calls for articles

on site review 48: building materials

the stuff buildings are made out of:

traditional, innovative

new, old

local, aggregate

heavy and monolithic, light and flexible

single materials or hybrid systems

Don't think of this list as either/or binaries: take each term as the end points of a range, from traditional to innovative, from new to old. There are historical shifts along such trajectories that relate to technology, conflict, exploration, identity, manufacturing and refinement capacities. Skill sets, scarcity of raw materials, or surplus materials — buildings start here, with the materials they are designed to use.

We would like to survey what is interesting about materials themselves: their potential in use, in impact, in longevity, in the architecture that you are interested in.

This an open call to you all, whether you wish to discuss any of your own particular projects, or something you have seen and noted, or ideas for materials not yet developed. Details, technical specs welcome. Tell us why you want to write about a particular building material or building system.

proposals by December 1, 2025. The proposals might outline something you've already built, or written about or studied. Or they may outline something you wish to research for a short article: the first step of perhaps a larger project or study. What we are looking for is a concise outline of an article, essay, photo-essay or video that we can fairly consider, so not too abstract or vague in the writing, and not off-topic.

Final submissions are due 6 weeks later, January 15, 2026, so make sure you have time for this.

This issue will be about the materials with which architecture is made in all their gnarly details, their glories and their problems.

Send your proposal to us here: www.onsitereview.ca/contact-us

Please forward this link – https://onsitereview.ca/callforarts to anyone you feel might be interested in contributing to this or any of our discussions.