The works of Christopher Alexander are worth reading for many fields including computer systems. Along with them, you might find Richard Gabriel's <i>Patterns of Software: Tales from Software Community</i>, now out of print, of interest. There is a Kindle electronic edition: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Software-Tales-Community-ebook/dp/B003TJ9FGE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1318179653&sr=8-3" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Software-Tales-Community-eboo...</a>