<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>Hi, Doug:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In my opinion, what gives shape to the space are what I call the foundations of OST: the circle, the invitation, diversity, the Law, etc. In fact, we build the garden.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The "thing" that the organization or community desires to create is the content, or the building. That is made possible by the OST design and foundations we have created - the garden, as you said.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Regards</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Artur </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>PS: For more about OST "foundations" make a search in the OSLIST Archives.</DIV>
<DIV>-------------- <BR><BR>--- On <B>Sun, 9/6/09, douglas germann <I><76066.515@compuserve.com></I></B> wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From: douglas germann <76066.515@compuserve.com><BR>Subject: [OSLIST] Christopher Alexander & the space we are shaping<BR>To: OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR>Date: Sunday, September 6, 2009, 10:20 AM<BR><BR>
<DIV class=plainMail>Hi--<BR><BR>Still reading Christopher Alexander and finding lots of parallels to OS:<BR><BR> Most important of all, it was the space (more than the building)<BR> which was being formed. That flies against 20th-century<BR> awareness, which places too much emphasis on buildings. What<BR> mattered about the building is the contribution it makes to the<BR> formation of shaped, coherent, public space. That was where the<BR> inspiration came from, and it was that—later—which made it<BR> possible to make the building beautiful. Christopher Alexander,<BR> The Nature of Order: An Essay on the Art of Building and The<BR> Nature of the Universe, Book Three: A Vision of a Living World,<BR>
p 138<BR><BR>In another instance, he says that in designing a home, it is best to<BR>design the garden first: when that is placed in the most health-giving,<BR>nurturing spot, then the house is made that much better, that much more<BR>wonderful. Garden first!<BR><BR>The question this raises for me for OS is: most often the communities in<BR>which we are opening space want to accomplish some *thing*. This thing<BR>is Alexander's building. But he does not look first at the building;<BR>rather he tries to shape public space--give it volume, life. What are we<BR>trying to shape when we open space?<BR><BR>It is easy for me to throw in a glib "we simply are there to open<BR>space," but I think the inquiry needs to go deeper than that. What is<BR>the shape of opened space? What makes it coherent? What are the factors<BR>which give it shape?<BR><BR> :-
Doug.<BR><BR>*<BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></td></tr></table><br>
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