“The city is like a great house and the house in turn a small city” Leon Battista Alberti

All architecture is focussed in one way or another on the design of places for interaction, yet when it comes to the design of city space - the external rooms of Alberti’s great house - it is challenging to find newly created spaces which are designed sympathetically to respond to the human scale, and which make places for the simple acts of human engagement. In response to the creation of a new governmental Office for Place in 2022, this edition of '&' identifies eight suggestions for Places for Interaction within the built environment. These ideas are explored through descriptions of recent studio projects and three diverse essays. Subjects include the significance of the evolving integration of technology in delivering an immersive and interactive experience for sporting events; how public art could help to foster social integration amongst divided communities in Rio De Janeiro; and why as architects, we need to be attuned to the identification of boundaries and thresholds if we are to make true places for social engagement.