From the Publisher: Following the resignation of the JAE Editorial Board in March, the ACSA put out a solicitation for services and has engaged an interim editorial team to lead the publication of JAE 79:2. Following an external assessment of recent decisions and actions, the organization will work to appoint a new Executive Editor and Editorial Board to produce the eightieth volume of JAE in 2026.
The world needs more scholars and practitioners not only educated to prosper in their own careers but also prepared to fulfill social and civic obligations through the genius of design.1
Faced with the challenge of an increasingly complex economic, environmental, and political reality, how might educating civic-minded architects help inspire and guide the profession? How do architecture schools foster a culture of collaboration with community and city leaders? How can design research inform the evolving role that civic-minded architects can play? Beyond the design studio, what role should the teaching of history, theory, professional practice, policy, technology, and other disciplines play in educating civic architects?
Does it make any difference when architects gain political power? It is interesting to contemplate how Jaime Lerner, an architect turned mayor and then governor of Parana in Brazil, gained international attention by attempting to make Curitiba a sustainability showcase. Or how Luiz Paulo Conde, an architect and educator who became mayor of Rio de Janeiro, started an innovative program to carve public spaces out of crowded favelas. Or the remarkable trajectory of Fernando Belaunde Terry, an American-educated architect who was twice elected President of Peru, created PREVI (Proyecto Experimental de Vivienda) and invited some of the world’s best architects to rethink social housing in Lima.
North America has had its share of impactful architect-mayors like Joseph P. Riley Jr. (Charleston, South Carolina) who founded the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, Harvey Gantt (Charlotte, North Carolina) who chaired the National Capital Planning Commission in DC, and Maurice Cox (Charlottesville, Virginia) who went on to become city planner in Chicago and Detroit. In Italy, distinguished art historian and preservationist Giulio Carlo Argan was elected the first Communist mayor of Rome, and Massimo Cacciari, professor of aesthetics at the Architecture Institute of Venice, served as mayor of Venice.
But running for office is not the only way to make a difference. In addition to designing some of the most celebrated public projects in the world, Richard Rogers championed sustainable urbanism as advisor to mayors and prime ministers; and Johanna Hurme of 5468796 Architecture—a firm whose work has consistently engaged civic issues—chaired Winnipeg’s Chamber of Commerce.
And after half a century, this is also a good time to reflect on how post-modernism led to increased attention on contextual design, vernacular architecture, and perhaps more significantly a reinvigorated interest in urban design—not simply as a larger scale of work, but as a design attitude for every project.
We are seeking contributions that explore the full range of expressions of civic architecture and community design—past, present, and future. As well as research and exemplary projects by architects, landscape architects, urbanists, and students who have explored these questions. Contributions documenting educational efforts are most welcome.
Submissions will be accepted for the JAE’s existing manuscript categories: Essay, Design, Narrative, Image. The submission deadline for all manuscripts for this theme issue is 1 August 2025. Accepted articles will be published in issue 79:2 (Winter 2025). For author instructions, please consult the author guide.
- Boyer, Ernest L. and Lee D. Mitgang, Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice (Princeton, N.J.: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1996), p. 149.
Photo Caption: Vancouver’s Robson Square / Photograph: Serge Ambrose
