NOWNESS

NOWNESS is our approach. One that attempts to reach a diverse audience; one that demonstrates architecture’s multidisciplinary character; and one that we hope reflects the depth, originality, and differences of our ideas, visions, and perceptions. It is a tool to communicate dreams, presenting our goals to the metropolis of Chicago and to the world at large. Cross-disciplinary collaboration presents possibilities, encouraging innovation within our own discipline. Architecture, today, is in demand. Now is the moment, and Chicago is the metropolis, in which we launch this printed medium, supported by a diverse group of students and faculty who, together, compose the world’s most intriguing architectural academic institution. Here, theoretical discourse, model making, debate in relation to the process of drawing, critical thinking, and computational representation all contribute to the process of the production of products that work. That makes this institution more than relevant today. Welcoming students from all over the globe, who share with us their interest in 'Rethinking Metropolis', we provide a platform for research, for the development of knowledge and skills, for taking part in design exercises, for debate, for making. Publications like this connect the communities they create, positioning themselves as a platform for dialogue. They are a fascinating format, and an appropriate set of tools, transmitting communicative exchanges between students, faculty, and guests. Writing a text; editing images; printing on paper—publications are more than relevant to today’s architectural discipline. Parallel to print is the internet, updating us daily. Tactile publications and digital information should be seen as complementary, within 'Rethinking Metropolis'. 

Wiel Arets, NOWNESS 1, IITAC Press, 2013, pp. 1