%0 Journal Article %T Representation theory of towers of recollement: theory, notes, and examples %A Anton Cox %A Paul Martin %A Alison Parker %A Changchang Xi %J Mathematics %D 2004 %I arXiv %X We give an axiomatic framework for studying the representation theory of towers of algebras. We introduce a new class of algebras, contour algebras, generalising (and interpolating between) blob algebras and cyclotomic Temperley-Lieb algebras. We demonstrate the utility of our formalism by applying it to this class. %U http://arxiv.org/abs/math/0411395v1