alternating repetition, described by christopher alexander in his essay on the art of building, is one of the fifteen qualities he claims to be found in good design. created where two different pieces of a design are counter repeated to each other. alexander claims this strengthens a thing. which seems to him better compared to a simple non alternating and monotonous repetition.
an example of alternating repetition, the diaper pattern on yield-tiles at the edge of a ttc subway platform, it has the quality incorporated in to its design in two ways. the square of raised dots alternates with the square with a raised circle that has a smaller square of raised dots at 45 degrees to the larger square. this repeats the square but alternates it by reducing the size and position of the second square and placing that alternation in the circle.
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