A complex object will only be successful if it is generated.

Generalization from organisms to software and buildings; used to argue against mere assembly.

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Concepts (1)

concept

generated structure
supports
A structure created by an unfolding, differentiating process that adapts each part deeply, achieving mistake-free, complex, living geometry. Contrasted with fabricated structure.

Related by similarity (8)

cosine ≥ 0.65 · no typed edge

Entities in the same semantic neighborhood but without a typed relation to this one — candidates for new edges or unrecognized duplicates.

Complex, generated structure cannot be arrived at in any other way.quote0.818
Concise statement that underscores the necessity of the generated process for real complexity.
It is theoretically impossible to build a successful building from a set of drawings specifying every detail.claim0.806
Because feedback is needed to shape elements during construction.
ALL the well-ordered complex systems we know in the world, all those anyway that we view as highly successful, are GENERATED structures, not fabricated structures.claim0.790
The central thesis of the chapter; supported by examples from nature, artifacts, and human settlements.
How could one possibly succeed in design, doing one thing at a time, since a complex whole is a unitary undivided whole which cannot be separated into parts?question0.783
Rhetorical question embodying the conventional wisdom that Alexander challenges by showing that unfolding sequences solve exactly this problem.
Truly successful programs can only be generated; and the way forward in the next decades will be through programs which are generated through unfolding, in some fashion comparable to what I have described for buildings.hypothesis0.775
Predicts that the only path to highly adapted software is to apply the principles of generated structure.
The simplest thing which can be created, in real terms, is that thing which goes furthest to resolve, complete, hence to elaborate and underpin the structure of the world, its wholeness, which exists at that place.claim0.774
Definition of real simplicity tied to resolving the wholeness.
In modern architecture, neither design nor construction typically works step by step; instead there is a fixed end-state produced without realistic feedback.claim0.773
Contrast between living process and current architectural practice.
A pattern language will work well only to the extent that it embraces a whole — comprising everything needed for a complete building of that type — so that its patterns work together as a coherent systemhypothesis0.773
Condition for success of an artificial pattern language stated in section 3