Editorial by Madeleine Kate McGowan
The NXT Magazine: Transformations of Care
To see limitation and sufficiency as a space of possibility, may become the new aesthetic shaping architecture and construction in the 21st century. The building industry now stands at a decisive turning point. For too long, progress and economic growth have been equated with demolition and new construction – yet the cost has been our planetary capacity. The future must instead be found in transformation and renewal. History shows us that obstacles can give rise to groundbreaking aesthetic expressions and movements. In the same way, today’s green ethic may lead to an architectural blossoming and a new design language.
In this printed fourth edition of The NXT Magazine, we unfold the theme Transformations of Care, allowing the body of the building and the surrounding environment to serve as a canvas for an exploration of care and transformation – at the intersection of art and the built environment.
The care of transformation is about tending to communities, places, cultural heritage – but also about sharpening our imagination and working across social divides, generations, cultures and disciplines. We invite contributors to open
reflections on the work of care in maintenance, renovation, ancient craft traditions, artistic expression, the traces of time, regenerative cultural production, biological processes of change, and the attentive mapping of place.
We know that the building practice of the future will mean reusing materials, adapting existing structures to new needs, and cultivating land and space in more life-giving ways. The necessary limitations arise from planetary boundaries and must ensure viability across species and generations. But beyond that, we must also attune ourselves more deeply to the hidden qualities of places: their stories, cultures, species, biotopes, and materials.
Photo: Rita Blue Biza, Marine Gastineau and Madeleine Kate McGowan
With The NXT Magazine we hold space for this emerging new language – one that reflects a new era. An era in which we must either radically evolve, or potentially collapse. All the fundamental elements of our lives and societies must be recalibrated to meet the crises we are immersed in: the way we live, our relation to time, to movement, to success, to materials, to beauty, to community, and not least, to the many life forms and expressions with whom we share this beautiful planet.
In an accelerated culture, where we rarely have the chance to truly know the landscapes, species, or stories around us, we invite a pause for reflection. To dwell and to listen is part of the care of transformation. For the challenge is not only technical. It is also about rediscovering our relationship with the world. About exploring through vertical depth, rather than horizontal conquest. If we return senses, body, aesthetics, and art to architecture and buildings, we may be able to spark a new architectural movement – one that both respects planetary boundaries and unfolds a more life-giving, present design language.
Let’s dive deep together, and possibly emerge transformed
on the other side.
MADELEINE KATE MCGOWAN
Irish/Danish artist, writer, and Artistic Director at NXT, whose practice moves between ecology, large-scale immersive theatre, and storytelling. McGowan’s work acts as a vessel for resilience and belonging, extending art into everyday contexts. Rooted in explorations of care and ecological entanglements, she invites audiences to imagine new forms of togetherness in times of polycrisis.
The magazine was published with the support of Statens Kunstfond.
Available at Kunsthal Charlottenborg and CAFx, or via sales@nybrogadepress.com