Tenants shocked:
Amazon demolition
plan will proceed
By Arfk Hesseldahl
O'tMjnn Dsu-'y f/rvKAVt
Amazon housing residents wore*
not surprised by Wednesday's ter
mination of tin* contract with
CES/T&E, but they were shocked to
hear timt the University plans to pro
ceed on schedule with plans to
demolish and rebuild the Amazon
housing facility
Nancy Forrest of the Amazon Com
munity Tenants council says that fir
ing Alexander is missing the point.
She wants the entire process to come
to a halt, and for the University to
start over from the beginning.
''They still don't understand do
thev?” Forrest said. ''They're not
addressing any of the serious con
cerns raised by the residents here
They're still planning to demolish
a habitable building and put up
something else without any idea of
cost. We're just jumping from one fry
tug pan into anotner. rorresi sain.
Forrest stil questions the Univer
sity’* position that Amazon is in need
of demolition.
“Their own report says that there
is no more threat to life and safety
than there over was Ixifore." she said.
“Why is it that the University does
not want to take the lime to look at
some of the important issues here?
We want the University to stop back
from the table, take a deep breath,
and start over on this pro(e<.1.’'
Several Eugeno-area state legisla
tors have joined with the Amazon
residents in milling for a moratorium
on the relocation of current Amazon
rusidonts in order to reevaluate all
available options.
Jim Fisher, another Amazon resi
dent. said that he's glad Alexander
and his firm are off the project, but
he's concerned about what the Uni
versity plans to do. He's said he
doesn't think the University is con
cerned about cost,
"Cost is our number one issue, anti
wo don't understand tho University's
position there." Fisher said.
Fisher said he is concerned that alt
the money paid to Alexander's firm,
both for work completed and any
losses from a lawsuit, will have to be
paid by University Housing residents
m tho form of increased rents.
"I’m glad that the University got
rid of him." Fisher said. "But from
this day forward we re going to hr!
paying him for tho work he's already
done, including the Amazon mas
ter plan which is useless.
Architect’s designs seen on campus
By Arik Hesseldahl
Several question* wen* answered
Wednesday as the f 'nivendty admimstra
lion announced an end to it s relationship
with Christopher Alexander, the embat
tled architec t of the Agate and Amazon
family housing fa< ilities
Administration offit nils said there was
n "lank of understanding" between Alexan
der and his firm C.I..S l.vl venture and
that it will proceed on schedule with plans
to demolish and rebuild the Amazon facil
it\ ill time for the school year
|ust who is ( hristopher Alexander am
way?
This is not an easy question to answer
When contai ted (k t 2H for comments on
another storv, Alexander informed the
Emrrnhi he would no longer speak with
representatives of this newspaper
Alexander lives in Berkeley, Calif . and
runs an organization t ailed tin* ('enter for
Environmental Structure, which formed a
partnership with the Eugene architectur
al firm of Thnllon and Edrington for the
sole purpose of designing and rebuilding
the family housing facilities at the comer
of lHth Avenue and Agate Street and the
Amazon facility . at 24th Avenue and Pat
terson oiri*ei
Alexander has n history with the .in hi
tis turai environment of the 1 'mversity tfuit
diitos bin k to the early 1970s, when lie
wrote a book titled 7hr Oregon Expert
mrnt The processes descrilxtd In Alexan
der in that fiook have become standard
University polity when planning con
struction projcK ts, and are required read
ing for archills lure students. The Si teni e
(Complex. additions to the t>ducalion build
ing and additions to the musii si.boot were
all designed using Alexander's Oregon
Experiment processes. but by other firms
Architects around the country regard
Alexander as either a genius or a self
appointed guru. Critii s sometimes m i use
him of trying to create a cult Ihh a use his
ideas run counter to the conventional yvis
dom of an Intel tore In the archill* turel
sense, what he does is "not done
Hut there is n growing mimlter of people
who believe his philosophies have revo
lutionized the way buildings are now built
and how they will lie built in the future
Count Jerry Kinrow, dean of the School of
Architecture and Allies! Arts, among them.
"Christopher Alexander is one of the
most important theorists in 2()th century
architecture liecause when he was a prac
ticing theorist, he proposed views and
approaches that no one else had thought
of before in the history of the field." Fin
row said
The saga of Alexander's mark on the
architei tore world began at Cambridge
University, where he completed his first
college degree, in mathematics He then
i ompleted Cambridge’s three-year pre
liminary program of architecture in two
years
From w hat am- trade writer hss said,
Alexander believed the program missed
the point
“He wanted to know how to make .1
beautiful building- He's been olea-sscd with
that question ever sun e." wrote |err\ Ship
sk\ ui the journal Arthiti■< lure
Alexander moved across the Atlantic to
Harvard University, where he was posse
lily tin- first student to ever 1 omplete a
i’h 1) in arc hitte lure there
Put simply. Alexander applied his Ivu k
ground in mathernatu s toward solving
problems of an hilecture. Finruw said
Shipskv compared Alexander's work to
"inventing calc ulus simply in order to
solve a partic ular equation or creating the
laws of motion simply in order to ride in
a c.ar "
Finrow said this led Alexander to the
idea that an hitei lure, as it has lieen i.om
monly practiced, is too simplistii and for
mulaic to "make beautiful buildings
Applying the traditional niles doesn't ms
essarilv result in a nice building
Alexander believes that the environment
is made up of patterns, rather than things
The distini tiori between a good and bad
pattern can lie dec ided upon objectively
by groups of people who have a stake in
the design of the building That means
forming committees, known ns "user
groups” that combine their thoughts on
how the building should look into a prac
tical. workable building plan. Hus prtx ess
is fundamentally different from anything
tried before, and has been hailed bv some
as the wave of the future
Between 1977 and 1080. Alexander pu!>
lishod a serit*s of books that < ulminated in
The Oregon Experiment, which F'inrow
considers to be the sei ond phase of
Alexander's development.
