four books on "the nature of order-an essay on the art of building and the nature of the universe", a quartet of books written by a mathematician to present his thoughts on the difference between bad and good design.
book one begins with a list of fifteen geometric properties he thinks the world of all natural and man made artifacts have. the author believes these properties create life in nature and art. when they are weak in a man made artifact they make the artifact unpleasing, when they are strong they make the artifact repleasing.
alternating repetition, one of the properties he thinks can be found in all natural and man made artifacts can be described as a side by side inter-repetition of several things of one shape with several things of another shape as an alternate to repeating several things of one shape side to side.
in toronto, where asquith avenue branches off of yonge street an unplanned example of the property occurs where the pointed sections of the concrete sidewalk alternate with the blunted sections of the sidewalk between them.
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