Page 20 RAIN May 1982 ACCESS BUILDING The Linz CafelDas Linz Cafe, by Christopher Alexander, 1981,94 pp., $19.95 from; Oxford University Press 200 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 . . . the building comes above all from the desire to make something which is simple, ordinary and comfortable. This simple comfort depends on certain definite and specifiable patterns . . . many of them described in A Pattern Language, their interaction and use described in The Timeless Way of Building. People get enthusiastic about Christopher Alexander's books. Five years ago, he and his colleagues at the Center for Environmental Structure in Berkeley wrote A Pattern Language, a book that has since become a Bible for architects and planners. I discovered the book in the Next Whole Earth Catalog, where Stewart Brand speculated that it was the best and most useful book in the Catalog. Once I got a copy of the book, I spent the next few months studying it daily and stopping friends on the street to tell them about the ideas at length. What exciting ideas! And what a combination of practical suggestions and inspiring ideals I The Linz Cafe describes the ideas in practice—an example of their potential. (A Pattern Language is still the best introduction to these ideas, however.) Organizers of a summer exposition in Austria, who commissioned the Linz Cafe, wanted Christopher Alexander to "build something which thoroughly expressed his ideas and feelings about architecture." How to design and build: start with the site; rough out design, using the appropriate patterns; refine the details as you build—try out each nook and cranny, each bench edge and window frame, until it feels right and fits into the whole— work each detail out, very exactly, by trial and error, using full scale mockups to get size and shape and proportion just exactly right. For example, in the case of the alcoves, I spent several hours in the office, playing with chairs, tables, and pieces of plywood, until I had the dimensions of the alcove exactly right. I knew I had it right when it felt so comfortable, that everyone in the office clustered round, sat in the simulated alcove drinking brandy, and refused to leave. Color and ornament are also essential details. Alexander explains his ideas on color— he hand-mixed the paints to get precisely the right colors—and ornament. Half of the book is photographs of shimmering clarity, many in color, whose presence accounts for the book's steep price. (Half of the text is a German translation, incidentally, so the book is short enough for a quick first reading in a bookstore if your library doesn't have it.) My main concern, is to make something in which a person sees himself reflected, in which we may claim to see the world, in miniature, and which I can make, as some kind of offering ... a gift to the universe. Of course, what we have here, is a handful of sticks, quickly thrown together .. . and to make too high a claim, would lay it open to laughter and make it seem ridiculous. But it can, perhaps, be understood as a kind of exercise ... a preliminary exercise in which what it takes to make such a thing, has been laid out on the table . . . made . .. tested . .. and in which we have the opportunity to see whether it is possible, in our time, to make something in which we see a whole world, in which we see ourselves . . . in which we feel not only simply happiness, but a vision of an ordinary person, at home with a cup of tea. Ideas of subtle power and magical simplicity, elegantly illustrated. —Tanya Kucak TOOLS Electric and Gas Welding, by E.F. Lindsley, 1981,172 pp., foom; Times Mirror Book Division 380 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10017 This is a basic introduction to welding, written for people with little or no experience who are toying with the idea of buying a welding rig and trying their hand. If you do have an interest in welding, the best way to learn some of the tricks is to take a night class or talk to someone who is skilled at welding. If you lack that type of access, this book may serve as a substitute. It covers the basics of welding equipment selection, techniques, applications, and safety. If you get into it seriously, there are better, more comprehensive texts on both arc and oxyacete- iyne welding, but as a short, basic introduction this will fill the bill. —Gail Katz MEDIA "10 Years That Didn't Shake the World," Undercurrents No. 50,10th Anniversary Special Issue, Feb. 1982, $1.75 from: Undercurrents T7 Clerkenwell Close London ECl OAT England Undercurrents came to me in the bath. Yes, really. The name, I mean. For months I'd been trying to think of a good title for an "alternative" science and technology magazine and then suddenly, as I wallowed amid the soap racks, the loofahs and the rubber ducks it came: Undercurrents.'—Godfrey Boyle, founding editor One of rain's sister publications abroad, Undercurrents is celebrating its 10th birth- . day. It's put out by the people who, in 1976, amidst the ongoing debate about whether what we do is properly called "appropriate," "alternative," "intermediate," "soft," "convivial," or what-have-you, made their own position clear. They published an excellent volume, comparable to our RAINBOOK, called Radical Technology. You may not always enjoy British humor, but you have to appreciate tbeir disdain for fuzziness. Congratulations on your first decade, mates! —Mark Roseland
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz