I saw a world population clock the other day. It exceeded seven billion and the counter was moving up and up, each second. It’s hard to imagine so many people, and it’s even harder to think of the clock stopping. What does this mean for the future? The impact that the human population has on the environment is overwhelming and action is needed to make positive change. What role does technology play in this and how can it help to create a brighter world? Society has been affected by the increase in devices and I believe as humans we are part of an evolutionary moment right now. Our lives have been accelerated and it’s important to take stock of what this means for generations to come. 

Inside this issue, we look at how Architizer is questioning the definition of what makes a successful building through collaborative practice, ecological impact and sustainability. Given that more people live in cities than rural areas globally, we need to access the importance that architecture plays in supporting social interaction. Lagos-based label Orange Culture is leading in creating fashion that disrupts gender roles but is also using sustainable production methods. It is empowering people in positive ways by reinvesting in their local community – driving the Nigerian fashion industry forward. Made in Dublin by Eamonn Doyle revisits Baudelaire’s flâneur through the ambiguity of the modern-day city. Finally, we celebrate 100 years of Bauhaus through a round-up of key events taking place worldwide, which are surveying the centenary of this art and design movement, and how its legacy is still felt today.  

In photography we present a range of practitioners – William Bunce, Uwe Langmann, Bethany Murray, François Aubret, Henri Prestes and May Parlar – who are using concept and style to create works which move between fine art, architecture, documentary and fashion. Matias Alonso Revelli, this issue’s cover photographer, questions the definition of an image, asking, is it all just pixels? Finally, Martin Parr’s Only Human opens at the National Portrait Gallery and the curator, Sabina Jaskot-Gill, gives us the last words.