Redlines is a collection of interviews with editors that make today's most provocative architectural publications come to life. While architecture is traditionally concerned with buildings, materials, and scale, their importance and historical impact are recorded through words, books, and images that are often organized, published, and disseminated. Redlines seeks to understand the pedagogical and design frameworks that shape this process.

This week we talk with Real Review's editor, Jack Self. Real Review is a publication stemming from a creative partnership between the architectural practice REAL and the design studio OK-RM.

What is the history of the publication?

Real Review doesn't have a history, because I don't think I could justify inventing some mythological narrative for its origin. Real Review began simply from a desire to capture and explore the zeitgeist, which is why the magazine's byword is, "What it Means to Live Today".

Who runs the publication?

It is a creative partnership between architectural practice REAL and the design studio OK-RM. I am the editor-in-chief, supported by an administrative and editorial team at REAL, while Rory McGrath is art director, and heads up the design team at OK-RM.

By Winter 2017, it felt like global order was beginning to break down. There was not a feeling like we were headed for a new World War, but rather a state where every country had some form of internal conflict. 

How are the issues constructed?

Each issue begins with a mystic process I have developed over many years to gauge the "current mood" – in other words, I try to understand what the dominant feelings in society at the moment might be, and what they mean, and how they were different from 3 months ago. For example, in Summer 2016 – just before Trump and Brexit – the mood was "Historical Déjà Vu", which describes the strange feeling we've been here before, but not knowing exactly when or how. By Winter 2017, it felt like global order was beginning to break down. There was not a feeling like we were headed for a new World War, but rather a state where every country had some form of internal conflict. From military conflicts like Syria, Yemen and Burma, to armed insurgencies in Iraq, Libya and Nigeria, to political or democratic struggles in the UK, France, US and Columbia, the mood was universally one of "Global Civil War". From these moods, we then commission and structure an issue to explore the idea, which is supported by content and design direction.

Is there any other medium to it but the printed object? 

No. Print is important for many reasons, foremost amongst them that a printed magazine is finite: it is only so many pages long, and only released at certain periods. As an editor or designer, this forces a real clarity about what to include and what to exclude. It also means that the magazine is able to work as a discrete project, in a way that a rolling website cannot.

I love all my children equally and don't play favorites.

How often is it released?

Quarterly.

What does it focus on?

Contemporary culture generally, with a specific grounding in architecture and the politics of space. We are interested in how power relations are manufactured and maintained, and what we can do to intervene and alter those relationships where they are unjust.

How are the editors organized?

Informally.

We are interested in how power relations are manufactured and maintained, and what we can do to intervene and alter those relationships where they are unjust.

What is the long-term goal of the publication?

To end capitalism.

What has been the most interesting issue in your eyes so far?

I love all my children equally and don't play favorites.

What weaknesses does the publication have?

Poor cashflow. The financial management of a print publication today – especially one that seeks to push boundaries in both editorial and design – is complex. Especially so when you refuse to carry adverts, and have no benefactors. I wish we could pay contributors more, and I wish they didn't have to wait so long to be paid.

What is the role of publications today?

To inform, entertain, hold to account, struggle and propose. Same as always I guess.

How involved is the affiliated academic institution?

There is none. We have no connections to academia, receive no grants, and carry no advertising. Magazine sales alone that keeps the lights on.

What is the most recent issue focused on?

"Woke Awakening", which we describe as follows. You've been privatized, pathologised, indebted and exploited. Civil society is disintegrating, and hard-won freedoms are being undone. Yet from this maelstrom has emerged an intense clarity: a desire for sobriety, self-control, altruism, generosity, and the pursuit of mental and physical wellbeing. We are more aware, informed, engaged, and alert to social injustices – particularly of race, gender and geography. We are woke. But is this miraculous awakening to structural inequalities true or merely tokenistic?  Is wokeness a fad, or a systemic, generational shift in social ethos?

Tell us something someone would not know from turning the pages of the publication itself.

Real Review is a precisely balanced output of competing economic forces. Its dimensions and weight are optimized for Royal Mail postage sizes.

Want to pick up the latest copy of Real Review? If you're in LA, swing by Archinect Outpost in the Arts District. If you're anywhere else, you can order online at real-review.org.