Editing A Pattern Language (section)

{{Short description|1977 nonfiction book by Christopher Alexander}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| name = A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
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| translator = 
| image = A Pattern Language.jpg
| caption = 
| author = Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein
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| country = 
| language = 
| series = 
| subject = Architecture
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| publisher = Oxford University Press
| pub_date = {{Start date and age|1977}}
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| pages = 1071
| isbn = 0-19-501919-9
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| congress = HT166.A6147
| preceded_by = [[The Oregon Experiment]]
| followed_by = [[The Timeless Way of Building]]
}}

'''''A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction''''' is a 1977 book on [[architecture]], [[urban design]], and community [[livability]].  It was authored by [[Christopher Alexander]], [[Sara Ishikawa]] and [[Murray Silverstein]] of the Center for Environmental Structure of [[Berkeley, California]], with writing credits also to Max Jacobson, Ingrid Fiksdahl-King and Shlomo Angel. Decades after its publication, it is still one of the best-selling books on architecture.<ref>review: [http://www.katarxis3.com/Review_Nature_Order.htm Towards a New Science of Architecture, and a New Architecture of Science, KATARXIS No 3, London UK, September 2004]</ref>

The book creates a new language, what the authors call a [[pattern language]] derived from timeless entities called patterns. As they write on page xxxv of the introduction, "All 253 patterns together form a language." Patterns describe a problem and then offer a solution. In doing so the authors intend to give ordinary people, not only professionals, a way to work with their neighbors to improve a town or neighborhood, design a house for themselves or work with colleagues to design an office, workshop, or public building such as a school.