Shohei Shigematsu, whose works include projects from educational facilities, art museums, and exhibition designs to high-rise commercial complexes, has been the lead at OMA New York since 2006. All his designs can be described as “open-ended” and able to “absorb and reflect society in the moment”. Through a curated selection of images, this issue captures architecture that demonstrates how the rational box and soft form can coexist, as embodied in the contemporary public realm. A selection of 34 projects representing the architecture of both New York and Tokyo is expanded upon with essays by Shigematsu and others, plus two conversations with the architect.