cityofsound

Jeffrey Inaba / C-LAB + Volume (Postopolis! LA)

We may have a soft spot for architects and designers working directly with media as a way to influence architecture and urbanism. Perhaps this is partly given the heritage of Archigram, Superstudio, Cedric Price, Reyner Banham, Yona Friedman et al, but also due to us ‘curators’ all being bloggers, at least to some degree.

So Jeffrey Inaba’s work at the Columbia Laboratory for Architectural Broadcasting (C-LAB) is particularly interesting, not least their magazine Volume, an influential component of the architecture and urbanism press, produced in collaboration with Archis and AMO. Volume is always worth reading, not least as it takes a very broad-minded and inquisitive view of what architecture can be in the first place. It’s as comfortable with an article on the history of Pininfarina or the Watergate complex as it is with various political agendas. It’s variably designed - sometimes fashionably undesigned, in the contemporary lazy style; other times excellent, confident, exploratory and playful. While you have to wonder whether Volume has any impact outside of “the converted” or the niche audience of the existing architecture and academic community, it does at least try to engage through a widescreen view on contemporary urbanism whilst retaining a sharply intellectual tone and a nose for the political in architectural practice. A good thing.

Inaba concentrates mainly, though not solely, on Volume throughout a talk in which he rapidly disappeared into the gloom of the first night of Postopolis! LA, lit only by the large projected images of page spreads above his head.

Habitus magazine

Habitus is a new quarterly Australian architecture magazine of some promise. The Australian architecture and interiors magazine market is pretty well stocked, led by the likes of Monument, Architecture Australia, Architectural Review Australia, (Inside), Artichoke, C+A (the extraordinarily elegant publication of Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia - yes, really), and several others. There are some failings in this set - they’re perhaps overly fixated on image (though this tends to come with the medium); perhaps overly focused on domestic architecture - a particular local strength (and failing) - and Architecture Australia occasionally suffers from being the ‘house mag’ of the AIA and so can be a little “uncritical” (in the words of a local architect friend). There’s nothing particularly avant-garde here either, for which we’d turn to a few of the good university offshoots, such as Mongrel/Subaud. All told, though, there is often good value in all of these publications and it’s a pretty strong showing.

However, Habitus launches unperturbed into this feisty local market with a smart new take on what local actually is. The editorial stance that particularly interests me is its focus on the architecture of Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia, seeing this region as a broad continuum of spaces, places, terrain, climate and culture. In the words of editor Paul McGillick:

“Habitus is about cultural engagement - about architects and designers from Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia enriching one another in an on-going dialogue. The differences and commonalities all add up to a matrix of ideas which can lead to better outcomes for the environment we live in.”

This is not only a great idea but a strong guiding mission, recognising that Australian and New Zealand cities are essentially Asian now, and also the potential for local architects and designers in this wider ‘common market’. It also means the pages are replete with gorgeous tropical houses from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, all warm concrete and burnished wood slowly being engulfed in verdant foliage, surrounded by green-tinged pools and dense eruptions of palms and Tembesu trees. The sheer fecundity of these environments often combine to make the Aus/NZ houses look as if they’re situated in positively spartan terrain, no mean feat. The projects range from enormous mansions to the smallest interventions in the environment, and are balanced with contributions from across the region (though there’s little from Australia north of Sydney in this particular issue, unfortunately.)

Monocle: design notes

It’s a year or so after launch of Monocle and things are going very well, both in print and online, so it's time for me to move on. Having worked with Tyler Brûlé and the rest of the Monocle team to breathe life into the project, creating the first volume of the magazine and iterations of the website and steering it through its first successful year of operation, I decided to leave, and departed at the end of March 2008. The project is up and running, with good solid foundations. Thus, others can run the daily business from here on in.

With that, I thought I’d pause to reflect on some of the design and strategy choices I made with Monocle.com and share them here. I’ve often tried to be ‘transparent’ about the work done on projects here, in the hope that it stimulates useful thought or conversation in other projects elsewhere, and partly to facilitate my own reflections on work. None of what follows is rocket science, and it’s not the place to look for thoughts on 2.0/3.0, social software, or urban informatics. That would be in the accounts of different projects. But if you’re interested in the honest craft of website work, almost deliberately old-fashioned ‘classical’ web design - and how to ally this with innovation in magazine publishing - the following should provide a decent account of several of the key decisions in this particular project.

