This contribution discusses seven of Colquhoun’s architectural projects, which he produced, successively, at the London County Council (LCC), at the practice of Lyons Israel Ellis, and at the firm he founded with John Miller: Colquhoun Miller & Partners. In the work, various formal and compositional architectural principles are tested within various idioms. The situating and grouping of buildings seem to incorporate a latent affinity with the romantic-classicist tradition, while the later work from the 1970s and 1980s attests to a gradual expansion of the formal references in favour of the picturesque, early-twentieth-century innovative architecture and, on occasion, Italian rationalism.

The editorial provides a detailed introduction to the theme of ‘productive indeterminacy’, focusing on the changing nature of the contemporary urban and architectural challenge. This introduction includes a discussion of the perspectives on the theme from various disciplines and an analysis of their possible connections, and it places the various contributions to this issue against an outlined background and provides a perspective for dealing with the challenge of indeterminacy.

In the 1960s, as a critique of the standardization of mass housing John Habraken introduced, under the title Het Open Bouwen (Open Building), the distinction between the ‘support’ and the ‘infill’ by which a building can be adapted over time to unforeseen changes in programme and use. The design is introduced using a thematic methodology, whereby the architect shapes the support, in other words the communal. In this strategy, the architecture takes into account the changing wishes of (new) users, or in other words with the factor of time. In this interview Habraken brings this idea of the factor of time up to date, applying it not only to the lifespan of buildings but in particular to the design process itself. ‘Open building’, Habraken argues, is not confined so much to the role of the architect, but it makes it more specific and more interesting. Thinking in terms of time is crucial if architecture is to provide an answer to seemingly conflicting movements in our increasingly articulate society.

In the editorial, the editors of this OASE address the specific qualities of the model, separate from the often empirical way it is used in the professional domain of architecture. They emphasize that the objective of this OASE is in fact to examine the dividing line between architecture and art, as well as the role the model plays as an autonomous object in both domains. The focus is on the model, based on the question of what exactly the model object can be and can signify when something other than its representative character is emphasized. The editorial places the various contributions in the issue against the background of this question.

This interview with Adam Caruso, principal of Caruso St John Architects in London, deals with the use of models in their practice and more in general with the problem of the representation of architecture. The practice of Caruso St John deals with models in a strong pictorial way, as only images of the model will be presented instead of the object itself. The model itself is treated in a transient way: like the drawing, the model forms one of the tools for constant architectural research. The article elaborates on the role of architectural models as a grateful tool to investigate the present-day neglected interest in the architecture of the interior, of key importance in the practice of Caruso St John.

The editorial of this issue of OASE opens up a reflection on architecture criticism, following the critical encounters (seminars, debates, lectures, round table discussions), the journal organised to mark its 25th anniversary. The discussions held with a series of stakeholders: architects, writers, academe, publishers, graphic designers, students, etc. have filtered into this issue, which simultaneously evaluates and explores the current state of architecture criticism, ranging from academic reflections on criticism, via the personal views of critics on its current state, to tentative explorations.