Sometimes it's easy to pretend that architecture exists outside of this world, erupting instead in the blank of a 3D space governed only by the laissez-fair laws of software. But sometimes a news headline will penetrate through this fog of imagination, appearing as a blazing light shining forth from an image of some distant row of houses hollowed by mortar fire and colored with the blood of a strangers' body. "This is the real of architecture," the news seems to silently implore.

As gravity serves as the counterweight to the feverish, technofuturism fashionable to today's students, news events seem to ground architecture just at the moment it seems like it may finally escape into the vapors of idealism. While it may seem that architecture is increasingly consigned to the building of institutions or expensive residences, the demand for buildings and dwellings simultaneously grows louder and more desperate with every unfolding disaster.

A year-end round-up is as fraught as a ranking. If architecture mainly takes place in the realm of physical reality, then every news event must have some implication for the field. The import and relevancy of an event, however, disproportionately effects architects based on their location, position, situation, concern. So take this with a big ol' grain of salt: the most relevant news articles of 2014 for architects (according to me, right now).

10. The Supernova of the Starchitects

The portmanteau starchitect isn’t new. And the phenomenon it refers to, namely the dominance of a certain group of architects over the chiefly-institutional, high-profile buildings of a period, isn’t new either. But in 2014, it seemed like you couldn’t log on without stumbling across some article on starchitects and their starchitecture.

For the most part, architects like Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas, etc. continued to win major commissions and build extravagant (and sometimes more modest) new buildings, maintaining their influential positions both in architecture and larger cultural discourses. But, in mid-summer, the New York Times hosted a largely-critical debate on this pantheon of architects. Hadid came under fire for seemingly distancing herself from the conditions of workers on her projects. Not long after, her lawyers sued Martin Fuller for defamation who promptly retracted his statement (and left architecture writers across the internet nervously looking over their shoulders). Gehry gave the finger to an audience member at a talk in Spain, claiming “98 percent of everything that is built and designed today is pure shit.” It sparked a meme.

If the starchitects are on the way out (and its hard to say if they are, especially as a younger generation of the likes of Bjarke Ingels seem eager to fill their shoes), then they aren’t going to go without a fight. Still, the very fact that people are criticizing the seemingly hierarchical, old-fashioned aspects of architecture seems like a good thing.

9. Conflict Rages in Palestine/Israel

In early summer, a series of kidnappings brought Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza into yet another violent conflict. Israel’s Operation Protective Edge included both heavy aerial bombardment and a ground invasion. Hamas launched the majority of its missile stock, but damage was largely averted in Israel because of its “Iron Dome” defence system. More than 2,000 people died, the vast majority of them Palestinian civilians.

Infrastructure – from tunnels to hospitals – played a key role in the struggle, serving as the focus of both military offensives and humanitarian calls for ceasefires. And now, a lot of rubble needs to be sorted.

One needs only to take a look at the ongoing discussion "Archinect, please boycott Israel (it's about time!)" thread – or various responses like "Boycott Archinect" – on Archinect’s forum to see just how divisive and important this conflict has become for many in the architecture community.

8. The Rise of the Islamic State

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), aka the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), or simply the Islamic State rapidly seized an impressive amount of territory in the Middle East. Known for ruthless violence and a strict interpretation of Sharia law, the IS is also very much a 21st century force, releasing well-produced – albeit gruesome – videos documenting the beheading of American and European journalists. The world mourned after they destroyed the Prophet Jirji’s mosque in Mosul as well as other important and historic buildings. But this was not mere iconoclasm (like the Taliban’s destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan); the IS reportedly sells historic artifacts, as well as oil, to help fund their project.

As their ranks swelled and their conquests grew, we took note of the IS’s strategic takeover of key infrastructure sites in Iraq, in particular the Mosul Dam, as well as other readings of their relationship to architecture. Like it or not, the IS has shown itself to be unlike any force the world has ever seen. A self-proclaimed global caliphate, the IS has territorial and political ambitions that far outpace the aspirations of groups like Al-Qaeda or the Taliban. And in their wake, the IS is leaving millions homeless and entire cities hollowed out.

7. Protesters Take to the Streets, Develop New Tactics

From Ukraine to New York, protests filled the streets for much of 2014. At the beginning of the year, Istanbul and other major Turkish cities were still reeling from massive demonstrations against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies, although protesters had by then left Gezi Park. Later, demonstrations in Ukraine led first to the ousting of Viktor Yunkovych before taking a turn with the Russian occupation of the eastern part of the country. Around the same time, Venezuela erupted with protests railing against pervasive violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of necessities. President Nicolás Maduro, the successor of the late Hugo Chavez, showed himself to be both reactive and repressive, arresting somewhere between 800 and 5000 people. In the Middle East and North Africa, much of the momentum of 2011 seemed to have finally been subsumed by a coup led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt, new democratic presidential elections in Tunisia, and the descent of Syria and Iraq (back) into active war zones. One of the most surprising political movements of the year was #OccupyCentral in Hong Kong, where protesters resuscitated the tactic of occupying public space to demonstrate for electoral reform.

While physical occupations continued to be an important strategy for protest movements and political insurrections, the U.S. saw a shift in tactics. Provoked by the failure to indict police officers in the killing of unarmed black men, protesters have taken the streets of nearly every US city for the past several months. Notably, these protestors have shut down freeways as well as major streets either by blocking cars with their hands thrust into the air or by lying down in the street, in displays of public and accusatory vulnerability.

The right to the city continues to be a major lightning point for protests’ worldwide, whether it’s about the loss of public space to create a mall or about systematic, targeted violence against a particular demographic. And every time people enter the street, they create a new relationship with the built environment as they adapt to new mechanisms of repressions like surveillance or militarized policing.

6. Drought Plagues the US Southwest (and Much of the Planet)

Recent reports detailed that 30% of the US is currently in drought conditions. Both California and Oklahoma are currently experiencing exceptional drought, the most severe category. While the ramifications cannot be fully elaborated, the important agricultural sectors of affected states are taking a major hit. According to some researchers, if the “megadrought” does not abate, then mass relocations may be on the horizon. Potentially, California may need to reverse the flow of its aqueducts to serve its increasingly-barren central regions.  

Internationally, drought is beginning to become a dominating geopolitical force. Evidence points to water scarcity as a major element in the current conflicts in Iraq and Syria with the Islamic State utilizing hydroinfrastructure militaristically. In São Paulo, water scarcity is edging the major economic center close to collapse. Drought continues to plague northern China and Mongolia; southern Africa and Madagascar; eastern Europe; and a significant portion of Australia.

As the climate warms and extreme weather events increasingly become the norm, societies around the world are forced to adapt, relocate, or suffer grievous loss. Climate refugees are becoming a major global constituency. In Architecture of the Anthropocene, Pt. 1, I argue that sustainable architecture does not seem to be doing enough as we continue to ignore the interconnections between social, geological and climatological systems. Elsewhere, I trouble the perspective with which we try to confront these realities.

5. Ebola Continues to Ravage West Africa, Momentarily Frightens the West

While Ebola has seemingly disappeared from the headlines of Western media outlets, it continues to ravage Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. According to recent data, 7,533 have died since the outbreak began. After a few cases emerged in Western Europe and the United States, calls were voiced to completely isolate the region of Africa. While they were not heeded, flight limitations have created a major scarcity problem, as food is added to a growing list of desperate necessities like medicine.

Ebola has around a 70% mortality rate but the spread of the disease can be limited through appropriate sanitation – something lacking in the most affected areas of Africa. While fear-mongering in the developed world has so far proven largely unfounded, the potential for other diseases to decimate global populations has become a topic of serious concern. Climate change – which may be partially responsible for this current epidemic – will certainly bring about more and deadlier diseases, some of which may be resistant to antibiotics.

