To open our 20-year anniversary issue, PIN–UP commissioned a series of essays on the state of design culture in this century’s first quarter, looking back on how the landscape of architecture and design has evolved over the past two decades. Taken together, these five texts explore the aesthetic trends and political undercurrents that have come to shape the built environment today. From Y2K to the White House’s gilded ballroom renovation, the visual language of 21st century remains a contested site caught somewhere between acceleration and nostalgia. Reflecting on its influence since the year 2000, one question remains: what can design offer the decades to come?