ABSTRACT
A structure may last for 100 years, but the interior design may be replaced many times in that period. Designers are realising that most post-war architects ignored these precepts and put up buildings that bound together structure, services and finishes in an ineluctable tangle that defies sensible reuse of the component parts. There is nothing wrong with getting a brief right. However, architects should not expect it to stay right for very long. And they should not expect it to bequeath a building the God-given right to stay there for all time. The rule of thumb is: if an architect needs a building now, but does not know if it will be used as he/she imagines, he/she should brief for it to be easy to do new things in, or easy to dismantle.
