12
1.7 Levels of Scale in a Pattern Language
Similar to words with grammatical relationships to each other to form a spoken language, so does
patterns relate to each other in a pattern language. In a pattern language the patterns are part of a
directed acyclic graph, each mode of which represents a pattern. Core to the workings of a pattern
language is the hierarchy of these patterns (Borchers, 2008; in Neis, Brown, Gurr, & Schmidt, 2012,
p. 92), linked to each other in levels of scale. This is clearly demonstrated in A Pattern Language
(1977), where the language has a hierarchal structure within a network. This network has a sequence,
and going through the collection of patterns, the sequence always moves from:
… the larger patterns to the smaller, always from the ones which create structures, to those ones which then
embellish those structures, and then to those which embellish the embellishments… (Alexander et al., 1977, p.
xviii).
In the regenerative-adaptive pattern language, levels of scale are represented by the higher level
of fundamental patterns of the language, connected in the larger network with regenerative- adaptive
patterns; these include:
• challenges of design and adaptation;
• forces that are continuously present;
• centres formed in the dynamics of time;
• transformations specific to place;
• core patterns embedded within communities;
• regenerative attributes that can regenerate environments; and
• the adaptive evolutionary potential as part of the whole.
The fundamental patterns identified in each chapter of this book are at the higher level of the hierarchy in the language; however, it must be noted that fundamental patterns can exist at all scales. In
Chap. 11 the application of the regenerative- adaptive pattern language demonstrates the connections
between fundamental patterns and the other entities in the larger network.
1.8 Use of the Regenerative- Adaptive Pattern Language
As described above, the regenerative-adaptive pattern language has a network structure. In essence,
everything is connected together, linked in levels of scale. Each chapter in this book has a fundamental
pattern, which is linked to other patterns and entities. Each pattern has a three-part rule, which
expresses a relation between a certain context, a problem or issue, and a solution embedded in both
the pattern and its entities (Alexander, 1979, p. 247). Since the language is in fact a webstring
11
network, there is no one sequence that perfectly captures it.
11 In 1988, Michael J. Cohen (2008) developed an exercise in Ecopsychology in what he refers to as the Webstring
Natural Attraction Model, where a webstring network in essence demonstrates the whole interconnected strings of
attachment between all entities in Nature, including humans (Cohen, 2008, p. 12). When one string in this web of life
is cut, it influences and has consequences for all other entities connected in this network. What is interesting about this
webstring network is that there is no specific sequence of the connections, but they follow a line and form their own
sequence upwards and downwards in the network.
1 The State of the Planet: From Anthropocene Dominant to Regenerative-Adaptive Futures
1.7 Levels of Scale in a Pattern Language
Similar to words with grammatical relationships to each other to form a spoken language, so does
patterns relate to each other in a pattern language. In a pattern language the patterns are part of a
directed acyclic graph, each mode of which represents a pattern. Core to the workings of a pattern
language is the hierarchy of these patterns (Borchers, 2008; in Neis, Brown, Gurr, & Schmidt, 2012,
p. 92), linked to each other in levels of scale. This is clearly demonstrated in A Pattern Language
(1977), where the language has a hierarchal structure within a network. This network has a sequence,
and going through the collection of patterns, the sequence always moves from:
… the larger patterns to the smaller, always from the ones which create structures, to those ones which then
embellish those structures, and then to those which embellish the embellishments… (Alexander et al., 1977, p.
xviii).
In the regenerative-adaptive pattern language, levels of scale are represented by the higher level
of fundamental patterns of the language, connected in the larger network with regenerative- adaptive
patterns; these include:
• challenges of design and adaptation;
• forces that are continuously present;
• centres formed in the dynamics of time;
• transformations specific to place;
• core patterns embedded within communities;
• regenerative attributes that can regenerate environments; and
• the adaptive evolutionary potential as part of the whole.
The fundamental patterns identified in each chapter of this book are at the higher level of the hierarchy in the language; however, it must be noted that fundamental patterns can exist at all scales. In
Chap. 11 the application of the regenerative- adaptive pattern language demonstrates the connections
between fundamental patterns and the other entities in the larger network.
1.8 Use of the Regenerative- Adaptive Pattern Language
As described above, the regenerative-adaptive pattern language has a network structure. In essence,
everything is connected together, linked in levels of scale. Each chapter in this book has a fundamental
pattern, which is linked to other patterns and entities. Each pattern has a three-part rule, which
expresses a relation between a certain context, a problem or issue, and a solution embedded in both
the pattern and its entities (Alexander, 1979, p. 247). Since the language is in fact a webstring
11
network, there is no one sequence that perfectly captures it.
11 In 1988, Michael J. Cohen (2008) developed an exercise in Ecopsychology in what he refers to as the Webstring
Natural Attraction Model, where a webstring network in essence demonstrates the whole interconnected strings of
attachment between all entities in Nature, including humans (Cohen, 2008, p. 12). When one string in this web of life
is cut, it influences and has consequences for all other entities connected in this network. What is interesting about this
webstring network is that there is no specific sequence of the connections, but they follow a line and form their own
sequence upwards and downwards in the network.
1 The State of the Planet: From Anthropocene Dominant to Regenerative-Adaptive Futures