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.

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AJ 20.06.24: AJ100

The AJ100 is back, and this year our award-winners are pushing at the boundaries and encouraging a better way of doing things.

As part of our drive to support and celebrate positive change, new this year is AJ100 Champions, a group of practices moving the dial either in their own projects and working practices, in the wider industry and beyond. The cohort forms our supercharged shortlist for the Practice of the Year award.

In the issue we reveal all the victors of the AJ100 Awards, including Contribution to the Profession winner Kate Macintosh, as well as new categories that celebrate emerging talent within the UK’s largest practices. Our New Talent cohort – celebrating Part 1 and Part 2 architectural assistants and newly qualified architects – inspires and challenges in equal measure.

The latest AJ100 data shows a mixed picture of the sector and, since it was collected, we know several practices have struggled. Architectural fee income is well up, and there are encouraging signs of increased diversity. But there is a slight fall in the numbers of architectural staff, including, most noticeably, architectural assistants.

In Culture, we review a new photographic project pairing every Car of the Year with a building completed in the same year. Opinion pieces by Toko Andrews and Tim O’Callaghan also feature in the issue, as does the monthly competitions round-up, and Hellman’s cartoon on the forthcoming general election.

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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.

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AJ 14.12.23: Later living

December’s edition of the AJ looks at how the older generation are living out their autumn years in the twenty-first century. Our three fascinating building studies of projects by Mole Architects, Mæ and Witherford Watson Mann take inspiration from the almshouse, while making subtle efforts to subvert this model’s tendency to put older people in need out of sight and out of mind.

In News, we present the results of a salary survey, which reveals that architects were handed an effective pay cut in 2023, while an accompanying essay by nimtim’s Tim O’Callaghan asks how architects can halt the race to the bottom that has created a culture of low fees and salaries.

In a packed Culture section we visit the Georgian Illuminations at Sir John Soane’s Museum, and the Unbuild exhibition at the Drawing Room; plus regular columnist David Grandorge offers his thoughts on the use of plastics in construction.

This month’s Opinion pieces are by Kunle Barker – who argues that sustainability categories within architecture awards should be ditched – and Martha Dillon, who shares her thoughts on Rowan Moore’s new book Property.

Lastly, festive cheer is provided in a Building of the Year quiz, AHMM Sketch Club and Hellman, who wishes AJ subscribers a HappAI Xmas.

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AJ 21.09.23: Student Prize

Community and sustainability are the prevailing themes of this year’s AJ Student Prize, and all 100+ entries are showcased in AJ’s annual student special issue. This is a cohort acutely aware of the challenges facing the world, and determined to come up with their own solutions to the most testing issues of our times.

Also in this issue are the sobering findings of our latest race and diversity survey, which reveals how people of diverse ethnic heritage face barriers at every stage of their careers, and explores how the profession can become more inclusive. We also spotlight alternative practice pioneers Zean Mair-Macfarlane and Bushra Mohamed.

More than a year since a damning report uncovered decades of ‘serious misconduct’ at the Bartlett, we ask whether the celebrated architecture school is now safe for students. In Culture, the AJ reports from the European Architecture Students Assembly in Sheffield.

Other features in this jam-packed issue include the RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist (and the AJ’s verdict); columns by the AJ Coach and David Grandorge; sketchbook by Freedah Rehan; our monthly competitions round-up; and Hellman’s cartoon on the RAAC crisis.

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AJ 22.06.23: AJ100

AJ100 is back! Our annual deep dive into how the UK’s biggest practices are faring reveals that between them, they employ more architects than ever before. We drill down into the data to see how salaries and fees have changed since last year, what progress has been made on sustainability and the impact of rising energy costs on business performance.

You can read profiles and data for all of the AJ100 practices, and we reveal the winners of AJ100 awards in 2023. Pooja Agrawal, the recipient of the Contribution to the Profession award, talks to the AJ about her life in architecture and her pioneering work at Public Practice.

In the Culture section, we review Norman Foster’s retrospective at the Pompidou Centre (his sketches are also featured in our regular Sketchbook column), as well as the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Also in the issue is our monthly competitions round-up, columns by the Secret Architect, the Coach and David Grandorge, and cartoonist Hellman takes aim at The Line.

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AJ 30.03.23: Food + Retrofit Awards

In this issue you can find all the winners of the AJ Retrofit Awards 2023, which showcase the design expertise behind the renewal of existing buildings. From the restoration of a Category A-listed museum to the low-cost adaptation of a former vehicle testing facility in north London, these truly exciting projects demonstrate how a connection with the past adds another dimension to a ‘new’ building.

