While it might now seem like a lifetime, it was not even two years ago when I sat down to write what would become my contribution to the first issue of the newly started students’ magazine INVOLVED. The article was set to investigate the potential benefits architecture can reap from the rapidly developing virtual reality technology in the near future. And while I am happy to look back at the article and see the scenarios I imagined becoming reality, it is humbling to see how severely I underestimated the speed of progress. My predictions, accurate as they might end up, did not account for two factors that changed the VR scene in 2020 – a global pandemic and the resurgence of two separate cult classics.

Even though storytelling is implicit in urban planning and design proposals, stories can be used explicitly as research and design methodology. Urban planners and designers, as future-oriented storytellers, can use the valuable skill of storytelling as part of their design thinking, research by design, and creation of persuasive plans.

‘Artefact’ is a recurring two-page spread, which features a beloved object presented by one of the BK City staff members. Every month, the ‘Artefact’ contributorship is passed on someone new. This months’ artefact is from Amber Leeuwenburgh, who is the Faculty Secretary.*