During the course of an insanely busy year there are many other key decisions that just occurred and aren't noted here - most of them, in fact. And of course some that are confidential. Nor is this particularly structured. Nonetheless, it contains early sketches, outlines of strategic thinking and some insights into decision-making, tool choices and design practice. I hope you find what follows to be useful or interesting.

Context
As someone put it, Monocle was probably the most blogged about magazine last year. It was written about offline a lot too, but I won’t dwell on the magazine specifically here, except where it relates to the design and production of the digital services. (For a bookended account, Monocle's editor Andrew Tuck wrote about the launch and Tyler and Andrew were both recently interviewed a year on.)

Many were too quick to judge perhaps,  but others were less so and considered responses emerged throughout the year. Reception varied wildly, as one expects, but leaving aside the reception for the magazine and brand overall, the website itself often received much critical acclaim, for which many thanks. The likes of Eye, Print, BusinessWeek, MagCulture and Design Week all suggested we were onto something with our integration of print and web specifically. I’ve mentioned the Eye article before, but the Print piece by Andrew Blum was particularly sharp in identifying the Monocle.com difference. While the new media commentators often mistakenly looked for a 2.0 platform play, Blum noted our attempt to bring quality back to the table, trying to use a new platform to reinvigorate broadcast journalism itself. Similarly BusinessWeek spotted that the “web component (is) more like TV than print”. It actually feels somewhere between the two, but that was the intention.

Perhaps more importantly, the user figures have grown healthily throughout the year. Unique users and time spent on the site are all doing fine, but I knew from the BBC that getting the broadcasts into iTunes would be the thing that really extended the viewership of the programmes, our primary purpose. When we added BBC radio podcasts to iTunes they really thrived, and sure enough, since November 2007, viewing figures have been doubling month on month for Monocle’s movies, driven by iTunes’ ease-of-use. We’re now shifting terabytes of editorial each week. If you have audio or video material, the value of iTunes at this point cannot be stressed enough. It’ll be interesting to see how that platform develops.

Best of all, we hit number 1 in the iTunes News & Politics chart just before Christmas 2007. It’s hardly the most rigorously calculated chart in existence, but still an achievement, I think, to have the likes of the rather more well-funded and well-established Economist, Guardian, BBC, Reuters and Sky trailing in your wake through December, even temporarily (with the first four there having an average age of over 100 years or so, and our brand barely 10 months old at that point.)

So for an entirely new non-mainstream brand, with a no-celebrity policy allied to serious global coverage of subjects that are often little known before we cover them, I’m very happy with the favourable response from readers and viewers. We’ve covered e-Sports in South Korea, the animated title sequences of Kuntzel+Deygas, Narcotecture in Afghanistan, Tezuka architects’ Fuji kindergarten, Lexus’ brand issues, Paula Scher on Brand America, the train from Istanbul to Van, the CEO of Lego, the Tällberg Forum, the 2007 Salone industrial design fair and Frankfurt Motor Show, slow food in Turin, our top urban design solutions, mayoral summits in New York, photojournalism from Murmansk, Tajikistan, Zimbabwe and Abkhazia, and much more besides, Plus, we got name-checked by Lupe Fiasco.

Materials Monthly (Princeton Architectural Press)

After a hiatus, Princeton Architectural Press have re-started Materials Monthly, in their words the “popular, build-your-own materials library subscription service that delivers the latest in materials research, from our desks to yours.” And that it does.

I’ve had a chance to look over, and pore over, issue #11, based around the theme of ‘Modern Adaptations’, and cannot fail but to be very impressed with this unique publication. Arriving in a pleasingly chunky cardboard box, the package contains actual examples of the materials discussed, alongside some well-produced loose-leaf editorial discussing them and their use, in this case historical. The ability to pick up, touch, rub and generally explore the tactility of materials is surprisingly affecting. I’ve long been espousing the virtues of senses other than sight in terms of assessing the impact of the built environment, drawing heavily from the likes of Juhani Pallasmaa, Stephen Holl, Paul Schütze, Mirko Zardini etc., but here’s a publication that actually takes that idea and delivers a sensory experience.

