AR November 2022: Emerging

Two years ago, the AR asked architects, critics, teachers, artists and enthusiasts to write a letter to a ‘young architect’. This year we turned the tables, inviting young architects to write to their older selves. The resulting dispatches were filled with reflections on mental health, racism, financial precarity and the climate crisis, making clear the issues that young architects face today. But they also try to remain hopeful. In this issue’s keynote essay, Resolve Collective write: ‘The idea of “practice” appears to be confined to the sole remit of professionals whose names are followed by mysterious letters’, but as they and a growing number of others are demonstrating, practice can mean so much more. This issue celebrates the practices shortlisted for the AR Emerging Awards. From international teams committed to social enterprise and creating long-term opportunities for the communities they work with, to those working with pre-extractive methods and materials, the profiled practices offer hope that a new world order is possible for architecture.