The project AV/Arquitectura Viva, which comprises the magazines AV Monographs, Arquitectura Viva, and AV Proyectos, completed its fortieth year in December 2024, and with 2025 just in we received New Year’s greetings from Kenneth Frampton, who at ninety-four remains firm in his ethical and aesthetic defense of architecture. The idea sprung up in the magazine offices to mark the four decades with messages from other friends, and the team solicited words of support from some fifty people in our close circle, with a reminder that the magazine’s fortieth anniversary coincided in January with its director’s seventy-fifth birthday.

He eventually got wind of the initiative and, overcoming his natural embarrassment in the face of so much generosity, put himself to the task of orchestrating the messages in a thematic matrix that would give their appearance on print a certain narrative order. The result is a parade of seventy-five texts arranged in twelve sections of six texts each, followed by a coda, scantily illustrated, and always transcribed in the language they came in.

The first group, ‘Registro de revistas,’ gathers four sections that situate AV/Arquitectura Viva in the general framework of architecture publications: ‘Los pasos iniciales’ recounts the birth of the magazine during the Spanish Transition, ‘El estreno en Berlín’ recalls the maiden AV issue, ‘Paisaje de revistas’ relates our journal to others in Europe and America, and ‘Las obras españolas’ assesses its effort to disseminate the architecture of the country’s different regions.

The second group, ‘Razones y recuerdos,’ is formed by four parts that recall AV’s role in architectural debate, in the schools, and in international diffusion: ‘Razones personales’ shares notes of thanks from authors featured and published, ‘Historias y balances’ praises the magazines’ importance as a record, ‘Recuerdos escolares’ returns attention to shared classrooms, and ‘El proyecto global’ affirms the cosmopolitan spirit of our different publications.

The third and last group, ‘Los rostros del relato’ delves more into the magazines’ editor: ‘Un cronista del mundo’ describes his work covering world affairs, ‘Miradas y palabras’ stresses the significance of visual thinking in his articles, ‘Mensajes de maestros’ expresses the recognition and affection expressed by some great architects, and ‘Momentos de amistad’ puts emphasis on friendship as a personal and professional bond. The compilation closes with three pieces to make the final number of seventy-five authors, to whom we can only reiterate our gratitude for accompanying us in this journey that has already lasted a good forty years.