In The Eyes of the Skin, Pallasmaa discusses the relationship between touch, objects, memory, history and process - "The surface of an old object, polished to perfection by the tool of the craftsmen and the assiduous hands of its users, seduces the stroking of the hand … The tactile sense connects us with time and tradition … it is time turned into shape." He notes that "the skin reads the texture, weight, density and temperature of matter."

Indeed, despite only being fragments and samples, it is a revelation to feel the cool weight of the small block of pigmented structural glass, or the delight on peeling back the protective wrapper to stroke the small square of sharp, highly-polished prismatic stainless steel. This simple yet rewarding experience actually suggests that the series serves not only as a regular prompt for designers and builders, but almost as an oblique critique of the ocularcentric architectural press elsewhere.

Of course its target audience is really designers, builders and engineers, and the publication is tuned to that crowd accordingly, but you half-wonder what if other, more general magazines like Dwell, Monument, A+U, Architectural Review, Frame and Mark took this approach, perhaps as a multi-sensory special-edition every quarter.

But for now, you have to subscribe to Materials Monthly for that kind of experience. They say:

“Each issue now includes at least five material samples and spec sheets with mechanical and physical properties, life cycle analysis data, sourcing and manufacturing details, digital and prefab options, installation, maintenance, and preservation advice, and other important technical information.”

It’s well-designed for use, with pages in loose form to be bound later, and a coding system linking object to text and beyond that makes the information architect within twitch with glee (he doesn’t get out much these days, so you’ll forgive me.) Subscribing, you'd quickly build a fantastic collection of materials, and copious notes on their historial, and potential, use. With so much attention being paid to new materials - e.g. the Transmaterial series amongst others - but so little opportunity to genuinely sense them, Materials Monthly, and Princeton Architectural Press, deserve a lot of credit for this smartly realised service.

Materials Monthly (more images below)

On the "Archigram-What-Organisation-You-Must-Be-Joking-Mate"

Archigram imagery taken out of context

Ben Terrett asked me to jot down some thoughts on the way Archigram worked, as part of a piece he’s pulled together on them, Pentagram and Magnum (the other pieces written by Michael Bierut and Henrietta Thompson, so I’m in august company). The idea being that all these organisations were united in having interesting 'co-operative' structures that enabled creativity. (As well as all ending in ‘m’). So here’s my quick and glossy contribution, on how I understand Archigram’s organisation to have contributed to their creative success.

Jobs at Monocle

Please excuse the work-related post. Just a quick note that there are a couple of vacancies at Monocle at the moment, working across the magazine and website. Both jobs are based at our London HQ in Marylebone. Drop a line to the people named below:

Photo editor
Monocle is looking for an experienced photo editor for a nine-month contract starting in March. We are looking for someone who understands the style of the magazine and is happy to work with our existing team of photographers as well as finding new talent around the world. You will need to be able to commission everything from news to fashion and be willing to work irregular hours, including some weekends. This is a fast-paced, demanding and rewarding position. Send applications, including a CV, to Rose Percy at this email address: rp at monocle dot com. Closing date for applications is 14 January 2008.

Producer, Monocle Web
Commercially-orientated web producer required to continue the development of Monocle.com, with editorial responsibilities across the website, and particular responsibility for creating and procuring bespoke advertising and sponsorship opportunities, and with potential for syndicating Monocle's services onto mobile and television platforms. As ever, we're looking for innovative ideas, beyond simple sponsorship and banner advertising. This key role would entail developing such ideas, representing Monocle at pitches with clients, working alongside our advertising team, so commercially-orientated experience is a must. In-depth knowledge of both broadcast and new media industries is ideally required, with particular emphasis on emerging models for sponsorship and advertising. The successful candidate will have a passion for new media and share Monocle's mission to 'raise the bar' in terms of quality for online editorial. Send applications, including a a CV, to Dan Hill at this email address: dh at monocle dot com.

