MAKING PATTERNS

MAKING PATTERNS

YOUR OWN BUILDING BLOCKS OF A PATTERN PLAN

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Making Patterns June 28, 2013

End result 2 of 4 of Interdisciplinary Project Group “Better Airport Regions” MSc Industrial Ecology, Delft University of Technology & Leiden University Course code: 4413INTPGY

Authors:

Bas Mentink (basmentink@gmail.com)

Laurence Henriquez (laurencehenriquez@gmail.com) Lisette van Niekerk (lisettevanniekerk@gmail.com) Rhea Verheul (rheaverheul@hotmail.com) Supervisors:

Prof.Dr.Ir. Arjan van Timmeren, Environmental Technology and Design, Delft Ir. Egbert Stolk, Environmental Planning and Ecology, Delft

Dr. René Kleijn, Industrial Ecology, Leiden

NOTE: This material is for educational purposes only and may not be reproduced, displayed, modified or distributed without the prior perrmission of the IPG BAR Group. The IPG BAR Group has no ownership of images in the booklet unless otherwise noted. If copyright holders wish for their work to be removed please notify us as soon as possible .

MAKING PATTERNS

YOUR OWN BUILDING BLOCKS OF A PATTERN PLAN

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Making Patterns is the sequel booklet of the threefold IPG BAR pattern methodology. The remaining booklets are Using Patterns and The IPG BAR Pattern Library. Though it can be read seperately, This booklet is best read after Using Patterns. Enjoy your readings!

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The following chapters are a step-by-step guide to making effective patterns. Before embarking on the task of making your very own patterns, it is highly recommended that you first finish the accompanying Using Patterns booklet.

There are several reasons why you would want to create your own patterns instead of using ones found within pre-existing libraries. Existing patterns might not provide the solutions your project is looking for, or they provide ineffective solutions that need to be customized. You might even have a completely novel solution that you’d like to translate into a pattern so others can understand your idea and make use of it in their own projects.

Making patterns is by no means a difficult task. We have experienced in workshops that anybody with a basic understanding of pattern theory can formulate the core elements of a patterns: recurring solutions for recurring problems within a

specific context. However, it is very important to pay attention to the formulation and visualisation of patterns so that others can quickly understand the essence of the problem and solution you are positing. Ch. 6 gives guidelines for elaborating patterns in a proper way. Furthermore, it presents suggestions for a digital version of pattern networks.

If you are developing patterns with the intention of implementing them within a certain physical area, the process becomes a bit more complicated. There are two main pitfalls you need to be aware of. First, one can easily lose time working on less relevant patterns if the problem description and scope of a case are not well defined. Second, the opposite may also happen— important problems remain unnoticed and crucial potential patterns are not developed. The majority of this booklet (Ch.2 through 6) is dedicated to a new methodology of pattern development created by the IPG BAR Group that we hope will be incorporated into future pattern plans for urban development projects.

Are you new to the business of making patterns? If so, you’re in the right place.

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his booklet

Though customizing or creating patterns is not difficult task, two pitfalls should be taken into account to avoid wasting time.

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others somewhat hidden to the casual observer. Reading through the pattern libraries presented in Ch. 8 of Using Patterns, you might feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available to you and might not know where to start. Coming up with patterns is therefore not the problem here. Rather, the question is how can you be certain to create useful patterns in an efficient and effective way. We answered that question and called our solution “Strategic Pattern Development” (SPD). It includes intensive immersion and mapping of your area, scenario development and an iterative pattern development process.

Most existing pattern libraries such as those of Christopher Alexander or Machiel van Dorst (ed.) have a rather encyclopaedic goal to collect and represent seemingly all human knowledge within patterns witht he purpose of being implemented anywhere, no matter the culture or locale. However, most of today’s pattern developers have a completely different goal in mind: they wish to develop patterns that they can be implemented within a specific

region. The goal of SPD is to help make patterns that are just right for your case. The core idea is to structure your research in such a way that you avoid both incompleteness and redundancy.

