How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built

by Stewart Brand

What do the linked debacles of deep office buildings, sealed office buildings, and “smart” office buildings have in common? Each was a clever and comprehensive design solution, but each tried to solve just one primary problem and acted as if the problem would hold still over time. These were classic cases of overspecificity, overcentralized control, and “tight fit.” Each took a conspicuous trend of the moment—open offices in the 1960s, energy efficiency in the 1970s, information technology in the 1980s—and, at astronomical cost, shaped whole buildings tightly around it. When the trends moved on, the buildings were left standing, good at something that no one wanted any more. Their failure is the failure of optimization as a design strategy.