Extract from 'Pamphlet Literature', George Orwell, 1943

"The interesting fact, not easily explicable, is that pamphleteering has revived upon an enormous scale since about 1935, and has done so without producing anything of real value ...  The reason why the badness of contemporary pamphlets is somewhat surprising is that the pamphlet ought to be the literary form of an age like our own. We live in a time when political passions run high, channels of free expression are dwindling, and organized lying exists on a scale never before known. For plugging the holes in history the pamphlet is the ideal form. Yet lively pamphlets are very few, and the only explanation I can offer - a rather lame one - is that the publishing trade and the literary papers have never gone to the trouble of making the reading public pamphlet-conscious. One difficult of collecting pamphlets is that they are not issued in any regular manner, cannot always be procured even in the libraries of museums, and are seldom advertised and still more seldom reviewed. A good writer with some he passionately wanted to say - and the essence of pamphleteering is to have something you want to say now, to as many people as possible - would hesitate to cast it in pamphlet form, because he would hardly know how to set about getting it published, and would be doubtful whether the people he wanted to reach would ever read it. Probably he would water his idea down into a newspaper article or pad it out into a book As a result by far the greater number of pamphlets are either written by lonely lunatics who publish at their own expense, or belong to the sub-world of the crank religions, or are issued by political parts. The normal way of publishing a pamphlet is through a political party, and the party will see to it that any 'deviation' - and hence any literary value - is kept out. There have been a few good pamphlets in fairly recent years. D. H. Lawrence's Pornography and Obscenity was one, Potocki de Montalk's Snobbery with Violence was another, and some of Wyndham Lewis's essays in The Enemy really come under this heading. At present the most hopeful symptom is the appearance of the non-party left-wing pamphlet, such as Hurricane Books. If productions of this type were as sure of being noticed in the press as are novels or books of verse, something would have been done towards bringing the pamphlet back to the attention of its proper public, and the level of the whole genre might rise. When one considers how flexible a form the pamphlet is, and how badly some of the events of our time need documenting, this is a thing to be desired."

New Statesmen and Nation, 9 January 1943.

p.327 of the 1971 Penguin edition of 'The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 2: My Country Right or Left 1940-1943', kindly on long term loan from Mr. Jack Schulze, and much appreciated.

Noted elsewhere: September 2007

Here's a little portmanteau posting, compiling a few items of interest from elsewhere. I try to keep this site free of this kind of post these days, using the 'noted elsewhere' column instead (to the top-right if you're looking at the site; or in the daily links in the feed). But these items deserve a little more context, visual or otherwise. They're all worth a look.

Mayne and Blum in San Francisco
First up, an excellent conversation between Thom Mayne of architecture firm Morphosis and the writer Andrew Blum. It's centred on the former's new Federal Building building in San Francisco, but wanders freely and interestingly. It's a good discussion, augmented by photos of the building and surrounds. I was particularly taken with the fact that its the first (major) naturally-ventilated building on the west coast since the introduction of air-conditioning, and Mayne's intentions for a form of post-occupancy evaluation (POE); he didn't call it that as such, but referred to a series of studies over the forthcoming years, to track the use of the building. Conducting POEs has become a CoS mantra, so it's great to see it explicitly referred to in a discussion about building. It's also an excellent piece on introducing radical architecture into San Francisco, a latterly-conservative city in this respect.

San Francisco Federal Building from AIA San Francisco on Vimeo.

Neutral at the Architecture Foundation
Architectural visualisations a-go-go at the Architecture Foundation's Yard Gallery in London, with an exhibition on filmmakers Neutral, which opened last week and runs until 13 October 2007. Neutral have been communicating architecture through digital animation for a few years now, producing work for Zaha Hadid and Herzog+De Meuron along the way. The exhibition also features two never-seen-before installations. I can't be there to see it, so I'd be interested in any responses from visitors.
 

