A key concept of the current theoretical discussionThe process of coding is a systematic experimentation with signs symbols and the construction of larger cultural meanings The fourth volume in the series Kontext Architektur examines the architectural historical and theoretical relevance of the concept of code from various perspectives The authors and editors start from the premise that this concept makes for new ways of translating architecture into language Thus the dominance of computer simulation makes it clear that the building is no longer merely a vehicle for signs but literally also their product The code has penetrated as it were from the exterior of the building into its interior into its structure We are dealing with both a socio cultural as well as with a mathematical and formal notion of code The goal of this book is thus to arrive at a critical grasp of the contours of this vibrant conceptual tension between the cultural and the formal the outside and the inside while also formulating questions for further exploration that are relevant for architecture Another volume in the series Kontext Architektur on basic concepts on the shared frontiers of art technology and the sciences In cooperation with the Zurcher Hochschule der Kunste Zurich University of the Arts and the Chair for Computer Aided Architectural Design at the ETH Zurich Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich