Critical Exchange: Boston Architects in the Middle East examines projects shaped by the approaches and agendas of international practice inflecting to local conditions. Curated by Chris Grimley, Michael Kubo and Mark Pasnik, AIA of over,under, Critical Exchange examines the political and economic complexities, material cultures, climatic realities, construction practices and social traditions that affect contemporary firms working in the Middle East. The featured firms are all closely connected to Boston’s academic institutions, and their work in the Middle East is an extension of research interests at home. The projects share an emphasis on design strategies that are both global and local. The resulting works do not conform to conventional definitions of “critical regionalism” but instead suggest that globalism need not be resisted in the search for an architectural or urban expression that reflects a culture’s contemporary vision of itself.