I recently came across issues of Architektura ČSR from 1946 and Architekt from 1949 that somehow ended up in my home library. I imagined my grandchildren flipping through ERA21 in eighty years with the same fascination, trying to understand how we saw architecture and what topics were considered important. An architecture magazine is a lasting record. As Rostislav Koryčánek—founding editor of ERA21, originally focused on ecological building (ERA21 = Ecology, Realization, Architecture for the 21st Century)—once said: “Architecture is incredibly fragile, and what we write about it is incredibly fleeting. In that sense, digital media are at a disadvantage. ERA21 maps the terrain of architecture and related themes—and preserves it for the future.”

Reaching the twenty-five-year milestone is no small thing for a specialist publication, and we believe it’s worth celebrating. This issue is our way of doing that. But rather than celebrating ourselves, we look back at the last twenty-five years of architecture more broadly—and forward, too, through interviews with today’s youngest architects. It’s striking to realize that most of them weren’t even born when ERA21’s first issue came out.

Since its foundation, the German architectural magazine ARCH+ has been formed as an independent periodical connecting architectural theory and practice. It takes some time and a lot of effort to build a quality critical discourse and audience. Long-time publisher of ARCH+ and doyen of architecture editors Nikolaus Kuhnert and his successor as Editor-in-Chief of ARCH+, Anh-Linh Ngo, describe their search for critical approach to transatlantic discussion about architecture and critical vacuum in Germany after 1945, the necessity to continually cultivate the discourse, as well as the current crisis of critical media and magazines.

Since the very beginning of our planet's existence, its environment has been shaped by the regular changing of days and nights, periods of light and periods of darkness. All living organisms, including humans, evolved in this environment and adapted to the natural cycle over many millions of years. Until the end of the 19th century, the only sources of light during the night were fire, the moon, and the stars. With the invention and proliferation of artificial lighting, however, people began to change the night environment in unprecedented ways, outside and inside their homes. Discussing this with lighting expert Hynek Medřický, we reflect on the possible consequences of this change and whether we can actually grasp all of them.

The department stores’ golden era is definitely gone. Yet there are still ways to keep these structures not only alive, but to imbue them with new relevance. Architect Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli—who previously explored this topic at OMA and now continues to focus on similar projects through his own studio, 2050+—spoke with us about the future of department stores and the possibilities for their transformation.