Abstract:

It is commonly assumed that building regulation and control is a technical activity and part of a bureaucratic machine external to the design process. For many architects building regulations are no more than a set of rules to be adhered to, and are usually seen as ephemeral, even incidental, to the creative process of design. However, the main argument of this paper suggests that the building regulations are entwined with, and are constitutive of, architects’ practices. Far from being an insignificant part of the design process, as some commentators suggest, I develop the argument that the building regulations influence aspects of creative practice and process in architecture and, as such, ought to be given greater attention by scholars of urban design.