Just like when using existing patterns to make a pattern plan, you need to start with immersion, scoping and mapping. It is very important to do this in a systematic way. The next step is to develop scenarios. The content requirements of these scenarios are equal to those that are described in the Using Patterns booklet. However, in this booklet they not only function as a test for your patterns, but also as an inspiration for new pattern development.

Mapping the current situation and looking at potential future developments are an excellent basis to formulating the essential problems that exist in the present (Ch.3), and those that will/might occur in the future (Ch.4). The next step is to find generic solutions to these problems that could be used in different contexts (Ch.5). Finally, we will give you some guidelines of how to detail these patterns so they can be used easily by the relevant stakeholders (Ch.6). The last step will be to correctly place your patterns within your own pattern network (i.e. highlighting all relevant interconnections between related patterns), one that will hopefully contribute to a digital world wide pattern network as described in Ch.6.

How do you know you are making useful patterns in an efficient and effective way? We answered that question and called it “Strategic Pattern Development”.

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trategic Pattern

Development

Pattern development is strategic when current and future problems are used as starting points

Figure 2 illustrates the iterative process of making patterns which we have found to be very effective. We go back and forth between the context of our case, specifically our scenarios of future developments, and the creation and elaboration of patterns within our specific scope. In our case that was Urban-Airport symbiosis (see blue box in Ch.2 of the Using Patterns booklet).

Going back and forth between scenarios and patterns might feel ineffective, strange or even counter intuitive to you but do not be discouraged. Furthermore, in Using Patterns you learnt to first state the problem well before starting to solve it and now we ask you to do two things at the same time. Why is that?

We’ve experienced that when you start making scenarios, you can continue forever on elaborating and expanding your ideas and expectations of the future. How do you know when information is getting irrelevant? By starting to create patterns, you will be able focus your need for additional information.

When to start creating patterns what additional information you need, will be explained in Ch.5 and 6.

CASE STUDY - SAMR

useful patterns of urban-airport symbiosis

Strategic Pattern Development

sc enar ios of futur e dev elopmen t pa tt er ns of ur ban-air por t symbiosis

Figure 2. Schematic representation of the Strategic Pattern Development process

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In Ch.5 of Using Patterns we explained the iterative process of immersing and scoping your case and how important it is. In this chapter we will summarize the theoretical basis of this process and add some mapping methods so you can get a better overview of your case and increase the effectiveness of your pattern making.

It is not always easy to decide whether a situation is problematic or not. You can always use your future project outlook as guidance. Remember, all elements that prevent your vision from becoming a reality should be considered a problem.

The point of the immersion and scoping process is to achieve a problem description and directions for solution(s) that are easy to understand. Immersing and scoping is an iterative process. After acquiring more information and insights about your case you will be better equipped to scope the problem. This enhanced scope on its turn will guide and improve your immersing activities in the future.

Then, proceeding to the making of patterns, we propose to systematize your immersing activities more. This is because we deem this more systematic approach essential when only using patterns, but recommendable within the immersion process of making patterns if you want a great number of high quality patterns.

Figure 3 illustrates one way to map a case and how to list potentially useful patterns systematically. We stress potentially because they are not patterns yet. Some other useful mapping methods are listed below. (Note: they have not been used or tested by the IPG BAR)

Other mapping methods

An issue tree is a graphical breakdown of a problem divided into different components on a vertical axis, becoming more detailed as it reads to the right. This method is regularly used by strategy consultancies:

1. Write down one of the main goals of your case, phrased it as a problem in a “how to” question.

2. Think of as many solutions as possible. Start off with branches that represent more abstract solutions, branch off those solutions and get more detailed as you progress to the right.

3. Reconsider the formation of your issue tree. A problem can be divided in several ways, but often one solution is more useful than the others. Make several breakdowns to get a feel for it and then compare.

