When we sent out the call for this issue, we did not anticipate how far the theme would travel, nor the intensity of responses we would receive from places far beyond Rudolph Hall. Yet Best Before carries its own quiet magnetism. It hints at urgency and anticipation, but also at the subtle anxieties that accompany the instructions about time—how much of it remains, how much has already slipped away, and who has the authority to decide. Beneath this sits a quieter fear: that something, or someone, might lose value simply by continuing to exist. A best-before date not only marks a threshold; it denotes a relationship—between certainty and doubt, trust and suspicion, preservation and loss.
What surprised us most was how expansively contributors interpreted this theme. The writings in this issue capture the dilemmas embedded within Best Before and reflect a wide range of responses—whether focused on an architectural typology (Marcos), a reading of a film about architecture (Will), first-person experiences of being a student and practitioner of architecture (Linh and Julia), a philosophical engagement with the theme itself (Alex), or reflections on the broader socio-economic and political mechanisms that shape our built environment and ways of living (Lisa and Angela).
One word appears again and again: perishable. Across the seven pieces gathered here, perishability emerges not as a simple marker of decay, but as a lens through which to understand the physical environment, labor, migration, memory, and the intimate terrains of the body. Together, these essays suggest that perishability is never merely biological—it is political, infrastructural, economic, and emotional.
As the semester approaches its end, it feels as if everyone’s life is revolving around ticking clocks, to-do lists, and final deadlines—a collective reminder that all this chaos will, eventually, end in the nick of time. In such moments, it becomes valuable to step back and consider what truly matters. Perishability, after all, is not solely a story of endings. What is perishable may also be cherishable. This issue is, in that spirit, an invitation—to look closely, to care urgently, and to ask what and whom we choose to treasure while they are still with us.