Remnants of Gaza City after an Israeli bombing, 9 October 2023. © Mohammed Talatene / Picture Alliance

Israel, Palestine: October 7. As with other historic events, such as 9/11, the pandemic, or the Ukraine war, Arquitectura Viva has with a journalistic spirit sought to take stock of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which came to a head on 7 October. A chronicle of horror, encapsulated in front and inner pages of newspapers, that precedes coverage of two built works, one on each side, which materialize hopes for peace and regeneration in the region: the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences in Jerusalem, by Foster+Partners, and the Palestinian Museum in Birzeit, West Bank, by Heneghan Peng.

This issue’s dossier looks at two cultural buildings devoted to the spread of scientific knowledge, both by prestigious international practices: the Science Gateway Museum that Renzo Piano has raised on the CERN premises in Geneva, and the Science Fiction Museum that Zaha Hadid Architects has competed in Chengdu, which pays homage to the literary genre that has done so much to popularize scientific ideas.

For its part, the Art and Culture section reproduces the letters that eight architects wrote for the second gathering held at Arquia’s Madrid base to assess the state of the profession and outline its future challenges. And the usual News and Books sections are complemented with a conversation that Luis Fernández-Galiano and Rafael Moneo engaged in on the occasion of the recent AV monograph on the latter, as well as reflections of Jorge Gorostiza on the disturbing glints of reality seen in the Norwegian mini-series Arkitekten.

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