We care about an ongoing narrative of design in objects, in ideas, and in experiences because they provide opportunities for us to participate in a new understanding of an incredibly turbulent world.

I’d never been interested in interior design—window treatments, kitchen countertops, or anything else—that is, until I read the haunting, evocative book A Pattern Language. In it, visionary architect Christopher Alexander and his team identify 253 “patterns” that repeat through the architecture that people find most pleasing.