Pages From a Pattern Language_Alexander

8/2/2019 Pages From a Pattern Language_Alexander

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1 5 n e i g h b o r h o o d b o u n d a r y *

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. . . t h e p h y s ica l b o u n d a ry n eed ed to p ro tec t su b cu l tu r e s f ro m

o n e an o th e r , an d to a l lo w t h e i r way s o f l i f e to b e u n iq u e an d

id io sy n c ra t i c , is g u a ra n te ed , f o r a COMMUNITY OF 7 0 0 0 ( 12 ) , b y

th e pa t t e rn SUBCULTURE BOUNDARY ( 13) . But a seco n d , sm al le r

k in d of bou n d ary is n eed ed to c rea te th e sm al le r IDENTIFIABLE

N E I G H BO R H O O D ( 1 4 ) .

T h e s t r e n g t h o f t h e b o u n d a r y is e s se n t i a l t o a n e i g h b o r -

h o o d . I f t h e b o u n d a r y i s t o o w e a k t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d w i l l

n o t b e a b l e t o m a i n t a i n i t s o w n i d e n t i f i a b l e ch a r a c t e r .

T h e ce l l wal l o f an or gan ic ce l l is , in m ost cases , as la rge as ,

o r l a rg e r , t h an th e ce ll i n t e r io r . I t is n o t a su r f ace wh ich d iv id es

i n s id e f r o m o u t s i d e , b u t a c o h e r e n t e n t i t y i n i ts o w n r i g h t , w h i c h

p rese r v es th e fu n c t io n a l in t e g r i t y of th e ce l l an d a lso p ro v id e s fo r

a m u l t i t u d e o f t r an s a ct i on s b e t w e e n t h e c e ll i n t e r i o r a n d t h ea m b i e n t f l u i d s .

W e ha ve a l re ad y argu ed , in SUBCULTURE BOUNDARY ( 13) ,t h a t a h u m a n g r o u p , w i t h a s p e c i fi c l i f e s t y le , n e e d s a b o u n d a r y

a r o u n d i t t o p r o t e c t i ts id i o s yn c r a s ie s f r o m e n c r o a c h m e n t a n d

d i lu t i o n b y s u r r o u n d i n g w a y s o f l i f e . T h i s s u b c u l t u r e b o u n d a r y ,

•£» 4$.

Cell wit h cell wa ll: Th e cell wa ll

is a place in its ow n right .

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1 5 N E I G H B O R H O O D B O U N D A R Y

b u s i n e s s t h e r e ; a n d w h e n p e o p l e a r e i n t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d , t h e y

r e c o g n i z e t h a t t h e y a r e i?i a d i s t in c t p a r t o f to wn . O f co u r se , t h e

n e i g h b o r h o o d w a s n o t " c r e a t e d " d e l i b e r a t e l y . I t w a s a n a r e a o f

Be r k e l e y w h i c h h a s b e c o m e a n i d e n t i fi a b l e n e i g h b o r h o o d b e ca u s e

o f th i s acc id en t in th e s t r ee t sy s tem.

A n e x t r e m e e x a m p l e o f t h i s p r i n c i p l e i s t h e F u g g e r e i i n A u g s -

b u r g , i l lu s t r a t e d i n I D E N T I F I A BL E N EIGH BO R H O O D ( 1 4 ) . T h e

Fu g g e re i is en t i r e ly b o u n d e d b y th e b ack s o f b u i ld in g s an d w a l ls ,

a n d t h e p a t h s i n t o i t a r e n a r r o w , m a r k e d b y g a t e w a y s .

In d ee d , if access is r e s t r i c t ed , th i s m ean s , by definition , tha t

those few poin ts where access i s poss ib le , wi l l come to have spec ia l

i m p o r t a n c e . I n o n e w a y o r a n o t h e r , s u b t l y , o r m o r e o b v i o u s l y ,

t h e y w i l l b e g a t e w a y s , w h i c h m a r k t h e p a s s a g e i n t o t h e n e i g h b o r -

h oo d . W e discuss th is m or e fu lly in MAIN GATEWAYS ( 5 3 ) . Bu t

th e f ac t i s th a t ev e ry su ccess fu l n e ig h b o rh o o d i s id en t i f i ab le b e -

cau se it h as so me k in d o f g a tew ay s wh ich m ark it s b o u n d a r i e s : t h e

b o u n d ary co mes a l iv e in p eo p le s ' m in d s b ecau se th ey r eco g n ize

t h e g a t e w a y s .

