The system of patterns emanates as a whole

For a building project, it is not enough that individual patterns or generic centers solve essential problems and work well. In order for a system of patterns to provide the basis for a true unfolding from an existing situation, it is necessary that the system of centers works as a whole, emanates as a whole from the situation, and has the capacity to create a holistic and ordered system which is coherent and complete.

Whenever we define one center, it is always defined by other centers: a larger wholeness in which it is embedded, some centers which are parallel to it in scale, and some smaller centers that cooperate to bring it to life. Defining one center actually means seeing, at least in rough outline, all these relationships together, and sensing the way that they cooperate to create the whole.
In some instances, we might not yet know what subsidiary centers are needed to make the center in question come to life, but we do know that something needs to be there. We may pose it as a question for further investigation. Therefore, even when making the first attempt at defining a list of centers we need to see the system as a whole. When it is written in such a form we can test it.
Does it form a coherent whole in our mind?
Can we envisage it?
Does it seem to answer the needs and latent centers as we understand them from the project’s requirements?
Does the system as a whole create a life-filled entity which will make the purpose of the project meaningful?
Finally when reading the list of centers, does it shed some light on the project itself?
Do we understand better what are the problems felt by the people who initiated the project, the deep reasons for its existence?
If those questions are answered in the affirmative, then we have a good beginning.

Our entire approach during the pattern language stage of work on a living process, is to get a glimpse of the centers that will make the building which is to be designed, come to life as a whole. We keep on making lists, doing experiments, trying to find out what the list will generate, trying to find out the key centers, until we have a system of centers in mind, which, when it is let loose in a real situation, will make something that comes to life.
The essence of the point, is to find — or create — a set of centers which, together, will generate a complete and coherent object of the type we are looking for. We keep trying out our rudimentary list to see what sort of whole this list of centers will generate. We then use intuition and feeling to judge the deficiencies in the whole which is created, to make us aware of more centers that still need to be created.

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