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AJ 24.10.24: Climate resilience

AJ 24.10.24: Climate resilience

Many of the excellent schemes showcased in this month’s AJ put biodiversity and climate resilience at their core.

The reimagining of the Gascoigne Estate is at the heart of Barking and Dagenham Council’s ambition to regenerate Barking as one of London’s greenest, most affordable and sustainable neighbourhoods. White Arkitekter has developed a landscape-led scheme and the practice benefits from having an in-house landscape team.

When it comes to working with water, rather than fighting it, Rotterdam offers a cornucopia of inspiration with its Seven City Projects and a number of other climate-resilient schemes such as the Keilehaven Tidal Park, designed by De Urbanisten.

Also featured in the issue are two retrofit projects: the Edinburgh Futures Institute by Bennetts Associates and Pricegore’s Nottingham arts centre.

In News, we report on how the team behind London’s Earls Court regeneration is embedding climate change shock absorbers into its huge plans. There is also a feature on why Southwark Council’s housebuilding drive has stalled, as well as coverage of the 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize.

Our lead feature in Culture is about the nature-based public art installations at Oxford’s Begbroke Innovation District, while in Opinion, Rory Olcayto asks why there are no architects on the New Towns Taskforce, and the Secret Architect wonders whether the stupidest ideas are the best.

Also included in the issue are sketches by Dimitris Argyros, a column by David Grandorge and our competitions roundup.

£16.00

AJ 26.09.24: Student Prize

AJ 26.09.24: Student Prize

In our annual Student Prize issue you’ll see the future of the profession on display, and there is much inspiring and creative work to discover by students completing undergraduate and postgraduate architecture courses in the UK.

Where architectural education can fall down is in the technical and the practical. We take a look at how mentoring schemes are helping engage students in built environment issues at an earlier stage, as a grounding for a possible career in the industry.

We also interview some leading architectural tutors to discuss the how education has changed since the late-20th century, including the impact of tuition fees and the aftershocks of the Bartlett ‘bullying’ scandal.

Earlier this month the Grenfell Inquiry published its final conclusions. The AJ news team take a look at what the findings could mean for architects, and Russell Curtis writes a column about what the inquiry missed: the inadequacies of Design & Build.

Elsewhere in the issue you can read the key takeaways from AJ Retrofit Live; discover which buildings have been shortlisted for the AJ Architecture Awards 2024; and find out what our critic thought of a new, illustration-led book on school design.

Columns this month are written by the Secret Architect (‘AI, take the wheel’) and Scott McAulay, who focuses on how sustainability is being taught within architectural education.

Our competition pick for September is a £100 million Shakespeare campus in Stratford-upon-Avon, while reader favourites David Grandorge, Hellman and Sketchbook round out this bumper issue.

£10.00


AJ 23.05.24: Belgium

AJ 23.05.24: Belgium

The Belgium issue offers a deep dive into why this perhaps unlikely country has become a happy hunting ground for UK-based architects. As editor Emily Booth observes in her introduction, 'centuries of shared trade and cultural history over the choppy North Sea mean the similarities and the links with the UK run deep' - but it is the substantial opportunities for work that are the real draw for the UK's practices today.

In a special projects round-up, we explore these opportunities through the work of UK names currently working in Belgium, including Counterspace, DRDH and David Chipperfield Architects. Meanwhile, our building studies include the retrofit of a fire station, and the transformation of an industrial building into a residential development by local practices ATAM and Notan Office, respectively.

In News we reveal the 2024 AJ100 Awards Shortlist, including Practice of the Year and Employer of the Year. We also meet director of the Flanders Architecture Institute Sofie De Caigny, and explore Maccreanor Lavington's plans for a post-'Brusselisation' retrofit scheme.

In Culture, Florian Heilmeyer reviews Rotor, a book exploring the works of artist-turned-builder Marcel Raymaekers, while an essay from Ellis Woodman sings the praises of the Flanders-style open call.

Elsewhere David Grandorge explores what's changing in Belgium - and what is not in the UK - while The Coach answers burning questions on redundancy, including what do next if it happens to you.

This month's sketchbook comes curtesy of Robert Coz, director at ADAM Architecture and the latest Hellman takes aim Kier Starmer's grey belt development plans.

£16.00


AJ 21.03.24: AI

AJ 21.03.24: AI

A detailed look at how architects are using AI: is it a game-changer or a threat?

‘It’s not hyperbole to state that the physical environment of our future cities will be moulded largely by the work of computer scientists ... architects and place-makers must be more than part of the new conversation, they must also become active in the development of this consequential, software-driven shift.’

