> Alexander's central question is "How can you distribute responsibility for design through all levels of a large hierarchy, while still maintaining consistency and harmony of overall design?"
To the degree I understand Alexander's central answer, it is "Put the needs and wants of humans who are the users of the design at the center of all design, planning, and building (and heve them do the design, planning and building, where possible.)" If that's close to true, then making things that are programmable is more important than 'getting it right the first time'. One can always take a chainsaw or an editor to a bad decision.
To the degree I understand Alexander's central answer, it is "Put the needs and wants of humans who are the users of the design at the center of all design, planning, and building (and heve them do the design, planning and building, where possible.)" If that's close to true, then making things that are programmable is more important than 'getting it right the first time'. One can always take a chainsaw or an editor to a bad decision.