MISSING LINKS represents the collective effort of the 2021-22 Architectural History cohort of how to research, write, and practice architecture, history, and theory today. This publication highlights that engaging with architecture and spatial practices through different methods, and in close conjunction with other disciplines, benefits the field as a whole. This approach gives space to those who have been historically overlooked - the voices, places, bodies and stories omitted from the canon – in a collective, continuous process of uncovering.

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The written excerpts presented in this publication give an insight into the diverse modes of researching, working and exploring that were shaped throughout our shared time at The Bartlett School of Architecture. Our cohort came together in London from various places across the planet, and from different academic fields, professions, and paths of life, with a shared interest in better understanding our built environments and tackling questions surrounding space and its representation.

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As the first ‘post-pandemic’ Architectural History cohort at The Bartlett, we experienced the transition from online to in-person teaching and learning through hybrid modes of working. Remaining COVID-19 restrictions did not prevent us from creating safe ways of getting together, such as the practice of group walks across London neighbourhoods, often led by our academic staff. Walking remained a key social and learning activity throughout the academic year, including during our field trip to Newcastle, and features as a key research methodology within a variety of the excerpts that follow.

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The individual texts are organised into four chapters, each presenting a different collective understanding of ‘missing links’ within the practice of architectural history: Recognitions, Inhabitations, Orientations and Translations. In their plural form, these terms allow for multifaceted readings of each text and highlight different modes of working. Collectively forming the acronym RIOT, they indicate the need to disrupt singular canonical architectural historiographies.

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Missing Links invites a circular reading. Beginning with an exploration into the work of planner Jaqueline Tyrwhitt and ending with an analysis of the translated works of Jane Jacob’s Death and Life of Great American Cities, along multiple interlinking sites and themes, this publication aims to trace the untraced, interwoven, and interdisciplinary tenets of architectural history and theory.

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Hester van den Bold, Charlotte Morgan, Frank Simpson