to several areas (Figure 2a). It is mainly the examina-
tion of human perception, particularly the perception of shapes and, more specifically, the
perception of shapes in pieces of visual art. Drawings which we use as a sample in this study
are just one of the ways how one can test the orientation of people in the visual complexity
of their environment and how one can explain how they find patterns. However, we do not
examine the perception of art works separately from the rest of the human processing of
visual information and application to computer science and machine learning.
Clustering is an important topic in pattern recognition. Since only the structure of the data
dictates the grouping (in unsupervised learning), information theory provides an obvious
criterion to establish the clustering rule (Gokcay & Principe, 2002). Our goal is to find such
information-entropic parameters, which reflect the set-up of the human mind. For this pur-
pose, we applied the method of the modified Rényi entropy for analysis of an image set and
a group of human volunteers.
Figure 2b illustrates the design of the experiment for analysis of human perception by the
classification of images (in detail in Section 2). The experiment consisted of two main parts.
The first one is constituted by subjective clustering (Figure 2b). Volunteers (experiment
participants) were asked to group cards of the images into groups according to percieved
similarity without providing any other instruction and independent of number of pictures
in each group. Decrease of variability in the matrix of classification vectors was achieved
via the evaluation of the percentage of overlap for each pair of classification subvectors
(groups of classification for each individual).
The second part of the experiment was an objective characterization of the same digitized
images (Characterization in Figure 2b). The Point Information Gain Entropy (PIEα) method of
calculation was chosen as being suitable for the characterization. This method is derived
from the Rényi entropy and was primarily developed for analysis of inner structures of
microscopic images of living cells as self-organizing multifractal objects (Štys et al., 2011a;
Štys et al., 2011b). However, this procedure captures the information in other digitized
structured experimental objects such as patterns in the examined test images.
373
Figure 2: Scheme of (a) background and (b) design of the experiment on human perception of
the shapes in images
In the first step of the calculation, we calculated Point Information Gain (PIGα,x,y), a unique
value for each pixel in the image at a particular value of the Rényi coefficient α, which de-
scribes the change of information (entropy) after omitting this pixel. In the formula for cal-
culation of PIGα,x,y, each pixel is explained by its probability of the occurrence of its intensity
in an image histogram. Low values of coefficient α highlight the pixels with low frequency
of occurrence in an image, whereas higher α values draw uniform areas. To cover as many
deformed distributions of intensities as possible, we decided to use 39 values of the dimen-
sionless coefficient α = {0.1, 0.2, …, 0.9, 1.1, 1.2, …, 4.0}.
As the next step, we calculated the Point Information Gain Entropy (PIEα), a unique value
specifying the information in an image at given parameter α, as the sum of all PIGα,x,y values
in the image.
The suitability of this methodological approach also lies in its ability to distinguish semantic
and syntactic information perception in tested images. Semantic information deals with
the overall meaning of the picture, whereas syntactic information reflects the structure
(composition) of the picture. In our case, the semantic information is defined as change of
distribution in an intensity histogram (explained as a frequency of occurrence of intensities)
obtained from whole image after removing an examined point (abbrev. PIEα,Wh). Syntactic
information was calculated similarly, however, a histogram is formed by pixels, which create
the cross with the examined (omitted) point at the intersection of its shanks (abbrev. PIEα,Cr).
The total information contents in each picture were measured as a joint vector of PIEα,Cr and
PIEα,Wh at a given parameter α (abbrev. PIEα,Tot). The definition of the syntactic element was
374
in this case chosen arbitrarily and should be a subject to discussion and, perhaps, experi-
mental testing.
We believe that the PIGα,x,y/PIEα method is also able to describe the complexity of human
perception of patterns. We assume that the human perception of shapes and patterns has
been formed to select salient features of the observed reality, whereas irrelevant features
have been naturally suppressed. Thus, this fact manifests itself during the classification of
pictures into groups according to the similarity of their shapes and patterns. We expected
to find that grouping pictures according to their depicted shapes (patterns) would be pre-
dicted by spectrum of PIEα values for each image.
Therefore, a method of multivariate analysis ordinarily used in sensometrics (e.g., Sund-

berg, 2000) - the Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) - was applied to find an appro-
priate spectrum of weights of coefficients α controlling the grouping of tested images by
each human evaluator. These weights are explained as weighted regression coefficients βw,
outputs from the PLSR. The resulted positive values of βw directly influences the grouping,
whereas the negative ones negatively relate to the output of the PLSR model of human
perception.
As seen in Figure 2, the inputs to the PLSR are two matrices. The first one is a predictor
matrix (X) containing vectors of PIEα values as a function of parameter α for each image,
while the second one is a response matrix (Y) formed by classification vectors obtained
from human evaluators. The usage of the PIEα,Cr, PIEα,Wh, and PIEα,Tot matrix, respectively, as an
X-matrix allows us to extract the semantics and syntax perceived by each human evaluator.
As test images, we intentionally decided to use 35 digital reproductions by the early 20th
century Czech avant-garde painter František Kupka (Figure 1). According to Kupka (1999), an
artist who wants to create a cohesive art work should not imitate nature, but rather “form
as nature”, to capture the natural dynamics of nature without imitating it. Work by Kupka
is also made similar to shapes in computer models of nonlinear systems and processes
and likewise shows features of fractal geometry (Anděl et al., 2000). These fractal features
make art work by František Kupka suitable for analysis by the PIGα,x,y/PIEα method. It is also
important for our work that Kupka also dealt with the theme of vision, the complexity of
visual perception, and the physiology of vision as vital inspiration. In another words, the
philosophy of Kupka´s creativity was similar to that with which the PIEα was developed.
In order to ensure the classification of the reproductions only according to the drawn sha-
pes, the black-and-white and identically resoluted forms of the reproductions were pre-
pared. Nevertheless the described method is also suitable for the examination of human
color-perception.
375
3.2. Application and verification of experiment on human visual

perception
According to the methodology described in Section 3.1, the cards of the treated black-
and-white reproductions by František Kupka were classified by an 86-member team of
evaluators (in detail in Section 3.1) into 5 groups. In this section, we shall set aside some
individual and unique features of the examined population and try to identify some general
properties of human vision.
The correlated vectors of this classification are depicted in Figure 3. In general, the set of
classification vectors is divided into two main parts. The first (upper) one is more homo-
genous and contains mostly groups 3 - 5 with pictures No. 21- 35 illustrating sharp rectan-
gular and triangular shapes as seen in Figure 1b,c. For six evaluators (No. 12, 24, 30, 36, 39,
and 50), this subset of the pictures forms only one single undivided group. The second part
of the diagram is formed by pictures No. 1 - 20 with round shapes (e.g., Figure 1a), mostly
classified in groups 1 - 3. This set of pictures is seen as a one group by evaluator No. 19.
In Figure 3, 34 identical clusters (groups) of pictures are observable. Some combinations

are identical for more than two evaluators. Even pictures No. 26 - 29 and 34 were identically
classified into the same group labeled No. 5 by up to 15 evaluators (No. 16, 19, 23, 35, 44, 49,
59, 60, 63, 66, 68, 75, 78, 84, and 86). The recurrent classifications into at least two identical
groups of pictures is also relatively frequent (17 different combinations). The uniformity for
as many as two evaluators are emphasized: Evaluators 19, 38, 63, and 68 (groups 4 and 5),
Evaluators 16, 23, 49, 66, 75, 78, and 86 (groups 4 and 5), Evaluators 19, 59, and 84 (groups
3 and 5), Evaluators 59, 75, and 83 (groups 2 and 5), Evaluators 4, 27, 34, 81, and 83 (groups
2 and 5), Evaluators 32, 38, 59, 67, 74, and 83 (groups 3 and 4), Evaluators 34, 62, 75, and 81
(groups 2 and 4), and Evaluators 59, 83, and 84 (groups 2 and 3). Thus, Evaluator 59 shows
agreement in three groups with both No. 83 and No. 81. Classification groups 2, 4, and 5 are
also identical for Evaluators 34 and 81. Evaluators 38 and 83 have groups 3 - 5 identical, too.
Agreement in the classification of 31 pictures makes them the most similar pair.
Pictures 5, 12, 9, and 26 were being assigned to another picture with difficulties by evaluators
No. 1, 72, 36, 49, 31, 40, 62, 85, 41, 43, and 52. In this case, they form separated one- or
two-element groups. Despite the representation of round shapes, many evaluators classi-
fied pictures 5, 12, and 9 into groups 1 or 2. No clear relation has been found between the
values of PIEα,Wh and PIEα,Cr of the pictures and their classification into groups.
In general, according to the results in Figure 3, we claim that the classification of the pictures
is very uniform among our volunteers.
376
As mentioned in Section 3.1, we decided to use the PLSR method to explain the variability
in classification according to semantic (PIEα,Wh), syntactic (PIEα,Cr, both in Figure 4), and total
(PIEα,Tot in Figure 5) information measured in the pictures. This method also enables us to
find a general spectrum of the weighted regression coefficients βw vs. Rényi coefficients α,
which control (influence) grouping of the pictures via human visual perception.
For semantic information calculated from PIEα,Wh, the significant values of spectra of the
coefficients βw as a function of the Rényi coefficients α are situated at α in the range of 1.8 -
3.4. The majority (62) of the evaluators has the minimal value of βw at α in the range of 2.3
- 2.5. The occurrence of the local maxima at α equal to 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.5, 2.7, 2.8, 3.1, and 3.3
is the most frequent (47 evaluators). A combination of the minimal values of βw coefficients
at α = 2.4 with maximal values at α of 2.7 and 3.3, is the most frequent (11 evaluators for
each α parameter). For some evaluators, a relatively strong region of βw coefficients at α ≤
0.5 is observable as well.
The weighted regression coefficients βw calculated from the values of PIEα,Cr as an input
matrix to the PLSR, are more uniform. They have a lower variability in comparison to the
values calculated from PIEα,Wh. The significant part of βw coefficients occurs at α in the range
of 0.7 - 1.6. One strong zone of local maxima can be seen at α = 3.7. Most of the evaluators
have minimal and maximal values of βw at α of 1.5 and 1.6, respectively.
Figure 3: Vectors of classification of 35 black-and-white pictures into 5 color-coded groups

obtained from 86 human evaluators
377
The model of the total information correlates to the previous ones. The βw coefficients sig-
nificant for understanding human perception lie in the semantic part of graph in the range
of α from 1.8 to 3.1. For a substantial number of the evaluators, the calculated βw coeffi-
cients reach the minimal and maximal values at α in the range of 2.4 - 2.5 and 2.7 - 2.8,
respectively. Many evaluators classified the pictures according to α of 2.1 (23 evaluators),
2.5 (10 evaluators), 2.2 (10 evaluators), 3.0 (17 evaluators). In agreement with Figure 4, the
significant zone of βw coefficients for syntactic information lies at α ≤ 1.6 with one stronger
region at α ≥ 3.0.
Similar to the experiment performed by Reed (1972), we managed to describe mathemati-

cally (to model) some general features of human perception based on application of the
PIGα,x,y/PIEα method. As seen in Figures 4 and 5, people perceive mainly semantics (meaning)
of the tested pictures. Syntactic information is secondary for the process of classification.
During classification, they were guided by (they perceive) mainly large areas and did not
concentrate on details in the drawings so much. In our future research, we will search for
such a grouping method and metrics that reflect this model provided by the human brain as
best as possible. Such an algorithm would serve as a suitable tool used in, e.g., cryptography
(e.g., Fouda et al., 2014) or quality assessment of art works and the visual preferences of
people (e.g., Cunningham et al., 2007).
378
Figure 4: Normalized weighted regression coefficients βw obtained by PLSR and describing

the weight of the Rényi coefficient α for the classification of 35 black-and-white pictures into 5
groups according to PIEα,Wh (upper panel) and PIEα,Cr (lower panel). Red - coefficients βw with
minimal (or negative) relation to model, blue - coefficients βw with a positive relation to the
model
379
Figure 5: Normalized weighted regression coefficients βw obtained by PLSR and describing the
weight of the Rényi coefficient βw for the classification of 35 black-and-white pictures into 5
groups according to PIEα,Tot. Red - coefficients βw with minimal (or negative) relation to model,
blue - coefficients βw with a positive relation to model.
4. Conclusions
This work is a contribution to the objective analysis of philosophical and epistemological
questions, such as whether there are any general patterns and paradigms for/of human
(re)cognition. We describe an exact mathematical methodology which connects the infor-
mation entropy approach and multivariate data analysis, with the potential to study them.
Verifying the method on a group of human evaluators with the use of drawings by the Czech
artist František Kupka shows relatively uniform classification, related mainly to a compu-
ter-based semantic kind of information - meaning of the drawings. The syntactic infor-
mation, reflecting the structure (composition), is secondary, however, there is also a clear
similarity between groups of people in the weight of this parameter.
380
We believe that application of the research results in development of artificial intelligence

and encryption systems, as well as in consumer research from the point of view computa-
tional aesthetics is possible.
5. Supplementary data
Supplementary data are available at (ftp) and contains:
1. Folder „Kupka_Pic“ with
a. 35 original scans of sketches of Four stories of black and white series by František
Kupka (subfolder „orig“),
b. treated scans of the series into black-and-white version using transformImg.m

