Every form of order, every thing, has some degree of life. We, through our perception, make distinctions, recognizing cases which have a great deal of life and others which seem to have very little. Our goal is to create life-filled spaces, buildings and towns which are part of the living fabric of the earth and which are themselves alive, enhancing the life in man-made things and natural things together.

The writings of Christopher Alexander form a great part of our studio philosophy. "The Nature of Order," Alexander's seminal essay on "The Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe" is a constant source of inspiration and guidance in our search for meaning and beauty.

The implications of Alexander's "Fifteen Fundamental Properties", "...structural features which appear again and again in things which do have life," are of vital importance to our every design effort. His principles of "strong centers" and "unfolding wholeness" are cornerstones of our studio consciousness and character, and at best, of our work.

For more Alexander, visit
www.patternlanguage.com

Wholeness Wholeness is the structure which catches what we intuitively perceive as the being, or the broader nature of a thing. It is the source of the coherence which exists in any part of space.

Viewing something as a whole is seeing it not as an isolated entity, but as being unbroken and continuous in its connection, always part of the larger picture.

Wholeness itself is formed from systems of wholes. The whole is further defined by the system of centers from which it is composed. It is this system as a whole - that is to say, its pattern - which we refer to when we speak of something as a whole.