MEDIATED ARCHITECTURE: Vivid, Effervescent and Nervous, the second issue of the SAC JOURNAL, presents three projects de- signed at SAC during the last eight years. The three projects are: The Theatre of Immanence (2007), an installation and exhibition project in Städelschule's Portikus gallery; Digital Bodies (2013-14), an experimental research project; and Orkhēstra (2014), which was an installation on a large, public square in Frankfurt and part of Luminale, 'Biennale of Lighting Culture'. The projects vary in scale and nature from gallery installation via laboratory-style modelling experiment to an urban intervention. They span a period in which architecture's contribution to the production of space has become increasingly me- diated by technology. Each in their own way, the three projects probe this condition and explore new design opportunities given to archi- tecture. The results are vivid, effervescent and nervous – and always a mediated architecture. Accompanying extensive portfolios of drawi- ngs and pictures that document the respective design processes and their results, are texts that expound on the theoretical and practical implications of each project

Mass consumption is a defining feature of modern American culture. During the 20th century, mass production, discretionary income, and modern advertising combined to create and fulfill demand for more products than ever before. From butchers and bakers to big-box retailers, the story of the buying and selling of goods tells the history of our cities from a unique perspective. The Good Life approaches Sacramento's history from the bottom up, with a look at the city's past from the perspective of ordinary citizens. From the gold rush to the dot-com bubble and beyond, it tells the story of changing times, changing styles, and changing fortunes, and their effects on the lives of the people of Sacramento.