Book cover for Out There: New Architecture Across America by Cathleen McGuigan and Peter Mackeith

Out There: New Architecture Across America

Cathleen McGuigan
Peter Mackeith
2026 Released
500 Pages
8-12 Hours
Ebook Unavailable
Audiobook Unavailable
Paperback Unavailable
MerrellISBN 9781858947204
Out There is a critical survey of 50 key architectural firms across America's regional cities and small towns. These practitioners operate at every scale and with all building types, weaving a rich architectural tapestry that reflects the breadth and diversity of the American landscape.


Each day, architects across the United States are busy planning and constructing individual homes, public buildings, and civic spaces rooted in local culture and context. Yet, to many, the perception prevails that American architecture is driven largely by the traditional centres of power on the East and West coasts. Out There challenges that notion, spotlighting practices throughout the whole of the US that are deeply grounded in place and community. What unites the firms featured in this volume is a commitment to architecture's civic, social, and environmental responsibilities. Many prioritize sustainability, adaptive reuse, housing, and social justice. Even in an increasingly homogenized, hyper-connected world, these architects remain
locally focused.


The book begins with a foreword by Marlon Blackwell, recipient of the 2020 Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects, and an introduction by Robert Ivy, former editor-in-chief of Architectural Record. Essays by Cathleen McGuigan, also a former chief editor of Architectural Record, and Peter MacKeith, Dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture in Fayetteville, AR, consider, respectively, key figures in the rise of architectural regionalism in the United States over recent decades, and contemporary regional architecture in other countries. The book's main section profiles 50 US practices and 170 projects, including Observation Studio (Oregon), Modus Studio (Arkansas), Rand Elliott Architects (Oklahoma), Renée del Gaudio Architecture (Colorado), Salmela Architect (Minnesota), and Duvall Decker (Mississippi), recipient of the 2026 AIA Architecture Firm Award. The texts explore the ethos and design philosophy of each firm, as well as selected projects from the last ten years. Out There presents a varied, vibrant picture of architectural excellence anchored in local culture, geography, and community needs all across the US. It affirms a timeless truth: where we work profoundly influences what we create. Ultimately, architecture remains inseparable from place.



  • A definitive and authoritative survey of contemporary American regional architecture

  • Features 170 projects by 50 practices, all fully illustrated with over 750 photographs and plans

  • A vital resource for architects, design professionals, urban planners, academics, and anyone interested in the future of architecture across America

Cathleen McGuigan

Cathleen McGuigan is a New York-based critic and editor and was formerly the architecture and arts editor of Newsweek. She succeeded Robert Ivy as Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Record, which she ran for a dozen years, launching such programs as the Women in Architecture Awards. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, and Rolling Stone, among many other periodicals. She has been honored as a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and as a Poynter Fellow at Yale. She sits on the board of trustees at the Skyscraper Museum in New York.

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