WorldBuilding

(ReadWith) MakingALivingWorld

ChristopherAlexander, the architect, at the beginning of TheTimelessWayOfBuilding, intuits an innate will to architecture :

Each one of us wants to bring a building or part of a town to life like this

It is a fundamental human instinct, as much part of our desire as the desire for children. It is, quite simply, the desire to make a part of nature, to complete a world which is already made of mountains, streams, snowdrops and stones, with something made by each of us, as much a part of nature and a part of our immediate surroundings.

Each one of us has, somewhere in his heart, te dream of making a living world, a universe.

Those of us who have been trained as architects hace this desire perhaps at the very centre of our lives : that one day, somewhere, somehow, we shall build one building which is wonderful, beautiful, breathtaking, a place where people can walk and dream for centuries.

In some form, every person has some version of this dream : whoever you are, you may have the dream of one day building a most beautiful house for your family, a garden, a fountain, a fishpond, a big room with soft light, flowers outside and the smell of new grass.

In some less clear fashion, anyoned who is concerned with towns has thos same dream, perhaps for an entire town.

I wonder if this is really to do with what I call TheWantingWithoutAName

Of course, all arguments against HumanNature apply.