The Eishin school pattern language

Above all we can see this new way of life as a complete whole. The way it works is completely defined by the list of centers. Thus in all important aspects the life of the new school is contained in these centers, and the list of centers defines this way of life in its entirety. This gives us tremendous insight into the vast extent to which the life of any given building or building complex, is defined by the list of centers which it will contain.

The essential centers are those whose presence is already latent in the field — which go the heart of the living structure that is already there — which summarize, or encapsulate, the essence of the real life which is going on.
Of course, in a period of history where people like to stress the arbitrariness of all things, such an idea may seem doubtful or impossible to accept. But the crux of all life is, nevertheless, the difference between recognizing the essential thing and separating it from the trivial thing.

#book/The Nature of Order/2 The process of creating life/13 Patterns#