In the late 1960's & early 1970's, students & faculty at the University of Oregon protested against log trucks driving through campus; against the destruction of a 19th century cemetery; against the draft & the invasions & occupations in Southeast Asia; and against the idea that the University was acting 'In Loco Parentis', in place of parents. On top of this, buildings created since the end of WW II were increasingly brutal & dystopian.

The campus community wanted more control over their lives, and their environment. The University administration took the conciliatory measure of hiring an award-winning, but radical, professor from Berkeley, to design a process by which the community of the university could create its own space.

At the time, this was Christopher Alexander's first deep journey into actual community-based design & construction. The University of Oregon became the experimental testbed for material that later became the book 'A Pattern Language' -- the best-selling book on architecture & planning of all time, and possibly the most significant influence, from outside the field, on computing.

"Feeling" should be the primary criteria used for making changes to any place. Improvements to the campus should be made first to those places that needed the most help. Patterns, or good solutions to generic problems, should be available in a community encyclopedia. Care should be taken to curb the economic & political power of large monolithic projects. Places should be shaped for people, to make them feel more whole, and to nourish them. And people should be involved in the construction of their community.

Today

Although the University planning office still uses some of the principles expressed in the Oregon Experiment, architectural bravura and contractor influence has warped the process beyond recognition. To push its agenda, the University administration regularly removes projects from community participation. On the other hand, most new campus buildings reflect user group influence in their large-scale structure.

External Links

University of Oregon 'Pattern Language FAQ'

"The Oregon Experiment after 20 years"

"Alexander visits the Oregon Experiment"