Ultimately, you want your issue tree to be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. This means that branches are not overlapping and yet cover all possible solutions. This might

require some creative thinking, so do a brainstorm or use another technique if necessary! Tips for alternative brainstorms can be found via a quick Internet search.

Example

1. Main goal: “How to reduce CO2 emission with blue or green structures?”

2. Issue tree: see Figure 4. Notes:

• The question mark highlights a challenging question the patterns: how to use more CO2 with a blue structure? • “Less emission to environment” is crossed out, because it is

the same as “more CO2 uptake.

• “Better combustion” and “clothing” are underlined in red since they do not relate to blue or green structures.

A goals and scales matrix has been developed by the Better Airport Regions group of TU Delft.

1. Write down one of the main goals of your case

2. Divide the main goal into three or more sub goals. Find more sub goals doing a brainstorm!

3. Set up a ‘pattern matrix’ with a row for each sub goal and a column for each scale, e.g. local, regional, national and policy)

Example

1. Main goal: “Reduce CO2 emission with blue or green structures”.

2. Sub goals:

a. Reduce CO2 production; b. Increase CO2 sinks;

c. Reduce fossil fuel consumption; d. Use CO2.

3. A pattern matrix with names of possible patterns (see Figure 5). The matrix reveals a blank spot for a new pattern: what blue or green structure reduces the fossil fuel need on a national scale?

Further reading

www.mindtools.com, a great collection of tools which add structure to problems. Wander through the sections of Strategy Tools, Problem Solving and Decision Making, try to adapt what you read to the pattern making problems and see whether it works for you!

Watanabe, K. Problem Solving 101. Vermilion, London. A very accessible book introducing the tips and tricks of strategy consultants, partly because it actually has been written for children.

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mmerse, scope

& map

Mapping immersive activities systematically improves the search for useful patterns.

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CASE STUDY - SAMR

After talking to experts, reading reports and digging through the internet we mapped relevant information on a geographical map like Figure 3. The mapping is scoped to a specific domain and time: current and planned (= realized within ~10 years) heat and cold sinks and sources. Possible exchanges of heat and cold

have then been drawn between the ellipses.

This geographical map helps to immerse into aspects and elements of the case and its scale. With additional information attached to each ellipse or arrow you could also map who is involved.

Figure 3. Geographical map of heat and cold sinks and sources and possible exchanges

Figure 4. Issue tree example. One option of a breakdown of the question how to reduce CO2 emissions.

Figure 5. Goals and scales matrix example. The matrix reveals a blank spot for a new pattern: what blue or green structure reduces the fossil fuel need on a national scale?

Schiphol driehoek development water f or dune infiltr ation fo od w aste fu el ener gy asphalt fuel wint er win ter w in_te r nutri ents offices greenhouses collective heat reserve agriculture _{collective (large scale)}

fermentation WWTP Zwanenburg offices sports green elephant grass industry Amsterdam district heating Hoofdorp district heating district cooling residenc es traffic SCHIPHOL Terremark Connexxion landing strip 1 2 3 6 7 3 5 4

CASE STUDY - SAMR

How to reduce CO2 emissions

with blue or green structures? is the same

Sub goal

Local

Regional

National

Policy

Reduce

Productive roofs

Algae ponds

Biomass landscapes

Carbon Tax

Sinks

Permeable surfaces

Tree banks

Leisure landscapes

Climate Proof City

Fossils

Green roofs

Green networks

??

Green Surfaces

Use

Urban greenhouses

Urban farming

Horticulture

Emitted carbon tax

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Scenario are stories describing potential future circumstances that might affect your upcoming patterns. Understanding these possible realities can help you to create more and more effective patterns.

Before we continue, note that not all pattern developers will need scenarios. If find yourself writing down a handful of problem-specific solutions instead of creating a strategic master plan for your project, you can skip the this step entirely. In this case it may be wiser to choose a set of criteria to judge your pattern by, such as initial and operational costs, the extent to which the pattern requires behavioural changes or previous experience with the solution provided by the pattern. If you are developing patterns with the intention of creating a complete pattern plan, scenarios possess several important functions that may benefit you along the design process.

