Co:Scapes is an organisation that works with community groups, helping them understand how to collectively shape their environment to support more sustainable ways of living. Using Christopher Alexander's research and ideas of a ‘pattern language’, Co:Scapes teaches communities to identify ways to get involved in designing, building, managing and maintaining shared outdoor spaces together. These shared outdoor spaces help to create a sense of community and belonging.

The logo is a flower and a stem.

In reference to shared outdoor living spaces and pattern language principles, the flower logo itself is made of eight houses round a central communal point (or communal space).

‘Pattern language’ is a concept from design and architecture that describes a structured way of solving recurring problems using reusable solutions called ‘patterns’. The idea was introduced by Christopher Alexander in his influential book A Pattern Language.

Alexander used pattern language to help design buildings and towns that feel natural and human-friendly. His research drew inspiration from the traditional vernacular of Islamic and Middle Eastern environments and design systems, which use fragments that can scale up from small to large, generating potentially complex outcomes. Such systems can be found in textiles and mosaics.

Furthering the idea of complex systems being made from simple elements, a network of communities can be constructed by using the positive and negative spaces between the symbols. The new areas that form between the symbols become shared spaces. This becomes an easy-to-apply graphic design pattern for Co:Scapes projects.