ABSTRACT
The dumb assemblage of the infrastructure of architecture whether it is the natural landscape swept regularly by the seasons and irregularly by natural cataclysm or the manufactured kind, provides a skeleton to be inhabited. To imbue a corner of this landscape with a sense of place, transient or enduring requires a timely appropriation at the scale of the inhabitants. The insistence of local identity pealed out from church bells (the Cockney) or regular calls to prayer (mosque or monastery) contribute to a sense of belonging. The identity of everyday places can be built up by methodical inhabitation. A local system of measures of weight and distance; colloquial terms, the memory of foundation, the marking of family and community events with festivals, inscriptions and publications, the adoption of colours and marks; all help to create a local identity of place.
