This issue begins with an editorial by Toyo Ito on the need to create shared spaces. In Letter from China, Amateur Architecture Studio demonstrates how traditions can be passed on through contemporary forms. In our regular Viaggio in Italia column, Nemesi Architects takes us on a tour of Italy’s avant-garde scene, while Trahan Architects shows us how architecture cannot escape its natural setting. Barclay & Crousse have apparently taken this last point as the inspiration for its architecture, with its material and spatial essentialism. Respect for existing architecture can be part and parcel of any renovation approach, as demonstrated by BCHO Architects’ renovation of an office complex. Bernardo Rodrigues and Laura von Dellemann use light to enhance human memory, while Remo Dorigati and Pierluigi Salvadeo design a university campus that encourages inclusiveness. Finally, compositional form is the key element of Biblioteca, designed by Patkau Architects + Group2.

In this issue, MasArquitectos & Gubbins Polidura Arquitectos and Perkins & Will explain how architecture can harmonize with even the most indomitable natural setting, while Sparano + Mooney Architecture presents a series of examples of how it can differentiate itself from its setting by interpreting it. Design is often a challenge, and it’s from that perspective that Studio Westway demonstrates how it’s possible to bring together the history of a country with the history of a successful company. Our column dedicated to China focuses on the work of Tongji Architectural Design Group, while Emilio Faroldi describes a different way of thinking about universities. The elegance and lightness of forms are fluid elements that can be translated into either a city tower, such as Morphosis, or the understated simplicity of MoDus Architects’ designs. The current interest in a new community-focused architecture is the theme of Yehuda Safran’s interview with Hashim Sarkis.

This Italian-themed issue begins with Simon Henley, founding partner of Henley Halebrown, reflecting on the façade’s role in architecture. Quality approaches to the renovation – and complete overhaul – of manufacturing facilities are showcased through designs by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (Bergamo), Studio Transit (Rome), 967arch (Santena, Turin), Giuseppe Tortato Architetti (Milan), and ASArchitects (Pitigliano, Grosseto). Designing spaces for children and education is an important challenge for architects. The designs of CL&AA (Colognola ai Colli, Verona) and Roland Baldi Architetti (Sluderno, Bolzano) both reveal an ability to listen to the needs of children and teachers. Moving beyond Italy’s borders, the villa in Lugano, designed by Nicola Probst Architetti, exemplifies the relationship between environmental context and architectural rigor. Finally, we look at the power of objects and their role in memory – that is, the inspiration behind Legacy, a design-themed event held at the last London Design Festival.

The relationship between architecture and context, between tradition and modernity, as well as the role of architecture in urban redevelopment and rebirth are just some of the issues discussed by Louis Becker, design principal and partner at Henning Larsen Architects. These themes are also exemplified in the designs of ARCHSTUDIO, DnA_Design and Architecture, OPEN Architecture, and Studio Zhu-Pei (China), Ipostudio and Alessandro Bucci Architetti (Italy), Wilmotte & Associés (Metz, France), GG-loop (Amsterdam), and Hopkins Architects (Wimbledon, London). Architecture is also about the monumental and the spectacular, as shown by Johnson Fain’s design for Christ Cathedral in California, and the residential designs of Powerhouse Company in Munich and Ryue Nishizawa on the Chilean coast.