• Inspiration

As you are invited to construct various stories about the future, scenarios can open your eyes to possibilities and problems that you would not have thought of otherwise. The problems that arise in scenarios call for pattern development. You are likely to come up with more or other patterns if you are using scenarios as an inspiration.

• Strategy

Scenarios are used to widen you scope and incorporate potential future circumstances to your problem formulation. Understanding these possible courses of the future enables you to thinking strategically about what patterns, and eventually what pattern plans (see Using Patterns booklet), are needed to reach your goals and meet your vision regardless of what the future might bring. Patterns that are likely to withstand future uncertainties are strategic patterns and these will be better able to make the impact you planned.

• Continuous testing and improvement

After developing a pattern you can “test” it by applying it within a number of scenarios. It is likely that patterns will not perform equally well in all scenarios. If, for example, the application of a pattern solution is quite costly it is less likely to be implemented in a future with low economic activity or a future where sustainability is of low importance within society. This phase is meant to improve the efficacy of pattern solutions

so they can handle various future outcomes. This aspect will be further discussed in Ch.6 of this booklet, when we start criticizing our patterns and making assumptions about the future.

• Judgment

It is instrumental to judge your patterns based on their performance in your scenarios before they make it into the pattern plan. Even after you’ve improved all your patterns there will be some remaining issues, especially in scenarios that are quite different from or even incompatible with your vision. This may influence your decision to complete a proposed pattern and save time.

Some more information about the background and types of scenarios can be found in Ch.7 of Using Patterns. If you’re interested in this topic, please dive into the suggested literature for some theory and interesting scenario studies. The following is a short roadmap of the scenario development process:

1. Determine what the exact subject is you want to learn more about and choose a time frame. For example, the topic “the future of shopping” will have completely different information requirements than “sustainable development opportunities in the urban region around Schiphol”.

2. Make a list of elements or potential developments that relate to your subject and describe for each element how strong that relationship is.

3. For all elements that are strongly related to your subject, identify which elements are quite certain (the basic trends) and which are very uncertain (the critical uncertainties). The basic trends form the background context for all scenarios, whereas the critical uncertainties form the divisions between the scenarios.

4. Choose two key uncertainties that you consider as the most influential and most uncertain. In this way, a two-dimensional scale is created. Group the other uncertainties accordingly. If you cannot bring the number of main key uncertainties down to two, you could choose to use more dimensions, although this will unavoidably make developing the scenarios more difficult.

5. Check for internal consistency and plausibility and identify further research needs. Fill in the gaps that you may identify. 6. Write down the final scenarios in a compelling narrative. See Figures 6-8 for inspiration on scenarios and search the accompanying sources for further information.

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reate

scenarios

Scenarios reveal future problems in a context, which preferably are taken into account by today’s patterns.

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CASE STUDY - SAMR

High prosperity Low prosperity Sustainability is central Sustainability is peripheral New Le N s sce N arios M o U nt AI ns A n D oce A ns 03

mouNtaiNs

oceaNs

in an era of volatile transitions, it’s unrealistic

to propose a single lens through which to

view the world of tomorrow. in all core factors,

from networks of power and the pace of change

to the policy agenda and resource landscape,

it is perspective that shapes perception.

our set of new lenses offers that perspective,

enabling us to explore two future worlds and

bring into sharper focus the possible outcomes

of today’s choices.

this is the world with status quo power locked in and held tightly by the currently influential. stability is the highest prize: those at the top align their interests to unlock resources steadily and cautiously, not solely dictated by immediate market forces. the resulting rigidity within the system dampens economic dynamism and stifles social mobility.

influence stretches far and wide in the world of Oceans. power is devolved, competing interests are accommodated and compromise is king. economic productivity surges on a huge wave of reforms, yet social cohesion is sometimes eroded and politics destabilised. this causes much secondary policy development to stagnate, giving immediate market forces greater prominence.