Matlab® script (subfolder „bw“),
c. and an 8bit resolution of computed PIGα,x,y,Wh (saved also in „PIG_Whole.xlsx“) and

PIGα,x,y,Cr values for each picture (subfolders „cross“ and „whole“). For each Rényi
coefficients α, white pixels are perceived in pictures with the highest probability
by evaluators, whereas perception of black pixels is quite suppressed. In case of
PIGα,x,y,Wh, the more illustrative are graphical dependences of raw PIGα,x,y,Wh values
on coefficient α (see Graph1 for Picture 1).
2. Folder „matlab_script“ containing
a. implementation of algorithms for calculation of PIGα,x,y,Wh/PIEα,Wh (whole.m) and

PIGα,x,y,Cr/PIEα,Cr (cross.m) into Matlab®.
b. txt-file containing transformImg.m Matlab® algorithm for treatment of scans,
c. remap.m Matlab® script (in txt-file) useful for remapping of original classification
vectors obtained from human volunteers (Figure 3).
3. All PLSR models in „PLS.unsb“ file (Unscrambler®).
4. For each image, dependences PIEα,Wh and PIEα,Cr vs. α („Char_Pictures.xlsx“).
5. Tables of original vectors of classification obtained from human volunteers (List

„orig_vectors), identical groups of classification among pairs of human volunteers (List
„identical groups“), and remapping groups of classification according to similarity (Lists
„remapping_1st step“ and „remapping last step“; all in „Class_Vectors.txt“ file).
381
6. Acknowledgement
This work was financially supported by Postdok JU CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0006, and by the
Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic - projects „CENAKVA“ (No.
CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0024) and „CENAKVA II“ (No. LO1205 under the NPU I program). Per-
mission to use and reproduce the copyrighted artwork was obtained in advance from the
appropriate copyright holder.
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Image: Liz | www.flickr.com/photos/erislove
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The path of
ageing: Self-
organisation
in the Nature
and the 15
properties
386
Zhyrova, Anna | Rychtáriková, Renata | Náhlík, Tomáš
Štys, Dalibor
University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of
Waters, South Bohemian Research, Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydroce-
noses, Institute of Complex Systems, Zamek 136, 373 33 Nove Hrady, Czech Republic
zhyrova@frov.jcu.cz
rrychtarikova@frov.jcu.cz
nahlik@frov.jcu.cz
stys@jcu.cz
This paper reports extensive experiments with perhaps

the simplest pattern-forming system in nature, the Be-
lousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. It explains the relation
between these experimentally observed patterns and
the 15 properties proposed by Christopher Alexander.
Analysis of experiments presented in this article also
outlines reasons why contemporary the mathemati-
cal apparatus does not adequately address observed
natural phenomena. The current approach considers
either equilibrium processes or, in the case of self-or-
ganised systems, processes at stable trajectories (Lya-
punov stable). In contrast, pattern forming processes
observed in nature are at the trajectory at which pat-
terns are observed and which passes through limited
number of finite stages - pattern shapes. We propose
for these systems ageing structured systems and for
their behaviour the term “path of ageing.”
Chemical self-organisation, 15 properties, ageing struc-

tured systems, path of ageings
387
1. Introduction
Christopher Alexander describes his thoughts about the existence of the world in the book
The Phenomenon of Life (Alexander 2002). He uses the word „life“ to define well-habitab-
le objects of architecture or urban planning and he extends these ideas to the descrip-
tion of the whole of observable nature. Christopher Alexander is neither the first nor the
only one who uses the word “life” to describe natural phenomena commonly understood
as lifeless - in the terminology of the 18th and 19th century as “inorganic.” We would like
to emphasise works of an early 19th century Austrian social scientist Georg Franz August
Graf von Buquov who published the work „Die sobennante Anorganische ist Organisches
in mehr oder weniger erloschener Aeusserung“ - The so-called inorganic is organic in a
more or less diluted expression (Buquoy 1839). There are observable analogies between
„lifeless“ natural creations and creations produced by living organisms which periodically
bring thinkers to propositions that either living creatures are nothing more than machines
or, at the opposite extreme, to an attribution of life to lifeless phenomena. Georges von
Buquoy simply states that there is not an obvious strict border (mathematically definable,
as this was Buquoy´s method) between the non-living and living phenomena and that we
can find parallels between behaviours at different levels of „expressions of life“ or „biotism“
(Buquoy 1837). What makes these thoughts still valid (or strikingly modern, as Robertson
commented on the economic theory of Buquoy (Buquoy 1815/2005) is the fact that the
same mathematical models can be used for description of formation of galaxies as well as
the evolution of stock indexes.
The simplest „lifelike“ experiment is the Belousov- Zhabotinsky reaction which is an examp-
le of self-organisation in a mixture of four simple chemicals (Lister 1995). At that time, the
discovery of this example of chemical self-organisation by Boris Pavlovich Belousov in 1959
(Belousov 1959) was denied by the scientific community as contradicting the second law of
thermodynamics. The existence of chemical self-organisation is now known, but it is still not
textbook knowledge. In other words, self-organisation in the material world is evident but
the majority of physico-chemical theories overlook it since they are unable to provide any
good mathematical model for it. Ilya Prigogine received the Nobel Prize for his work as early
as in 1977 (Prigogine 1977) and it is significant that he based his Nobel Prize speech on
chemical self-organisation. Despite mathematical models of nonlinear dynamics, predicting
much higher probability of the occurrence of a dynamic system in certain parts of the state
space, which date back to Poincaré (Poincare 1881), the naturalness of self-organisation in
nature is often overlooked. This is mainly due to the apparent mathematical difficulty of the
describing pattern-formation with established periodic behaviour. This may be demonstra-
388
The path of ageing: Self-organisation in the Nature and the 15 properties
ted by contrasting between these two facts: the classical article by Cross and Hohenberg
(Cross & Hohenberg 1993) has been cited over 5000 times since its publication, while an
adequate model describing the freely evolving Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction is so far
not available.
Christopher Alexander addressed his opinion on relations between the complexity theory
and his thoughts expressed in the book Nature of Order (Alexander 2002) in his reply to
Brian (Katarxis 2003). All along, from the achievements of Poincaré’s in his own time down
to contemporary achievements in complexity theory today, or, as Christopher Alexander
cites – the autopoiesis/autocatalysis of Stuart Kauffman (Kauffman 1971) – systems analy-
sis has been concerned with their steady states. The latest overview of Kauffman’s thought
about resignation from mathematical description of life as well as any chemical analogy to
it may be found, for example in Kauffman (2012). On the contrary, he very rightly spots the
crucial role of non-ergodicity in the universe as the cornerstone of the discrepancy between
standard statistical physics and that which would be needed for a description of observable
self-organised systems.
The equilibrium or periodically behaving systems in the strict sense of the word are only
seldom observed in nature. We would rather say they occur mostly as human artefacts.
Instead, we keep observing either (1) constantly decaying and regularly, irregularly or in-part
restarted self-organised systems (from living cells to organisms and ecosystems or socie-
ties) or (2) more or less slowly decaying self-organised systems such as drainage basins of ri-
vers and rocks. The latter category also includes human artefacts which are left abandoned.
When tended to, human artefacts share many properties of living systems – since human
activity is obviously projected into their states – and over a prolonged period of time may
also look like Lyapunov stable objects. In our opinion, the dissatisfaction with the available
mathematical description lies in the fact that mathematically examined properties of struc-
tures are not those which are in fact observed. We suggest that the terms path of ageing for
characterisation of observations of these real systems and ageing structured systems for
the observed phenomena should be considered.
Using the calm, Buquoyan, method of analysis we try to seek parallels of observed pheno-
mena. The last version of the15 properties of living objects portrayed in The Phenomenon
of Life (Alexander 2002) seems to be one of the guides on the way. But, if we paraphrase
what Christopher Alexander himself declared, “we finally recognised by observation of the
Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction that it is the field of centres which is primary, not these 15
properties. The properties are simply aspects of the field in which centres create wholeness
and wholeness creates centres.” We intend to demonstrate an experimentally accessible
389
ageing structured system and confront it with the 15 properties. We find many of the fifteen
properties more or less obvious, which illustrates the usefulness of such an analysis for a
proper description of ageing structures or systems or, maybe, observable self-organised
systems in general. And such a description is badly needed since the contemporary de-
scription resides in the realm of the mechanistic linear approximation to - innernasmost
- equilibrium physical chemistry, theoretical mechanics and elementary electromagnetism.
Even these disciplines themselves seem to be building a new language.
One may say that our education is preventing us to some extent from accessing the open-
ness needed to understand the self-organised nature around us. Natural philosophers
such as Schelling and his intellectual successor Buquoy (Buquoy 1937) were much less
constrained by mechanicistic terminology, which was only just arising during their time,
than us today. And persons like Christopher Alexander, who escaped the exact sciences
for practical work on aspects of human well-being, may be naturally closer to the unbiased
cognition, or at least classification, of observed self-organised phenomena.
We are also opening the discussion on the concept of reproducibility in ageing structured
systems. We propose that the active experimental reproducibility must constrain itself to
the precise definition of the experiment conditions and counting the types and extents of
the observed structures. We show that ageing structured systems adopt their own set of
structures which are rather precisely reproducible in their main characteristics – quality in
a sense of occurrence of precisely repeating structure forms – but change in quantity upon
change of spatial conditions and way of starting the path of ageing. Indeed the other aspect
of reproducibility, the maintenance of exactly the same statistical distribution whenever the
experiment is performed, is a pertinent desire.
Yet, this is notoriously difficult to achieve in experimental systems which are just Lyapunov
stable. But we demonstrate here systems on the way to Lyapunov stability. Fortunately for
us experimentalists, even in the most notoriously known model of the self-organising sys-
tem, the Lorenz attractor, the extent of space by which the system approaches the attractor
- the ergodic state - is in certain parts smaller than the attractor itself. Unfortunately that
may guide some observers towards the conclusion that we observe an equilibrium system.
In sciences like biochemistry or experimental medicine this mismatch is rather frequent.

This article also intends to open discussion in this subject.
390
2. Results
2.1. Experiment
At the web page (192.168.112.200/a1/LECOS) we present numerous series of the course
of the Belousov- Zhabotinsky reaction in vessels of various sizes and kinds. In most cases,
the observed phenomenon is referred to as the formation of chemical waves. As chemical
waves, they are traditionally named the bluish „tops“ followed by reddish „valleys“. This ter-
minology is rather misleading, namely since these waves do not behave as electromagnetic
or material waves in many aspects. Mainly, they do not interfere but merge. In the course
of the text, we shall rather utilise the terms „chemical waves“, „travelling waves“ or simply
„waves“ to describe the phenomenon of observation of moving light blue regions on the
reddish background. The standard way of performing the reaction is in a Petri dish of 90
mm in diameter distributed in the Jack Cohens kit (Cohen 2010). So that the experiment
can be reproduced by anyone in the world, we stick to this recipe. The separation of the
time course of the B-Z reaction into several stages of similar structure has been reported in
the previous paper (Zhyrova & Stys 2014).
The next experiment was performed in a rectangular vessel of the same surface area. Since
in this case we have observed behaviour different from those in a Petri dish, we have con-
cluded that the reaction vessel’s borders and shape do influence the reaction. Therefore, in
the last experiment series, we chose a Petri dish of 200 mm diameter. Here, free evolution
of travelling waves’ centres was observed for most of the structure types. Figure 1 shows the
influence of initial mixing on the course of the formation of structures. Spatial constraints of
the reaction are also depicted in sketchy way. In all cases, regular and least vigorous mixing
induces formation of the most regular waves, least influenced by the border of the vessel
and occurrence of more centres emanating waves. By contrast, vigorous magnet mixing in
a square vessel led to complete absence of wave-emitting centres (figure 12). In the case of
vigorous magnetic mixing, the structure is rather irregular, even when the reaction is per-
formed in a Petri dish with a diameter of 200 mm, which places almost no spatial constraint
on the reaction. On the other hand, smooth mixing induces almost regular progress of the
structure formation in a highly spatially constraining square dish.
391
Figure 1: Section of the course of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in various types of vessels.
1st row – a Petri dish of diameter 90 mm, 2nd row – a square dish of the same surface area as
a Petri dish of diameter 90 mm, 3rd row – a Petri dish of diameter 200 mm, 1st column – or-
bital mixing, 2nd column – manual mixing, 3rd column – a magnetic mixer. Datasets: 1st row
– 11-07-14 Orbit mix 18, Manual Lucy, and Magnet Mix 100, respectively (Img. 41 in the series);
2nd row – 14.7.2014 Orbital Mix 16 ctvr, Manual ctvr, and Magnet 100 ctvr1, respectively (Img.
19); 3rd row – 15, 16- 17.7.14 PD 200 mm Orbit mix 16, PD 200 mm Manual, and PD 200mm
Magn mix 200, respectively (Img. 59)
In the next part of this article, some features of the aforementioned experiments on the
B-Z reaction were selected to demonstrate relations to the 15 properties mentioned and
spotted in pieces of architecture and natural structures by Christopher Alexander.
2.2. Levels of scale