The four building studies also found in this month’s AJ are united by the theme of food. A dining hall on the Isle of Mull has been forged from a ruined stone byre by fardaa; we revisit ready-meal manufacturer Charlie Bigham’s factory in Somerset, designed by Feilden Fowles; Danish practice pihlmann architects has created a brewery visitor experience in a former slaughterhouse in Copenhagen; and we see how Atelier Téqui Architectes pioneered prefabricated timber frame construction at an industrial scale at a food research centre in northern France.

In news, we take an in-depth look at the proposed changes to architectural education and ask whether they will ‘fix’ the profession, and we profile Yasmeen Lari, the Pakistani architect who swapped rich corporate clients for community-driven architecture.

Rounding out the issue are opinion columns by the Secret Architect, David Grandorge and The Coach; a competitions round-up; Hellman; and the sketches of Anna Gibb.

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AJ 15.12.22: Revisit

In the final issue of 2022 we revisit four projects to see what the passage of time reveals about the durability of their original design.

FAT’s first built project was The Blue House in east London. Twenty years on, former director Sean Griffiths has remodelled it and added a rooftop extension – part of the original design concept but denied planning at the time.

Just five years ago dRMM won the Stirling Prize for Hastings Pier with much praise for how the scheme had united the local community. But has its success been compromised by unforeseen events?

We also revisit an ‘MMC exemplar’ housing scheme in London completed by Cartwright Pickard in 1999, and an office for the BRE, built 30 years ago and recently retrofitted by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.

In News, we exclusively publish the results of a salary survey and ask whether architecture is still a financially viable career choice amidst the cost of living crisis. This month’s Culture feature is a review of a photography exhibition documenting the decommissioning of a nuclear power station.

Plus, there’s the monthly competitions roundup; columns by Kunle Barker, David Grandorge and Shahriar Nasser; and reader favourites Hellman and Sketchbook. Happy holidays, and here’s to 2023.

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AJ 22.09.22: Student Prize

The AJ Student Prize is back for its fifth year, showcasing the work of undergraduate and postgraduate architecture students across the UK. The September bumper issue also features the nominees for the Sustainability Prize.

Our news feature this month is senior reporter Will Ing’s interview with the London School of Architecture’s Neal Shasore, the radical historian with plans to shake up architectural education.

University of Edinburgh student Aisha Akinola explains why she thinks the architecture profession needs to ‘declare a state of emergency’ over its lack of diversity, while Jordan Whitewood-Neal reflects on post-pandemic teaching provision for disabled students.

Plus, the AJ’s architecture editor appraises the ‘well-mannered and muted’ RIBA Stirling Prize contenders; and new opinion pieces from AJ columnists Kunle Barker and Smith Mordak.

You can also find all the usual AJ features like competitions, Hellman and sketchbook, while our news roundup contains RIBA president Simon’s tribute to the Queen.

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AJ 23.06.22: AJ100

This issue is dedicated to the AJ100 – the AJ’s very own celebration of the top 100 UK architecture practices by number of architects employed in the UK. Professor Bruce Tether returns to analyse the findings of our in-depth AJ100 survey, we profile the full listing of this year’s AJ100 firms and the winners of the 11 categories of AJ100 Awards are revealed, including our special Contribution to the Profession award which has been won by long-standing educator and activist Neil Pinder.

News In Pictures features Theaster Gates’ Serpentine Pavilion and O’Donnell + Tuomey‘s winning designs, with ADP,  for a ‘landmark’ £35 million student centre at York Uinversity.

PLUS: Alluding to Reni Eddo-Lodge‘s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Kunle Barker titles his column this month Why I don’t speak to white architects about race, Louis Smith Lassey reviews Radical Landscapes at Tate Liverpool, David Grandorge visits planet Earth and Jon Burke asks, if greening the city needs to happen – why are the police standing in the way? + AJ Sketchbook by Tim Bedingfield, letters, competitions and Louis Hellman‘s monthly cartoon.

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AJ 24.03.22: Small Projects

This issue features building studies on 5th Studio's Bloqs building and Cottrell & Vermeulen's Sri Krishna Haveli and a feature by Barnabas Calder that weighs up the carbon costs of the Baths of Caracalla versus Pilbrow & Partners’ proposed new M&S store. Elsewhere, we reveal the 20-strong shortlist for the AJ’s annual Small Projects Award, sponsored by Marley.

