Tensions between variety and standardisation ripple through architectural discourse and are capable of arousing strong emotion. From some perspectives, even limited initiatives in modularisation, prefabrication and technical regulation threaten designers’ creativity, innovation and invention and so limit the richness of the built environment. More ordinarily, the spectre of bland uniformity is, time and again, set against the thrill of difference, the drama of sensation and the delight of contrast. On the other hand, there is an equally compelling tradition of optimisation, of organisingand controlling variation with the entirely reasonable aim of producingstructures that satisfy as many of their users as possible. Indeed, thisambition is central to the very project of architecture.