Different typical systems of formation of chemical waves, originating from centres appe-
aring more or less randomly in the system, are illustrated in figure 2. We observe centres
– points in the space – which emanate chemical waves. Less dense chemical waves of the
structural type 1 and 2 clearly belong to one of the centres. In the beginning of the process,
392
waves of the type 0 at very low density are also observable. These structures appear as
concentric circles of three types of regular distances between waves. The structure of type
3 is less regular in terms of the wave front shape (see discussions in section Contrast) and
arises typically at the border of the reaction vessel. However, we show an example when
it arises from its own centre. Even in case of experiments with a mild orbital shaking, the
majority of type 3 structures arose from their own centres in the middle of the vessel. It
also shows that type 3 waves do not evolve as concentric waves of the regular distance/
frequency but as waves that become increasingly dense and eventually smoothly change
into an irregular system of intersecting swirls (structural type 4). There is a constant conflict
between the tendency of maintenance of given wave thickness and tendency of the system
to create denser waves up to complete coverage of the system by the blinking blue object
(structure of type 5 – not shown here).
Figure 2: Left image: Various types of chemical waves reported in the literature – waves of
different types of densities and finally broken waves which change into swirling waves of diffe-
rent densities (structural type 4) represent a respective level of scale, naturally occurring in the
available chemo mechanical space of the reaction. (Img. 203 of PD200 series). Right image:
Arising from dense waves (structure type 3) in the middle of the reaction space at certain type of
shaking and reaction performance, even though the dense waves of type 3 typically arise at the
border of the reaction vessel. The structure of type 3 does not occur in the form of very regular
waves like those of type 1, 2, and 0 (not shown), but via an increasingly densening system of
waves which smoothly transforms into irregular swirls of type 4 (Img. 170th of PD200-2 series).
2.3. Strong centres

This characteristic is most strikingly demonstrable in the course of the Belousov-Zhabotins-
ky reaction. We recommend to the reader some of the image series which are available at
our ftp server 192.168.112.200/a1/LECOS. The access will be made available to the interes-
ted reader upon request. A sketch of these extensive experimental datasets is presented
in figure 3.
393
Figure 3: Course of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction and formation of waves (PD200-2 series).
Panel 1 (upper left, Img. 17): The existence of several centres from which travelling waves evolve.
Panel 2 (upper right, Img. 57): The prevalence of the centre emanating denser waves (structural
type 2) while coexistence of centres of the same type without domination. Panel 3 (lower left,
Img. 100) The detectable mechanism of the prevalence of the centre emanating waves of type 2
– the waves do not interfere but merge in the 1:1 ratio, higher density of waves give the advan-
tage to the denser centre. The densest centres eventually prevail. Panel 4 (lower right, Img. 170),
the almost complete prevalence of dense centres.
The initial occurrence of centres is shown in panel 1. The actual density of the centres de-
pends on the exact chemical composition, temperature, initial shaking, and shape of the
vessel as shown in the chapter Levels of scale. Panel 2 shows the course of wave merging
which eventually leads to the prevalence of centres emanating from the structures marked
by higher number over those of lower number. The denser the waves are, the stronger the
centre is.
394
Figure 4: Typology of centre strength. The rough, non-centres-forming structures eventually

prevail and transform themselves into even less organised structures. Shown Img. 18 (left) and
200 (right) of PD200 series.
In figure 4, typology of centre strengths depicts the mechanism by which one centre wins
over the other. The merging of waves in the 1:1 ratio is not possible without curvature of the
coexistence line inwards to the centre emanating less dense waves. In this way, the system
of denser waves eventually reaches the „weaker“ centre and „overtakes it“.
In this case it is possible to discuss the similarity of this mechanism with evolution of histo-
rical settlements. There was the original centre of the size determined by mechanisms of
local crafts and economy. From them emanated traffic connections which, when coincided,
met as crossings. As the centres occupied bigger parts of the non-inhabited space, the origi-
nal communication density and structure was maintained. Further growth was only possible
due to stronger economy which led to further densening of communication structures up
to their maximal level. And these dense communications overtook the less dense com-
munications of the past. The last functional step in this process is formed by multi-storey
blocks of flats, in which communications range into the third dimension. The opposite face
of such densening is the formation of disorganised slum regions around many large cities,
in which the width of communications is not maintained. Perhaps, the very dense streets of
southern cities share the same problem.
A less pleasant direction of thinking may be, for example, the fact that a culture which is able
to live in more dense settlements is prone to overtake the one, which, for some reasons,
tends to occupy the space less densely. At least as long as the technical and economical
resources allow it.
Perhaps, the simple Belousov-Zhabotinsky experiment demonstrates a more paramount

feature of self-organised nature apart not only from equilibrium, but also from the esta-
blished periodic behaviour as assumed by Kaufmann or Prigogine: the existence of only a
limited number of qualitatively distinct paths towards equilibrium or periodic behaviour.
This is the cause of tractability of observations of nature besides the fact that the statistical
ensemble of experiments in classical equilibrium science sense is far from sufficient.
2.4. Boundaries
The aspect of boundaries of regions corresponding to individual centres is observable al-
ready in figures 3 and 4. The waves connect by observable edges which form structures
of the prominent geometry with discriminating regions.The waves connect by detectable
395
edges which form pillars of the thought railing discriminating regions. However, as seen in
figure 5, the space between the pillars is not marked by any physical boundary. The analo-
gy to the respective architectural feature is here clearly marked. The boundaries are only
marked but not really enforced. This is likely the natural situation. The case of physical, i.e.
enforced, boundaries is discussed in the section on the Void.
Figure 5: Information carried by an individual colour channel in Img. 200 of the dataset PD200.
The size of the object may be calculated by counting camera pixels. The average size was
0.7x0.7 mm/px (the value is lightly changing within the image due to distortion by the camera
optics). Panel 1 - Upper row left – The red channel expanded between intensity levels 76 and
124. Panel 2 - Upper row centre – The green channel expanded between levels 20 and 104.
Panel 3 - Upper row right – The blue channel expanded between levels 16 and 126. Panels 4, 5
and 6 (marked similarly as above). The red channel is expanded between levels 100 and 124,
the green one between levels 45 and 104, and the blue channel between 44 and 126. They
represent the same intensity expansion as in the upper row, although the spatial expansion is
larger. More detailed structures spanning both „valleys“ and „peaks“ are to some extent similar
ones, but also to some extent spatially different between colour channels. There are obviously
many subtle details of the mechanism which maintains the „pillars“ in place. This process leads
to macroscopically observed, measurable, and easy determinate features. Detailed analysis of
this phenomenon exceeds the possible extent of this article and will be described later.
2.5. Positive space

The way that Christopher Alexander uses the term positive space reflects his basic concern
in architecture. According to him, a positive space has essentially a correspondence to the
shape with meaning and purpose of a human artefact. However, it is difficult to attribute to
a mixture of five chemicals such meaning and purpose. In addition, there is a kind of natural
beauty – let us call it positive impression – at least for structures of types 0, 1, and 2, and, in
396
a different sense, also for the type 4. Even though the BZ reaction is technically enormously
simple, it demonstrates most of the features which are generally attributed only to living
matter; organisms of societies may be also found in this simple phenomenon.
The question which has to be confronted with the ideas of „The phenomenon of life“ is:
What is primary – the impression of meaning and purpose or the chemo-mechanical basis
of the existence of observable structures to which our perception is adapted? Is the exis-
tence of mankind or are the needs of an individual just a purpose or are they the result of
the physico-chemical substance and material constraints available on the Earth to which
the perception is adopted? We have proven that in order to maintain the particular path
through the zone of attraction of the ageing structured system of the B-Z reaction, there is
only one set of allowed patterns. The paths establish themselves regularly after a necessary
initial time. Whether or not this description may be extended to urban society at a given
technological state and given ecological conditions remains to be examined. But it is temp-
ting to think so. We propose coining the term “path of ageing” for most of the features of
observable self-organised systems. We may also define the words meaning and purpose
through the behaviour of the system in a given shape and structure.
In order to demonstrate our idea, we present a section of series of experiments performed

in a square vessel of the size constraining the system evolution (Figure 6). The main diffe-
rence between these two columns is the result of the difference of mixing. The consequent
difference of evolution illustrates the importance of precisely setting the start of the path of
ageing of the system. In the vigorously shaken case (right column), the system of nicely spa-
ced and distinct waves is never fully established. In the beginning, there are „revolutionary“
changes which are observed as sudden colour changes of the whole vessel, the background
in empty spaces is never homogenously red. On the contrary, upon gentle and uniform
mixing by an orbital mixer (left column), the system of separate waves evolves, although
obviously not as nicely regular as in the unconstrained environment shown in figure 3.
We thus conclude that positive space is not a partly cultural construct, as may be invoked
from texts by Christopher Alexander. Each of the systems has its own appropriate space
and shape which is fully expressed in favourable cases, and not constrained by conditions.
Nevertheless, in most cases, the conditions are more or less constraining. Then, it is im-
portant to give the right start to a system´s path of ageing to for allow its least constrained
existence. The system never evolves its good shape upon a bad start in partly constraining
space.
397
Figure 6: Images from the series of experiments performed in a square vessel. Left column –
gently mixed system using an orbital mixer applied to biological cultures, right column – system
vigorously mixed by a magnetic stirrer. From top to the bottom – Img. 2, 3, 15, and 50 in the
datasets 14.7.2014/Magnet 100 ctvr1 and 14.7.2014/Orbital Mix16 ctvr2, respectively.
2.6. Good shape

We distinguish the term „good shape“ from that of „positive space“ which is the reflecti-
on of necessity for enabling the internal path of ageing the system to exist given certain
constraints. Experiments performed in a constrained environment (Fig.6) and those freely
evolving (Fig. 7) significantly differ in the size and number of observed bubbles. During the
reaction, carbon dioxide is released. The number of bubbles, including those which burst in
time, is the measure of the extent of the chemical reaction. As seen by the naked eye, the
coverage of the vessel by bubbles is much higher in the constrained environment than in
the unconstrained one. It indicates that the shape of the vessel and the resulting structure
prevalence affects the course of the chemical reaction, i.e., the amount of chemical energy
needed to maintain the optimal structure.
398
Figure 8 demonstrates that the pattern formation is to a large extent independent of actual
chemical composition of the mixture. The system may be re-shaken and then the structure
formation re-starts. The actual shape of waves changes slightly with the number of repeats
which reflects the gradual change in the chemical composition. Despite this, the tendency
towards formation of structures similar to the initial structural types 0, 1 and 2 is main-
tained. In no case do we observe a sudden tendency towards the formation of the structure
type 4 or 5 immediately after re-shaking.
We may thus conclude that in the case of chemical self-organisation, the structure formati-
on is to a large extent independent of the chemical energy decay. It is driven by the tenden-
cy of the system to acquire its innate shape – a good shape, Christopher Alexander would
say. The good shape is that observed at given time on the path of ageing at a given chemical
composition, after an optimal start and given unconstrained spatial conditions.
Figure 7: The experiment in a Petri dish with diameter 200 mm enabling mostly unconstrained
evolution of the system. Series 15, 16-17.7.14/PD200 orbit mix16.
Upper row (Img. 5 and 10) – Evolution of numerous centres emitting waves of structural types 0,
1, and 2 upon gentle shaking. 2nd row from the top (Img. 20 and 35) – Onset of the evolution of
399
structural types 3 and 4 at the edges of the vessel. 3rd row from top, left (Img. 50) – Structures
of type 3 evolve also inside the existent centres distant from the border of the vessel. 3rd row
from the top, right (Img. 100) – Almost full coverage of the vessel by the structure of type 3.
Lower row (Img. 150 and 197) – Full coverage of the vessel by structures of type 3, still accom-
panied by formation of marginal structures of type 1 or 2.
Figure 8: Repeated courses of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in a Petri dish of 90 mm (15,

16-17.7.14/PD90 reshake set). Upper row – the initial shake (Img. 1, 10, 27), 2nd row – the 4th
re-shake (Img. 83, 93, 109), 3rd row – 11th re-shake (Img. 257, 267, 282), 4th row – the 13th
re-shake (Img. 282, 315, 325), 5th row – the last and 16th re-shake (Img. 398, 406 and 410).
Always shown is the initial state after shaking, the 10th frame after the shake, and one of the
next frames. In the first three rows we show the last frame before re-mixing. The last row is an
exception as we show the 8th frame after remixing and the last frame in which distinct structu-
res may be observed. After this frame, the mixture was uniformly blue. It is seen that as the
concentration of reactants in the mixture decays, the shape of appearing structure changes.
400
2.7. Local symmetries, deep interlock and ambiguity

