The Structure of the Ordinary

1 About this book

According to N. J. Habraken, intimate and unceasing interaction between people and the forms they inhabit uniquely defines built environment. The Structure of the Ordinary, the culmination of decades of environmental observation and design research, is a recognition and analysis of everyday environment as the wellspring of urban design and formal architecture. The author's central argument is that built environment is universally organized by the Orders of Form, Place, and Understanding.

These three fundamental, interwoven principles correspond roughly to physical, biological, and social domains.

Historically, "ordinary" environment was the background against which architects built the "extraordinary." Drawing upon extensive examples from archaeological and contemporary sites worldwide, Habraken illustrates profound recent shifts in the structure of everyday environment.

• Environmental aspects
• Environmental aspects of Architecture
• Architecture, environmental aspects
• Form
• Architecture