oVeRVIeW AnD FoReWoRD IntRoDUctIon neW Lenses FoR A neW eRA MoUntAIns oceAns ReFLectIons on DeVeLoPMent

AnD sUstAInABILItY concLUDInG ReMARKs tABLes AnD tIMeLIne

BAcK 1 / 2 neXt oVeRVIeW AnD FoReWoRD

New Le N s sce N arios M o U nt AI ns A n D oce A ns 03

mouNtaiNs

oceaNs

in an era of volatile transitions, it’s unrealistic

to propose a single lens through which to

view the world of tomorrow. in all core factors,

from networks of power and the pace of change

to the policy agenda and resource landscape,

it is perspective that shapes perception.

our set of new lenses offers that perspective,

enabling us to explore two future worlds and

bring into sharper focus the possible outcomes

of today’s choices.

this is the world with status quo power locked in and held tightly by the currently influential. stability is the highest prize: those at the top align their interests to unlock resources steadily and cautiously, not solely dictated by immediate market forces. the resulting rigidity within the system dampens economic dynamism and stifles social mobility.

influence stretches far and wide in the world of Oceans. power is devolved, competing interests are accommodated and compromise is king. economic productivity surges on a huge wave of reforms, yet social cohesion is sometimes eroded and politics destabilised. this causes much secondary policy development to stagnate, giving immediate market forces greater prominence.

oVeRVIeW AnD FoReWoRD IntRoDUctIon neW Lenses FoR A neW eRA MoUntAIns oceAns ReFLectIons on DeVeLoPMent

AnD sUstAInABILItY concLUDInG ReMARKs tABLes AnD tIMeLIne

BAcK 1 / 2 neXt oVeRVIeW AnD FoReWoRD

Figure 6. Shell’s ‘New Land scenarios’ (2013)

Figure 8. Scenarios of an (un)sustainable future of SAMR (see booklet Using Patterns)

Figure 7. Retail futures for the UK (Forum for the future, 2007)

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The creative mode

With or without clear ideas for patterns, it is now time to get things on paper. Good patterns have both informative text and visuals. At this step we want you to focus on drawing rather than on writing because drawing force the mind to come up with concrete, elaborated solutions that should be understood by others. So draw and write clearly!

Apart from being visual you should be daring and unorthodox in your pattern development. Remember, your patterns are not only dealing with the problems of today, but for future generations as well. Who knows what the future will bring after all? We want you to take this uncertainty as your advantage and propose daring solutions with high impact. The future knows no limits, and your imagination shouldn’t either! Try to find a nice place with no distractions and a pleasant atmosphere to get the juices flowing (see Figure. 9 and Cleese, 1991).

Though there are dozens of techniques to get creative ideas down on paper (take a glance through the book Creative Facilitation of Marc Tassoul for example) the IPG BAR Group found that a ‘circle exercise’ works quite well. The task is really simple: draw as many things with two circles in one minute. An average person should at come up with at least eight drawings (see Figure 10). Creative minds must pass fifteen!

Now that you’ve warming up a bit it’s time get started. Grab a sheet, preferably large such as an A3, and write down clearly the problem you are going to solve. Start drawing a solution to this problem and use some words to back up your drawings if necessary. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. It’s perfectly normal to start over, try several solutions and throw away some.

Be sure to take a look at the results of one of our workshops to the right and get inspired to dare and draw amazing patterns. Further reading

Cleese J. (1991) A lecture on creativity.

John Cleese, the creative brain behind many British comedy shows, has given a lecture once on the creative mode. He mentions five prerequisites for creativity: space, time, , confidence and humour. See this video and find out how he has come to this! http://vimeo.com/18913413

Tassoul, M. (2011) Creative Facilitation. VSSD, Delft. A library of creative techniques! If you really feel like going for the most daring patterns, check out the entire Creative Problem Solving method.

