October / November 2026
World of Possibility
How we shape the spaces around us influences how we think, feel and connect. Architecture and design are never just functional: they reflect changing ideas about lifestyle, whilst also giving form to possibilities that do not yet exist. This issue considers the relationship between the built environment and imagination, looking at the ways artists and designers use colour, light, material and space to shift perceptions. From the private realm of the home to immersive installations, these practices ask what our surroundings can communicate, and how creative thinking can help us envisage alternative futures.
Inside this issue, Architects’ Houses brings together a wealth of approaches to domestic architecture, considering the home as a place where ideas about form, function and everyday life can be tested. At the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, Sabine Marcelis: Light and Colour explores the expressive potential of fundamental elements, demonstrating how changes in illumination, hue and material can transform our sense of a place. Es Devlin’s Other Worlds brings together ideas of architecture, storytelling, technol- ogy and theatre to consider how designed environments can create new ways of seeing. Across these features, the physical space is a starting point for questions about perception, possibility and experience.
These threads continue through our photography section, where Danielle Kwaaitaal, Jan Pypers, rico x., Sergiy Barchuk and Viet Ha Tran each approach the image as something to be interpreted and trans- formed. Their work spans from crisp botanical still life to underwater performance, intricate model-mak- ing and nocturnal aerial perspectives. Our October/November cover photographer is Dutch-Croatian artist Sanja Marušić, bringing her colourful, playful and sometimes surreal approach to the pages of Aesthetica. Finally, the Last Words go to Imogen Gibbon, Curator of Catherine Opie: To Be Seen, with a reflection on the latest exhibition of powerful photographic portraiture at The Royal Scottish Academy.
