Architects and user requirements in public-sector housing: 2. The sources for architects' assumptions

In this paper, the second in a series of three, are described the sources used by architects in forming their images of the council tenants for whom they design. The content of the images was discussed in the first paper. The architects made only limited attempts to gain systematic information from the client, from social research findings, from observation and personal contact, or from feedback from completed schemes. They placed greatest reliance on their own personal experience as a guide to the needs of others. The architects had little direct knowledge of council tenants, but the adequacy of their knowledge as a basis for design was not questioned by themselves or by their colleagues.