In figure 9 a lot of local symmetries may be seen. Due to the specific tendency of chemical
waves to merge instead of interfere, waves emanating from local centres adjoin. Thus, at
least in an early phase of the system’s life, a reaction vessel is filled by locally symmetrical
structures.
Figure 9: Similarity of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction structures to pieces of architectural

plans in which Christopher Alexander demonstrates the features of local symmetry (Img. 15 of
15, 16-17. 7. 14. Orbit mix16 series).
By contrast, the beauty of the local symmetry is broken upon the arising of deeply interlo-
cked structures of type 4 (Fig. 10). The features of local symmetry as well as deep interlock
and ambiguity belong to the essential characteristics of structured nature. However, our
observation indicates that they are those of contradicting character. At least, local sym-
metry requires a partial freedom, while deep interlock is reserved for stiffening structures,
often operating in higher spatial dimension. Those of the supporting structures shown in
Alexander’s work – i.e. knots and wooden intersections – are examples of them. Structu-
res of type 4 in a Petri dish of 200 mm in diameter usually shows 10x longer stability than
those of the type 0, 1, 2, and 3. Their arising after exceeding the density of waves, enabled
by the two-dimensional space indicates the possibility of utilization of higher dimensional
chemo-mechanical space.
401
Figure 10: Arising of structures of type 4 in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction, which are similar
to details of architecture in which Christopher Alexander demonstrates both the features of deep
interlock and ambiguity (Img. 60 of 15, 16-17. 7. 14. Orbit mix16 series).
2.8. Contrast
In figure 5 we also demonstrate the chemo-mechanical origin of the contrast in the BZ
experiment. A more apparent demonstration of the innate tendency of the maintenance
of contrast is shown in figure 11. Contrast steeply builds up upon the formation of waves.
In consecutive frames, the natural thickness of waves at the chemical composition in the
13th time re-shaken system is no longer consistent with the mechanism by which they arise.
Additional structures are observed in the long tail following the sharp front. Yet, the sharp
contrast of the front zone of the travelling wave and the red „background“ is maintained.
Figure 11: Repeated courses of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in the Petri dish of the
diameter 90 mm. We show selected frames of the 13th re-shake of the series shown in figure 8.
We show frames 315, 321, 326, 331, 336 and 341 of the set 15, 16-17.7.14 / PD90 re-shake.
The step from the just re-mixed state at the upper left figure to the appearance of the structure
402
in frame 321 - upper right figure - shows steep arising of the contrast. Further frames ensue in
time with the same logic.
2.9. Gradients and roughness

A textbook example of the gradient in the Alexander’s sense is illustrated in figure 5. It oc-
curs at the intersection of structural types 1, 2, and 3. Nevertheless, this example is more
an impression arising from comparison of figures in the Christopher Alexander book and
a carefully selected image. In fact, a structural gradient is observed only upon the arising
of structural type 3. But, as travelling waves become denser, they lose their regularity and
eventually break into a structure of type 4. The loss of regularity is due to contrasting ten-
dencies to maintain the inner chemo-mechanical stability and to increase the interlock of
chemical waves. This is exactly what is understood as the tendency to roughness, the for-
mation of subtle irregularities, necessary to accomplish the function of the object. We be-
lieve that in real systems such as chemical self-organisation, following the path of ageing,
the local symmetry, deep interlock, gradients and roughness are in fact mutually exclusive
phenomena, probably with the possible coexistence of deep interlock and roughness at the
same time in favourable cases.
2.10. Echoes
The echoes are defined in the following way: „There is a deep underlying similarity – a family
resemblance – among the elements, so deep that everything seems to be related, and yet
one does not know why, or what causes it.“ (Alexander 2002). The structures in figure 9 are
certainly the prominent examples of similar, yet not identical, objects. As shown in figure 5,
the chemical wave is in its in-depth structured, not an in-part-smooth phenomenon, even
at the level of smoothness observed in interfering waves or turbulent flow. It is rather a
highly organised formation of finite elements. This aspect is even more prominent at other
concentrations, where the spatial distribution is more extent and more complicated (Fig.
11). Additional structures built around and behind the waves are observed here. There is
obviously self-organisation at several different scales. Similarly, an even more striking, ex-
ample is demonstrated in image 12, where we observe the sudden formation of structure
„in the empty space“.
The existence of organisation at different levels has been accepted as fact in the solid state
– e.g., in crystals – but is still surprising in the liquid state and other examples of self-or-
ganised phenomena such as flock behaviour and social self-organisation. The majority of
the models try to explain long distance interactions in terms of chains of local interactions.
Yet, long distance interactions such as electromagnetic or gravitational fields do exist and
403
are considered non-localised at the microscopic level. But the world is inherently split into
localised structures in the same time. We will have to accept that self-organisation at many
hierarchical levels is a natural feature of matter, as is the tendency to minimise energy. The
tendency to maximise entropy is in fact not a general, but rather a unique property of mat-
ter in the gaseous phase. Upon acceptance of this fact, the existence of echoes would not
be surprising, but natural and substantial.
2.11. Void
Here, we show an experiment (Fig. 12) with distinct states appearing in the part of the vessel
not occupied by the travelling waves. There seems to be interaction between the void and
the structured area, which leads to disappearance of certain features of waves after the
sudden structure formation in the vessel. The void structure „wipes out“ the less organised
parts of waves and „compresses“ them into a more organised form. Eventually, the vessel is
filled by wavelike structures and the void self-organisation does not survive.
Figure 12: Section of the course of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction in a square dish mixed by
a magnetic stirrer (Img. 204, 205, 206, 223, 224, and 225 of the set 14.7.14/Magnet 100 ctvr1).
The travelling waves evolve only at the borders of the vessel. Sudden homogeneous colour chan-
ges occur in the whole vessel (upper row), an obvious structure suddenly forming and disappea-
ring in the waveless space (lower row).
Indeed, this behaviour has many strong analogies in living nature, but observation of it in a
simple chemical system is truly astonishing. And it also illustrates the mechanistic meaning
of the concept of void. Existence of an empty space is not natural, even in ageing structured
systems. In fact, it needs to be maintained. If the tendency to maintenance is insufficient,
the void disappears.
404
2.12. Simplicity and inner calm

The structure in figure 9 is the most calmly evolving of all experiments which we performed.
The vessel was large enough to allow many centres to form on the vessel border outside the
range. The mixing was performed by an orbital mixer in the most gentle way as well. Indeed,
we may understand the meaning of simplicity and inner calm in contrast to dramatic events,
e.g., in image 12. These situations, in which systems may be freely and calmly evolving, are
not frequent. They are rather difficult to achieve in spatially constrained environments. Ho-
wever, it is difficult to mechanistically distinguish simplicity and inner calm from the property
of Good Shape described above.
2.13. Non-separateness
Throughout the whole analysis of experiments described in this article we have demonstra-
ted that the structured system on its path of ageing is organised over the whole available
space. Perhaps the calmest systems, in our case those evolving in a large Petri dish and
mixed by an orbital shaker, do not perceive the existence of events at large distances so
strongly and interact only locally upon wave intersection. In any case, the resulting structure
may not be analysed only in its parts, but the whole structure from which it originated must
be considered.
3. Discussion
3.1. Technical aspects
We report the most relevant examples of a rather extensive set of experiments. Here, we
examined mainly the influence of the shape and size of the vessel, the chemical composi-
tion of the initial mixture, and the method of initial mixing on the free decay – the path of
ageing – of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. Figure 1 illustrates some of the aspects of
these experiments in a comprehensive way. The influence of the initial shaking is the most
striking. In cases of application of the smooth shaking method using an orbital shaker, we
might conclude that the borders of the vessel have negligible influence on the process.
Perhaps we might have discussed slight irregularities in the wave front shape in the square
vessel (compare images in the first column of Fig. 1).
The strong influence of the method of the initial shaking deserves further analysis. Shaking
has the most significant influence on the course of the reaction in a square vessel - even,
in the largest vessel by a magnetic mixer and by hand led to formation of dense structures
of type 4 on vessel borders. These facts indicate that it is structural stress at the vessel
405
borders which is changed by mixing. But upon the mixing by a magnetic stirrer in a square
vessel, the proper wave front structure did not even establish (Figs. 1 - 3rd column and 12).
The naturally arising question has to do with the concept of reproducibility of experiments
on systems such as living cells, animal behaviour, and, in our simplest example, chemical
self-organisation. It is certainly possible to maximise the care for the reproducibility of initial
conditions of an experiment as well as to control and quantify the mechanical differences
between individual experiments. However, until the conditions of the experiment initialisa-
tion and vessel structure are kept within relatively broad limits, the self-organisation leads
to formation of a reproducible, and relatively small, set of structures. In fact, as we observe
dynamic processes of structure formation and maintenance, we may probably talk about
a limited set of behaviours. The extent and duration for which these structures last are the
properties which differ. We propose to attribute a path of ageing as a general feature of
these rather common systems. The way of starting of the process and the environmental
conditions such as spatial constraints do alter quantitatively the particular path of the ag-
eing process. They also influence stability and duration but do not alter qualitatively the
patterns which are characteristic of a particular path of ageing. There may be spatial or
starting conditions which send the system on a qualitatively different path of ageing. This
is a rather common observation in cells, individual organisms as well as societies, but also
in the formation of stars, planetary systems, and even as a very outlying example, galaxies.
Indeed, this opens many deeply philosophical concepts. If it is true that there is, under given
physical laws governing our universe, only a rather limited set of behaviours and, moreover,
if this set of behaviours is further constrained in their realisation by the necessity of having
an appropriate start and geometry, the evolution of universe, organisms and societies be-
comes less miraculous. Indeed, it is known that at the statistical mechanics level the mul-
tifractal characteristics of galaxy formation and financial markets are rather similar each to
other (see Korbel & Jizba 2014). The problem is in finding the appropriate elements and
measures. The experiment on the free decaying BZ reaction indicates the arising of these
similarities from the common tendency of a real system to adopt a limited set of paths of
ageing.
On the other hand, we must admit that we are not prepared to propose any unambiguous
mathematical interpretation. Some potential sources of guidance in the description of dy-
namic systems, including discontinuities and switching, are available (Jeffrey 2014). Nevert-
heless, as far as we understand, none of them may be applied to a multidimensional system
of our type.
406
3.2. The phenomenon of life

The purpose of this article was to confront the rather intuitive definition of properties of the
Phenomenon of Life given by Christopher Alexander (2002) with the simplest known examp-
le of natural self-organisation, the Belousov- Zhabotinsky reaction. The structure formation
in this reaction is obviously not a result of the creative activity of a living creature. This indi-
cates that if we observe analogies to its behaviour in other aspects of living and non-living
nature, including those in human artefacts and societies, they may be signs of common laws
of nature. It suits equally well for other physical and physico-chemical laws governing the
equilibrium systems or laws of chaotic dynamics governing self-organised systems, in which
the limit cyclic behaviour has been achieved. The course of the BZ reaction discussed here
is actually neither an equilibrium process nor a stable limit cycle. It is a system on the path
of ageing similar to most others observable in the natural world surrounding us.
There is not a clear distinction between living and non-living systems in many aspects of
their existence which are normally attributed to life, namely self-organisation. At proper
scaling, we may find analogies to a static and dynamic behaviour and the tendency to heat
equilibration as was properly stated already by Buquoy (Buquoy 1837, Buquoy 1839). In
addition, there is something which distinguishes life from other systems on the path of ag-
eing. And, on the basis of the reasoning given above, we dare to say that the distinct feature
of living systems over the non-living ones consists in the proper and repeated re-starting
of the path of ageing. In the case of a simple living cell of a unicellular microorganism, the
chemical composition of the cell interior is maintained in homeostasis. But the structural
ageing proceeds and is measurable as nicely shown by Schwille, Kruse and company (Bisic-
chia & al. 2013, Bonny & al. 2013]. The re-start of the path of ageing is the condition which
is needed for maintenance of good shape. It occurs in a proper, correspondingly smooth,
way called cell division. Similarly, we may discuss the phenomenon of life for multicellular
organism or societies.
With full humbleness, we cannot agree with Christopher Alexander that all systems to which
may be attributed the 15 properties may be called living. They may be probably classified
as systems on the path of ageing. Such systems even prevail in nature. And already quite
simple systems on the path of ageing have only a very limited choice of patterns which de-
marcate their evolution. The set of systems on the path of ageing which should deserve the
name living is even more limited by the existence of proper shape and appropriate re-star-
ting – or re-shaking. Pieces of architecture or other artefacts certainly may invoke living
structures. But it should not be forgotten that they are immortal only thanks to permanent
maintenance. When unattended, they quickly decay. And it should be admitted that many
buildings and artefacts not serving human needs well are often unattended.
407
4. Acknowledgements
This work was partly supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech
Republic – projects CENAKVA (No. CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0024) and CENAKVA II (No. LO1205 un-
der the NPU I program), by Postdok JU CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0006 and GAJU Grant (134/2013/Z
2014 FUUP). Authors thank to Petr Jizba, Jaroslav Hlinka, Petr Císař, Harald Martens, and
Jan Urban for important discussions, Vladimír Kotal, Iryna Kochish, Lucie Kačeriaková, Divya
Sheshadri, Martin Vrkoč, Jan Pospíšil, Kacper Boyda and Natálie Friedová for technical as-
sistance, Jana Pečenková and Dalibor Štys Jr. for preparation of figures and Divya Sheshadri
for control of the manuscript.
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6. Appendix
6.1. Performance of the chemical reaction
The reaction was performed as described by the instructions to the commercially available
reaction kit (Cohen 2010). The temperature was maintained at 25oC by an iron plate hea-
ted by a water bath thermostat. Five main experimental vessels were used: 1) a standard
Petri dish supplied with the kit of the diameter of 90 mm, 2) a Petri dish with a diameter of
200 mm, 3), a Petri dish with a size of 10 mm in diameter, 4) a square glass vessel with a
side-length of 74 mm, and 5), and a rectangular dish with sides of 102 mm x 55 mm. The
5-mm thickness of the layer of the reaction mixture was always maintained.
In this article, we report only the results of the set-up for 1, 2, and 4. All results are available
to interested public for their own analyses at the website of the complex system institu-
te BZ. We employed three types of mixing: a) vigorous mixing by a magnetic stirrer in a
glass beaker followed by pouring the mixture into the reaction vessel, b) mixing by hand
as suggested by Cohen 2010 and co.), and gentle mixing using an orbital mixer (Edmund
Bühler GmbH, TL-10) at 16 rpm. Only manual mixing was used in the experiments that were
re-shaken.
Images were captured by a Nikon D810 camera and stored in a least compressed jpg and
12bit NEF format.
410
Image: Bindalfrodo | www.flickr.com/photos/bindalfrodo
411
The utility of
using patterns
and pattern
languages for
autodidactic
learning: the
example of
“Patterns for
Composing
Music”
412
Schlechte, Thomas
Dresden, Germany
thomas.schlechte@gmail.com
This paper addresses the utility of cross-fertilizing pat-

