If the 20th century can be characterised by theories and manifestoes, which emanated across every sphere of life from politics to the fine arts, the beginning of the 21st century can be distinguished by its very break from theory. This effective 'theoretical meltdown' has manifested itself in a period of uncertainty, which can be perceived in the way disciplines coalesce with each other and blur their parameters: fine art becoming indistinct from advertising imagery; architecture incorporating communication techniques; and sculpture dealing with living spaces; while architecture reshapes fragments of the natural environment. The issue topically calls the contemporary situation in architecture to account. Features writings by and interviews with some of the most remarkable protagonists of the debate: Ole Bouman, Ricardo Diller & Elizabeth Scofidio, Neil Leach, Bernard Tschumi and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. Acts as a barometer to architectural design, inviting 10 international critics to highlight the most relevant current work.

Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi is an architectural writer and critic. He teaches contemporary architectural history at ‘La Sapienza’ University of Rome. He writes for Domus, The Plan, L’Arca, Abitare and AD, is the Italian correspondent for A10 (The Netherlands), Monument (Australia) and The Architects’ Newspaper (US), and an editor at Le Carré Bleu. He is the director of the weekly presS/Tletter (www.presstletter.com) and curator of numerous exhibitions and events. His many books include HyperArchitecture (Testo&Immagine & Birkhäuser, 1998), Antonio Citterio (Edilstampa, 2005), Dieci Anni di architettura: 1996–2006 (Prospettive edizioni, 2006) and New Directions in Contemporary Architecture (John Wiley, 1988). He was also guest-editor of AD Italy: A New Architectural Landscape (2007).