Coding the Third Condition explores the cumulative product of urban codes and standards that have directed how people use, construct, and shape their environments. By extrapolating the legends of land use maps, this timeline seeks to expose how landmark codes and ordinances have shaped the North American landscape. The legend in isolation, free from its associations, reveal the the often reductive nature of the code in contrast to the fluid networks of landscapes and communities that underline them. Charting the historical development of codes and standards, we see two conditions emerge over time. The first condition is the regulation of land. The second is the regulation of use. This exhibition proposes a “third condition”, rooted in the inherent fluctuations of both. In this condition program and use are enriched by a state of evolution and flux.