I apologize if there is a discussion about this going on somewhere else already, but I couldn't find one....
So the "premier issue" of Architect just showed up at our office, and I have to say, I am mighty disappointed. I wasn't crazy about the last redesign of Architecture either but it was interesting at least. This new magazine looks like it came straight out of the '80s with a bulbous title font and gigantic head shot of a random dude on the front cover.
Also, one of the main features is about 7 people giving their perspective on the profession. No offense to these people but how in the world did they get in this magazine? The feature is weird and more closely resembles a fashion magazine shoot than an article about architecture.
I don't know, somebody please help me out here, I'm just confused....
...if you go to the "blogs" pulldown and visit Paul Preissner's blog, you will find the following, which reinforces your 'fashion magazine' comment:
Hello. My name is Paul Preissner. I was asked by my friend Ned Cramer to participate as one of the architecture bloggers for his new magazine. It should be quite good. The first issue even has a steamy profile picture of SOM (www.som.com) partner Ross Wimer. To the best of my knowledge the ambition is for this publication to finally rupture the periodical gates and compete with likes of Vanity Fair, Stuff and USWeekly. We'll see if it pays off.
*initial credit for pointing out above blog goes to John Jourden
I haven't seen the mag yet...so can't offer any comment on the new version...
in my teenage years, this glossy mag was more important to me then playboy... after tossing most of the magazines that crowd my mailbox (every 5 years or so) I still have a few treasured issues of PA to reminisce over...
how disappointing to hear--I really liked Architecture, a ton. Guess I was the only one? I even asked for a subscription for Christmas last year, but never got it.
thats a good idea, look how successful playboy has become, and its also now considered a serious source for information. smoking jackets and modernism go together...
this magazine is going to be a hit...alongside the term starchitect...architectural record was probably beating them in sales...i'm currently searching the internet for sales and subscription records for both magazines...
to reverse the trend someone needs to publish a magazine about awesome buildings by non famous architects...
"architecture" magazine sure was good during the reed "i know what it's like to be black" kroloff days, but then it took a major dive. i let my subscription lapse in 2003. never changed my address when i moved from chicago to austin.
seriously and non self promotingly this time;
i've read the editor ned's opening editorial and quickly felt cloustrophobic about vitru and all. i mean the stuff is written from the smoking room of a country club. are we as architectural community still having good ol boy chats?
no i don't think so..
the guy relies on graphic design editors talents to entertain us. hello. here is a cover that introduces a super cuts poster. entertained?
i think time has came and gone for this type of marginal boys club archi magazines except they keep finding funds thru their thick contacts' book as dependable as the republican or democrat fund rising donations hot lines. aka, curtain wall pruducts r' us llc.
so, they keep themselves self promoted and entertained in hamptons.
'Hail and Farewell' to what?.
isn't there a song with those words in the boy scouts manual?
Anything that raises the profile of the profession and causes the average Joe to have a notion of the Architect.
Brad thinking that architecture is a worthy profession for him to dabble in is a good thing folks. It will trickle down to more interesting work for us all.
I guarantee that you will see
Rem walking his dog.
Frank riding his bike
Thom watering his plants
And Zaha shopping for groceries.
A fluff magazine about architecture and architects is the best thing that could possibly happen get on board.
I admit: on occasion as a super trashy treat for myself I will buy a magazine like People or Us or whatever. I admit: I love seeing pictures of celebrities out shopping or walking their dog or whatever.
But that's because I like seeing how rich people look/act and especially what they wear in their down time. Architects aren't rich, and while I'd love to read about Zaha's thought process as she selects a can of soup - the label design? the quality of the ingredients? how the color will appear with her tableware? -I doubt the world at large would enjoy knowing that about her.
What I liked about PA right before it was killed off was the useful info like case studies, especially the one-year-post-publishing return visits to buildings they had published to see how things were holding up.
This new Architect - yeah, it focuses a bit much on the person not the act, perhaps? I need to read my issue a bit closer.
