“The Problem”
Most of the architectural / design magazines of our times are lifestyle magazines and cover a broad area of design rather than architecture as they choose to call themselves. They should be at list advertise that is mostly interior design than architecture. I wouldn’t say that they are educational, there is absolutely nothing to learn from these magazines, just experience some time of illusanation during the time you spend flipping their pages. I would compare them with fashion magazines and say they have the same area of interest, it may not be fabric made for clothes but is fabric made for homes (curtains, sofas, cushions etc). All their topics are for extremely expensive taste of consumers, therefore not for normal consumers like most of us. The funny thing is that most of them are so successful in the market. But the question is who buys them? Someone that can affort a Miele, latest technology home appliance? Or why do you get to see ads by Swarovski, Dior, Gucci, Louis Vuitton? More than half of the double page spreads of Wallpaper* for instance advertise big brands. Would you refer to this magazine as an architectural/design magazine? Well, no! It’s a copy of Vogue. The same goes for the American journal, Architectural Digest. Architectural what? Again, missleading. Interior Digest maybe… Last but no least, Domus. A well-known, successful magazine about architecture and design. Number one selling magazine in Italy in this sector, sophisticated, serious, expensive, posh I would say. A magazine although, were in the UK is selling terribly. Why is that? Is it because is expensive? 10 pounds to buy it, after a long day of searching for it in the newsagents like WH Smith and Waterstones.
Just to conclude, none of these magazines aim at students. They are not resource materials at all, and thats why I believe there is time for a NEW ARCHITECTURAL magazine/book in the UK publishing industry. A magazine in the format of a book, a collective material with an educational cause.