Hopefully the map methods and scenario development illuminated several major problems within your case and increased your understanding about how these problems might evolve in the future. Now its time to use your creativity to come up with solutions.

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reate patterns

Creativity is essential to innovative patterns.

Figure 9. A nice environment for creativity can often be found at unusual places. Here participants are cut loose of their daily tasks and distractions. Unusual places inspire as well!

Figure 10. Eight drawings with two circles as a warming up for creative drawing.

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CASE STUDY - SAMR

Figure 11.

Context: Scenario 4 “Back to the Green Basics” (see Ch.5 and Ch.7 of Using Patterns)

Problem: How will an airport run economically if future air traffic is expensive and limited by environmental considerations?

Solution: Schiphol terminal finds new business in high performance intercontinental video conferencing. Creator: René Kleijn, Leiden

Figure 12.

Context: Scenario 4 ‘Back to the Green Basics’ (see Ch.5 and Ch.7 of ‘Using Patterns’)

Problem: How will an airport cover its energy needs, if future energy prices and concern for the environment are high?

Solution: Organic waste of the airport grounds feeds biofuel producing algae. Creator: Laurence Henriquez, Delft

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Although a creative mode without critics is great to come up with some high quality ideas, you do have to question your patterns seriously in order to make them good enough for implementation. Now we want you to reflect on your patterns and come up with questions and doubts for a real life implementation of your solutions. Within your group pass your patterns to the left and write three to five questions or doubts to the pattern owner, enough to challenge the pattern but not too much to keep the complexity of the questions manageable. Remember to use your scenarios as an inspiration for important future challenges. If you’re not working in a team, you’ll have to do without someone else’s fresh and different view to question your own work.

Hand back the pattern with some questions to the owner and start solving the questions posed to your pattern (figure 13). We hope you can solve many by elaborating your pattern, but for some you will miss information. This can be technical information about how something works, but it can also regard information about the future. You should treat these two types of information requirements differently. List the technical information you cannot estimate well enough right now to look up later.

We will have to make assumptions about the information of the future. Is it realistic to assume that things will develop in such a way that the questions posed to your pattern will be solved? Take a look at your scenarios to improve your estimate. If everybody agrees, add the assumption you have made to the scenarios where this assumption about the future fits in well. It would be best if the assumption fits in all scenarios, because that will increase the likeliness of the implementation of the pattern.

However, beware not to start ‘promoting’ your pattern and to be biased about the future.

Note that the technical information which you will look up later to back up your pattern might not be available or even exist, depending on the project. In that case you’ll have to make reasonable assumptions.

By now you should have gone over the questions and doubts your team has over your pattern, but we want to extend that in order to further develop your pattern and embed it. Therefore we suggest the pattern is passed once more to the right to get three to five new questions and try to solve them a couple more times until you feel the suggested questions are getting too minor (we just can’t solve everything on two pages) or your assumptions are becoming too uncertain.

Structuring questions in a table of information requirements

Although a couple of iterations with questions and solutions might elaborate your patterns enough, you might want to do this elaboration more systematically. In figure 14 we have indicated all questions and doubts we could come up with for a particular pattern. These questions and doubts are listed in an accompanying table, displayed in figure 15. It’s called a ‘table for information requirements’, since all information deficiencies for a useful and convincing pattern are made clear at a glance. With literature and other sources we have answered the questions as much as possible, but some questions can only be answered by making assumptions (words in the table in italic).

Excited? We hope your pattern making session was very stimulating but now it’s time to face reality a little bit and be critical towards your creations.

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ake

assumptions

Deficiencies in patterns are solved by additional information or assumptions about the future.

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CASE STUDY - SAMR

Figure 13. Two questions with answers (behind *) for the “Algae for organic waste” pattern

Figure 14. Indication of questions and doubts concerning the “Thermal landing strip” pattern

50°C 18°C Fw 1 5 3 4 6 7 2 strength summer / winter laws

revenue now and future

# Question Specification Answer

1 ΔT water Heat input + transfer to water (losses to

envi-ronment) → energy roof Variables: volume asphalt, position tubes (preferably 20 mm deep, p.16), material tubes, length tubes Tout: 50°C in Houston for a number of months (Mallick

2009:15)

How to easily translate this to the Schiphol context?