Although if those architects profiled had been photographed full body instead of just face shots - so I could see their footwear, for chrissake! - I'd be much more interested.
Is no one else as offended by their use of font on the cover as I am? C'mon guys, it's like a faux-Comic Sans. Where is rationalist when I need her.
Also I perused those old news items. I think I was in St. Louis/Pittsburgh/Orlando/Tampa/Chicago and didn't have time to get involved. I hadn't even realized Alison Arieff resigned from Dwell. What was the deal there? ...if no one minds the tangent....
well, i guess all those lunches between cramer and lee bey paid off - skidmore bought some press[i wouldnt doubt that they paid to pull the magazine out of the gutter]. as i dont have and wouldnt buy this rag, is there any buildings featured or is it just continuing the stanley tigerman matra that its 'all about the personalities'. this mag suck bigtime!
since cramer has been gone from chicago a year[?] couldnt he have found a few other friends by now besides old chicago wantabees?: friedman, the other blog dude-preissner, wonderful ross on the cover and ammar? all chicagoetts
and judging by the first blog post, i am certain paul and gang shouldnt worry about reduced archinect revenue.
past year or two, the local state chapters of the AIA have been publishing some pretty sweet rags that put the national mags to shame. CAarc rocks and Architecture MN isn't to shabby either. haven't done a survey of all 50 states yet, but am I onto something? Have the local mags gotten good?
when i was at the aia convention i collected a lot of the local magazines that they had for free. indeed, a lot of them are very good. texas architect is pretty good...i have to say, their serif font "philosophia" is one of my favorite serif fonts. i do not have very many favorite serif fonts.
in terms of architect-sans-ure magazine, not so good. that title font sucks. never, ever should a person's face be on the cover of an architecture magazine unless they've won the pritzker prize or something like that.
and liberty bell: i heard a paparazzi took a candid shot of zaha hadid rearranging a display of alphabetti spaghetti cans at her nearest tesco.
and also...totally, we're architects. doesn't matter what you look like, just what you wear.
to add yet again: those photos look like the glamour shots that our high school made us get when we were seniors in HS. except i don't see anyone posing with their oboe.
Personally, as an Architect I always found the magazine LA alot more interesting. That is the Landscape Architecture Magazine. I haven't seen it in years cause I decided I no longer want my trees used for magazines and would rather they end up in buildings. Never even thought about looking for an electronic version.
so.. everyone always complains about the lack of architecture publications in the US and then when a new one debuts, you spend your time complaining about all the things it does that you dont like (the font, the way the photos are done, the bloggers, the chicago friends, the lack of buildings focus, blah blah blah)...
DubK, I looked closely at the cover font a few minutes ago and yeah, it's goofy. As you said, flash the rationalist signal!
Agree, ochona, that Texas Architect is good. There used to be a midwestern arch mag called "Midland" or "Midreview" or something starting with "mid", it was very good too, at least 15 years ago it was.
Also, hotsies, part of my frustration (perhaps others) with this "debut" is that it isn't actually a debut at all, it is a reworking of an existing magazine that had just embarked on a previous reformatting very recently - a few months ago even? That previous reworking was promising and I'm sorry to not see it continue to evolve. Instead we get glamour shots of people not buildings. (Note: Nothing against the architects involved, hell I'd love to get a glamour head shot of myself in an arch rag!)
haven't seen the debut but the complete reinvention is not a surprise given the ownership change. here's a little about the new owner: hanleywood. i expect disingenuousness and incongruent advertising from this leading provider of home plans. the latter replacing the incongruent advertising of architecture in its death struggle.
these guys also put out the journal of light construction which i enjoy -mostly for columns on code and legal issues. An architecture magazine dealing with these issues and constructability would get my subscription dollar.
not to spoil the fun, but what magazine are you reading? i have to admit that i was digging the recent architecture re-design and i was digging the content. (joan ockman as columnist!) j
but - and i'm prepared to be proven wrong - this new mag with new owners doesn't really seem to be the puff piece you guys are making it out to be.
sure, it has a lot of ads but it's also twice as thick as architecture was. good for them for making a business of it.
between the ads i'm seeing:
-a decent news section: just the highlights, not much depth, but that's for the features. news includes polling info on market spending, job satisfaction, competition news, new gsa head, etc.
