In November 1896, the first films were being screened, wireless telegraphy had just been patented, and the first issue of The Architectural Review was published in London and released into the world.
The magazine has since survived world wars, political earthquakes and technological revolutions – perhaps none as seismic as the current deluge of so-called artificial intelligence. ‘The threat of AI is that it can bypass real buildings and real people,’ Stephen Parnell writes.
As generative AI is reshaping newsrooms, eroding meaning and blurring the lines of reality and human interactions, this anniversary highlights the increasing importance and urgency for human thinking, writing and making. In this special issue, architects, artists, critics and co-conspirators join the AR to contemplate its next 130 years. Former editor Catherine Slessor contrives the AR’s astrological birth chart , Nomos have used their collection of magazines to make a series of cyanotypes and Productora’s Carlos Bedoya asks that the AR remains ‘a form of resistance and a space of conscience’. As Phyllis Lambert points out, it will require ‘energy, rigour, curiosity, courage, imagination, fun and freedom’.
1536: 130 years of The Architectural Review
cover (above)
This issue’s cover was a collaboration with the Madrid‑based illustrator Isabel Albertos. The words ‘AR not AI’ emerge from an urban landscape inspired by Giambattista Nolli’s 1748 plans of Rome. The final cover is the result of nearly two months of dialogue and testing ideas. Credit: Isabel Albertos for The Architectural Review
folio (lead image)
On the occasion of the AR’s 130th birthday, editors have received birthday cards and messages from all over the world, including a crunchy collaged birthday cake from architects Stephanie Davidson and Georg Rafailidis
keynote
Slop machine
Stephen Parnell
building
See what is left
Philipp Klak
Birthday wishes
Catherine Slessor
Laslo Antal
Omar Degan
Mark Minkjan
Beth Rodway
Sol Pérez Martínez
Stephanie Davidson and Georg Rafailidis
Tomà Berlanda
Boonserm Premthada
Phineas Harper
Oliver Lütjens and Thomas Padmanabhan
Lola Olufemi
Lesley Lokko and Fred Swart
Tina Gregorič
Yeyei Gómez
Sam Jacob
Suad Amiry
George Douglas
Glenn Murcutt
Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu
Carlos Bedoya
Philip Christou
Søren Pihlmann
Edwin Heathcote
Bernard Tschumi
Nomos
Beatriz Colomina
Stephanie Macdonald and Tom Emerson
Lars Müller
Norman Foster
Oliver Wainwright
Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman
Madelon Vriesendorp
Kate Wagner
Aristea Charoniti
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Phyllis Lambert
Takero Shimazaki