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The principle understanding of a pattern (described by Christopher Alexander) depends on flexibility and variation across time and setting. When defining a pattern, the concept must be kept in the abstract and theoretical and derived from the spaces that possess it. Patterns are naturally forming, entirely organic, physical, and social structures that develop in their particular contexts and parameters. They are distributed across a scale hierarchy: from the microscopic atoms holding together matter to the mega-corporations that transcend the largest physical spaces into an abstract organization of social structures.
The pattern in question - to be defined as Studio Culture - sits approximately in the middle:
Smaller than concepts of “Men and women” and “Mosaic of Subcultures.”
Underneath “Network of Learning”
Immediately above “Master/Apprentices” and “Self-Governing Offices”
Higher than “Personal Workspace” or “Small Work Groups.”
It is worth noting that the patterns dissected in “A Pattern Language” have not been extensively discussed in academic or educational contexts, creating a gap.
While the “Network of Learning” does express an approach to educational structures, it is a broad pattern observed from a city planning perspective.
The “Master and Apprentices” pattern is unique because it pertains specifically to confined learning spaces and relationships. It explicitly addresses the power/knowledge imbalance inherent in this type of learning. This concept may not apply to learning from peers or the benefits of working in a studio.
“Self-governing offices” describe the most functional working environments but do not prioritize the learning process as a classroom would prescribe.
While other patterns can be combined to describe the learning environment, no patterns directly dissect the physical and social structures of Studio Culture.
Every pattern is interrelated, connected, and a derivative of its predecessors. The commonalities found within them are the threads or words of the language. Studio Culture resembles these patterns in these aspects:
To express a pattern wholly is to define the relationship between a specific context, a problem, and the solution. The acknowledgment and observation of positive patterns help shed light on the invariants that solve problems; commonalities may branch from positive or negative examples. Each pattern must become a ‘thing’: it must be able to be drawn and named. Through these mediums and labels, the patterns become clear enough to share but still tentative.
STUDIO CULTURE:
Context: Studio Culture is found in creative co-working spaces for adult communities across the globe. It must be the primary workspace for a given designer community with a clear hierarchy of roles. The occupants are “regulars,” and there is a consistent cycle of transitional social dynamics, i.e., as the graduating class leaves a new class of freshmen to integrate into the pattern.
Existing Problems
Creative individuals looking for guidance and companionship
Group projects must be shared between small work groups in a neutral space
Occupants have similar projects/problems and share everyday experiences
Occupants are actively seeking knowledge and trying to learn from a master
Social Conditions:
Occupants have similar lifestyles
A mix of gender influences
Evolution of a necklace of community projects operated by various groups
Masters of the craft or skill must be regularly available and engrained in the social dynamic of the studio’s space
There must be a layer of acoustic privacy (music, light talking) to allow small working groups to engage comfortably.
Cohorts must be developed depending on experience and mirror the master/apprentice pattern.
Smaller designer communities must be a part of a larger social organization and also positively supported and impactful on the network of learning
This smaller designer community will also represent a group that contains and is a mosaic of subcultures
Geometric Requirements
There must be common land at the heart of the studio surrounded by activity nodes, which are hybrids of flexible office spaces, settled work, and workspace enclosures. Curating a flexible office space with an emphasis on free connected play
Each occupant must also have an individual working space, connected to the whole but entirely under his control during his ‘residency.’ Implied boundaries create unique workplace enclosures.
Structures follow office connection nuisance guidelines and contain specific office resources and tools concentrated by function in activity pockets found as clear goals at the end of paths.
It must be a collected structure of working spaces that creates a work community and a self-governing office that evolves from the familiar occupants and the freedom to decide,
Regular occupants must feel comfortable and free to inhabit the space and develop workstations, progressing to the settled work pattern as their experience grows.
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