Risk and reflexivity: Architecture and the industries of risk distribution

This chapter reports on a workshop involving participants from a range of construction industry fields – not just architects but also developers, insurers, lawyers, consultants, contractors and facilities managers – discussing how the question of risk surfaces within and between their fields: where does it come from, how is it represented, where is it transferred to, and what residual risks remain? Between short presentations, round-table discussions considered the ‘reflexive’ effects created by the commodity of risk in building: what risks do buildings mitigate, and what risks do they construct? How are the risks and rewards of building distributed? How is a culture of risk-awareness re-shaping disciplinary roles and responsibilities? How is the built environment reshaping us as occupants, habituating us to, or protecting us from, risk?