For the second consecutive year, the editors of architectural record have selected a group of emerging architects to showcase in our December issue. Instead of a warm-and-fuzzy holiday gift, we offer a design collection with a decidedly edgy feel to it. We plan to continue presenting our Design Vanguard at the end of each year, though we would hate to use so comforting a word as "tradition" to describe it.

Not all of the work in this issue will pass the test of time. Some of it will look forced or dated or misguided in hindsight. While we hope at least a few of the architects will make lasting contributions to the profession, we know others will quietly disappear. That's the risk we take when we bet on new talent.

Clifford A. Pearson

Click on the photographs below to see portfolios of the work of these designers. Plus, hear audio interviews with three of the firms. See the December, 2001 issue of Architectural Record for complete coverage of these firms, including the full version of the essay excerpted above.

Lang Wilson PAC | David Guthrie Design Workshop | Shuhei Endo Architect Institute | Xefirotarch | Richärd & Bauer Architecture | SYSTEMarchitects | Escher GuneWardena Architecture | Studio Gang/O'Donnell | Ofis Architects