Energyville, by The Economist and Chevron 
The Economist Intelligence Unit have partnered with energy giant Chevron to produce a small but good online game: Energyville. It's a fairly direct rip-off of SimCity, but for broadly educational purpose - discovering how difficult it might be to power up a city, scrolling forwards to 2030. It would be easy to be cynical about this kind of partnership, but the simulation has actually been done with some care and attention. Though the available parameters, and their impact, would benefit from a little more explanation, you do genuinely learn something about the varying energy sources available to a particular kind of city (a standard SimCity model, and therefore essentially a medium-sized US city). It's interesting how the organising level is urban too, not national - I don't think that's just SimCity defining a kind of 'default setting' for these kind of simulations; rather a sense that the city is the most interesting and effective scale to work at.

Z-A at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, New York
The Storefront in Manhattan is one of my favourite places, and was even before they hosted Postopolis. So it's nice to be able to point at their 25th anniversary events, called 'Z-A' and which run for 26 days, from 2 days ago, in a specially built pavilion in the adjacent Petrosino Park, by Korean architect Minsuk Cho. If you're in NYC, it's a must-see. (I expect people in NYC get told something is "a must-see" every day, but this one really is.) There's a full line-up at the Storefront site - it looks an incredibly varied programme, with many fascinating contributions. I'd be intrigued to hear from Stefano Boeri and Gianluigi Ricuperati on the new Arbitare magazine, for instance. The day after sees Tomas Saraceno's research on "inhabitable lighter-than-air airborne structures as a solution to the world's exploding population". That gives a flavour of things, I think. Oh, and Vito Acconci on Oct. 10th.

Joseph Grima just sent me these pictures (below) of the opening night.

I also note they're starting "Storefront Books, a curated micro-bookshop." That's excellent. I've very taken with Published Art bookshop, here in Sydney, and really appreciate their editing - only stocking the latest of the best magazines, and the best new books. It ensures that you can evaluate them properly, and see their covers. (Contrary to that silly old saying, you almost always can tell a book by its cover.)

The Monthly
One of my favourite Australian magazines is The Monthly. It's a serious yet witty, multi-faceted, passionate publication, covering a broad spectrum of current affairs and culture. It makes space for lengthy articles, is well-designed (by John Warwicker, no less) and genuinely values words and thinking. There are few examples of this kind of magazine, so it's a real treasure. Their website, however, has generally been a lacklustre effort. Thankfully though, they just redesigned. There are still several flaws, from a web design perspective, but it's much better. In particular, you can browse back issues and read a fair few articles. You can point at all of them, such as this superb article on the Mary Valley controversy in Queensland, or an interview with Robert Hughes, or Peter Conrad's pasting of Clive James. And you might start reading with a piece that has actually changed policies on the Tasmanian logging industry, or Gideon Haigh on the British influence on Australia, or this article by Robert Manne on the converse - the American influence in Howard's version of Australia.

Mimoa
A new European architecture website, comprising a user-generated set of pictures and notes on modern architecture. Confining it to Europe actually seems a little unnecessary in a way, but it's rather nicely designed, both in terms of its information architecture and aesthetics, feeling somewhat 2.0 but not drenched in cliché. And it has a point, unlike most 2.0 work. I can't quite tell if it's linked formally to the lovely European architecture magazine A10. Interesting either way.

Monocle updates
Some items of particular interest at Monocle might be an interview with Pentagram's Paula Scher, on re-branding the USA, and the branding business in general. Scher is one of the world's greatest designers, and is always worth listening to. There's also a great little slideshow piece on Abkhazia, the breakaway Baltic state, which is fascinating (working alongside a corresponding magazine article). Many people picked up on the slideshow we did around the Fuji Kindergarten by Tezuka architects, but if you didn't see it I can recommend that too - a progressive philosophy embedded into a fascinating building. See also our short documentary from the Fuji Rock festival in Japan, which Glastonbury and the like could learn a lot from, and our reports from the Tällberg Forum in Sweden. And moving on from the movies, you might also want to follow our Monocle Quality of Life Index, a regularly-updated guide to interesting products and services, big or small, that improve your quality of life, drawn from our correspondents around the world. Oh and this week sees a piece on the Frankfurt Motor Show, featuring some incredible footage of the stagecraft involved in selling a new car. Issue 06 of Monocle magazine might still be on newsstands, focusing on the notion of nations, in particular how nations new and old might reinvent themselves. Issue 07 fans out across the globe from this Thursday 27th September.

