Four Decades of Open Building Implementation: Realising Individual Agency in Architectural Infrastructures Designed to Last

Abstract

The ‘open building’ approach grew out of research and early projects starting in the 1960s, aimed at overcoming the rigidity of the prevailing top‐down housing process in the Netherlands. Geared to ensuring user control and sustainability in the built stock, it involves coordinating stakeholders in the real estate development process, enabling variety and change to become efficient. Architect, researcher and educator Stephen Kendall explains the approach and describes pioneering projects in Europe, Japan, China, the US and Russia, as well as detailing instances around the world where it has become part of public policy.