terns and pattern languages (P&PLs) with a creative lear-
ning domain, driven by an autodidactic motivation. Using
the example of “Patterns for Composing Music” – a tool for
composing “living” musical structure – the paper compa-
res a “systematic” learning approach with the “dive-in” le-
arning approach, and makes a case for the latter. It argues
that the emergence of “living” structure is more prone to
emerge using an open-learning environment with flexible
strategies and general principles of form characteristic of
P&PL (the “dive-in” approach), and less prone to emerge
by following an inflexible learning strategy, characterized
by pre-defined exercises and techniques which must be
mastered (the “systematic” approach). This is because P&-
PLs, once applied to a certain domain, (1) provide intuitive
direction, (2) offer space for interpretation and (3) give an
incentive to move beyond the initial principle. Thus, P&-
PLs that become merged with a creative learning domain
offer the student an easy entry, a tailored way of learning,
and a continuous incentive to enhance his or her specific
range of skills, known as the “maneuvering corridor”.
Pattern; Pattern Language; Composing; Music;

Maneuvering Corridor; Dive-in; Chilly Gonzales
413
“What most of us lack in order to be artists, is not the inceptive motive, nor yet merely
technical skill in execution. It is capacity to work a vague idea and emotion over into terms
of some definite medium.” (Dewey, 1934)
1. Introduction
The number of domains which are becoming cross-fertilized with Christopher Alexander’s
Pattern Theory, is steadily on the rise. However, besides a very general attempt by Eno &
Schmidt (1975), no genuine translation of music and musical composition into Patterns
& Pattern Languages (P&PLs) has been made. The aim of this paper is to analyze such a
detailed translation attempt, called “Patterns for Composing Music” (PfCM): 96 patterns for ge-
nerating living (musical) structure. It argues that a cross-fertilization of any creative learning
domain with P&PL’s can lead to a very rapid skill-enhancement of generating living structure
in an autodidactic learning environment.
Alexander (2002) argued that the structure-preserving transformation is a fundamental

secret of all forms of artistic creation. This makes the structure-preserving transformation
of musical structure – i.e. the act of composition – also potentially subject to the Pattern
Theory. Alexander (2002a) also stressed numerous times that the successful generation of
living structure cannot be attained by exclusively following context-independent building
block procedures, systematic plans and abstract doctrines. Instead, paying attention to sen-
sory perception, looking at the big picture of a specific context and creating an artifact out of
vague imaginations by moving forward in a step-by-step and structure-preserving manner,
is absolutely vital for letting living artifacts emerge. Many arguments made in Nature of Order
(Alexander 2002a) about visually perceived structures can easily be transferred to acoustic
structure as well. For example, just as we are able to see gradients of color, we are also able
to hear gradients in tone. This is just one of many striking analogies which has turned out
to be fruitful for describing PfCM.
After learning that beauty comes mostly from a gracefully consolidated composition of an-
tagonistic forces – a well-balanced rearrangement and final merger of previously isolated
and contradicting elements (be they color, words, clay, tones, etc.) that transforms them
into a New Whole and that has the power to mirror experienced meaning of those individu-
als who perceive it – it becomes apparent that the art of composing living music embodies
the very same principles that go into composing living societies, buildings, pictures, etc.
Thus, a key parallel between the Nature of Order and music is that they both embody the
struggle between two incompatible processes of creation: (1) a mechanized/scheduled way
414
The utility of using patterns and pattern languages for autodidactic learning: the example of
“Patterns for Composing Music”
of building (less alive) and (2) a step-by-step/structure-preserving development of an arti-

fact proceeding from a vague sense of what is needed. The same struggle is observable in
music. A composition can be either the result of a systematic-applied sequence of chords
which stick to a certain scale and harmony, or it can be the result of a structure-preserving
rearrangement and adaptation of randomly chosen notes and chords. Even though both
ways are subject to the same rules of the game, and that compositions are often a result of
both approaches, this paper hypothesizes that living musical compositions are more prone
to emerge in the latter way. They cannot be attained by solely applying musical concepts
in a systematic manner1. Accordingly, one can argue that music can be successfully learned,
played and composed in two major ways that are fundamentally different from each other:
1. The “systematic” approach: learning musical concepts, techniques and skills in a

rigid and systematic building-block-sequence. The act of practicing is regarded as a
separated activity, a necessary evil that needs to be mastered before the joyful act
of playing and composing can begin. The “systematic” approach allows the learner
to develop excellent technique and masterful repetition ability, but it discourages
originality. It aims at music being correct, minimizing mistakes in repetition. It is desi-
gned around the belief that a musical concept needs to be mastered before it can be
applied successfully. The act of playing and composing becomes the result of many
years of hard and repetitive practice. Virtuosity is considered more important than
originality.
2. The “dive-in” approach: learning musical concepts, techniques and skills by oscilla-
ting within an open network of self-determined theoretical and practical strategies.
The act of practicing/playing/composing is regarded as one activity. The “dive-in”
approach seeks out the balance between the learner’s inner motivational drive, an-
chors there where the learner enjoys himself most, allows him to make mistakes for
integrating them into his own compositions and encourages him to find an his own
gateway to music. The act of composing music starts from the first day – just as practi-
cing and playing does. Originality is considered more important than virtuosity.
A major indication for this hypothesis is that musical compositions are not an exclusive
domain that belong solely to systematically trained musicians, but that they belong to sen-
sitive and self-taught people as well: “(…) great musical geniuses are self-taught because the fire
that owns them, makes them unstoppable in their desire to find their own way” (Schubart, 2011,
p.107, author’s translation). This author argues that this potential autodidactic ingenuity in
fact lurks within every single human being, not necessarily in relation to music, but in every
1 Johnson (1985) made with “The Chords Catalogue” – all the 8178 chords possible in one octave”, a convincing example for a systematically
planned musical composition which is, above all, correct but arguably lifeless.
415
different domain imaginable, and namely, in that domain that is emotionally important to
that person. The major challenges are, however, (a) how to identify that particular domain,
(b) how to provide an open and flexible learning environment for it to flourish, (c) how to
allow an autodidactic motivation to grow, and (d) how to channel this motivation success-
fully towards a living artifact. The following section will show how these challenges might be
overcome with P&PLs, using the example of PfCM to illustrate.
2. The “dive-in” approach – learning in an open

network of strategies
In the course of learning musical concepts, reading musical scores, starting to play pieces
by score and by ear2, as well as experimenting with open-source electronic musical notation
programs3, it has become apparent to the author that the “dive-in” approach in combinati-
on with P&PLs is a powerful tool for (1) organizing heuristic knowledge and for (2) applying
it in a flexible way when practicing/playing/composing. Many P&PLs are mostly described
and used in participative and cooperative environments. However, as the following sections
will show, P&PLs can have a significant learning effect for autodidactic learners as well. In
contrast to the “systematic” approach, the “dive-in” approach does not subscribe to a clear
sequence of skills to be mastered. Instead, a temporarily fixed, but in the long-term flexible
and open network of strategies is used in a very heterogenic way to enhance the learners’
skills (see Fig. 1). There is no clear identifiable starting point of the learning process. The
transition from a selection of learning strategies to an “aha-experience”, followed by the ge-
neration of patterns can also happen the other way around, or even entirely start from the
“aha-experience” and then spread out to a learning strategy with influences on new pattern
descriptions. It is also possible that the learner can read patterns and start to describe his
own patterns so that his knowledge merges with that of others. On the other hand, patterns
can be also the result of inner contemplation and perception.
2 As described by Coker, 1964

3 Such as “MuseScore” by Schweer, 2014
416
Figure 1: Open network of strategies
The flexibility of the “dive-in” approach creates an environment which allows the learner to
identify a domain of emotional importance, thus providing a prerequisite for developing an
autodidactic motivation. However, a high autodidactic motivation without an appropriate
frame of reference will remain fruitless. The high energy level of the learner´s autodidactic
motivation needs to be steered into suitable channels so that he may progress. Accordingly,
the role of patterns in this channeling-process cannot be overestimated, since they serve
both as organizers of mastered knowledge and facilitators for learning new skills. Whereas
an open network of strategies provides a flexible framework for an autodidactic motivation,
patterns are able to channel that motivational energy appropriately. In contrast to a rule,
which (1) offers little indication of how to reach it, (2) narrows down the options of reaching
it inflexibly and (3) reduces the experience of the learner when it has been reached, a prin-
ciple in form of a pattern gives (1) intuitive direction, (2) space for interpretation and (3)
incentive to move beyond the initial principle. The resulting effect for the learning progress
of the “dive-in” approach with P&PLs can be explained using the concept of the maneuvering
corridor.
417
3. The maneuvering corridor

