Interest in the "everyday" within the arts and humanities is almost as ubiquitous as the subject itself. For some time now it has been not only unsurprising, but positively expected that research be conducted into the apparently banal activities and effects of the everyday world. Architectural history and theory does not fall behind in this development. However, just as our everyday lives are diffuse and various, so too are the aims and approaches of those who study it. In this introduction I hope to offer a concise view of some works that have been influential in the development of the report. It is not my intention to investigate the cited works in full, but only to "flag" them for attention. This "flagging," or laying down of markers, will continue throughout the report. I begin with those works that have influenced the conception of the everyday in this report in the broadest terms. So - Sigmund Freud, Henri Lefebvre and various feminist writers have predominantly offered an historical and conceptual bracket (1901 - 1986) to the report. I then discuss the influence of Walter Benjamin, Michel de Certeau and Jane Rendell in terms of the development of a practice appropriate to the study of everyday life. Before beginning the report proper, I discuss issues arising from the choice of "subject" - the corridor of Wates House.