-two editorials, one of which positions this magazine: "architectural journalism can serve the profession better by voicing the complexities, values, and concerns of the discipline itself...'Architect' will portray architecture from multiple perspectives, not just as a succession of high-profile projects...but as a technical and creative process, and as a community."
-a neat little piece on internet exercises in mapping.
-piece on bruce mau's work with som's graphic presentation of itself.
-case study of architects using a bim-based programming/pre-design software.
-a survey of new condo development in chicago.
-yes, ok, the pretty people spread that seems to have gotten everybody's ire up. but look closer at what the goal was: 'seven-point perspective: architects in search of a profession' (that's me!), '...gathered a group of academics and practitioners from different regions of the country and steps on the career ladder...asked them to share their personal goals and their perceptions of the state of the profession.' isn't this a lot of what we come to archinect for? have you seen it in arch mags in the past?
-an extended piece about future development, based on recent reports about construction slowdown.
-an article about one young architect's path and his process - with fairly detailed examples, not just pretty pictures.
-one old-school building feature, treated as a case study of office buildings.
-a segment from a new book by classicist arch allan greenberg
-wrap up section of small pieces under the heading 'culture': art, film, exhibits, books.
-a continuing ed piece
-an interview with an innovative (read: architecture-friendly) developer as the last page.
seems pretty meaty and not fluffy to me. i can't believe this would be a bid to reach a broader non-architect public (a la people, us, instyle) and if it is, it won't work. it's all very specific to things with which we might come in contact.
i agree that it's not the most beautiful thing i've seen. but i liked it's predecessor's design a lot. maybe this will grow on me.
Even if the content is ok, I just can't get past the cover. That font, yuck! And I agree with the poster above who said that faces should never be used on the cover of architecture mags. El Croquis used to do extreme closeup cover shots and I never liked it (especially the one on Zaha!) In fact, because El Croquis is large format the face shots sometimes seemed larger than life. Now if they have a person pictured on the cover it's usually more in the context of his or her projects or work space, which I like much better.
Who knows, maybe Brad Pitt will take over Architectural Record better yet I hear Tom Cruise is Branching out. Maybe he could shake things up in the Architecture World, just like in Hollywood!
Nice, Steven: come in here all reasonable and calm and ruin all the fun. Can't you please just make one slightly snarky comment on the new mag, or at least about what one of the people portrayed is wearing? Please?!? ;-)
"Architect" magazine (formerly Architecture)
I apologize if there is a discussion about this going on somewhere else already, but I couldn't find one....
So the "premier issue" of Architect just showed up at our office, and I have to say, I am mighty disappointed. I wasn't crazy about the last redesign of Architecture either but it was interesting at least. This new magazine looks like it came straight out of the '80s with a bulbous title font and gigantic head shot of a random dude on the front cover.
Also, one of the main features is about 7 people giving their perspective on the profession. No offense to these people but how in the world did they get in this magazine? The feature is weird and more closely resembles a fashion magazine shoot than an article about architecture.
I don't know, somebody please help me out here, I'm just confused....
PS. The new Web site: www.architectmagazine.com
web site
...if you go to the "blogs" pulldown and visit Paul Preissner's blog, you will find the following, which reinforces your 'fashion magazine' comment:
Hello. My name is Paul Preissner. I was asked by my friend Ned Cramer to participate as one of the architecture bloggers for his new magazine. It should be quite good. The first issue even has a steamy profile picture of SOM (www.som.com) partner Ross Wimer. To the best of my knowledge the ambition is for this publication to finally rupture the periodical gates and compete with likes of Vanity Fair, Stuff and USWeekly. We'll see if it pays off.
