Over the past decade software architecture has received increasing attention as an important subfield of software engineering. During that time there has been considerable progress in developing the technological and methodological base for treating architectural design as an engineering discipline. However, much remains to be done to achieve that goal. Moreover, the changing face of technology raises a number of new challenges for software architecture. This paper examines some of the important trends of software architecture in research and practice, and speculates on the important emerging trends, challenges, and aspirations. Keywords Software architecture, software design, software engineering