Open Building for Architects by Stephen H. Kendall and N. John Habraken presents an internationally recognised approach to the design of buildings and building complexes, rooted in the way the ordinary built environment grows and regenerates. The Open Building approach acknowledges that both stability and change are factors to be managed in the contemporary built environment. Buildings and the neighbourhoods they occupy are not static, even during the most stable times or periods of rapid social and technical change; they are living organisms that require constant adjustments to remain attractive, safe, and valuable.

By examining case studies of built projects from around the world, this book explains the Open Building approach and discusses important characteristics of the everyday built environment that this approach designs for. It also presents a key method that can be used to apply the approach in practice. The book addresses vital questions such as:

• How can we design large projects for inevitable change?
• How can we balance the demands of large projects for efficient implementation with the need for 'fine-grained' decision-making control?
• How can we separate design tasks, distinguishing between what should last a century and the design of more mutable units of occupancy?
• How can we identify and share architectural themes while allowing for variations on them?
• How can we employ the Open Building approach to steward earth’s scarce resources and support a circular economy that benefits all people?

This book is an essential resource for practitioners, investors and developers, regulators, builders, product manufacturers, and educators interested in understanding why the Open Building approach is significant and how to practice it effectively.