There is one timeless way of building. It is a thousand years old, and the same today as it has ever been. The great traditional buildings of the past, the villages and tents and temples in which man feels at home, have always been made by people who were very close to the center of this way.

Reasoning that users know more about the buildings they need than any architect could he produced and validated (in collaboration with Sarah Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein) a "pattern language" designed to empower anyone to design and build at any scale. It describes exact methods for constructing practical safe and attractive designs at every scale from entire regions through cities neighborhoods gardens buildings rooms built-in furniture and fixtures down to the level of doorknobs. It first has users prototype a structure on-site in temporary materials.

As such Alexander is widely considered to occupy a place outside the discipline the discourse and the practice of Architecture. Now retired (though still active) he is based in Arundel Sussex UK. [citation needed] In 1958 he moved from England to the United States living and teaching in Berkeley California from 1963.