In case the idea of ga teways seems too c losed , we remark a t

o n c e t h a t t h e b o u n d a r y z o n e — a n d e s p e c ia l ly t h o se p a r t s o f it

a r o u n d t h e g a t e w a y s — m u s t a l s o f o r m a k i n d o f p u b l i c m e e t i n g

g r o u n d , w h e r e n e i g h b o r h o o d s c o m e t o g e t h e r . I f e a c h n e i g h b o r -

h o o d is a s e lf- c o n t a i n e d e n t i t y , t h e n t h e c o m m u n i t y of 7 0 0 0

w h i c h t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d s b e lo n g t o w i l l n o t c o n t r o l a n y of t h e

la n d i n t e r n a l to t h e n e i gh b o r h o o d s . Bu t it w i l l c o n t r o l all of the

l a n d between t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d s — t h e b o u n d a r y la n d — b e c a u s e

t h i s b o u n d a r y l a n d is j u s t w h e r e f u n c t i o n s c o m m o n t o a ll 7 0 0 0

p eo p le m u s t f in d sp ace . I n th i s sen se th e b o u n d a r i e s n o t o n lys e r ve to p r o t e c t i n d i v i d u a l n e i g h b o r h o o d s , b u t s im u l t a n e o u s ly

fu n c t i o n t o u n i t e t h e m in t h e i r l a r g e r p r o c es se s.

T h e r e f o r e :

E n c o u r a g e t h e f o r m a t i o n o f a b o u n d a r y a r o u n d e a c h

n e i g h b o r h o o d , t o s e p a r a t e i t f r o m t h e n e x t d o o r n e i g h b o r -

h o o d s . F o r m t h i s b o u n d a r y b y c lo s i n g d o w n s t r e e t s a n d

l i m i t i n g a cc e ss t o t h e n e i g h b o r h o o d — c u t t h e n o r m a l n u m -

b e r o f s t r ee t s a t le a s t in h a l f . P l a c e g a t e w a y s a t t h o s e p o i n t s

w h e r e t h e r e s t r ic t e d a c c e s s p a t h s c r o s s t h e b o u n d a r y ; a n d

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t o w n s

m a k e t h e b o u n d a r y z o n e w i d e e n o u g h to c o n t a i n m e e t i n g

p l a ce s f o r t h e c o m m o n f u n c t io n s s h a r e d b y s e v e r a l n e i g h -

b o r h o o d s .

T h e e a sie st w a y o f a ll t o fo r m a b o u n d a r y a r o u n d a n e i g h b o r -

h o o d is b y t u r n i n g b u i ld i n g s i n w a r d , a n d b y cu t t i n g o ff t h e

p a t h s w h i c h c r o s s t h e b o u n d a r y , e x c e p t f o r o n e o r t w o a t s p e c i a l

po in ts wh ich becom e gatew ays—M AIN GATEWAYS ( 5 3 ) ; th e

p u b l i c l an d o f th e b o u n d a r y may in c lu d e a p a r k , co l lec to r ro ad s ,

s m a l l p a r k i n g lo t s, a n d w o r k co m m u n i t i e s — a n y t h i n g w h i ch fo r m s

a n a t u r a l e d g e — P A R A L L E L RO ADS ( 2 3 ) , W O R K C O M M U N I T Y ( 4 1 ) ,

Q U I E T BA CK S ( 5 9 ) , A C C ES SI BL E G R E E N ( 6 0 ) , S H I E L D E D P A R K I N G

( 9 7 ) , S M A LL P A R KI N G LO T S ( 1 0 3 ) . A s f o r t h e m e e t i n g p l a c e s i n

t h e b o u n d a r y , t h e y c a n b e a n y o f t h o s e n e i g h b o r h o o d f u n c t i o n s

w h i c h i n v it e g a t h e r i n g : a p a r k , a s h a r e d g a r a g e , a n o u t d o o r r o o m ,

a s h o p p i n g s t r e e t , a p l a y g r o u n d — S H O P P I N G ST R E E T ( 3 2 ) , PO O LS

AN D S TR EA M S ( 6 4 ) , P U B L I C O U T D O O R RO O M ( 6 9 ) , G R A V E SI TES

( 7 0 ) , LO C AL SP O RTS ( 7 2 ) , A D V E N T U R E P L AYG R O U N D ( 7 3 ) . . . .

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