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Office of Urban Regulation

Design Rules and Design With Rules!

Cities as cultural products are neither ‘built’ nor ‘planned,’ at best they are guided and steered in a certain direction. Therefore, rules and regulations are one of the few tools that are actually suitable to guide future development within such collective and complex urban settings.

We strongly believe that the field of (urban) design should not simply adhere to these standards as some neutrally existing context but should actively engage in discussing them in order to make them subject to design as well. read more

Office for urban regulation

Hedge Height

Santa Monica

A simple parcel hedge has up to four ideal heights. First, that of the owner, second, that of the immediate neighbor, third, that prescribed by the municipality, and fourth, that of the hedge’s own intrinsic or ideal growth height.

  • Hedge interferences.

Rule category

Motivation
Contextual Regimes: issues depending on the immediate context and its preservation, economic and social regimes, traditions, etc.
The Kind of Rule
Rule that works as reference, ratio, or dependency.
Rule that is NOT related to any preconceived zone or area.
Rule that stipulates an upper limit.
Domain
Rule with direct impact on architectural or urban form.
Rule that regulates building heights.
Scale
Neighborhood Rule: Rule that works at neighborhood scale.