*initial credit for pointing out above blog goes to John Jourden
I haven't seen the mag yet...so can't offer any comment on the new version...
American architecture magazines suck.
Dwell, Elle Decor, House and Garden, etc is where its at.
oh...didn't mean to re-post the web site...
from the news:
26OCT
30SEP
30AUG
each of these news entries is followed by some discussion...
ha, this is going to funny
sigh
my life's goal is to someday start a *real* architecture mag in the US
WonderK, how dare you talk smack about DSF(squared)AIA
this is exciting news
Architecture Magazine...went straight to the recycling bin at my office
I miss (sniffle) progressive architecture.
in my teenage years, this glossy mag was more important to me then playboy... after tossing most of the magazines that crowd my mailbox (every 5 years or so) I still have a few treasured issues of PA to reminisce over...
how disappointing to hear--I really liked Architecture, a ton. Guess I was the only one? I even asked for a subscription for Christmas last year, but never got it.
is this an another thwing based in hamptons?
PA *was* great. I used to hunt through the archived issues at the arch library at school all the time.
The one that really pissed me off (and still does) was Arch. Record.... ARGH.
haha--for the hamptons architecture set!
Yeah it's here at the office. I'll thumb through it but it looks completely uninteresting.
we need an architecture porn mag that's more risque then *wallpaper
make that an architectural porn mag
thats a good idea, look how successful playboy has become, and its also now considered a serious source for information. smoking jackets and modernism go together...
...do they ever...
editor-in-chief^
nobody really cares about architecture anyways...big titties on the other hand
WonderK - som partner ross wimer is on the cover. not necessarily a "nobody" but barely anyone recognizes who it is
not UNimpressed totally. Interesting article on top 20 firms to work for. they failed to mention top US firms to work for. major feaux-pas in my book.
that green background is getting on my nerves. its like - 'the mask' green.
on page 111 (ok- its in front of me) they tried to overlap a construction detail with an image- doesnt work. looks forced. same on 109
but sharon P is friggin hot...
it is like archinect writers vs. architect editors ^^^
who you gonna read?
this magazine is going to be a hit...alongside the term starchitect...architectural record was probably beating them in sales...i'm currently searching the internet for sales and subscription records for both magazines...
to reverse the trend someone needs to publish a magazine about awesome buildings by non famous architects...
"architecture" magazine sure was good during the reed "i know what it's like to be black" kroloff days, but then it took a major dive. i let my subscription lapse in 2003. never changed my address when i moved from chicago to austin.
seriously and non self promotingly this time;
i've read the editor ned's opening editorial and quickly felt cloustrophobic about vitru and all. i mean the stuff is written from the smoking room of a country club. are we as architectural community still having good ol boy chats?
no i don't think so..
the guy relies on graphic design editors talents to entertain us. hello. here is a cover that introduces a super cuts poster. entertained?
i think time has came and gone for this type of marginal boys club archi magazines except they keep finding funds thru their thick contacts' book as dependable as the republican or democrat fund rising donations hot lines. aka, curtain wall pruducts r' us llc.
so, they keep themselves self promoted and entertained in hamptons.
'Hail and Farewell' to what?.
isn't there a song with those words in the boy scouts manual?
Anything that raises the profile of the profession and causes the average Joe to have a notion of the Architect.
Brad thinking that architecture is a worthy profession for him to dabble in is a good thing folks. It will trickle down to more interesting work for us all.
I guarantee that you will see
Rem walking his dog.
Frank riding his bike
Thom watering his plants
And Zaha shopping for groceries.
A fluff magazine about architecture and architects is the best thing that could possibly happen get on board.
okay now you are dreaming. zaha doesn't shop for groceries...
I admit: on occasion as a super trashy treat for myself I will buy a magazine like People or Us or whatever. I admit: I love seeing pictures of celebrities out shopping or walking their dog or whatever.