The maneuvering corridor describes the learners’ range of ability to vary a musical note se-
quence (see Fig. 2). Each student, regardless of whether he is novice or advanced, posses-
ses a certain level of skill that allows him to play certain note sequences on his instrument
of choice (A). A new skill can only be learned when the learner maintains his motivational
drive to broaden his level of skill, i.e. to increase his individual maneuvering corridor range.
A student with very little repertoire of musical concepts or principles for varying musical
note sequences, might find it difficult to move forward with practicing/playing/composing
- simply because there are too many possible ways of hitting the notes, and too little skills
to move forward. If he starts to hit the notes randomly very fast, the possibility of finding a
good-sounding note sequence is minimal, and the chance of gaining skills in a step-by-step/
structure-preserving sequence is not there – the emotional energy invested would lead to
nothing (B1). If he just repeats what he can play, there is also no progress (B2). The challen-
ge is to broaden the maneuvering corridor in just the right way (B) to ensure that the student
will push itself far enough to learn a new note sequence, but at the same time stay within
his range of capability in order to prevent frustration. This can be easily done by playing a
mastered note sequence (A), trying to vary it according to a generic principle (pattern) (B),
coming back to the mastered note sequence (A*), and starting to vary it again (B*) – be it
with the same pattern, with another one, or for advanced students a combination of various
patterns. Sometimes it can be extremely fruitful to play under ones abilities to open up new
perspectives for differing variation attempts (C).
Figure 2: The maneuvering corridor of the “dive-in” approach
418
The alternating contraction and relaxation of the maneuvering corridor is the most import-
ant aspect of the learning/playing/composing experience because it allows the learner to
find new note sequences within old ones by himself. Furthermore, the joy of practicing/
playing/composing comes largely from a self-managed and structure-preserving emanci-
pation of the learner accomplished by progressively broadening his maneuvering corridor
boundaries. It allows the learner to maintain an ambition to move on with rigor. In time,
the alternating movement will broaden the overall range of the maneuvering corridor – the
level of skill to vary a musical structure - very rapidly without compromising the motivational
drive. The student will be rewarded with a long-lasting and satisfying experience, which is
a vital prerequisite for creating original compositions. As mentioned above, the fact that
patterns give (1) intuitive direction, (2) space for interpretation and (3) incentive to move
beyond the principle means that they serve as a suitable tool for broadening the learner’s
personal maneuvering corridor to just the right degree (B). Practicing, playing and composing
develop naturally.
In contrast, the systematic learning approach does not offer very much to the learners’ abi-
lity to expand his personal maneuvering corridor (see Figure 3) because progress is sought
through a pre-determined sequence of exercises. The maneuvering corridor boundaries
become linearized (E) and open up more or less independently of the learner’s motivational
drive.
Figure 3: The maneuvering corridor of the systematic approach
The pedantic rehearsal of isolated chords, arpeggios and hand positions may create large
cleavages between the learners’ abilities, his motivational drive and his chances of discover-
ing new musical structures successfully. In the beginning, the learning effect will be promi-
sing because the “strategic” approach narrows down the maneuvering corridor to an extent
that every beginner feels comfortable in (F1), but as soon as more sophisticated skills are
demanded, the learner will be prone to frustration since playing a fast note sequence in an
isolated exercise does neither answer to his personal maneuvering corridor range, nor to
419
his inner motivational drive (F2). The moments when the demands of the teacher and the
appropriate maneuvering corridor range of the student meet (G) become rare coincidences
as the student progresses. Consequently, the “systematic” approach fails to take a step back
when it is necessary, with the result that many students become frustrated. The deep fee-
ling for music and for playing an instrument gets superseded by an annoying building-block
sequence of dry exercises, making the learning experience fractured. The decisive aspect
is that each broadening and narrowing of the maneuvering corridor has to be charged with
personal meaning for the learner. An isolated exercise is a goal-oriented activity – it has no
meaning in the moment.
As the learner progresses via the “dive-in” approach, he discover and learn more musi-
cal structures, concepts, strategies, patterns, etc., with the continuous aim of recombi-
ning them in a fruitful way. This is the very essence of composing music. The potentially
inexhaustible opportunities of differentiating existing musical shapes into new ones, do
not become overwhelmed by complexity in the mind of the musician because the patterns
always ensure that the maneuvering corridor has an appropriate range in order to proceed.
Instead of developing an ambition to master all the possible note/chord combinations, the
learner will prefer to enjoy the feeling of diving into one possible way – his way – in the mo-
ment of practicing/playing/composing. As a consequence, it is likely that the overall learning
process will be marked by a continuous cross-fertilizing oscillation between (a) the syste-
matic categorization of heuristic knowledge via patterns (deliberation-mode), and (b) the
indeterministic application of these patterns (practicing/playing/composing-mode). Conse-
quently, the learner’s ability to practice/play/compose is very much related to: (1) his ability
to maintain inner motivation, (2) his ability to broaden/narrow his personal maneuvering
corridor appropriately, and (3) his ability to oscillate between deliberating and practicing/
playing/composing.
4. Patterns for Composing Music – A card deck

P&PLs such as Liberating Voices by Schuler (2008), A Pattern Language by Alexander (1978),
Group Works by Woehrlin, Lindenberger, Pollard, & Bressen (2014), slideshows by Iba
(2014), as well as Concepts of Pattern Theory by Leitner (2013), have made clear that patterns
presented in form of card decks allow people to intuitively access generic principles. Hence,
the form of PfCM was largely influenced by existing pattern card decks. In addition, Wolf-
gang Stark has pointed out in a personal conversation that various jazz musicians, such as
Coker (1982) already use patterns for improvisation and composing activities – although in
text form and not with a real-time tool. The combination of both thoughts constitutes the
420
fundamental idea of creating a pattern language that can be used during the act of practi-
cing/playing/composing. A pattern of PfCM has the following structure (see Fig. 4):
Figure 4: Pattern explanation
Figure 5a: Pattern examples
421
Figure 5b: Pattern examples
422
P&PL for E-portfo- P&PL for Sustain- P&PL for Concepts Patterns for Com-
lio – Baumgartner able Development of Pattern Theory posing Music
& Bauer (2013) – Rising & Rehmer – Leitner (2013)
(2002)
15 Elements: 11 Elements: 5 Elements 4 Elements (+1):
(1) title (1) pattern name (1) pattern title (1) pattern title
(2) picture (2) photo (2) photo (2) conceptual
(3) surroundings (3) opening story (3) pattern indica- indication/further
(4) problem (4) abstract tion indication
(5) area of tension (5) context (4) pattern category (3) visual indication
(6) solution (6) problem state- logo (4) pattern number
(7) details ment (5) related patterns (5) related patterns
(8) stumbling block (7) problem and (planned)
(9) advantages forces
(10) disadvantages (8) essence of
(11) examples solution
(12) target-group (9) elaboration of
(13) tools solution
(14) related patterns (10) resulting con-
(15) references text
(11) three known
uses
Table 1: Elements of pattern structure
Compared to other P&PLs, the structure of PfCM has only four elements and is thus very
much reduced (see Tab. 1). Bauer & Baumgartner (2012) compared different P&PLs in
terms of their pattern structure and came to the conclusion that, apart from the three core
elements context, problem and solution (Alexander, 1980), the structures of P&PLs are de-
termined by the demands of the specific contexts to which they respond.
During the act of practicing/playing/composing, too much information may disturb the mu-
sician’s ability to “let go” and be present in the moment. PfCMs are meant to be used while
playing, even though the learning process within the open network of strategies, as well as
the abstraction necessary for describing the patterns, requires deliberation. However, since
the maneuvering corridor is supposed to be channeled by the patterns while practicing/play-
ing/ composing, there is no space for overly specific information that might pull the learner
out of the practicing/playing/composing-mode into the deliberation-mode. It is vague images
which need to be transformed, not primarily clear-cut thoughts that would be forced on a
simple musical structure.
The card deck allows multiple possibility for usage – a condition that satisfies the neces-
sary flexibility required of the dive-in approach (finding the individuals’ path within an open
423
network of strategies). However, to make it easier to start using the deck, I here offer a, a
non-mandatory description of how one might proceed:
1. Sit in front of your instrument, and put your hands on it.
2. Pick some notes, maybe two or three.
3. Play them in a row.
4. Do you like what you hear?
5a. If you like it, stick to it, repeat your sequence and vary one note.
Continue to step 6.
5b. If you don`t like it, go back to step 2 until you reach point 4.
6. Continue to vary your note sequence.
7. Getting stuck? Mix the patterns, and pick one.
8. Try to adapt the general idea of the pattern on your notes (in a way that
suits you).
9a. It works! Continue without the cards.
9b. It doesn´t work! Go back to step 7.
The learner will be confronted with a situation in which he needs to find a common ground
between (1) a very personal note sequence that carries subjective meaning, and (2) an abs-
tract musical concept. This implicitly triggers a vague imaginative impulse about how to vary
this personal note sequence (see Fig. 6). The possible living manifestations of this clash are
inexhaustible, but not infinite. The paralyzing feeling of not knowing where to start vanishes,
the general character of the concept allows enough room for personal interpretation, and
the act of individual interpretation opens up a new path for further vague creative steps and
opportunities for variation. The learner’s inner motivation is thus likely to rise because he is
able to succeed in this narrow maneuvering corridor without being discouraged by abstract
goals of technical perfection. Only the learner’s own senses decide if the developing note
sequence is living or not, and if it is living, the joyful repetition of it will automatically lead to
its correct repetition.
424
Figure 6: Example of a merger between personal note sequence and pattern
In this way, the student teaches himself how to move structure-preservingly from a vague
mental image toward a living artifact, and he will realize that there are a million ways to play
a piece using the same essential idea (pattern) – thus, freeing him from the conception
that there is one single correct version of a piece of music. The overpowering idea that
music must be correct distracts the learner away from the joyful process of practicing/play-
ing/composing. Once that dynamic is understood, appropriately channeled and eventually
executed, future “mistakes” can be integrated into a playful way that offers the learner a
never-ending sequence of possible variation options.
5. Experiences
5.1. Experiences of the Author
Since November 2012, the author has experienced an exponential progress in practicing/
playing/composing piano pieces. The first months were hard in terms of playing a piece,
but joyful in terms of going forward. In the beginning, systematic teaching literature such
as Heumann (1995) was used as an entry point, until a point was reached in which the pro-
gress of learning was bogged down by overly specific details of technical execution and the
use of outdated scores. The idea that notes could be whole sequences in a streaming flow
that could take various turns, instead of being individual entities that need to be executed
perfectly as intended by a score in a classical piece, helped me to look for new learning stra-
tegies and to keep up the maneuvering corridor contraction/relaxation. Classical pieces were
replaced by pieces to which I felt emotionally attached. The joy I experienced when listening
to different pieces determined to a large extent my ability to practice/play/vary them. A
425
major leap in composing was reached in October 2013 after discovering an electronic mu-
sical notation program – MuseScore by Schweer (2014) - as a new learning strategy. A year
later, I produced 25 complex compositions before being able to play them on the piano. My
attempt to learn these pieces on the piano led to new insights and patterns. The patterns
that I had already described up to this point influenced the descriptions of the ones that
followed. It was hardly possible for me to identify an unambiguous chain of events that led
from the blurry idea to the pattern and to the composed piece. This shows that the same
cards can be used over and over again for producing new musical structure continuously.
A lot of patterns where a result of combining already existing patterns, which triggered
swift and unexpected jumps in skill. After the generic principle was discovered, the ability to
execute it in countless specific ways filled the process of creating my own interpretations
with great joy.
A further fruitful variation strategy was that of turning “mistakes” into viable options. Ex-
amples of this often marked the starting points of entirely new compositions. The principle
of creating the new out of the old as a structure-preserving process, was always kept in
the back of my mind. This would have not been possible in a systematic, controlled learning
environment. Another ability that was shaped and sharpened was a feeling of self-confi-
dence that I developed in my improvisation and my ability to respond quickly and flexibly to
sudden changes of context. A climax of that skill was shown during an on-stage lesson at
a concert of the Canadian pianist and composer Jason Back (a.k.a. Chilly Gonzales) and the
German Kaiser Quartett (a.k.a. Strings Deluxe) in Vienna on June 18th 2014. The piece “Dot”
from the Album “Solo Piano I” was collaboratively developed to an unrecognizable degree
during the performance, and thus became an entire new piece. (Please note that it is not
the author’s intent to draw the reader’s attention to his own acquired musical abilities, but
rather to offer the insight that anyone, with the help of P&PLs can acquire knowledge and
skills rather quickly, in a domain that is emotionally important to him.)
Figure 7: Chilly Gonzales, the Kaiser Quartett and the “not so schlechte” Thomas. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIwZjHOameI (Beck, Kaiser Quartett, & Schlechte, 2014)
426
5.2. Reactions in workshops held by the author

In the course of giving talks and workshops about patterns and pattern languages, PfCMs
were presented in order to explain and demonstrate the utility for learning with P&PLs
in a simple domain that everybody understands, before going to the targeted application
domain. The Reactions to PfCMs were mixed. One person rediscovered his joy of playing
an instrument, some announced that they had started trying it out, others were skeptical
due to their long years of traditional musical training. Some perceived it as a fresh insight
into their already existing learning paths. One flute player took the cards, started to play the
visualizations on the patterns and was interesting in “diving in”. The overall resonance was
very positive and demonstrated considerable interest in using this new perspective.
5.3. Reactions of musicians

Jason Beck received PfCMs and acknowledged their practicability after a month of owning
the card deck. He pointed out their potential usefulness and their promising inspirational
factor for musicians. Another comment was: “They‘re a kind of more practical Oblique strate-
gies” (referring to the work of Eno & Schmidt (1975). An internet source (Hyperreal, 1994) in-
dicates that Brian Eno was acquainted with Christopher Alexander and the Pattern Theory.
These cards offer very generic tools to break through creative blocks by introducing lateral
thinking for composing music.
6. Status and prospects

Currently, the PfCM card deck contains 96 concept cards, not only for the piano (see Tab.
2). The process of describing new patterns continues without a foreseeable end date. The
testing phase has started and is continuing. In the course of future talks and workshops
about P&PLs, as well as process-oriented forms of work, the cards will be distributed and
tested further. Further possible target groups would include music schools and interested
individuals.
#
1 Arpeggio!
2 No Arpeggio!
3 Glissando!
4 Tremolo!
5 Grace Note!
6 Hammering!
427
7 Triller!
8 Staccato!
9 Tuplet!
10 Simple Form Array - Repetition
11 Simple Form Array - Variation
12 Simple Form Array - Analogy
13 Simple Form Array - Antipode
14 Simple Form Array - Dissimilarity
15 Simple Form Array - Alien
16 B before A! ... compose a sequence and make it a
B-section.
17 Minor to Major!
18 Major to Minor!
19 A Second!
20 A Third!
21 A Fourth!
22 A Fifth!
23 A Sixth!
24 A Seventh!
25 An Octave!
26 A Eleventh!
27 A Twelfth!
28 Interval Expansion!
29 Interval Expression!
30 Chord Inversion!
31 Transposition to C-Major/A-Minor!
32 Transposition to G-Major/E-Minor!
33 Transposition to D-Major/B-Minor!
34 Transposition to A-Major/F-Sharp-
Minor!
35 Transposition to E-Major/C-Sharp-
Minor!
36 Transposition to B-Major/G-Sharp-
Minor!
37 Transposition to F-Sharp-Major/D-
Sharp-Minor!
38 Transposition to C-Sharp-Major/A-
Sharp-Minor!
428
39 Transposition to C-Flat-Major/A-Flat-
Minor!
40 Transposition to G-Flat-Major/E-Flat-
Minor!
41 Transposition to D-Flat-Major/B-Flat-
Minor!
42 Transposition to A-Flat-Major/F-
Minor!
43 Transposition to E-Flat-Major/C-
Minor!
44 Transposition to B-Flat-Major/G-
Minor!
45 Transposition to F-Major/D-Minor!
46 Antitheton! ...juxtapose two contrasting aspects
47 Gradient!
48 One note at a time!
49 White keys only!
50 Black keys only!
51 Melody only!
52 Bass only!
53 Bass-Melody Override!
54 Switch bass with melody!
55 Shape repetition!
56 Shape variation!
57 Variation limit! … to as less notes as possible
58 Simplicity!
59 Special Shape!
60 Repetition A, Variation B!
61 Gap Fill-In!
62 Omitting the unnecessary!
63 Octave change!
64 Inertia of keys! ...hit your notes, leave some, add
some, stick to those in the middle.
65 The Void!
66 Approach! …let your shapes approach a mutual
area.
67 Detachment! …let your shapes go their ways.
68 Chord Strip! …erase a note from your chord.
429
69 Chord Fill-up! …add a note to your chord.