For an analysis of the relationship between microbial life and architecture, check out Architecture of the Anthropocene, Pt. II: Haunted Houses, Living Buildings, and Other Horror Stories and other related content here.

4. The Holocene Extinction

This year, reports emerged that the Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years. Part of a phenomenon known as the Holocene extinction, the destruction of entire species is largely attributable to human activity like habitat loss through deforestation and development, through pollution and man-made climate change. These forces also pose existential threats to the human species. As I contend in Architecture of the Anthropocene, Pt. II, architecture must reckon with its participation in these events, not least of all because – for example –deforestation is used to produce our hardwood floors, mining exhumes the granite that becomes our countertops, and our homes have become noxious emitters of CO2 and other toxic gases.

As long as architecture remains the act of carving out human spaces at the expense of other, non-human lifeforms, it participates in their mass extermination. This ideology haunts architectural design and practice, from pest abatement to waste management.

3. The Cyber World War

The ongoing global cyberwar was increasingly felt by civilians this year. From the leaking of celebrity nudes in the so-called “Fappening” to the recent imbroglio between North Korea and US-based Sony Inc, the disruptive power of the hacker has surfaced as a major geopolitical force. The loose-network of hackers Anonymous continues to engage both in the cultural realm (ie. the current beef between Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks) and in the political. More accurately, Anonymous continues to show that the cultural always blurs into the political.

Meanwhile, average users are becoming more aware of their own vulnerability to hacks. CNN released an article this fall entitled “Welcome to the Age of Hacks,” asking “Why are we all hacked?” Not just emails but cell phones, credit cards, even home thermostats are potential prey to both government spying and rogue hackers. As we head towards the “Internet of Things,” in which almost every object from our vacuum to our house is linked in a vast network, it’s hard not to worry about the flip-side to convenience.

2. Temperatures Rise

One of the biggest news stories of the year was the historic, if tentative, climate agreement between the US and China. Long the main impasse for coordinated international action, the stand-off between the two-largest emitters of greenhouse gases may finally be at its end. But is it enough? Or is it too late?

While recent talks in Lima ended with an agreement to work towards a treaty capping global temperature increase at 2 degrees centigrade, some have argued that this is not ambitious enough to prevent catastrophe. Arctic ice sheets seem to be disappearing at faster-than-expected rates; the Antarctic shelf melting has been called "unstoppable"; and extreme weather events threaten nearly every locale worldwide. The most at-risk countries – particularly coastal or island nations like Kiribati – are desperately buying land in adjacent countries or seeking asylum options. Across the world, entire populations are finding their homes consumed by the very ground that should serve as support. Yet, for the most part, business continues as usual as new oil fields (or tar sands) are being drilled and fracked. And 2014 was the hottest year on record.

What does architecture have to do with this? Everything. Building maintenance consumes the majority of the world’s energy and construction remains a violent, degrading force against our collective resources. The building sector is at the heart of all attempts to reduce global carbon emissions and consumption. This is because there is good news: existing technologies have the potential to radically change the situation if implemented. But this requires massive, coordinated action and shifts in the very way we think architecture today.

1. The Global Refugee Population Reaches Historic Levels

Currently, there are more refugees in the world than there has been since the Second World War. UN estimates put the number at around 45.2 million people. If combined into a single nation, refugees would make up the 31st most populous in the world, above Australia, Sweden, Chile, Canada, Venezuela, Singapore, Uganda or Hong Kong.

The majority of the other news events listed above contribute to this situation. From climate refugees from the Pacific to Syrians fleeing the IS in Jordan to Palestinians in occupied Gaza, the defining figure of 2014 was the refugee. And that means the defining urban context is the refugee camp (or the bombed out city – after all, refugee camps account for only a portion of the residences of displaced peoples).

While this year might have seen some impressive new buildings, for a large percentage of the world, the architecture of today is its barest reduction: a white tent.