But that's because I like seeing how rich people look/act and especially what they wear in their down time. Architects aren't rich, and while I'd love to read about Zaha's thought process as she selects a can of soup - the label design? the quality of the ingredients? how the color will appear with her tableware? -I doubt the world at large would enjoy knowing that about her.
What I liked about PA right before it was killed off was the useful info like case studies, especially the one-year-post-publishing return visits to buildings they had published to see how things were holding up.
This new Architect - yeah, it focuses a bit much on the person not the act, perhaps? I need to read my issue a bit closer.
Although if those architects profiled had been photographed full body instead of just face shots - so I could see their footwear, for chrissake! - I'd be much more interested.
Is no one else as offended by their use of font on the cover as I am? C'mon guys, it's like a faux-Comic Sans. Where is rationalist when I need her.
Also I perused those old news items. I think I was in St. Louis/Pittsburgh/Orlando/Tampa/Chicago and didn't have time to get involved. I hadn't even realized Alison Arieff resigned from Dwell. What was the deal there? ...if no one minds the tangent....
well, i guess all those lunches between cramer and lee bey paid off - skidmore bought some press[i wouldnt doubt that they paid to pull the magazine out of the gutter]. as i dont have and wouldnt buy this rag, is there any buildings featured or is it just continuing the stanley tigerman matra that its 'all about the personalities'. this mag suck bigtime!
since cramer has been gone from chicago a year[?] couldnt he have found a few other friends by now besides old chicago wantabees?: friedman, the other blog dude-preissner, wonderful ross on the cover and ammar? all chicagoetts
and judging by the first blog post, i am certain paul and gang shouldnt worry about reduced archinect revenue.
paul should post the images from la times magazine that featured him and other designers modeling some fashion...
this is for cf,
past year or two, the local state chapters of the AIA have been publishing some pretty sweet rags that put the national mags to shame. CAarc rocks and Architecture MN isn't to shabby either. haven't done a survey of all 50 states yet, but am I onto something? Have the local mags gotten good?
i particularly like the section called "Architect's Briefs."
when i was at the aia convention i collected a lot of the local magazines that they had for free. indeed, a lot of them are very good. texas architect is pretty good...i have to say, their serif font "philosophia" is one of my favorite serif fonts. i do not have very many favorite serif fonts.
in terms of architect-sans-ure magazine, not so good. that title font sucks. never, ever should a person's face be on the cover of an architecture magazine unless they've won the pritzker prize or something like that.
and liberty bell: i heard a paparazzi took a candid shot of zaha hadid rearranging a display of alphabetti spaghetti cans at her nearest tesco.
and also...totally, we're architects. doesn't matter what you look like, just what you wear.
c'mon, arch record ain't so bad..
btw, Paul et all at archinect, maybe its time for ARCHINECT magazine?...
to add yet again: those photos look like the glamour shots that our high school made us get when we were seniors in HS. except i don't see anyone posing with their oboe.
Thank you ochona! Font is important.
I would love to see that picture of Zaha rearranging the cans.
Personally, as an Architect I always found the magazine LA alot more interesting. That is the Landscape Architecture Magazine. I haven't seen it in years cause I decided I no longer want my trees used for magazines and would rather they end up in buildings. Never even thought about looking for an electronic version.
so.. everyone always complains about the lack of architecture publications in the US and then when a new one debuts, you spend your time complaining about all the things it does that you dont like (the font, the way the photos are done, the bloggers, the chicago friends, the lack of buildings focus, blah blah blah)...
do you enjoy your angry inner lives?
shits, somebody detects anger again in everybody. yow...
do you understand globally positioning yourself?
I don't remember ever starting a thread where I complained that there was a dearth of architecture publications. In fact, I think there are plenty.
But, vague and unfounded generalizations about the general public are always fun to throw into argument, so why not....
DubK, I looked closely at the cover font a few minutes ago and yeah, it's goofy. As you said, flash the rationalist signal!
Agree, ochona, that Texas Architect is good. There used to be a midwestern arch mag called "Midland" or "Midreview" or something starting with "mid", it was very good too, at least 15 years ago it was.
