Celebrating the Life and Work of Christopher Alexander

On March 17, 2022, at 85 years of age, Christopher Alexander passed away peacefully in his home in West Sussex, England.

This post celebrates his life, and for me, personally, the sheer magnitude his work has had on the course of my life, including Making Permaculture Stronger as a project. If any of you have been touched by this project, then you have been indirectly impacted by Alexander's life-long quest toward life, beauty and wholeness. Find out about who Alexander was here and here and here and here. Learn about Alexander's direct influence on my (Dan Palmer's) work, and on this very project here and here.

A Poem

Thank you to Ann Medlock, a past client (and hence collaborator) of Alexander's, for permission to share these photos and this poem here:

Alexander sculpts a building

out of air and wisdom

waving his hands

squinting his eyes

to see what only he and God can see

in this clearing on the bluff.

Listening to something

we cannot hear, he brings into being

a house so solid, silent and calm,

so embracing, consoling and inevitable,

that it draws in and restores

every open soul that finds its way here.

And many do.

Pilgrims who have heard,

who’ve seen a photograph,

who sense that here there is something

mysterious, rare, perhaps even inspired.

On a clear blue afternoon

we sit at a long table in the sun,

the house embracing this garden

and all of us who bask here

amid the calendulas and ferns.

Feasting on tabouli and cold birds,

we talk of poetry and paintings,

of terraces in Tuscany and homemade wine,

of our work, our passions, our quests.

We are friends, gathered here

by the grace that emanates from this holy place.

At Christmas, the clan assembles.

The tree, dressed in familiar ornaments,

touches the coffered ceiling

and sends the scent of balsam to mingle

with fire, roast and cakes.

Thick walls hold out the cold, the wind,

and every danger of the world we know.

Comets cut across the high windows

as we are drawn in and held fast, together,

blessed by the house that Alexander made,

while listening to God.

Three Examples of Directly Alexander-Inspired Design Processes

https://vimeo.com/456075580/0e4846f331

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2k35m_Q9xg&ab_channel=MakingPermacultureStronger

https://youtu.be/l8lffVxj7DI

Some Quotes

Here I share a selection of some of my favourite quotes from Alexander's many books.

The Timeless Way of Building (1979)

You are alive when you are wholehearted, true to yourself, true to your own inner forces, and able to act freely according to the nature of the situations you are in.[...] To be happy, and to be alive, in this sense, are almost the same. Of course, if you are alive, you are not always happy in the sense of feeling pleasant; experiences of joy are balanced by experiences of sorrow. But the experiences are all deeply felt; and above all, you are whole; and conscious of being real.To be alive, in this sense, is not a matter of suppressing some forces or tendencies, at the expense of others; it is a state of being in which all forces which arise in you can find expression; you live in balance among the forces which arise in you; you are unique as the pattern of forces which arises is unique; you are at peace, since there are no disturbances created by underground forces which have no outlet, at one with yourself and your surroundings.This state cannot be reached merely by inner work.There is a myth, sometimes widespread, that you need do only inner work, in order to be alive like this; that you are entirely responsible for your problems; and that to cure yourself, you need only change yourself. This teaching has some value, since it is so easy to imagine that your problems are caused by "others." But it is a one-sided and mistaken view which also maintains the arrogance of the belief that the individual is self-s...