This collection of thought-provoking contributions by leading and emerging architects, critics, and scholars explores how architecture and urbanism are received and delivered into the public sphere, mediated through citizens, politicians, professionals, consumers, and others with a stake in crafting the collective built environment.

From the multivalent roles played by architects, the symbolic form and function of public space, and rethinking what it means to make “public” architecture today, to the mediation of design with popular demands, strategies for selling architectural and urban design in the global marketplace, and the proliferation of media exposure, the authors focus on how architecture culture engages with the public dimensions of contemporary life.

Along with these topical contributions—which are supplemented by marginalia of citations, explanatory notes, and references—the issue also presents a series of recent snapshots capturing urban environments in Agadir, Beijing, Diyarbakir, and Vrsar, and a visual essay and text on the use of digital imagery in architectural representation.