Christopher Alexander

Christopher Wolfgang Alexander is an architect noted for his theories about design as well as over 200 building projects around the world. Reasoning that users know more about the buildings they need than any architect could, he produced and validated a "pattern language" to empower anyone to design and build at any scale. He moved from England to the United States in 1958, living and teaching in Berkeley, California from 1963. Currently an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Alexander lives in Arundel, England. Alexander is often overlooked by texts in the history and theory of architecture because his work intentionally disregards contemporary architectural discourse. However, Alexander's polyvalent approach to the discipline of architecture has had enormous ramifications through his vast corpus of essays and books. He is regarded as the father of the Pattern Language movement, and various contemporary architectural practices such as the New Urbanist movement have resulted from Alexander's ideas, which seek to help normal people reclaim control over their built environments.