Ella Jessel visits the UK's ongoing self-build experiment in Graven Hill and Richard Waite takes a closer look at what is going wrong, and why, with the nation's broken planning sytem.

News In Pictures feature's Francis Kéré’s Pritzker win and North Lanarkshire’s plan to demolish ‘Britain’s ugliest building’, Cumbernauld's town centre.

PLUS: Alpa Depani connects planning delays with cash-strapped councils, The Coach, David Grandorge considers a small project by Alison and Peter Smithson, the paintings of Will Alsop, last year's AJ Small Project's winner Rashid Ali, The Third Man, AJ Sketchbook entry from Nariza Hopley, letters, competitions and Louis Hellman's monthly cartoon.

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AJ 16.12.21: Liverpool

At the end of 2021 – which AJ Editor Emily Booth writes 'hasn’t been an easy year, but the creativity and resilience of the profession continue to shine through' – we devote a special issue ot focus on Liverpool, featuring building studies on The Lexington by Falconer Chester Hall and The Alder Centre by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. Our news features ask if Liverpool can bounce back from a scandal-hit year and investigate housing in Liverpool: ‘We’ve had no strategy for a shrinking city’.

Also in this issue, all the shortlisted entries in our AJ Retrofit Awards 2022, which celebrate design that prolongs and improves the life of buildings as well as all longlisted and shortlisted designs for Pavilion for All, a competition run by the AJ, Argent Related and Barnet Council.

PLUS: Kunle Barker argues we should 'blame the game, not the player – it’s the planning system that’s broken', David Grandorge reports from COP26, Lubaina Himid at Tate Modern, AJ Sketchbook entry from Hamza Shaikh, The Coach, letters, competitions and Louis Hellman's monthly cartoon.

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AJ 23.09.21: AJ100

The AJ’s bumper 168-page AJ100 issue presents profiles of the UK’s 100 largest architectural practices of 2021, providing an invaluable almanac for the profession. 

The magazine includes the winners of the AJ100 Awards, including Building of the Year, Practice of the Year and Employer of the Year, as well as the main findings from our comprehensive annual survey of AJ100 practices, looking at everything from fees and furlough to salaries and sustainability. 

And we unveil AJ100 New Talent:  a celebration of exceptional Part 2 architectural assistants drawn from across the AJ100 practices – showcasing the contributions of those at the start of their careers.

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AJ 17.06.21: Housing

The AJ publishes the results of our annual AJ100 survey. Based on detailed practice responses from the calendar year 2020, the impact of Covid is laid bare telling a story of resilience in the face of falling revenues, staff reductions and a drop in salary levels.

We also reveal results from our survey of nearly 300 architects on the spiralling cladding and building safety crisis, exposing a culture of secrecy and anxiety about speaking out.

In this Housing issue, we feature building studies on Le Lignon, Geneva, by Jaccaud Spicher Architectes Associés, Henley Halebrown's Taylor, Chatto and Wilmott Courts in Hackney and Matlock Spa Phase 1 by David Morley Architects + Nissen Richards Studio’s reworked visitor experience at Sutton Hoo.

PLUS columns from Kunle Barker, the AJ coach, Louis Hellman on the Battersea Sky Pool, and a new column from David Grandorge, AJ Sketchbook from Narinder Sagoo at Foster + Partners and Patrick Massey's The Third Man debuts in the Culture pages.

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AJ 25.03.21: AJ Small Projects

We profile the 20 shortlisted schemes for AJ Small Projects Award 2021. There are building studies of Tower Hamlets infill housing by Bell Phillips Architects and The Art Barn by Thomas Randall-Page. We also publish an AJ investigation into the exploitation of architectural assistants during the pandemic, including the results of our survey.

PLUS Carmody Groarke revamps Manchester Science and Industry Museum, Q&A with HNNA's Hannah Corlett, Jonathan Meades and Shelley Klein book reviews, Kunle Barker's column and AJ Sketchbook from Archio director Kyle Buchanan.

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AJ 17.12.20: 40 under 40

The Architects’ Journal is bringing back its famous and ever-popular 40 under 40, celebrating the UK’s most exciting emerging architectural talent. It is the first time since 2005 that the AJ has run the unique showcase of the nation's next generation of boundary-pushing designers and innovators.

Delivery times

• Orders dispatched no sooner than 16 December
• Order by 17 December for second-class postage
• Order by 18 December for first-class postage
• All deliveries to destinations outside the UK will arrive after Christmas

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