2 Heat input Solar, friction of aircraft wheels, specific

heat, volume of asphalt See #1 above

3 Application

of heat Needed heat temperature + location heat demand + heat transportation losses Mallick 2009:16:• 50°C acceptable for heating buildings • 30°C for anaerobic methane generation

• Preheating for domestic hot water in buildings • De-icing pavements

4 Seasonal

dif-ferences Houston: 17°CSchiphol: 16°C

5 Technical

feasibility Required strength of tarmac, weakening by tubes Mallick 2009:18: Less tubes, especially in areas suscepti-ble to rutting, can be used by applying a highly conductive layer (spreader) transmitting heat horizontally and verti-cally.

Order of magnitude road vs air traffic: • Load heavy truck (class 8): 15000 kg

• Load heavy airplane (Heavy): > 135000 kg (factor 10) 6 Juridical

feasibility Laws? Special asphalt requirements for landings strips unknown.

7 Economic

feasi-bility revenue indication, also for future, order of magnitude difference with competing heat generation methods. Mallick 2009:17: 10 year payback period. Assumptions among others:• $0,10/kWh • Copper: $7/m

• Installation and paving: $44/m2 • Operation: $1000/y.m2

• No synergy with maintenance projects of repavement

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omplete your

patterns

A useful pattern contains a set of elements which improves understanding and communication.

Now that you have critically reflected on your patterns its time to expand them so they can become a integral part of your project. This section gives a brief overview on how you can write and structure a pattern.

Patterns can be described in different levels of abstraction. To prevent lock-in and guard creativity, design patterns are primarily written at an architectural or conceptual level. It is very important to understand that there is no is no such thing as a single correct style or a template that fits all design patterns, as they so not require the same kind of information to reach effective communication.

A design pattern is most useful if it: • is easy and quick to understand the essence;

• includes the necessary information for a reader to evaluate it;

• is findable and related to other patterns. The Pattern Description Format

Although no fixed template exists, designers expect certain given information in a pattern; the standard pattern elements (SPE). Additional pattern elements (APE) can be added to the SPE to communicate relevant information that is not covered by the SPE. Mapping the SPE and APE in a pattern seeks to result in an optimal pattern. A pattern two-pager should contain the following information:

SPE: Textual representations:

T1. Pattern name/Title, including aliases; T2. Main statement/hypothesis; T3. Context-problem-forces-solution.; T4. related patterns

T5. Best case practices / Examples (APE) T6. Best sources (APE)

APE: Numerical and graphical representations: D1. Facts, data;

D2. GIS data & mappings; D3. Basic calculations.

Abstract visual representations: S1. Schemas;

S2. Diagrams;

S3. Mechanisms (e.g. simulations models). Illustrative visual representations:

I1. Pictures, drawings of existing situation/problem; I2. Pictures, drawings of possible solutions; I3. Pictures, drawings of useful analogies.

Textual representations

T1. Pattern name/ Title - A clear name to which the

solution can be referred or a useful metaphor.

• The name should conjure up images that convey the essence of the pattern to the reader.

• Remember it will be used as a “word” in the design vocabulary.

• Use evocative words.

T. 1.1 Aliases/alternative names - The pattern might

be known to others by other names.

• Think of all the alternative names to address the pattern. • List these names in approximation to the pattern title (e.g.

place them under the title).

T2. Main statement/hypothesis - To attain quick

understanding, the pattern is explained in one clear sentence. • The hypotheses often includes working principle and goal.

T.3 Context-problem-forces-solution (max 200 words)

Context - As the circumstances in which the problem is

solved may impose constraints on the solution, the context or situation is first described. Also the context implies the relative importance of the forces.

