The fact that one of Britain’s most exciting new design practices is named after a social research organization formed in the 1930s is not a coincidence. The photographer Theo Simpson and the graphic designer Ben Mclaughlin founded their London studio, Mass Observation, last year with a mission to examine everyday experiences and surroundings. Their expanding portfolio of self-published books and print editions investigates contemporary social, political and economical issues... — tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com

Platescrapers navigates itinerant fare, comestible politics, and gastro-ritual to purvey stories about social issues and exaggerated realities; each story illustrates food as a monument to galvanize the public. — SOILED

We are two graphic designers and a writer who all surf together. When at our local breaks, we found that many of the people we met were artists, architects, designers, and writers — often leaders in their fields. We wanted to create a publication that tells their stories and opens up a rich dialogue in the urban surf community. — kickstarter.com

What is essential knowledge for architecture? This frequently posed question targets fundamental principles of design, those basic criteria and priorities through which disciplinary stability is ensured. Yet, insofar as relevance is a core value of architecture, in both theory and practice, the contingent nature of the future guarantees that some forms of knowledge not presently considered essential will eventually become indispensable. — 306090.org

In August 2009 the editorial of MONU #11 on the topic of "Clean Urbanism" started with the lines "Do we simply have to stop having sex to produce Clean Urbanism..." — MONU

The last few years have seen a new generation of alternative publications and editorial talent emerge, and London is very much a part of the scene. This month saw the release of the fourth issue of P.E.A.R.. Printed on newspaper stock, this zine was started by the editorial collective of Rashid Ali, Matthew Butcher, Julian Krueger and Megan O’Shea, with the designer Avni Patel, in 2009. — tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com

This is John Hill’s element, and these are his people. Hill has begun to emerge, in the past five years or so, as one of New York’s great architectural communicators, an exquisitely informed tour guide for the layman design enthusiast. His main platform has been his website, A Daily Dose of Architecture, which, if it does not quite stand astride the world of design blogs, nevertheless lords over a small sub-fiefdom of largely unstaffed, noncommercial sites. — capitalnewyork.com

From the creators of the wildly popular Web site Unhappyhipsters.com, this essential guide is for today s hipsters what The Official Preppy Handbook was for prepsters. The authors advise on a number of topics. Readers will learn how to navigate the vast array of concrete finishes and plywood grades, accessorize with children and pets, opine with authority on rooflines. — amazon.com

The exhibition, curated by Elias Redstone, originated as an online project and showcases 60 architecture magazines, fanzines and journals from over 20 countries. From Australia and Argentina to the UK and USA, these independent publications are reframing how people relate to their built environment – taking comment and criticism out of just an architectural arena and into everyday life. — archizines.com

I’m please to announce that the issue of AD that I’ve edited with fellow FAT directors Sean Griffiths and Charles Holland alongside Charles Jencks is now out. Titled ‘Radical Post Modernism’, it has three real aims. — strangeharvest.com

CLOG slows things down. Each issue explores, from multiple viewpoints and through a variety of means, a single subject particularly relevant to architecture now. Succinctly, on paper, away from the distractions and imperatives of the screen. — CLOG

The urban conditions around us are constantly changing. With a faster or slower SPEED, the built environment is transformed as it does the way we experience and engage with it. In this issue we will be looking at the pace in which physical and social changes happen and the consequences and opportunities available. — mascontext.com