Two decades into the twenty-first century, humanity’s future feels more precarious than ever before. We are at a unique moment in history where the future is met with uncertainty rather than optimistic excitement. At this time of rapid consumption, where the expediency of architecture struggles to keep up with social, political and environmental change, Fresh Meat—the University of Illinois at Chicago student publication—seeks to examine the urgency of architecture to aid such uncertain prospects. Acknowledging the inherently slow-moving nature of the discipline, FM XII presents an array of positions on the potential malleability of architecture, particularly as it organizes itself with other disciplines.

Summer Hofford, editor and director, has her background in performance with a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Loyola University Chicago, and is currently a second year master’s of architecture student at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she enjoys the rich architectural history that Chicago has to offer, and loves the opportunity to marry her love of people and creative collaboration with the technical rigor of the architectural profession.

Jeffri Jacobe, editor, is a second year master’s of architecture student at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He received his undergraduate degree in architectural studies in 2018 from UIC. As a collaborator with Anne Dessing, Jacobe participated in the design curation of her exhibits during her time as the 2018–19 Douglas A. Garofalo Fellow at the UIC School of Architecture. His current interests lie in the agency of and empathy in architecture as a cultural discipline.

Jamie Kruer, editor, is a master’s of architecture student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. They received their undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati in 2016 where they participated in the editing and design of ECHOS. Before entering graduate school, Kruer was a designer at Michael McInturf Architects and SHP Architects in Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as collaborated with Team-B Architects. In the summer of 2019, they assisted in the installation of REJECTED: Architectural Drawings and Their Stories at Banvard Gallery. Kruer chose to pursue architecture because of their love of aesthetics and the technicality of space. They are intrigued by the peculiar as well as with community-oriented design and want to use their passions and abilities to produce designs that fit within those lines.

Alexandra Madsen, editor and director, is a second year master’s student at the University Illinois at Chicago. At her undergraduate institution, she created her own major that centers architecture as it relates to other disciplines such as sociology, art, urbanism, and philosophy. Madsen is interested in architecture as a purposeful, functional, and aesthetic framework through which to rethink current ways of inhabiting the built environment.

Fresh Meat (FM) is an independent journal published by students of the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was founded in 2008, and is produced by students with support of UIC faculty and staff. FM publishes content that both reflects and challenges UIC’s pedagogical agenda and is a response to the architecture discipline. FM orchestrates an open dialogue between students and faculty, as well as between the school and the discipline at large.