"I think that's tin- most produi live set
of ideas he ever had.” f 'inrow said. "The
process expressed then- is very structured
and organized and /-Hows the architect to
get into the same place that the users are
It uses their insignts to create a basis to
work from
"Our own environment has been ruined
fi\ the current arc hitectural separation
between client, art hiloct and contractor."
Alexander told Progressive Architecture
in 1991.
In that article. Alexander tells an anec
dote about a housing projoc t lie worked on
m Mexicali. Mexico, during the 1970s
"A bank official came to the Mexicali
props 1 as we were building it and said that
clearly the people didn't know how to
design housing since, in one. the bedrooms
were too big and the living room too small
“1 asked the woman whose house it was
to come over and explain, and she told him
that it was very simple The bedrooms
were big to give each of her children a
place to study, since education was so vital
to their betterment the living room was
small la-cause "our family all sits togeth
isr on lMt* MHir s<sui iinywiiy *»•' Mivf* **/it h
othor Whs do we need more spai «?' Poor
poop!**. hoi ause of their distressed cir
cumslam os, tend to In more direr t
l inmss said Alexanders approai ft is ‘a
very effective rnethodolog\
"! Ii.iso practiced from that perspei tivo
mysolf, and 1 think it's son successful,"
ho said
But if Alexander's methods have worked
so ssoll in the past, wfiat, if anything, has
gone svrong svith the Agate and Ama7.no
protests?
Nancv Forrest, a member of the Amazon
Community Tenants Council, agrees that
Alexander mas fie a genius, but that some
thing has gone svrong svith the Agate and
Amazon user group proi ess — something
that may or mas not he Alexander's fault
Forrest said the University placed too
mans administration, faculty and staff
members in the user group and not enough
of the losv-income students who svill live
in the buildings Forrest further blames
University officials for setting the cost
Ixiuudaries of the project that have become
just one of the major sticking points of the
entire controverss. without allowing user
groups to discuss them.
Alexander is also well-known for his
design of the Eishan University campus
on the outskirts of Tokyo. Japan Finrow
said it had its own controversies.
"It's no surprise that there has been
controversy on this project. Hut once it got
through all the unfortunate experiences of
its birth. Eishan has bet ome a marvelous
environment that is probably really
appreciated and loved bv those that lir e
there." f inrow said.
Hut under present finam ini condition,
can the University afford to have a
"marvelous environment?"
I would argue that the l Jniversity can't
afford to not have a quality environment.
Part of what makes our place meaningful
is the environment in which we live. You
have to ask if the environment is of good
quality and if it's enriching. I think the cost
argument is a tough one. hut I don't think
we can afford to have that attitude," Finrow
said.
In 1992. Alexander designed a house for
Ann Medlock and John Graham on
Whidhev Island, near Seattle. Wash. A
glowing pictorial and written review in the
April 1992 issue of House and Garden
highlights the "Alexander experience,"
with heartfelt quotations from Alexander's
assix iate Gary Black and the homeowners
Was the University simply looking for
"a place to live" when Alexander and his
firm were selected to do the Agate/Amazon
project? Wednesday's developments seem
to answer "yes" to that question. Hut there
are now questions.
How will Hie design-build process work?
How much input will the students affected
have on the project's outcome and costs?
Though Alexander is gone, this story
is far from over.
AMAZON
Continued from Page 1
ltits contract, said George Purn
steiner, associate vic.e chant ellor
for administration. He said there
was no way the University could
continue to pay costs like they
did on the Agate projet t for the
logger Amazon project.
Pemsteiner said, however, that
the Agate problems alone weren't
the main reason for dismissal.
"By itself, they don't rule out
the current architect." Pern
Steiner said. "However, the part
nership between the University
and the architect did not result
in a finely working team during
the life of the existing agree
ment.”
The contract contains a pro
vision that says the University
can terminate the agreement if it
does not authorize the architect
to start "any phase of planning
within two months after approval
of the previous phase." Pern
steiner said the last phase autho
rized was the Amazon Master
Plan in August, therefore the Uni
varsity is within its rights
Neither Chris Alexander nr
I'haI loti K Kdrington were
reai.lied for comment, Pernstein
er said ho doesn't know whether
Alexander will sue. as he has
threatened to do in the past
The University is currently in
the process of reviewing the
amount of work CKS/T&K has
performed on Amazon, Pern
steiner said.
To facilitate ttie design-build
process, the University will pro
duce a document that details the
goals for the Amazon project. The
document won't actually speci
fy a design for Amazon, Pern
steiner said, hut it could contain
very specific details such as size
of units and finishes of walls.
The document will receive
input from a variety of sources,
including students and housing
officials, after which the Univer
sity would request proposals
from teams of architects and con
tractors in the spring, he said.
The University would select one
of those teams, who would both
design and build Amazon.
George Pern sterner discusses the dismissal of Amazon architect Christopher Alexander on Wednesday.