Students

Founded in 1896, the AR remains a leading voice in architectural criticism today, scouring the globe for architecture that provokes and inspires. From building studies and essays to reviews and opinion pieces, the critically acclaimed voices found in our pages are an important resource to students as well as the wider architectural community. You can register for free to read up to three articles per month, or subscribe to receive our beautifully designed issues in print, and gain full, unfettered access to our website – students receive a discount of 50% for a limited time

Every building we feature has a story to tell. Whether we explore a new intervention that has shifted the fabric of the city surrounding it, pull back the covers on architectural prize-giving, or consider the possible replicable impact of a tiny prototype, every project – large or small, good or bad – contributes to an archive of the most culturally significant and architecturally interesting buildings of our time.

In every issue, the AR publishes a portrait of a practitioner or theorist who has had an impact on architecture. Written by an independent critic, the pieces offer fresh reappraisals of some of the most significant figures of the field, while others explore the work and thought of makers and thinkers who have been left out of historic canons. Each Reputations story is published alongside an original illustration commissioned to show the subject with their work.

The techniques and materials used when constructing a building or site have implications far beyond the aesthetic. Decarbonisation has never been more urgent, and the construction choices made by architects play a crucial role in this process. Beyond their environmental impact, building techniques and materials are embedded within a rich fabric of historical, social and cultural significance. To help students navigate complex material choices, the AR has compiled a list of articles that engage with the technical aspects of construction.

The AR looks beyond isolated buildings, commissioning in-depth essays that engage with the wider social, cultural and political contexts that architecture sits within. The essays are commissioned with each issue’s theme in mind, but they often begin to resonate with topics addressed in past issues from years – sometimes decades – ago. To help corral these overarching strands, we regularly produce the AR Reading list, which takes readers from topics such as food and drink, work, spatial violence, and utopias to empire and coloniality, natural materials, displacement, and nightlife.