Discover the most read stories on the ARs website from the past 12 monthsIn the past year, the AR has published thematic issues on Repair, the Mediterranean, Democracy, Sports, the Ground and Concrete, as well as editions highlighting the exemplary work of shortlisted architects and projects in the AR Public, Emerging, House, and W Awards. With an emphatically international scope, each issue contains multitudes but some pieces stand out for how widely they were read online. Below is a list of the ARs most read pieces of 2024, free for all registered users until 6 January 2025. Happy reading!Our paywall is down!Register now to explore the website for free until 6 January 2025.1. Revisit: Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, AR July/August 2024, Rahel ShawlAccess to the square is now subject to payment this simple act rejects the notion of free and equal access for all the citys residents2. Rebuilding Gaza, AR February 2024, Nadi AbusaadaWhen the bombardment ceases and it will cease who will rebuild it? And on whose terms?3. Alberto Ponis (19332024), AR April 2024, Sebastiano BrandoliniThe subtle and articulate conversations and love affairs Ponis had with local Sardinian culture and nature are today not only discouraged, but inconceivablePonis took interest in the local vernacular architecture, in particular the stazzo, which heavily influenced his houses, such as Casa di Pepita, completed in1969Credit:Alberto Ponis / Archivio Ponis4. Revisit: High Line by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and James Corner Field Operations, AR July/August 2024, Peter LucasIt has been argued that neoliberalism is dying. Perhaps, then, we can move beyond neoliberal approaches to urban design that foreground the interests of massive developers5. Architects games: what do you want, a medal?, AR June 2024, Kristina RapackiIt is a fact, unlikely though it sounds, that Walter Gropius competed in the Olympic GamesThe High Line culminates to the north at Hudson Yards, which includes The Shed, also by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The site was previously an industrial backwaterCredit:Dean Kaufman / The Architectural Review6. Portfolio: Nguyn H, ARB Architects, AR March 2024, Hiu YThe architect cleverly combines the poetic materiality of used tiles with her own interpretation of place7. Depth unknown: the archaeology of resistance, AR September 2024, Dima SroujiThe ground serves as a witness to the cycles of destruction and rebuilding that have characterised Gaza for millennia8. Abdel Moneim Mustafa (1930), AR May 2024, Esra AkcanMoneim Mustafa was well versed in the techniques and ideologies underpinning tropical architecture a term used during both colonial and independence erasMoneim Mustafas most striking exterior is undoubtedly El Ikhwa Building, which combines retail and apartmentsCredit:Ahmed Abushakeema9. Geology of the anthropocene: Chteau de Beaucastel winery in ChteauneufduPape, France, by Studio Mumbai and Studio Mditerrane, AR October 2024, Eleanor BeaumontJain prefers to consider the contemporary notion of sustainability inmore primordial terms: Output must far exceed input. It is simple maths10. Revisit: Meisterhaus Kandinsky/Klee in Dessau, Germany by Walter Gropius, AR December 2023/January 2024, Florian HeilmeyerSince both artists had their own theories on colour and space, their interiors clearly differ from each other. Kandinsky preferred cool, clear colours, while Klee chose a palette of warm and earthy tonesIn comparison to Klees staircase, Kandinskys is slightly more subduedCredit:Thomas Wolf Wstenrot Stiftung / DACS11. Capital gains: ZIN by 51N4E, Jaspers-Eyers Architects and lAUC, AR May 2024, Christophe van GerreweyIt is questionable whether the process justified publishing a book entitled How To Not Demolish A Building12. Lin Huiyin (19041955) and Liang Sicheng (19011972), AR February 2024, Tao ZhuBetween 1932 and 1941, Liang and Lin visited more than 200 counties across 15provinces and examined more than 2,000structures13. Revisit: James R Thompson Center in Chicago, US by Helmut Jahn, AR May 2024, Zach MorticeThis cocaineboardroom behemoth bellows 1985! with the swagger of a Huey Lewis and the News chorusThe Thompson Centers kaleidoscopic 17-storey atrium is its centrepieceCredit:Michael Weber / imageBROKER / Shutterstock14. A Threshold, India, AR November 2024, Reuben J BrownThe first thing Avinash Ankalge and Harshith Nayak designed together as A Threshold was exactly that: athreshold15. Rubble with a cause: Warsaw Uprising Mound by Archigrest and Toposcape in Warsaw, Poland, AR September 2024, Adam PrzywaraSituated in the southeast of the city, theCzerniakw mound remained a landfill of demolition waste and domestic rubbish until the 1970s. Once it was abandoned, the mix of soil and rubble that made the mound started to nurture life16. Breaking convention: Chapex in Charleroi, Belgium, by AgwA and Architecten Jan de Vylder Inge Vinck, AR February 2024, Eleanor BeaumontThe palatial car park serves as a reminder of western capitalisms inability to respond quickly to the demands of decarbonisationThe city of Charleroi is encircled by the disused infrastructure of coalpowered industry. Its convention centre, Chapex, is pictured in the middle distanceCredit:Filip Dujardin17. Surveillance space: urban infrastructures of control, AR July/August 2024, Shannon MatternSpaces where gathering and governance happen the park, agora, town hall, parliament, college green can be orchestrated to facilitate surveillance18. Salt of the earth: the past and future of building with brine, AR April 2024, Daniel BellandHenna BurneyIn the southern Mediterranean, the Shali Fortress and its surrounding buildings, near the Siwa Oasis in the Egyptian desert, were constructed in the 12th century out of karshif blocks a material consisting of salt crystals, clay and sand19. Outrage: paralympic obstacle course, AR June 2024, Natalie KaneThe courtyard that leads from the athletes accommodation to the centre of the Village looks more like an obstacle course than a place of respite20. Pier Luigi Nervi (18911979), AR June 2024, Catharine RossiWhat Nervi argued was an architectural expression driven by structural logicNervis big international moment came at the 1960 Rome Olympic and Paralympic Games, for which he designed several buildings, including the Palazzetto dello SportSubscribe today to join the conversation and help support independent critical architectural writing. Digital subscriptions are available and all our content is available online, anywhere in the world