How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built

by Stewart Brand

More specific to buildings: overbuild Structure so that heavier floor loads or extra stories can be handled later; provide excess Services capacity; go for oversize (“loose fit”) rather than undersize. Separate high- and low-volatility areas and design them differently. Work with shapes and materials that can grow easily, both interior and exterior. “Use materials from near at hand,” advises Massachusetts builder John Abrams. “They’ll be easier to match or replace.” A spatially diverse building is easier to make use adjustments in than a spatially monotonous one—people can just move around. Medium-small rooms accommodate the widest range of uses.10 When in doubt, add storage. Add nearby storage—closets, cabinets, shelving; and deep storage—attics, basements, unfinished rooms without windows. What begins as storage can always become something else, and if it doesn’t, there’s never enough storage anyway.