RIAS Quarterly Autumn 2020 - Activism in Architecture

RIAS Quarterly Autumn 2020 - Activism In Architecture

October 2020

co-edited with Scott McAulay, cover design by Sean Mulvenna, layouts by Jon Jardine, project management by Carol-Ann Hildersley / RIAS

For the Autumn 2020 edition of the RIAS Quarterly - the members magazine published by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland - I was invited to co-edit the issue along with Scott McAulay of the Anthropocene Architecture School. The issue was to focus on activism in architecture, and Scott and I sought to share and highlight the many wonderful people and organisations doing progressive work in architecture in Scotland and further afield.

Our editorial noted the following -

As architects the demands and distractions of our day jobs can be all encompassing, with little time to take stock or even read the architectural magazines for pleasure. It’s therefore understandable to feel that activism in architecture is secondary or even unrelated to our working routines. That the fluff of events, debates, exhibitions, and provocative research is irrelevant to our client relationships, the production of area schedules, product and material specifications and the pressurised spatial organisation of a brief. But it isn’t, and we need to steal our gaze away from our screens to take a good look at the direct connections between activism and how we live and work. Connections to better pay and conditions. Connections to overcoming insidious misogyny, racism and white supremacy. Connections to the public perception of who we are and what we do. Connections to taking a stand in the face of a system of development and construction that puts huge profit before design quality and public amenity at all times. A system that is extractive, extractive of your labour and training.

We are alive at a critical moment in human history, where the intersection of civil rights, environmental stewardship and the socio-economic systems we chose to deploy is more stark and acute than ever before. Black Lives Matter. Climate breakdown and injustice is real. And the relentless pursuit of economic growth at the expense of nearly everything else is threatening our very own survival.’

Scott and I were also very keen to disrupt the normal visual language and layout of the magazine, seeking to let the pages breath with the energy inherent within the featured people, projects and publications.

A massive thank you to everyone who contributed their wonderful work and inspiring thoughts to the Autumn issue. Thank you, too, to the RIAS for the invitation, their complete openness to all of Scott and I’s ideas and requests, and their support in getting us over the publication line.

The full online version of the Autumn issue can be found here.

Image: RIAS Quarterly front cover, with illustration design by Sean Mulvenna