Building Beauty 2024-25 Online and in Sorrento

2024-25 Academic Year

The course begins on September 23, 2024 and runs through May 24, 2025. Fall term will be Online. Spring term will be offered both online and in person in Sorrento, Italy.

The Fall term provides a theoretical and practical introduction to Christopher Alexander’s approach to the building process. The Spring term is dedicated to learning how to implement this approach to real world problems. Supported by the faculty, online students will work toward repair and enhancement of their home and local community environment, and develop a shared experience of how Building Beauty principles apply across cultures and built environments. Students in Sorrento for Spring term will work on projects in the expansive garden of the Sant’Anna Institute where we are hosted (pictured above).

Examples of student work in the Studio from previous years are here.

We continue to offer the Beautiful Software Initiative, an additional seminar for students of the core curriculum who wish to apply the principles of The Nature of Order to the creation of software, including software that supports building beauty. Details are here.

If you have an interest in the program, we encourage you to begin a dialogue with us as soon as possible to explore how Building Beauty can help you achieve your goals.

Please write to us at hello@buildingbeauty.org.

Courses Online

Building Beauty’s online program is made of core courses and seminars that support the core. A minimum of 20 hours a week comprised of class meeting time and work between class meetings are needed to complete all the classes below.

Fall 2024

3.1 The Nature of Order I+II

This course forms the theoretical backbone of the Building Beauty program. Students will go through an exploration of the essential elements of Christopher Alexander’s Magnum Opus, The Nature of Order Book I, The Phenomenon of Life; and Book II, The Process of Creating Life. The key concepts of the theory of centers as the basis of whole life, its connection to Self, and the kind of processes that allow life to emerge, are described in detail and worked out in short exercises. The theoretical learning serves as a foundation and commentary to the work done in the Studio and other courses. Reading before class meetings is required.

Course duration: 42 hours (3 hours/week)

Credits: 8 UK; 4EU; 2 US

Course Fee: 460 Euros

4.1 Design and Construction Studio I

This course is the major integrative course of the program providing students with the opportunity to learn by doing, and practice the theory that is the basis of the course. The course is about experiencing an integral process of design and construction, where the reality of the place as it is, and as we want it to be, mirrors our self, and reaches a deeper level of sustainability. We start with preliminary design exercises that link to our personal feelings, and develop projects that gradually increase in complexity and levels of scale. Each project deepens understanding of how to apply the principles on larger scales as the course continues in the second term. This course is supported by several experienced instructors and tutors who have long applied The Nature of Order principles to their work.

Pre-requisites: completion of, or taking in parallel, either course 3.1

Course duration: 75 hours (5 hours/week) + tutoring

Credits: 26 UK; 13 EU; 6.5 US

Course Fee: 2,490 Euros

5.1 Self and Wholeness

This course bridges the theory of The Nature of Order and the practice of the Design Studio. It provides a place for exploring and discussing the core principles of Building Beauty and how one grows to embody them on a personal level. At the heart of the course is the notion of “Wholeness” as it arises in multiple disciplines, including architecture, physics, philosophy, neuroscience, and biology. Wholeness is explored as more than an external phenomenon that is separate from us, but as a potentially inseparable aspect of ourselves and the subjective experience of “Self” beyond individual identity. Thus, the course provides the foundations for becoming able to access one’s universal sense of Self and use it as the source for generating Wholeness in the world.

Course duration: 28 hours (2 hours/week)

Credits: 6 UK; 3 EU; 1.5 US

Course Fee: 460 Euros

Spring 2025

3.2 The Nature of Order III+IV

Exploration of Christopher Alexander’s The Nature of Order continues with Book III A Vision of a Living World, and IV The Luminous Ground. Book III examines typical problems in the world of building and architecture, to describe a vision of a future for the built environment in the 21st century. Book IV expands the discussion to the nature of reality itself. Reading of both these books will be accompanied by a series of conversations and lectures by professionals, scientists and thinkers exploring the practice and theory described by the books. The magnitude of the spectrum covered in this remarkable work will offer students the opportunity to engage in a large reflection on the essential elements that come into play in making, at all scales.

Course duration: 42 hours (3 hours/week)

Credits: 8 UK; 4 EU; 2 US

Course Fee: 460 Euros

4.2 Design and Construction Studio 2

Each student develops their own independent project, understanding its social context, choosing and analysing a site with the support of Building Beauty staff and their fellow students, soliciting and understanding the dreams and visions of all of the people involved with the project, designing, and bringing the project to completion. Students share their experiences with each other to discover how the Building Beauty principles apply across cultures and built environments. This course is supported by several experienced instructors and tutors who have long applied the Nature of Order principles to their work.

