Christopher Alexander’s Patterns from A Pattern Language went over many cases and ideas he has about community and learning opportunities. In March of 2020, the world was struck with Covid19 which led to new forms of communication being created in need of a solution to talk to one another. We are forced to use apps to communicate with each other while fighting this pandemic. Apps such as mural, zoom, and slack all have features that Christopher Alexander would approve of.
Zoom uses breakout rooms that separate the classroom into smaller groups for a efficient discussion. Christopher Alexander is a strong supporter of small work groups. He believes that it is essential for learning and working to occur when you do are not bottle necked with information. Being in a smaller group allows you to remember conversations and things that occur during those discussions.
Christopher Alexander also agrees that common areas are essential. Mural is an application that lets many students interact with each in real time. Both Mural and Slacks allow communities to be created for any participant. This gives a place for students to talk and hang out in an informal space.
Christopher Alexander is a huge supporter of work communities that are broken up into smaller divisions as well as workplaces that are as enjoyable to be in as your own home. “If you spend eight hours of your day at work, and eight hours at home, there is no reason why your workplace should be any less of a community than your home.” (Patterns from A Pattern Language p.223). Companies such as Google, Apple, and Steam all prioritize the relaxation and happiness of their employees to promote better innovation and ideas. Google and Steam’s workplaces both offer free food catered for their employees to make sure they are happy and joyful. Christopher Alexander believed that it is important to have the worker be rewarded in order to have motivation for their work. In Apple’s new billion dollar campus, amenities such as yoga studios, gyms, and cafes are all included for employees. Just like Christopher Alexander stated, Tim Cook believes that for innovation and successful workflow to occur, you need relaxed and energized employees.
Christopher Alexander’s ideas on small work group and workplaces really agreed with me. I always loved learning and being in a smaller environment when working and learning. I was always in small class sizes from middle school to high school. CCA being a smaller student body size was one of the things I love about when college searching 2 years ago. When reflecting upon the past, I noticed that I did better in the small class sizes. When talking to fellow classmates about the topic, they all agreed. Christopher Alexander’s ideas truly created the way many large companies run their buildings and buisnesses.
As an Asian who grow up in a community with a high population in a small area, I think the idea you claim down is so important. Not enough space makes people more unhappily and very stressed out.
Nice analysis and perfect examples. I do feel Google and Apple prioritize the relaxation and happiness of their employees to promote better innovation and ideas when I visited their workspaces.