Home — AJ Magazines — AJ 23.02.23: Ways of practising

AJ 23.02.23: Ways of practising

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Architecture as activism is the thread that runs through the February edition of the AJ. We feature three examples of simple projects on modest budgets that have made a substantial impact: a skate bowl in Devon by IDK; North West Design Collective and Baxendale’s refurbishment of a Preston charity building; and a community centre by Leeds Beckett Project Office.

You can also read building studies of central London’s tallest mass timber office structure, designed by Waugh Thistelton, and Nest House, built with Studio Bark’s open-source timber flatpack system.

Our news feature this month focuses on some of the projects funded by architect-led charity Footwork, including the mass retrofit of listed homes in Yorkshire and a learning centre for refugees in east London.

In Culture, we meet the seven women behind the 1:100 Architecture Podcast to discuss their experiences as architecture graduates and women of colour, and review an exhibition of work by not-for-profit design and research practice Material Cultures.

Also in this issue you can find the AJ Retrofit Awards 2023 shortlists; columns by Kunle Barker, Dan Anderson and David Grandorge; Sketchbook by Katy Marks; and Hellman’s take on the row over Herzog & de Meuron’s Liverpool Street plans.

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AJ 25.04.24: Small Projects

The AJ Small Projects issue presents gems of design, all proving that within the smallest budgets creativity flourishes. The 20 shortlisted schemes for 2024 demonstrate what can really make a small project sing: it’s about material choices, attention to detail, and a good understanding of the social and environmental issues within each site-specific context.

We also present two building studies: the London College of Fashion by Allies and Morrison, and a Jenga-like hotel in Manchester by Stephenson Hamilton Risley STUDIO.

In News, we interview four architects who have ‘jumped the fence’ to go client-side, discovering how many of our interviewees have found new opportunities from constraints.

For Culture, the first UK show dedicated to pioneering Italian designer Enzo Mari is reviewed, as is the Atlas of Never Built Architecture, a new book published by Phaidon.

Also in the issue are the latest competitions, including the Helsinki Museum of Design, and opinion columns by Toko Andrews on going viral, and the Secret Architect, who bemoans an insufferable ex-colleague.

This month’s sketches are provided by Chris Dyson, and Hellman draws the House of Fun (aka 66 Portland Place).

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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 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.