70 Arm cross!
71 Percussion!
72 Tit for Tat!
73 Lockstep Follow-up! …same notes, different octave,
lockstep follow up.
74 Shape Shift! …move your shape to another place.
75 Shape Inversion!
76 Twin Shape Conjunction! ...repeat the last note of your shape
and use it as a start for the next one.
77 Chromatic Shape!
78 Jump of Range!
79 Distillation of Chords!
80 Calculation!
81 Shape Merger!
82 Ascend!
83 Descend!
84 Rhythmic Symmetry!
85 Rhythmic Asymmetry!
86 Border of Bonds! …find the critical rhythmic point that
breaks the feeling of coherence.
87 Anticipation!
88 Syncopation!
89 Apokope! …add an unexpected gap.
90 Acceleration!
91 Deceleration!
92 Time Signature Swap!
93 Premature Input! …hit a note or chord prematurely.
94 Rhythmic Mimic!
95 Organ Point!
96 Fast and Slow!
Table 2: List of Patterns
430
7. Conclusion
The paper shows that a cross-fertilization of any domain (not only music!) with P&PLs, in
combination with an open network of learning strategies, is able (1) to generate and main-
tain an autodidactic motivational drive, (2) to channel this drive appropriately, and (3) to fos-
ter the discovery of living artifacts in a structure-preserving way. Cross-fertilizing a domain
with P&PLs can dramatically enhance the incentive to learn, increase the pace of learning
success, and teach students to navigate confidently in a non-determined creative environ-
ment. It can also help them to merge a fractured learning experience into a single one. The
playful activity of merging meaningful circumstances with generic principles in the form of
P&PLs, outruns the energy-wasting activity of fulfilling unrealistic and inflexible expectations
that stem from following rules. P&PLs are tools that give direction, leave space for inter-
pretation and encourage further action, and are therefore prone to facilitate any creative
experience with the result of letting living artifacts emerge – be they in a participative or
autodidactic environment.
The very essence of P&PLs is to lead the learner into a perspective that is successively
deconditioned by systematic teaching processes: the focus being on the relations between
entities (instead of seeing them in isolation) and a serious emphasis on sensory perception.
P&PLs help the learner to zoom out, to gaze and to see holistic connections between enti-
ties that cannot be described exclusively by theories – the learner has to “dive-in” with all his
senses. What results is a self-confident appreciation of going one’s own specific context-de-
pendent path, without abandoning having a systematic and organized body of knowledge.
8. Acknowledgement
Many thanks to Dr. Helmut Leitner who has been an invaluable source of knowledge, advice
and support; to Franz Nahrada who is responsible for me being interested in Patterns and
Pattern languages; Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Stark for providing a missing puzzle piece by creating
PfCM; and Jason Beck for giving me the opportunity to be part of his show.
9. References
Alexander, C. (1978). A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University
Press.
Alexander, C. (1980). The Timeless Way of Building. UK: Oxford University Press.
431
Alexander, C. (2002a). The Nature of Order - Book 1-4. Berkeley, California: Center for En-
Alexander, C. (2002b). The Nature of Order - The process of creating life - Book 2: an essay
on the art of building and the nature of the universe. Berkeley, California: Center for En-
Bauer, R., & Baumgartner, P. (2012). Schaufenster des Lernens: Eine Sammlung von Mus-
tern zur Arbeit mit E-Portfolios. Münster; New York, NY; München; Berlin: Waxmann.
Baumgartner, P., & Bauer, R. (2013). Auf dem Weg zu einer Mustersprache für E-Portfolios.
In: E-Portfolio an der Schnittstelle von Studium und Arbeitswelt. (D. Miller & B. Volk, Hrsg.).
Münster: Waxmann.
Beck, J., Kaiser Quartett, & Schlechte, T. (2014). Chilly Gonzales, the Kaiser Quartett and the
„not so schlechte“ Thomas. Wien, Österreich. Access on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?-
v=mIwZjHOameI
Coker, J. (1964). Improvizing Jazz. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc.
Coker, J. (1982). Patterns for Jazz - A Theory Text for Jazz Composition and Improvisation:
Treble Clef Instruments. UK: Alfred Music Publishing.
Dewey, J. (1934). Art As Experience. Minton, Balch & Company.
Eno, B., & Schmidt, P. (1975). Oblique Strategies. UK: shakedownrecords.
Heumann, H.-G. (1995). Klavierspielen, mein schönstes Hobby. Die moderne Klavierschule
für Jugendliche und Erwachsene (Bde. 1-2, Bd. 1). Mainz: Schott.
Hyperreal. (1994). Christopher Alexander, William Burroughs, HyperText. Access on: http://
music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/calex2.html
Iba, T. (2014). Pattern Languages 3.0. Access on: http://de.slideshare.net/takashiiba/

plop2012
Johnson, T. (1999). The Chord Catalogue - all the 8178 chords possible in one octave.
New York, USA: XI Records.
Leitner, H. (2013). Concepts of Pattern Theory. Graz, Österreich. Access on: https://www.
dropbox.com/s/5ryivtt24ns0me4/AlexandrianEn_Vs61.pdf (English) // https://www.drop-
box.com/s/o7314qhvo919jsa/AlexandrianDe_Vs62.pdf (German)
432
Rising, L., & Rehmer, K. (2002). Patterns for Sustainable Development. Access on: http://
www.hillside.net/plop/2010/paper/rising.pdf
Schubart, C. F. D. (2011). Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst. In: Texte zur Musikästhetik.
(F. von Ammon, Hrsg.). Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam.
Schuler, D. (2008). Liberating voices a pattern language for communication revolution. Cam-
bridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Schweer, W. (2014). MuseScore. Access on: http://musescore.org
Woehrlin, S., Lindenberger, D., Pollard, D., & Bressen, T. (2014). Group Works - A Pattern
Language for Bringing Life to Meetings and Other Gatherings by. California, USA: Group
Works. Access on: http://groupworksdeck.org
433
Understanding
Christopher
Alexander’s
Fifteen
Properties via
Visualization
and Analysis
434
Iba, Takashi
Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Endo 5322, Fujisawa Kanagawa, Japan
iba@sfc.keio.ac.jp
Sakai, Shingo
R&D-Development Research, Health Beauty Products Research, Kao Corporation, Koto-
bukicho 5-3-28, Odawara, Kanagawa, Japan
sakai.shingo2@kao.co.jp
Christopher Alexander defines the concepts of who-

leness and centers in his book The Nature of Order,
and emphasizes the idea that a whole makes its parts,
rather than the idea that a whole consists of parts. To
clarify the difference, he calls the parts made by a who-
le as “centers.” He says that there are some or many
centers within a whole, and they intensify each other. In
his book, he proposes fifteen fundamental properties
to show how centers intensify each other. This paper
presents an illustration summarizing the fifteen fun-
damental properties and explains the dependencies
between them. To show the interaction of the fifteen
properties, we use correspondence analysis, a statisti-
cal technique providing graphic representation. Then,
we map the illustration of each property on a plot of
the correspondence analysis. We anticipate that the-
se illustrations and plots will help a broad audience to
conceptualize the fifteen properties.
Fifteen Fundamental Properties, Center, Wholeness;

The Nature of Order; Correspondence Analysis
435
1. Introduction
When Christopher Alexander proposed the idea of pattern language, he aimed to support
people’s realization of the “Quality Without A Name” and their participation in design in the
field of architecture. He states in his book The Timeless Way of Building, “There is a central
quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit in a man, a town, a building, or a wilder-
ness. This quality is objective and precise, but it cannot be named” (Alexander, 1979, p. 19).
He named the quality as the “Quality Without A Name” because he did not understand it
deeply at that time.
After publishing A Pattern Language (Alexander et al., 1977) and The Timeless Way of Building
(Alexander, 1979), Alexander explored the quality more deeply for about 30 years and pu-
blished The Nature of Order, in which he emphasizes the concept of life. His notion of “life”
does not mean creatures in a biological sense but rather in a broad sense. For example,
waves and fire are alive; i.e., they have some degree of life. He writes, “What I mean is that
the wave itself — the system which in present-day science we have considered as a purely
mechanical hydrodynamical system of moving water — has some degree of life” (Alexander,
2002, p. 31).
Christopher Alexander defines the concepts of wholeness and centers in his book The Na-
ture of Order, Book One (Alexander, 2002). As he describes, his concept of wholeness is quite
different from the conventional one, in which a whole consists of parts. He emphasizes the
idea that a whole makes its parts, rather than the idea that a whole consists of parts. To
clarify the difference, he calls the parts made by a whole as “centers.” Thus, a whole consists
of the centers it makes. Unlike a part, the boundary of a center is fuzzy. Note that the con-
cept of center does not mean a particular location in space, such as the center of a circle
or the midpoint of a line. Instead, it means a source of the living power and the essence of
phenomena.
Alexander says that there are some or many centers within a whole, and they intensify each
other. As a result of this coherence, the whole becomes profound and lively. In The Nature
of Order, Book One (Alexander, 2002), Alexander proposes fifteen fundamental properties
to show how centers intensify each other: (1) LEVELS OF SCALE, (2) STRONG CENTERS,
(3) BOUNDARIES, (4) ALTERNATING REPETITION, (5) POSITIVE SPACE, (6) GOOD SHAPE, (7)
LOCAL SYMMETRIES, (8) DEEP INTERLOCK AND AMBIGUITY, (9) CONTRAST, (10) GRADIENTS,
(11) ROUGHNESS, (12) ECHOES, (13) THE VOID, (14) SIMPLICITY AND INNER CALM, and (15)
NOT-SEPARATENESS.
In this paper, we will show illustrations each representing the fifteen properties and analyze
436
Understanding Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Properties via Visualization and Analysis
interactions among the fifteen properties. To understand deeper the order, it is necessary
to understand both of how the centers intensify each other and the how the properties
interact each other. The deeper understanding will help us to apply fifteen properties to
other domains.
2. Visualizing the Fifteen Properties

