A PERSONAL LETTER FROM CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER

All my life I have tried to help clarify the distinction -- for buildings and the environment -- between what is good and what is bad, what has life and what does not have life. For thirty seven years I have worked to make this distinction more clear, and I have, in many cases, made progress which can be useful to others.

But so far, the effect of this work of mine and of my colleagues has been small. The world continues its path in which other influences determine the outcome of what is built -- affect, therefore our surroundings, often to our detriment. My discoveries have, so far, helped only a few.

Now I would like to help millions.

My aim, in creating this web site and this new company, is to create tools, based as far as possible on the distinction between what has life and what does not, which will help millions of people in every part of the world use tools which can help us all generate living structure in our surroundings. That means, by understanding fundamental principles of structure, and by using procedures, in our daily lives as users, architects, builders, planners, and craftspeople, which allow the living structure that is needed in a situation, to unfold directly, from proper, step-by-step, application of these principles.

I shall be rewarded in this work, to the extent that hundreds, then thousands, and one day millions of people, like you and like me, are helped and do manage to use these procedures to make a better world, for yourselves, for ourselves, and for all of us.

I can imagine nothing better than a new world in which people in their world with architects and builders together, form a new kind of community of interest, in which we all work together, to reach this common goal.

I hope this will come to pass, in my lifetime and yours, and I hope for your help in reaching it.

Above all, I hope that what we do here, on this web site, will be helpful to YOU.