Vol. 40 (2026): [Re]Claiming Place: Vernacular Practices and Alternative Architectures

Architecture is often understood through the language of permanence, authorship, and formal production. Current narratives tend to privilege traditional forms of practice and established modes of development. Yet beyond these frameworks, architecture continually emerges through acts of adaptation, resistance, negotiation, and care. Spaces are [re]claimed not only through construction, but through memory, occupation, representation, and the day-to-day practices of those who experience and inhabit them.

The 40^th issue of Edinburgh Architecture Research [EAR40] explores these conditions through the theme [Re]Claiming Place. The contributions collected here examine how architecture is continually [re]imagined outside conventional systems of production, foregrounding practices that emerge from lived experience, cultural memory, collective action, and political tension, among others. Across diverse contexts, this issue asks what it means to reclaim space in moments of uncertainty and transformation, and how alternative spatial practices challenge inherited assumptions about architecture itself.

Note: We have given particular importance to certain images throughout the issue. In some cases (though not in all articles), images may extend across two pages rather than appearing on a single page. For this reason, we recommend viewing the PDF (if downloaded) using the two-page view feature with the show cover page option enabled, as this will allow you to better appreciate the intended layout and design of the publication. If using the journal's PDF web preview use the even spreads function.