40th Anniversary

Years of Looking Forward

For Metropolis’s anniversary we dug up some articles from its archive that are still fresh today.

The Evolution of Work

Seeding Sustainability

The Wellness Movement

The Beauty of Access

Critical Technologies

Turning to Reuse

Considering Gender

The Evolution of Work

In March 1989, former editor in chief Susan S. Szenasy spotted a nascent trend—more people were choosing to do their work from home, or at least extend their work hours in a home office. Five years later, editor Karrie Jacobs layered in the digitization of white-collar work, predicting: “Offices will be virtual. Cities will be empty.” In 2021, we know she was at least partially right. Metropolis has tracked every shift in how people work. We bore witness to the rise of the start-up, the backlash against the open office, the era of in-house baristas, and the great WFH revolution of 2020. Throughout, we’ve asked: “How can we move past business as usual to places that work for everyone?”

“Making Home Work,” by Susan S. Szenasy, March 1989, analyzed the trend of working from home.

“Dinosauring,” by Karrie Jacobs, October 1994, predicted the all-virtual office.

“How Will We Work in 2020?” November 2013, pointed to air quality and atmosphere as a driver for workplace design.

“Work Will Never Be the Same,” June 2020, identified five concepts that will shape the post-pandemic workplace.

Seeding Sustainability

In May 1989, architect Don Prowler published an article titled “Building with the Sun,” which prematurely bemoaned the death of solar-powered architecture. While photovoltaic panels are alive and well today, Prowler did lay out all the essential ingredients of the emerging sustainability movement: cultural forces, economic incentives, professional enthusiasm or apathy, and, of course, political will. Metropolis has become a forceful advocate for sustainable architecture and design, exploring biophilia and landfill diversion in a 1992 issue, pointing out the carbon emissions of architecture in 2003, and analyzing the embodied carbon footprint of interior design in 2020. Between those issues were many others tracking the A&D industry’s slow progress on decarbonization, resilience, and healthy buildings.

“Becoming Sustainable” was a special supplement to the November/December 2019 issue.

“Turning Down the Global Thermostat,” by Christopher Hawthorne, October 2003, linked architecture and design to climate change.

“The Seeds of a Green Architecture,” by Marisa Bartolucci, April 1992, argued that climate change, rather than style wars, should shape architecture.

“Building with the Sun,” by Don Prowler, May 1989, bemoaned the rise and fall of solar power.

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The Wellness Movement

In October 1996, Metropolis extended its coverage of sustainability to what writer Barry M. Katz called the sustainable self: “a self in equilibrium, the condition of internal and external balance that the Greeks called eudaimonia and that we translate as ‘well-being.’” Today we understand Katz’s argument better than ever before—that ecological, social, and personal health are all connected. In the years that followed, Metropolis cheered on efforts by architects and designers to create healthy spaces. Between 2007 and 2011, it partnered with IIDA to bestow the Smart Environment Awards, and when ASID moved into a Perkins&Will–designed, WELL Platinum–certified office, the project was featured on the cover of the November 2016 issue.

“Building a Healthy Workplace,” November 2016, featured ASID’s WELL Platinum–certified office.

“Well-Being,” by Barry M. Katz, October 1996, introduced the concept to architects and designers.

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Turning to Reuse

In the November/December 2019 issue Thomas de Monchaux wrote about an ongoing yet radical approach to sustainable architecture: “We are accustomed to thinking of the natural environment as a critical resource—to be conserved and consumed with care. Maybe we can accustom ourselves to thinking of the unnatural environment in the same way. The most sustainable building on the planet may not be some new BREEAM- or LEED-certified construction, but something like the Pantheon in Rome.” It’s a viewpoint that Metropolis had championed starting with the May 1999 article “The Mall Doctor.” Existing buildings, whether the Pantheon or your local mall, are repositories of materials, human labor, and embodied energy that must not be wasted. The task of the decades ahead is to shift the focus of architectural practice from new construction to responsible reuse.

“Add, Transform, Reuse!” November/December 2019, contained an article by Thomas de Monchaux arguing that the A&D industry should shift focus from new construction to adaptive reuse.

“The Mall Doctor,” by Ellen Barry, May 1999, pointed to ailing malls falling into disuse and argued that they needed a new lease on life.

Considering Gender

In 2018, Szenasy and president Eugenie C. Havemeyer were honored with leadership awards by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, recognizing Metropolis’s support for women in the field of architecture. By that time, the magazine had gradually moved from looking exclusively at women’s issues to addressing the patriarchal status quo more broadly. By the 2010s, as fresh attacks on trans people were taking place in the United States, Metropolis’s coverage began to explore gender-neutral or agendered spaces.

“By Women, for Women,” July/August 2019, included an essay by Mimi Zeiger about the architectural legacy of the feminist movement.

“Beyond the Binary,” by Royce Epstein, February 2016, pointed out that gender-neutral design should be about more than bathrooms.

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The Beauty of Access

Szenasy was a fierce advocate of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, writing in 1992: “We all might be better people if we thought more about Granny…or anyone else we know who doesn’t belong to the fully abled, vigorous group for which virtually everything is designed today.” She often chided architects for treating the ADA as an afterthought rather than an important opportunity to create spaces that everyone could enjoy. Decades later, design historian Bess Williamson echoed her sentiments in Metropolis’s May 2020 issue, pointing out that “disability-specific spaces, reflecting the design work and knowledge of disabled people themselves, show that access can be a creative pursuit far beyond the legal minimum.”

“The Re-education of Michael Graves,” by John Hockenberry, October 2006, showed how the famous architect was reinventing himself through universal design.

“A Time for Inclusion,” May 2020, included an essay by Bess Williamson about how the concept of equal access should inspire architects.

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Critical Technologies

The practice of architecture and design is inseparable from digital technologies. Yet Metropolis has often pointed out that technology is neither objective nor neutral, but rather has a reciprocal relationship with cultural forces and societal shifts. Modeling and rendering software, parametric tools, 3D printing, augmented reality, QR codes, smart cities, or carbon calculators—there is nary a piece of tech that the magazine hasn’t analyzed for design implications. At the same time, contributors have also laid out their pitfalls and articulated a backlash against tech fetishism, arguing against seeing cities as computers and in favor of post-digital drawing and rendering techniques.

“Technology x Interiors,” April 2018, included a special section guest-edited by Studio O+A about how digital technologies would shape the future of interior design.

“Drawing in a Post-Digital Age,” by Sam Jacob, March 2017, showcased emerging architects finding expressions beyond photo-realistic renderings.

“The New Tools,” by Suzanne LaBarre, November 2009, reported on how Autodesk utilized its own software to innovate an Integrated Project Delivery method for its headquarters.

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Years of Looking Forward