Perspecta 35 ─ Building Codes

Codes, as systematic forms of regulation and organization, are not the innocuous orneutral documents they are often considered to be. Operating with or without legal sanction, theyare formulated to ensure specific and predictable outcomes and are laden with authorial andauthoritative intent. Nevertheless, while codes have come to be an increasingly pervasive force incontemporary architecture, they are still frequently dismissed as onerous and quotidian. This volumeof Perspecta -- the oldest and most distinguished student-edited, university-based Americanarchitecture journal -- investigates the historical and ongoing evolution of the relationshipbetween codes and architecture, from Vitruvian systems of mathematical proportion through currentstrategies in building legislation.Although regulations created to establish restrictive power overbuilding have existed throughout history, architecture today is more than ever bounded, shaped, anddirected by codes. Codes simultaneously manage the complexity of architectural practice andestablish the terms of its interaction with a widening range of internal and external forces. Whilecodes impose the particular interests of their authors on both the architectural profession and theinhabitants of the built environment, they are seldom the focus of critical inquiry. Approaching thetopic from a variety of backgrounds and positions, the authors contributing to Perspecta 35 examinethe impact of codes on architecture in contexts ranging from contemporary technology to thefoundational traditions of the discipline. Collectively they reveal the breadth and impact of codesaffecting architecture and speculate on how the relationships between the two will continue tounfold.

Stephanie Tuerk is a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture and a practicing architect.