Also, hotsies, part of my frustration (perhaps others) with this "debut" is that it isn't actually a debut at all, it is a reworking of an existing magazine that had just embarked on a previous reformatting very recently - a few months ago even? That previous reworking was promising and I'm sorry to not see it continue to evolve. Instead we get glamour shots of people not buildings. (Note: Nothing against the architects involved, hell I'd love to get a glamour head shot of myself in an arch rag!)
haven't seen the debut but the complete reinvention is not a surprise given the ownership change. here's a little about the new owner: hanleywood. i expect disingenuousness and incongruent advertising from this leading provider of home plans. the latter replacing the incongruent advertising of architecture in its death struggle.
these guys also put out the journal of light construction which i enjoy -mostly for columns on code and legal issues. An architecture magazine dealing with these issues and constructability would get my subscription dollar.
If you have one, send it back to the publisher. Seriously.
not to spoil the fun, but what magazine are you reading? i have to admit that i was digging the recent architecture re-design and i was digging the content. (joan ockman as columnist!) j
but - and i'm prepared to be proven wrong - this new mag with new owners doesn't really seem to be the puff piece you guys are making it out to be.
sure, it has a lot of ads but it's also twice as thick as architecture was. good for them for making a business of it.
between the ads i'm seeing:
-a decent news section: just the highlights, not much depth, but that's for the features. news includes polling info on market spending, job satisfaction, competition news, new gsa head, etc.
-two editorials, one of which positions this magazine: "architectural journalism can serve the profession better by voicing the complexities, values, and concerns of the discipline itself...'Architect' will portray architecture from multiple perspectives, not just as a succession of high-profile projects...but as a technical and creative process, and as a community."
-a neat little piece on internet exercises in mapping.
-piece on bruce mau's work with som's graphic presentation of itself.
-case study of architects using a bim-based programming/pre-design software.
-a survey of new condo development in chicago.
-yes, ok, the pretty people spread that seems to have gotten everybody's ire up. but look closer at what the goal was: 'seven-point perspective: architects in search of a profession' (that's me!), '...gathered a group of academics and practitioners from different regions of the country and steps on the career ladder...asked them to share their personal goals and their perceptions of the state of the profession.' isn't this a lot of what we come to archinect for? have you seen it in arch mags in the past?
-an extended piece about future development, based on recent reports about construction slowdown.
-an article about one young architect's path and his process - with fairly detailed examples, not just pretty pictures.
-one old-school building feature, treated as a case study of office buildings.
-a segment from a new book by classicist arch allan greenberg
-wrap up section of small pieces under the heading 'culture': art, film, exhibits, books.
-a continuing ed piece
-an interview with an innovative (read: architecture-friendly) developer as the last page.
seems pretty meaty and not fluffy to me. i can't believe this would be a bid to reach a broader non-architect public (a la people, us, instyle) and if it is, it won't work. it's all very specific to things with which we might come in contact.
i agree that it's not the most beautiful thing i've seen. but i liked it's predecessor's design a lot. maybe this will grow on me.
Even if the content is ok, I just can't get past the cover. That font, yuck! And I agree with the poster above who said that faces should never be used on the cover of architecture mags. El Croquis used to do extreme closeup cover shots and I never liked it (especially the one on Zaha!) In fact, because El Croquis is large format the face shots sometimes seemed larger than life. Now if they have a person pictured on the cover it's usually more in the context of his or her projects or work space, which I like much better.
steve- as always the balanced voice of reason and fact. well said.
maybe if we all lower our expectations, we won't end up disappointed so often and will find more moments of unanticipated pleasure.
Who knows, maybe Brad Pitt will take over Architectural Record better yet I hear Tom Cruise is Branching out. Maybe he could shake things up in the Architecture World, just like in Hollywood!
Nice, Steven: come in here all reasonable and calm and ruin all the fun. Can't you please just make one slightly snarky comment on the new mag, or at least about what one of the people portrayed is wearing? Please?!? ;-)
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