{"product_id":"aj-16-07-26-unmissable","title":"AJ 16.07.26: Unmissable","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThis issue focuses on large-scale buildings that shape chunks of city, or count as mini-cities themselves. From Birmingham’s tallest building to one of Europe’s most complex healthcare projects to the transformation of London’s historic Olympia, the projects featured among these pages are, as the coverline puts it, unmissable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe issue contains three building studies. In The Octagon, a 49-storey residential tower, \u003cstrong\u003eHowells\u003c\/strong\u003e has designed what is claimed to be the world’s first pure octagonal high-rise residential tower. \u003cstrong\u003eBDP\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eO’Connell Mahon Architects\u003c\/strong\u003e’ vast children’s hospital in Dublin brings together 39 paediatric specialities under one roof, with an oval pavilion plan, extensive planted terraces and 14 courtyards spread across a 5ha site. At Olympia London, \u003cstrong\u003eHeatherwick Studio\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eSPPARC\u003c\/strong\u003e have transformed the exhibition halls into a cultural destination including a 3,800-capacity live music venue.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThere are two opinion pieces. \u003cstrong\u003eGessica Salerno\u003c\/strong\u003e asks what protection exists for individual principal designers under the Building Safety Act, highlighting the unresolved questions around investigation costs, evidence retention and long-term liability. \u003cstrong\u003eRussell Curtis\u003c\/strong\u003e argues that there are far too many architects in the UK and calls for restricted entry to the profession to arrest declining salaries and fees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIn Blueprints for Change, \u003cstrong\u003eTara Gbolade\u003c\/strong\u003e explores what the Igbo people of West Africa can teach us about building new towns, drawing on a compound housing model to demonstrate how the UK’s proposed new developments could better foster community and connection with nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIn Culture, \u003cstrong\u003eMatthew Bovingdon-Downe\u003c\/strong\u003e reviews the film \u003cem\u003eBackrooms\u003c\/em\u003e, in which an out-of-work architect stumbles on a secret labyrinthine world that mirrors his own mental breakdown. \u003cstrong\u003eDavid Grandorge\u003c\/strong\u003e’s photograph of the Seagram Building questions whether Mies van der Rohe’s revered edifice should still command admiration in an era of embodied and operational carbon reduction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe issue also presents the 32 \u003cstrong\u003eRIBA National Award winners\u003c\/strong\u003e for 2026, and the full shortlist for the \u003cstrong\u003eAJ Retrofit \u0026amp; Reuse Awards 2026\u003c\/strong\u003e. Rounding out the issue are a competitions compilation, sketches by \u003cstrong\u003eShaun Jenkins\u003c\/strong\u003e of J2 Capital UK, and letters on Andy Burnham’s vision for a high street ‘renaissance’.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Architects' Journal Shop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57354284990837,"sku":"EMA-AJ202607","price":16.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0534\/0590\/9186\/files\/000_CVR_V_AJW_260716.jpg?v=1784033998","url":"https:\/\/www.architects-journal-shop.co.uk\/products\/aj-16-07-26-unmissable","provider":"Architects' Journal shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}