• Write down the context concisely.

Problem - What is the problem that needs to be solved? It

is possible that the problem statement could be independent of the context.

• Write down the specific problem that needs to be solved. • In case if the problem is kept separate from the context;

write down ‘context-free problem’ .

Forces - Forces are the (sometimes contradictory)

considerations that should be taken into account when a solution for a problem is chosen. The context determines the relative importance of the forces.

• Write down the most relevant considerations that should be taken into account.

Solution - How the problem is solved is described in the solution, and in a close relation to the forces it resolves. Note that problems could have more than only one solution. The fit and usefulness of a solution is determined by the context of the problem. Solutions resolve some forces at the expense of others as solutions take in account certain forces. The best solution is therefore the one that takes in account all or the most relevant forces that are determined by the context.

• Describe the solution in an understandable way. Make use of visual communication tools, like diagrams, visuals, graphs to communicate information.

• Include only the necessary information; enough for the reader to understand the essence of the solution and still leave room for creativity and implication.

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To prevent patterns and pattern networks from becoming inflexible and non-adaptive – the same critique that traditional urban plans receive (see Ch.2) – it is highly recommended to develop them in a web-based portal. Patterns and pattern networks that are accessible via the internet can be updated and extended continuously by any user worldwide. This makes the network open, dynamic and thus self-organizing, a key factor in making patterns and pattern networks an adequate instrument of knowledge for future urban plans.

Next to this, there are other undeniable advantages of an IT environment are:

• Improved ease of use by direct links to related patterns, and external links to best practices and examples (URLs);

• Improved (visual) presentation of pattern information by hiding extra or deeper information (“click for more”); • Generation of custom pattern networks to get a broader

insight of how patterns are related by selecting axes (scale, spatial integration, general-specialist, etc.) along which patterns should be organized in a network;

• Support of different modes of search: • Textual via search engines;

• Visual by zooming from large to small scales (lower scale patterns popping up) and panning (moving up/ down or left/right) (see Figure 16);

• Auto-connect: finding patterns paths (a series of pattern relations) by selecting two patterns and auto-generate possible routes of connection.

• Proposition of computer-generated pattern paths and possibly also entire pattern plans, based upon the auto-connect feature (see Figure 17);

PATTERN NETWORKS SHOULD BE DIGITAL

T4. Related patterns - A pattern language has the ability

to assist the user to a solution of a more complex problem by guiding him through the pattern network. Standalone patterns lack this advantage and have more difficulty coping with complex problems. There are many different relationships possible:.

T6. Best Practices - Examples of best case practices and

uses of the pattern in case studies.

• Research the successful application of the solution and write it down.

T7. Best Sources - Which source gives the best in-depth

knowledge if the reader wants a better understanding?

• Write down the source in the format title of work (author, year)

The following aspects can be used as a guidance for a description of the solution. Note that the level of detail depends on the level of abstraction.

1. Inspiration: Is the solution described by some social, natural, biological, or physical phenomena?

2. Conceptual description: What are the concepts and the relationships needed in order for the solution to work? 3. Parameters: What are the most important parameters, and

through what extent are they given, i.e. by physical laws or phenomena.

4. Infrastructure: What supporting infrastructure is needed for the solutions to work?

5. Characteristics: What are the imposed characteristics of/on the solution, including the advantages, disadvantages and other important properties.

Critically evaluate the elements above; is it complete, yet still provide room for creativity?

• Addition of user profiles to follow and get inspired by peer pattern use, to share pattern plans and user visions, to link specific patterns to persons or organizations (e.g. researchers or tech firms) and to facilitate other user interaction; • Addition of digital maps and further pattern information to

generate maps of pattern applicability, e.g. a map where constructed wetlands could be planned and where not.

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Figure 16. Visualization of web-based pattern network (adapted from Except Integrated Sustainability, 2010)

Figure 17. Auto-connection generates suggestions for pattern paths