Pre-requisites: completion of 4.1

Course duration: 75 hours (5 hours/week) + plus tutoring

Credits: 26 UK; 13 EU; 6.5 US

Course Fee: 2490 Euros

5.2 Construction Experience

This course aims to immerse students in the practical application of unfolding wholeness throughout a construction process, from conception to completion. Students will apply the principles from The Nature of Order to building and making activities while also learning about a range of inspiring projects that illustrate life-enhancing construction techniques. The course includes case study presentations, guest lectures, discussions, and student presentations, with additional weekly group tutoring sessions for project development. 

Each student will initiate and complete an individual construction project that is practical, functional, and harmoniously integrated with its environment, expressing feeling and wholeness. Projects will be developed through sketches, models, and 1:1 mock-ups, and then constructed with chosen materials and techniques that encourage experimentation and skill growth. Examples of possible projects include furniture design, garden structures, or building components like tiles or cast concrete.

Course duration: 28 hours (2 hours/week) + tutoring

Credits: 6 UK; 3 EU; 1.5 US

Course Fee: 720 Euros

5.3 Color and Inner Light: working with color in architecture, placemaking and design

This is a hands-on course in which students are expected to complete weekly assignments using actual paint on paper or other similar surfaces (no digital manipulation is permitted), as we explore a select variety of color principles intended to expand our understanding of color and how it can further enhance two and three-dimensional work. These exercises, and the occasional reading assignment, will become the basis of online round table discussions, in which each student will be expected to participate. In the discussions we explore the lessons learned, the struggles and insights experienced while completing these assignments, and the questions that emerge as we grapple directly with this fascinating dimension of placemaking.

The term inner light is meant to evoke the philosophical aspect of color work. The possibility that getting better at working with color is both guided by and capable of informing how we see the world. The class will draw from multiple sources and students of all levels of experience are welcome to participate.

Course duration: 28 hours (2 hours/week)

Credits: 6 UK; 3 EU; 1.5 US

Course Fee: 430 Euros

Fees are due by the first day of the term.

Spring Term in Sorrento

1.0 Italian Language and Culture – a crash course in Italian language and culture given by instructors of the Sant’Anna Institute.

2.0 Local History and Culture – 3 guided tours of Sorrento and its peninsula given by a local guide.

3.2 The Nature of Order III+IV – hybrid class together with online students (see description above).

4.2 Design and Construction Studio – the students will design and build a project or several projects in Sant’Anna Institute’s garden, there will be a shared weekly session with students taking the online studio.

5.2 Appropriate Construction – learning about traditional and modern building techniques and materials that conserve resources and energy and are socially and culturally adequate, and humanly satisfying. The course will include an intensive workshop with a local master ceramicist in the ceramic making city of Vietri, and a workshop with blind sculptor Felice Tagliaferri. Some of the lectures will be open to students online.

Further seminars and short workshops may also be offered and are now being developed.

Course Fee: 8,500 Euros*. This includes participation in all the educational activities offered.

Registration to the semester in Sorrento needs to be completed and fees paid by November 30, 2024.

Travel and Living expenses are not included in the fee. Building Beauty has negotiated rooms at a discounted price in two apartments in a building across from Sant’Anna Institute at prices that range from 935-1,075 Euros per person per month. You can opt to share living in those apartments, or to find your own living arrangements.

The course is open for a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 12 students. Students who have taken Building Beauty’s online courses in the last three years have precedence in enrolment.

For further enquiries and registration, please write to hello@buildingbeauty.org.

*This is an estimated cost for Spring term in Sorrento, which will be confirmed in November 2024.

Entry Requirements

The course is open to individuals holding a Bachelor with a minimum of 2-2 (lower second class), or equivalent experience in architecture, or indeed any other area of knowledge in Science, Humanities and the Arts. As we work with students from different countries we have found that this requirement is achieved in different ways depending on their education systems. Please contact us if you have questions about whether you qualify at hello@buildingbeauty.org.

To Register

The registration process begins with a Zoom call to explore how Building Beauty can help you meet your goals. Please contact us at hello@buildingbeauty.org to arrange this call or write to us with any questions you may have.

We look forward to hearing from you.