The summaries of the fifteen fundamental properties based on our interpretation of Al-
exander’s concepts of wholeness and centers are as follows. Also, we attempt to visualize
the fifteen properties described in The Nature of Order, beyond the expressions. Figure
1-15 show illustrations summarizing the fifteen properties, where these illustrations are
based on our interpretations, derived from Alexander’s explanation in Chapter 5 “Fifteen
Fundamental Properties” and Chapter 6 “The Fifteen Properties in Nature” in The Nature
of Order, Book One (Alexander, 2002). These illustrations show that centers intensify each
other inside the whole, not just drawn as a symbol.
1. LEVELS OF SCALE. Centers intensify each other when they are different in size. The
gap between different scales must not be very large, and practically, one center would
be half or twice the size of another. If there is a well-ordered range of sizes, a field
effect is formed, and then, a whole is made by tying the centers together. Our illustra-
tion of this property is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: LEVELS OF SCALE
2. STRONG CENTERS. A living whole contains strong centers within it. The concept of
a strong center is applied recursively; every strong center is made up from multiple
smaller strong centers. Nevertheless, there is often a principal strong center in a who-
le. The strong center has a field effect generated by nesting. Our illustration of this
property is shown in Figure 2.
437
Figure 2: STRONG CENTERS
3. BOUNDARIES. The ring-like center, made up from smaller centers, forms a field-like
effect that intensifies the center that is bounded. It also unites the center that is boun-
ded with the world beyond the boundary. Note that the order of the magnitude of the
boundary and the center that is bounded needs to be same. Our illustration of this
Figure 3: BOUNDARIES
4. ALTERNATING REPETITION. Centers are intensified when they repeat with subtle varia-
tion. Alternating repetition is not just simple repetition because what are repeated are
modified according to their positions in a whole. When this rule is applied recursively
to all entities, spaces between the entities, and the process of repetition, beautiful
harmony is created. The pattern of repeating centers forms the field effect, and as a
result, wholeness emerges. Our illustration of this property is shown in Figure 4.
438
Figure 4: ALTERNATING REPETITION
5. POSITIVE SPACE. A living whole only has strong centers, where every part of space has
the positive shape as a center. There is never any leftover from an adjacent shape.
Our illustration of this property is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5: POSITIVE SPACE
6. GOOD SHAPE. A living whole has a good shape as a whole that is made up from
multiple coherent centers. The good shape is the attribute of the whole, but the whole
must be made up from intense centers that themselves are wholes. In that sense, the
elements of a good shape are also good shapes themselves. Note that the result of a
good shape is not only to make things beautiful but also to make them more pro-
found and effective. Our illustration of this property is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6: GOOD SHAPE
439
7. LOCAL SYMMETRIES. A living whole contains various symmetrical segments that inter-
lock and overlap with each other. This feature of symmetry is called local symmetry to
distinguish from overall symmetry. Each local symmetrical segment consists of smaller
centers and creates a coherence of the centers. Local symmetries are not distinct but
overlap with each other. This continuous overlapping of local symmetries works as a
glue that establishes a whole. Our illustration of this property is shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7: LOCAL SYMMETRIES
8. DEEP INTERLOCK AND AMBIGUITY. A living whole has some forms that interlock cen-
ters with its surroundings. The centers and their surroundings interpenetrate through
a third set of centers that ambiguously belong to both. Our illustration of this property
is shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8: DEEP INTERLOCK AND AMBIGUITY
9. CONTRAST. A center is intensified by the sharp distinction between the character of

the center and surrounding centers. For example, the forms of contrast are black/
white, dark/light, empty/full, solid/void, and busy/silent. The difference between oppo-
sites not only separates things but also brings them together. Our illustration of this
440
Figure 9: CONTRAST
10. GRADIENTS. Qualities vary gradually, not suddenly, across space in a living whole. A
graded series of different-sized centers forms new centers that have a field effect as
a whole. These gradients are caused by responding to the natural variation of the
circumstance. Our illustration of this property is shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10: GRADIENTS
11. ROUGHNESS. Living wholes have some local irregularities within them. The irregula-
rities are caused by adapting to irregularities in the environment and responding to
the demands and constraints from other nearby centers, not by arbitrary decisions
in the design. In that sense, roughness is a form of perfection. Our illustration of this
Figure 11: ROUGHNESS
441
12. ECHOES. A living whole contains deep underlying similarities within it. These simila-
rities do not exist merely at a superficial level, but they exist in a deeper level of the
structure, derived from similarities in the process of creating them. The similarities
of elements attach them together to form a unity. Our illustration of this property is
shown in Figure 12.
Figure 12: ECHOES
13. THE VOID. Centers are intensified by the existence of an empty center. This emptiness
needs to exist in the field to preserve the balance between calmness and emptiness.
Our illustration of this property is shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13: THE VOID
14. SIMPLICITY AND INNER CALM. A living whole has certain slowness, majesty, and quiet-
ness, i.e., a state of inner calm. This quality derives from inner simplicity, where ever-
ything that is unnecessary is removed. It does not refer to simplicity in the superficial
sense but refers to the true simplicity of the heart. Our illustration of this property is
shown in Figure 14.
442
Figure 14: SIMPLICITY AND INNER CALM
15. NOT-SEPARATENESS. In a living whole, any centers deeply connect and melt into their
surroundings, not separate from them. They are merged inseparably, but they still
have their character and personality. To achieve this connectedness, the boundary
between the centers and their surroundings are fragmented or gradient. As a result of
this deep coherence, things feel completely at peace. Our illustration of this property
is shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15: NOT-SEPARATENESS
3. Analyzing Interactions among the

Fifteen Properties
The interactions of the fifteen properties are shown in a table in the section “Fifteen funda-
mental properties” in The Nature of Order, Book One (p. 238) (Alexander, 2002). In the table,
“If property A depends on property B or we need property B for a complete understanding
of property A then an asterisk appears in cell AB.” Figure 16 shows the table, and Figure 17
depicts the dependencies among the properties based on the table
443
Figure 16: Interactions of the fifteen properties

(from The Nature of Order, Book One, p. 238)
444
Figure 17: Network among the fifteen properties
To understand deeper the interactions among properties, we used the correspondence

analysis, a statistical technique providing graphic representation. The multidimensional re-
lations among the categories of the variables were calculated according to the χ2 distances
between them and projected on a map. Symmetric normalization was utilized to examine
the relations between lines and columns of the contingency table. The contingency table
was prepared using the table titled “The interactions of the fifteen properties” in the sec-
tion “Fifteen fundamental properties” in The Nature of Order, Book One (Alexander, 2002,
p. 238). If property A of each line category needed property B of column, we filled in “1”;
otherwise, we filled in “0.” The line score was projected on the map. The categories located
near each other on the map are closely associated. Figure 18 shows the results of the cor-
respondence analysis using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software
package (version 21.0).
445
Figure 18: Plot of the results of correspondence analysis of the fifteen properties
Figure 19 is the illustration-mapping version of the plot of the correspondence analysis of

the fifteen properties. Figures 20 and 21 are plots showing clusters that are grouped among
close properties. Figure 19 has four clusters. The first cluster consists of (9) CONTRAST, (15)
NOT-SEPARATENESS, (11) ROUGHNESS, (4) ALTERNATING REPETITION, and (6) GOOD SHA-
PE, among which GOOD SHAPE also appears in other groups. The second cluster consists
of (7) LOCAL SYMMETRIES, (13) THE VOID, (1) LEVELS OF SCALE, (6) GOOD SHAPE, and (5)
POSITIVE SPACE, among which GOOD SHAPE and POSITIVE SPACE also appear in other
groups. The third cluster consists of (3) BOUNDARIES, (2) STRONG CENTERS, and (8) DEEP
INTERLOCK AND AMBIGUITY. Finally, the fourth cluster consists of (14) SIMPLICITY AND IN-
NER CALM, (12) ECHOES, (10) GRADIENTS, and (5) POSITIVE SPACE, among which POSITIVE
SPACE appears also in other groups.
Figure 20 shows five clusters. The first cluster consists of (9) CONTRAST and (15) NOT-SEPA-
RATENESS. The second cluster consists of (11) ROUGHNESS, (4) ALTERNATING REPETITION,
446
and (6) GOOD SHAPE. The third cluster consists of (7) LOCAL SYMMETRIES, (13) THE VOID,
(1) LEVELS OF SCALE, and (5) POSITIVE SPACE. The fourth cluster consists of (3) BOUNDA-
RIES, (2) STRONG CENTERS, and (8) DEEP INTERLOCK AND AMBIGUITY. The fifth cluster
consists of (14) SIMPLICITY AND INNER CALM, (12) ECHOES, and (10) GRADIENTS.
Because the properties in each cluster appear to be similar or interrelated, we may under-
stand the coherency among them from the plots and clusters. Further discussion is open.
Figure 19: Mapping illustrations on the plot of correspondence analysis of the fifteen properties
447
Figure 20: Rough grouping with 4 clusters on the plot of correspondence analysis of the fifteen
properties
Figure 21: Detailed grouping with 5 clusters on the plot of correspondence analysis of the fifteen
properties
448
4. Conclusion
In this paper, we present illustrations of the fifteen properties proposed by Christopher
Alexander in The Nature of Order, Book One (Alexander, 2002): (1) LEVELS OF SCALE, (2)
STRONG CENTERS, (3) BOUNDARIES, (4) ALTERNATING REPETITION, (5) POSITIVE SPACE,
(6) GOOD SHAPE, (7) LOCAL SYMMETRIES, (8) DEEP INTERLOCK AND AMBIGUITY, (9) CON-
TRAST, (10) GRADIENTS, (11) ROUGHNESS, (12) ECHOES, (13) THE VOID, (14) SIMPLICITY
AND INNER CALM, and (15) NOT-SEPARATENESS. Moreover, we show the plots of the cor-
respondence analysis of the properties, then map the illustrations on the plots, and show
the clusters of the properties. The results imply that combining visualization and analysis is
useful to arrive at a deeper understanding of the fifteen properties. We anticipate that the
results will open the door to a new way of discussing the fifteen properties.
5. References
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M., Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I. and Angel, S. (1977)
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction, Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (1979) The Timeless Way of Building, Oxford University Press.
Alexander, C. (2002) The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of
the Universe, Book One, The Phenomenon of Life, The Center of Environmental Structure.
Benzécri, J.-P. (1973). L‘Analyse des Données. Volume II. L‘Analyse des Correspondances.
Paris, France: Dunod.
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Peter Baumgartner | Richard Sickinger (ed.

Editors: Peter Baumgartner, Richard Sickinger

Book Design and Page Layout: Wolfgang Rauter

Creative Commons Licence CC-BY-ND

Krems, June 2015

Cover Image by www.flickr.com/photos/arriabelli

As a response to this development, the PURPLSOC preparatory workshop (November

This anthology of papers, presented by specialists in the research and implementation of

»» “A Pattern LAnguage for Systemic Transformation (PLAST) - (re)Generative of Commons”

»» “Costume Languages as Pattern Languages” describes a pattern-approach to the syste-

»» “Designing lively learning scenarios: How to adapt Alexander’s 15 spatial properties to

»» “Evaluating the Applicability of Alexander’s Fundamental Properties to Non-Architecture

»» “PatternPedia – Collaborative Pattern Identification and Authoring” introduces a collabo-

»» “Planning Living Lessons: Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Structural Properties of Living

»» “Service Learning in Higher Education: A Pattern Language” details the implementation

»» “Understanding Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Properties via Visualization and Analysis”

Peter Baumgartner Richard Sickinger

A Bird’s-Eye View on Pattern Research 16

A New Approach to Higher Education in the Eastern Tyrol: 38

A Pattern LAnguage for Systemic Transformation (PLAST) - (re) 58

Costume Languages as Pattern Languages 88

Cultivating the Feeling Dimension of the Pattern Approach: 118

Designing lively learning scenarios: How to adapt Alexander’s 15 138

E-Portfolio Design: Generic Rules for Creating Centers 162

Evaluating the Applicability of Alexander’s Fundamental Properties 188

From a Pattern Language to a Field of Centers and Beyond: 212

Pattern Languages as Media for Creative Dialogue: Functional 236

Pattern Languages for Public Problem-Solving 256

PatternPedia – Collaborative Pattern Identification and Authoring 276

Performative Pattern Languages and the Improvisational Field 310

Planning Living Lessons: Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen 328

Service Learning in Higher Education: A Pattern Language 348

Study of human visual perception with the usage of information 366

The path of ageing: Self-organisation in the Nature and the 386

Understanding Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Properties via 434

Antonín BÁRTA began to work as a disseminator/technician at the Institute of Com-

Reinhard BAUER graduated in Romance Studies and German. After a one-year

Peter BAUMGARNTER is a full Professor for Technology Enhanced Learning and

Michael FALKENTHAL is research associate and Ph.D. student at the Institute

Helene FINIDORI focuses on systemic perspectives and tools for transformative

Christian KOHLS is a professor of computer science and sociotechnical systems at

Christian KÖPPE is a lecturer in computer science at the HAN University of Ap-

Helmut LEITNER is an independent software developer and consultant and a

Dita MALEČKOVÁ graduated in Humanities and Philosophy at the Charles Uni-

Renata RYCHTÁRIKOVÁ graduated in Food Technology and Meat Preservation

Jörg MILLER graduated in pedagogics and is researcher at the Organizational De-

Franz NAHRADA is sociologist by education, future researcher and social changema-

Markéta NOVOTNÁ studies at the Anglo–Czech high school in Budweis, Czech

Wolfgang STARK is professor in Organizational Psychology/Development and Com-

This paper draws an overall picture of the new scientific

Christopher Alexander; design pattern; pattern research,

Figure 4: A side-by-side comparison of “thinking in categories” vs. “thinking in patterns”

7. The Advantage of Thinking in Categories. The Western habit of thinking in categories

13. Paradigm 4: Ethics of Design – QWAN/Lebendigkeit. According to Alexander, the

Figure 7: The creative cycle augmented by it’s ethical aspects

Figure 8: The whole process of pattern mining, storage, and publishing

Figure 9: Diagrams for Alexander‘s fifteen properties of living structures

25. Interpretations of the 15 Properties. There are a number of different interpretations

27. Tacit Knowledge: The 15 Properties as contradicting concepts. The 15 properties

29. Tacit Knowledge: Alexander’s post-capitalistic position. Alexander is a strong critic

Figure 10: Side-by-side comparison of Cartesian and Alexandrian concepts of science

In response to discussions at the PURPLSOC 2014 workshop I want to emphasize once

Groupworks (2012). “A Pattern Language for Bringing Life