PLAT utilizes a unique “call and response” format to explore and respond to compelling issues in architecture today. PLAT 11.0 and 11.5, as in each cycle, features content around a theme established in the first issue and a series of responses in the second. During summer 2021, PLAT’s editors convened to identify a theme for PLAT 11.0 that is relevant, timely, and persuasive. The theme builds from the potential topics discussed for PLAT 10.0 Behold, currently in production, which discusses the potentials of framing architecture as a medium for conveying meanings beyond spatial experience. As with previous issues, PLAT 11.0 sources voices from the international architectural community, while its half issue, PLAT 11.5, features responses from Rice’s campus, creating a dynamic conversation between issues and positioning the journal as an instigator of architectural discourse at Rice and beyond.

Jane van Velden is colead editor of PLAT 10.5: Reflect and PLAT 11.0: Soft. She is a master’s of architecture candidate at Rice University. She received a bachelor’s of arts from the University of Michigan, double-concentrating in philosophy, and arts and ideas in the humanities. Most recently she worked at HOME-OFFICE and Carlos Jiménez Studio.

Paul DeFazio is colead editor of PLAT 10.5: Reflect and PLAT 11.0: Soft. Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, DeFazio received his bachelor’s of fine arts in painting from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2017, and is currently a master’s of architecture candidate at Rice University.

Rae Atkinson is working towards a master’s of architecture at Rice University. Before beginning her graduate studies, she spent several years working as a land use and real estate economics consultant. Her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill focused on urban planning, sustainable development, and entrepreneurship.

Jimmy Bullis is a master’s of architecture student at Rice University. He studied poetry writing at the University of Virginia and spent most of the past decade as a touring musician. He has recorded five albums, edited the inaugural edition of 4 (University of Virginia, 2013), and served as coeditor-in-chief of PLAT 9.5: Leave Space and PLAT 10.0: Behold. He is the winner of the 2013 Writer’s Eye competition, and his work has been included in or covered by The Line of Best Fit, The Reykjavik Grapevine, Impose, and various other literary, cultural, and music publications. Recently he has been working as a freelance editor for Architectural Design magazine and two forthcoming books on architecture and urbanism.

Maximilien Chong Lee Shin is a master’s of architecture candidate at Rice University originally from Mauritius. He holds a bachelor’s of arts from Wesleyan University where he double-majored in government and urban studies, with a minor in integrated design, engineering and applied sciences. He has written for URBAN Magazine: Dialogues (Columbia University, 2020) and works for the Rice GIS/Data Center where he has produced maps supporting faculty research to be published in an upcoming book.

Joseph Hsu is an undergraduate bachelor’s of architecture candidate at Rice University. Originally from Taipei, Taiwan, he has interned at Sheng Yuan Huang's Fieldoffice in summer 2020 where he discovered his interest for the intersection of landscape urbanism and regional architecture.

Nathaniel Leazer is a master’s of architecture candidate at Rice University. He holds a bachelor's degree in liberal arts from St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Maggie Martin is a master’s of architecture candidate at Rice University and is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina. She holds a bachelor’s of arts in architecture from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Nicole Yip is a master’s of architecture candidate at Rice University and is originally from Toronto, Canada. She holds a bachelor’s of architectural studies from the University of Waterloo.

PLAT is an independent architecture journal produced by students at Rice Architecture. Its purpose is to stimulate relationships between design, production, and theory. It operates in a call-and-response format by curating professional and academic work into an open and evolving dialogue that progresses from issue to issue. PLAT is a speculative catalyst for architectural discourse, a platform on which the important issues in architecture today can be addressed and advanced.