Keynote by Christopher Alexander
Bio:
Christopher Alexander is the President of the Center for Environmental Structure, Professor of
Architecture at the University of California-Berkeley, and a Trustee in the Prince of Wales' Institute for
Architecture. He was educated at Oundle School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he read
mathematics and architecture. He went to the United States in 1958 to do his Ph.D. in Architecture at
Harvard. The most famous of his dozen or so ground-breaking books, A Pattern Language (1977) and
The Timeless Way of Building (1979) have been translated into many languages and are standard
texts in schools of architecture the world over. These books have become the inspiration and guide for
newfound standards of software architecture in recent years.
Professor Alexander has initiated new theories of function in buildings; has played a large role in the
development community participation in planning; has developed new technologies in concrete and
wood; and has pioneered modern approaches to construction management in which the architect is
master builder.
He is the first recipient of the AIA gold medal for research, a member of the Swedish Royal Academy
since 1980, and the recipient of dozens of awards and honors including the "Best Building in Japan"
award in 1985 and the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Architectures' Distinguished
Professor Award in 1987.
Sun May 12 11:59:35 EDT 1996
j.coplien@bell-labs.com