The fall 2021 issue of ARCADE magazine, Refraction, takes collaboration as its watchword, investigating new possibilities for co-creation in design. Enacting practices of interdependence in real time, the issue is a collaboration between ARCADE and the University of Washington architecture student zine, Cræft. Today, questions of inclusivity and equity are top-of-mind as society grapples with the effects of systemic racism and patriarchy. At a basic level, we believe co-creation is essential for practicing inclusion, and that attaining equity means dispersing and sharing power. With this issue, we will model these practices from the inside out. Setting aside ARCADE’s traditional editorial and publication standards, we will work collaboratively with Cræft to determine what a magazine such as ARCADE can do and be. In a moment when legacy organizations like ARCADE are reckoning with our role in past oppression, this issue offers up co-creation as a productive path forward.

Lauren Gallow is the editorial chair of Pacific Northwest design platform ARCADE and the magazine's acting editor. Gallow writes about art, architecture, and design for print and digital publications with bylines in Dwell, Metropolis, Interior Design, Luxe Magazine, Atomic Ranch, and more. She contributes regularly to ARCADE as well as Seattle-based design magazine GRAY. Outside of her editorial work, Gallow helps artists and design professionals articulate their identity across platforms, a role she held for several years at internationally renowned design firm Olson Kundig. She has taught art and architectural history courses and workshops at University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Washington; and ARCADE. She holds a masters in art and architectural history from UC Santa Barbara, and has presented her original research at national and international conferences.

Cræft founders Emily Crichlow and Claire Sullivan are students at the University of Washington pursuing their master’s of architecture degree. Crichlow earned her undergraduate degree from Colgate University where she studied geography and art history, and Sullivan earned a business degree in marketing at Gonzaga University. They started Cræft in the summer of 2020 after their plans for an independent study and UW Valle Scholarship in Scandinavia were cancelled due to the pandemic, and as they were entering yet another quarter of classes taught via Zoom. Both are interested in new methods of representation in design and non-traditional forms of visual communication. They created Cræft as an alternative platform for students and the larger design community to engage in creative expression. Without in-person classes and the studio environment, Cræft is a place for informal dialogue with classmates and colleagues.

Founded in 1981, ARCADE’s mission is to host an inclusive and insightful dialogue on the designed environment. This is done through the print magazine, digital journal, and community programming. Bringing together voices from multiple design disciplines—architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, industrial design, graphic design, etc.—and the arts community, ARCADE provides opportunities for writers and professionals to engage in dialogue on the designed environment. ARCADE's vision is to expand the idea that design at every scale of human endeavor impacts quality of life.