Is the idea of environment in architecture only ever reducible to 'environmental architecture'? For AA unit masters Ricardo de Ostos and Nannette Jackowski the answer is a resolute no. Instead they offer an alternative reading of 'environment', in which the brutal and lyrical are juxtaposed through visually compelling narratives of architecture. Illustrating their approach, this book presents ten years of student projects, all prompted by the unit's visits to extreme geographic contexts - from the rainforests of Brazil to the quarries of northern India. With additional photographic documentation and conversations with Lebbeus Woods, Geoff Manaugh and Peter Cook, Scavengers & Other Creatures in Promised Lands explores the gripping power of myth and fiction as radical narratives for imagining the near future of cities and forests.