The Harmony of the Whole
by Christopher Alexander
Whatever you are going to do, no matter how large, or how small your
project may be, whether it is a planning process for an entire neighborhood
or construction of a small bench in a corner of your garden, the same
general rule always applies.
ALWAYS.
The purpose of every process of construction should be to
increase the harmony, the life, the balance of the whole.
What whole? Which whole does this statement refer to? The
answer is, it is always the next larger whole than the scale of the thing
which you are actually going to do.
If you are repairing a street, the goal of this work must be both to make
the street as good as possible as a whole: and at the same time to make
the street, in its entirety, heal the part of the world in which this
street is sitting, the local neighborhood of which it is a part.
If you are building a bench, the goal of this work must be to make the
bench as good as possible as a whole -- and, at the same time, to make
this bench heal that part of the garden in which it sits, of which it
is a part -- so that that corner of the garden is made more whole, visibly
and to your feeling, because the bench is there.
Seeking the Harmony of the Whole
Go to the place where you imagine building the project.
Look at it, walk around.
Stand somewhere, with your eyes closed, and keep them closed.
Try to imagine (while your eyes are still closed) that the overall harmony
of the larger part of the world has been increased: it is more whole.
Try to imagine (while your eyes are STILL closed) that the overall harmony
of the larger part of the world has been increased by something in the
smaller project area, which is itself more whole AND in so being, it makes
the larger part more whole.
What do you see?
What is the essence of the thing that you have seen, which makes the whole,
MORE whole?
Defining your Project Size
You will have to start with:
a clear definition of the spatial extent of the project you have,
and, if possible, a rough idea of the spatial extent of the larger whole
which this project is supposed to help or heal.
Usually the larger of these two will be two or three times the size (in
diameter) of the project diameter. Occasionally it may be more. It is
very important that you establish, as clearly as possible, the size of
the project area. That means, the area of the entity which you propose
to affect, physically and directly, by the actions of this project.
Avoid Confusion from Other Projects Spawned by THIS Project
It is almost inevitable, that in the course of your work on this project,
you will have dreams, or ideas, about other, larger things which range
beyond the scope of the immediate project, and yet other, smaller ones,
inside your project, which may be embellishing details that are thrown
up by the work on the project itself.
You will maintain clarity most easily if you define these
other ideas, when they arise, as separate projects. If you choose you
can start a new file on those which seem especially real, or meet your
desire to work on them.
However, the achievement of greater wholeness in the area
of your primary project, will not be helped, usually, by allowing it
to spawn multiple ideas. They will tend to diminish your focus, and make
it less likely that you can pay attention, successfully, to what is needed
in the project, to help the world around it, and to make a genuine impact
on the wholeness of the place where you are doing it.
Focus is everything.
Seeking the Harmony of the Whole
Again, go to the place where you imagine building the project.
Look at it, walk around.
Stand somewhere, with your eyes closed, and keep them closed.
Try to imagine (while your eyes are still closed) that the overall harmony
of the larger part of the world has been increased: it is more whole.
Try to imagine (while your eyes are STILL closed) that the overall harmony
of the larger part of the world has been increased by something in the
smaller project area, which is itself more whole AND in so being, it makes
the larger part more whole.
What do you see?
What is the essence of the thing that you have seen, which makes the whole,
MORE whole?
Now create a folder for the beginning of your project.
Usually the project or problem is the place to start.
Give an overall view of how the wholeness you have seen, might be attained.
Write it down in detail, and put it in the starting folder.
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