Maison Le Sommet / Chiasmus Partners

In A Pattern Language (1977), Christopher Alexander proposed that residential buildings in cities should be no taller than six stories. Beyond this height, he argued, residents begin to detach from their street culture—not only physically but socially. Urban life becomes abstracted; the tactile and emotional immediacy of the street is lost. In Alexander's view, the vitality of a city is founded on a human scale—a sentiment echoed by Jane Jacobs, who championed the street as a stage for community life and advocated for diverse, walkable neighbourhoods where people live, work, and interact across social thresholds.