So says Keir Regan-Alexander in our special issue devoted to how architects are (or aren’t) using artificial intelligence. Also in this must-read edition you can read the results of the AJ’s AI survey, and find out what these new technologies could mean for the future of the profession. Alongside early adopter Keir’s top tips for starting to use AI, there is a round-up of how practices big and small are using it practically, including Child Graddon Lewis and K Bava Architects.

The more ethical aspects of AI are under the spotlight in an essay by Cristina Monteiro on what William Morris would have thought of it (this is also the inspiration for the cover image). And we’ve let ChatGPT write a building study for us on how Foster + Partners’ City Hall could be transformed into social housing, with visuals ‘created’ by Shutterstock AI and muse.ai.

In Culture, senior lecturer Stephen Parnell reveals how his students used Generative AI to resurrect an unpublished Manplan issue of The Architectural Review. There is also an exhibition review of Albert Frey: Inventive Modernist at Palm Springs Art Museum.

The Secret Architect enjoys a think-piece on AI written by an ingratiating colleague, while Martha Dillon opines that real estate AI is a threat to architects.

In non-AI news, we present two building studies: the multi-use Storyteller building in Sidcup by DRDH Architects, and Alma-nac’s orange- and yellow-hued community and co-working space in Tooting.

This month’s Sketchbook showcases the illustrations of Agustin Coll, and we also publish David Grandorge’s take on AI and Hellman’s on the BT Tower’s imminent conversion into a hotel.

£16.00

AJ 22.02.24: Schools

AJ 22.02.24: Schools

This month’s issue of the AJ explores a sector in need of drastic, visionary and financial intervention: schools. As editor Emily Booth points out in her introduction, ‘while bold budgetary changes are made with the sweep of a pen at the macro level, each crumbling classroom is a local, micro tragedy’.

In News Anna Highfield delves deeper into this topic, asking whether the Tories’ new rescue package goes far enough to address deteriorating conditions in schools, and what measures a new government might take. Plus, we take a first look at Jamie Fobert’s newly revealed Maggie’s Centre plans.

Our building studies include Rivington Studio’s secondary school at Silvertown - an oasis amid the regeneration of east London’s docklands - and a supportive woodland learning environment by Loader Monteith and Studio SJM. Finally we take a look at Surman Weston’s first self-build project - a strikingly innovative and energy-efficient home that reinvents the terraced house.

Elsewhere the first piece in AJ’s new series, ‘Blueprints for Change’, presents Tom Holbrook’s bold proposition for The Arc – an 100-mile public landscape with water at its heart. The series will give voice to ways architects are challenging the most pressing social and environmental challenges. 

In our Opinion pages Cristina Monteiro explains why we need to talk about social value in architecture, while Toko Andrews asks if specialisation is the way to succeed in the profession. And, in Culture, we explore two new exhibitions: SOAS University of London’s Building Africa and Abstractions: Studies of the National Theatre – photographs of Denys Lasdun’s South Bank masterpiece. 

Finally, in Sketchbook we meet Fatima Mejbil of FAUM Architecture, and Hellman introduces us to RIBA presidential candidate Chris Williamson.

£16.00


AJ 24.01.24: Housing

AJ 24.01.24: Housing

The AJ's first issue of 2024 explores what is set to be one of the year's most pressing and hotly-debated topics: housing. Our building studies include Child Graddon Lewis’s Harrow Road scheme which, following the election of a Labour council, was amended to offer 100% affordable homes. Plus projects from HTA Design and Hawkins\Brown, alongside Duncan Lewis Scape Architecture, offer a look at innovative and community-driven homes.

In News we dissect the boom in life sciences projects - including explaining how architects can tap into this treasure trove of work - and look ahead at Zaha Hadid Architects’ upcoming retrofit of a 1960s modernist tower.

In a special In Memory, friends and colleagues reflect on the life and talent of photographer Ben Blossom, who recently passed away after a short illness. And, in a Technical Profile, Hattie Hartman talks with Glasgow-based John Gilbert Architects about the importance of building performance evaluation in tackling the climate crisis.

In our Culture pages, Betty Owoo reviews Housing Atlas: Europe 20th Century, wondering what happened to the contribution of women in an otherwise worthy compendium. Plus, in Opinion, David Grandorge ponders the rising demand for social housing, and The Secret Architect heads across the Atlantic for a thoroughly ‘80s themed PCSA meeting.

Finally, in Sketch Club, we meet Fraser Morrison of Farshid Moussavi Architecture, while Hellman asks which messes Rishi Sunak will be able to clean up in time for this year's general election.

£16.00