OUR REALITY HAS SHIFTED. THROUGH SPORADIC LOCKDOWNS, MOVEMENTS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE SHAKE THE WORLD WHILE WE ORGANIZE WITHIN THE DIGITAL REALM. AS TIME BECOMES NEBULOUS, GALT.’S FOURTH ISSUE ADDRESSES THE DESIGNER’S ROLE WITHIN OUR CURRENT REALITY AND CRITICALLY ADDRESSES THE DESIGN OF BETTER ONES. 

On pause: As neoliberal frameworks perpetuate social inequality and the planet burns, we look to other ways of knowing to inform our realities. In pausing, we examine settler relationships to land on Turtle Island, the importance of knowing oneself, the limits of productivity and the profession, exclusivity in architectural representation, and the lasting spatial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On play: As designers of the built environment, our imagination is our strength, and we tease it into existence. Here, we examine inequity within our academic institutions, land occupation and protest strategies, the meaning of care as a practice, the designer’s role in museum restitution, and the design and experience of alternate worlds we’d like to see realized. This is our play space. What could our reality look like, and where will we go from here? 

We invite you to pause, and we hope to move forward in a better way.