An urgent code for architecture and housing in Bogota

Universidad de los Andes and the City Planning Secretary of Bogotá have undersigned an agreement for the revision of the city´s Construction Code, in force since 1995, and for the formulation of a conceptual framework for its update within a perspective of sustainability. The following themes of discussion are exposed: those related to the appropriateness and the function of a “sustainable” code, the way in which it should be incorporated in the production process of the built environment - housing being the main issue-, on one hand, and on the role of architects in this process, their responsibilities and, in general, the ethic framework that guides them in the issue of quality in architecture, specifically concerning housing. The objective of the outlined questions is an invitation to the scholarly community towards the debate, pretending to orient the building code as a supportive technical tool rather than an obstacle to innovation and efficient development of building projects.