Necessity of space

[douglas germann]

The first volume of this work has the quote to which you referred,
Christy. Here is a bit longer snippet:


        I have expressed the idea that space must be considered an
        almost living entity—a kind of stuff which, depending on the
        recursive structures that are built up in it, becomes
        progressively more and more alive. Of course, it is unlikely
        that this way of understanding space could be undertaken within
        the confines of a method of observation that insists that
        everything is a machine. Since the conception of space/matter I
        describe in this book has precisely the character that is not
        machine-like, no method of observation which is obliged to
        pretend that everything is machine-like can possibly see it as
        it is, or acknowledge its properties. Italics in original.
        Christopher Alexander, The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art
        of Building and The Nature of the Universe, Book One: The
        Phenomenon of Life, p 352.


This work has had me pondering a great deal in the last few days.
Everything, Alexander seems to be saying, has a degree of being able to
evoke in us a feeling of wholeness, of expansiveness, of movement. He
puts great emphasis on the need for going within to observe what outside
is more life-giving.

But I think there is a next step, a deeper step: it is to the between.
He writes of something *making* me feel alive, *generating* a feeling of
life, *inducing* greater harmony: these speak of one (living) thing
touching--meeting--another. It is this bumping, interacting, back and
forth which is the essence of what he is pointing to. This happens only
in the between.

			:- Doug.

On Thu, 2009-05-07 at 11:49 -0400, douglas germann wrote:

> Christy--
> 
> Wow! You have left me saying Wow!
> 
> What an evocative notion--the space is alive. Is this true? Can we make
> it so? Can we at least meet it so?
> 
> There are excerpts of Alexander's 4th book here:
> http://books.google.com/books?id=6CIHB3_1tLMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=christopher+alexander+nature+of+order#PPA1,M1
> 
> I have found his writing evocative as well. His books are huge, and sell
> by the pound. Now I have to mortgage my house to get these books....
> 
> What do you suppose might be the recursive structures built up in open
> space?
> 
> Harrison said that it takes a lifetime to explore open space, and here
> for me is a new main artery.
> 
> Catherine, I like your image of a porous embrace. How do you see time
> fitting into this living space of recursive structures? Could you say a
> little more, please?
> 
> Still pondering....
> 
> 			:- Doug.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, 2009-05-05 at 23:09 -0700, Christy Lee-Engel wrote:
> > Hi dear Doug,
> >  
> > Well, your question reminds me of hearing friends talk about architect
> > Christopher Alexander's work, in which he emphasizes that "space must
> > be considered an almost living entity – a kind of stuff which,
> > depending on the recursive structures that are built up in it, becomes
> > progressively more and more alive."
> > 
> > So that space can be more alive or less alive.
> > 
> > I haven't read Alexander's 4-Volume "The Nature of Order" yet, and so
> > I don't know what "these fifteen properties" are - but this quote from
> > a book review makes me want to read it and find out!:
> > 
> > "Systems in space which have these fifteen properties to a strong
> > degree will be alive, and the more these properties are present, the
> > more the systems which contain them will tend to be alive." 
> > 
> > 
> > http://natureoforder.com/overview.htm
> > 
> > 
> > love & blessings,
> > 
> > Christy
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > On 5/5/09, douglas germann <76066.515 at compuserve.com> wrote: 
> >         Hi space dancers:
> >         
> >         Recently someone pointed us to a poem about how open spaces
> >         are
> >         necessary for a fire. It has had me pondering.
> >         
> >         At first I said, Sure, she is speaking of oxygen. Fires need
> >         oxygen. Now
> >         I am not so sure that is what she meant, or at least what is
> >         true. So I
> >         am asking you my friends, what you have observed.
> >         
> >         Just how important is the physical space for opening space? I
> >         am not
> >         talking about amenities like chairs and windows and air, nor
> >         about the
> >         exact number of square meters needed per person (this is
> >         cultural: some
> >         cultures want to be close enough to feel each other's breath;
> >         some want
> >         more distance). In Open Space Online we have a metaphorical
> >         space for
> >         our chats; in face to face, we have that physical space. Is
> >         that space
> >         in the center of the circle a separate, unnoticed but
> >         essential, element
> >         in conversation?
> >         
> >         The flames need to lick upwards, the heat needs someplace to
> >         go, the
> >         light needs to escape. The betweens are necessary to give
> >         birth to the
> >         what and who is emerging from our collective. What is the role
> >         of space?
> >         
> >                                        :- Doug.
> >         
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