From an ecological, scientific perspective all phenomena found in nature posses both form and fun... more From an ecological, scientific perspective all phenomena found in nature posses both form and function, hence being labelled as having ‘living’ qualities. Some, if not many man-made structures lack this quality and there is scientific evidence conducted by Christopher Alexander that state the reasons why this is so. As architects we must pay attention to this issue so we can avoid past mistakes and strive to create buildings and structures that are architecturally ‘alive’. This research is vital because as architects we play a key role in shaping the built environment, and this can have either a positive or negative effect on the surrounding environment and community. The aim of this research is to test Christopher Alexander’s principles to see whether he holds the key in decreasing the gap between nature and the built environment, using Boudhanath Stupa Kathmandu as a case study. The structure of the research will be based on the scientific, explanatory and analytical method. The research will outline Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Fundamental Properties and exploring whether there is evidence of these properties within Boudhanath Stupa. This research will be backed with recent on-site analysis and architectural, religious and structural information. The qualitative research method will also be employed within the research as it aims to gather an in-depth understanding of the stupa and its surrounding environment. The research initially will be hypothesis testing as I will be testing Alexander’s theory against the Boudhanath Stupa, however, I am aware that this may also be hypothesis generating as further research is conducted by opening up and revealing questions along the way. If the Fifteen Fundamental Properties are evident in the stupa, this may prove Alexander’s theory as being valid, and if this is the case, we can learn from Alexander’s principles in order to create more examples of ‘living’ architecture.
From an ecological, scientific perspective all phenomena found in nature posses both form and fun... more From an ecological, scientific perspective all phenomena found in nature posses both form and function, hence being labelled as having ‘living’ qualities. Some, if not many man-made structures lack this quality and there is scientific evidence conducted by Christopher Alexander that state the reasons why this is so. As architects we must pay attention to this issue so we can avoid past mistakes and strive to create buildings and structures that are architecturally ‘alive’. This research is vital because as architects we play a key role in shaping the built environment, and this can have either a positive or negative effect on the surrounding environment and community. The aim of this research is to test Christopher Alexander’s principles to see whether he holds the key in decreasing the gap between nature and the built environment, using Boudhanath Stupa Kathmandu as a case study. The structure of the research will be based on the scientific, explanatory and analytical method. The research will outline Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Fundamental Properties and exploring whether there is evidence of these properties within Boudhanath Stupa. This research will be backed with recent on-site analysis and architectural, religious and structural information. The qualitative research method will also be employed within the research as it aims to gather an in-depth understanding of the stupa and its surrounding environment. The research initially will be hypothesis testing as I will be testing Alexander’s theory against the Boudhanath Stupa, however, I am aware that this may also be hypothesis generating as further research is conducted by opening up and revealing questions along the way. If the Fifteen Fundamental Properties are evident in the stupa, this may prove Alexander’s theory as being valid, and if this is the case, we can learn from Alexander’s principles in order to create more examples of ‘living’ architecture.
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Papers by Thomas Young
being labelled as having ‘living’ qualities. Some, if not many man-made structures lack this quality and there is
scientific evidence conducted by Christopher Alexander that state the reasons why this is so. As architects we
must pay attention to this issue so we can avoid past mistakes and strive to create buildings and structures
that are architecturally ‘alive’. This research is vital because as architects we play a key role in shaping the
built environment, and this can have either a positive or negative effect on the surrounding environment and
community. The aim of this research is to test Christopher Alexander’s principles to see whether he holds the
key in decreasing the gap between nature and the built environment, using Boudhanath Stupa Kathmandu as
a case study. The structure of the research will be based on the scientific, explanatory and analytical method.
The research will outline Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Fundamental Properties and exploring whether there
is evidence of these properties within Boudhanath Stupa. This research will be backed with recent on-site
analysis and architectural, religious and structural information. The qualitative research method will also be
employed within the research as it aims to gather an in-depth understanding of the stupa and its surrounding
environment. The research initially will be hypothesis testing as I will be testing Alexander’s theory against the
Boudhanath Stupa, however, I am aware that this may also be hypothesis generating as further research is
conducted by opening up and revealing questions along the way. If the Fifteen Fundamental Properties are
evident in the stupa, this may prove Alexander’s theory as being valid, and if this is the case, we can learn from
Alexander’s principles in order to create more examples of ‘living’ architecture.
being labelled as having ‘living’ qualities. Some, if not many man-made structures lack this quality and there is
scientific evidence conducted by Christopher Alexander that state the reasons why this is so. As architects we
must pay attention to this issue so we can avoid past mistakes and strive to create buildings and structures
that are architecturally ‘alive’. This research is vital because as architects we play a key role in shaping the
built environment, and this can have either a positive or negative effect on the surrounding environment and
community. The aim of this research is to test Christopher Alexander’s principles to see whether he holds the
key in decreasing the gap between nature and the built environment, using Boudhanath Stupa Kathmandu as
a case study. The structure of the research will be based on the scientific, explanatory and analytical method.
The research will outline Christopher Alexander’s Fifteen Fundamental Properties and exploring whether there
is evidence of these properties within Boudhanath Stupa. This research will be backed with recent on-site
analysis and architectural, religious and structural information. The qualitative research method will also be
employed within the research as it aims to gather an in-depth understanding of the stupa and its surrounding
environment. The research initially will be hypothesis testing as I will be testing Alexander’s theory against the
Boudhanath Stupa, however, I am aware that this may also be hypothesis generating as further research is
conducted by opening up and revealing questions along the way. If the Fifteen Fundamental Properties are
evident in the stupa, this may prove Alexander’s theory as being valid, and if this is the case, we can learn from
Alexander’s principles in order to create more examples of ‘living’ architecture.