Pecha Kucha 07, Sydney
And finally, as they say on ITN, I'll be appearing at the next Pecha Kucha night here in Sydney. 27th September, 18.30, Mars Lounge, Surry Hills. Free entry! Lord knows what I'll be saying.
Facebook event | Pecha Kucha Volume 07 [Super Colossal] 

New Monocle; one Eye satisfied

Surfacing briefly to note a couple of things. Monocle issue 05 is out now; a double-issue for summer, focusing on improving the quality of life in cities.

I'm personally pleased as it's the first issue of the magazine that I've helped shape a bit, albeit no more than subtle nudges and suggestions here and there. I'm particularly proud that there's a fine article on security in cities by Jonathan Raban; we've been in touch since I reviewed a talk he gave at the LRB Bookshop a few years ago, and I'm a huge fan, as regular readers will know. I also suggested Charles Landry to write about the practical side of shaping cities, and contributed a few items for our 'top 25' urban design ideas. It's a cracking issue, I reckon, so get thee to a newsstand, or subscribe online. Well done to Andrew Tuck and the team.

Speaking of which, we produced a few related broadcasts at Monocle.com around this issue. First up, a short news report on the recent C40 convention in New York. The C40 is a kind of 'G8 for cities' and features most of the world's city bosses in one place. That in itself is an interesting thing - and lends credence to the 'global federalism/city states' ideas discussed here and elsewhere. Indeed, my future mayor, Sydney's Clover Moore, even mentions the city states thing in our film. This year, of course, the subject of the convention was climate change, and it's interesting to observe mayors articulate the role they see for their cities in affecting change globally.

Our other two videos are more illustration-led, featuring some of the gorgeous illustration you see in the magazine (some of which is actually drawn by a Japanese monk, but that's another story). We've a rendering of Monocle's 'Perfect High Street', which is a retail-led exploration of the urban precinct idea, and a great collection of urban design solutions, from the scale of park bench up to entire precincts, via wi-fi and trams.

We also have the sound of the Tokyo Airport Limousine Lady, having acquired the audio from the Airport Limousine bus service. I like this item, small as it is, as it complements our earlier Afghan radio piece - both are the sound of other places, presented without fanfare or unnecessary levels of context. They speak for themselves. Check our 'Premiere' programme brand for more. On that front, watch out for some amazing ident sequences from South Korean TV soon.

Thanks to our team of Gillian Dobias and Aleksander Solum in producing these pieces.

Back to the magazine, where Monocle drew up a list of the 20 most liveable cities in the world. London's not in, of course, but many of my favourite places are. The 'winning city' is Munich, followed by Copenhagen, Zürich, Tokyo, Vienna, Helsinki, Sydney, Stockholm, Honolulu, Madrid, Melbourne, Montreal, Barcelona, Kyoto, Vancouver, Auckland, Singapore, Hamburg, Paris and Geneva.

You may have seen some press about it. We tied up with the International Herald Tribune over this, with both print and online version of the IHT carrying Monocle articles and videos respectively (e.g.). I think that's quite a neat way of spreading the message, and it's worked well for both titles. It was the fruit of several day trips to their Paris offices in the last couple of months. Thanks to Nick Stout and the team there.

Finally, it was good to see Monocle in the latest Eye magazine, one of my favourite publications. In one article, Rick Poynor lays into the magazine (somewhat unfairly I think, but hey). Whereas Monocle.com gets a more positive write-up in a good article summarising a state of play in contemporary website design, with the majority of comments tending towards the positive. I'm pleased that Erik Spiekermann finds it "a clever Web equivalent of a magazine I haven't quite made up my mind about", and John O'Reilly enjoys the "genial content spread" (!) though finds "the design more forbidding in its horizontal logic" (?). Brendan Dawes doesn't appreciate it much though, saying "it looks like a straight export from Quark or InDesign files slapped on the Web." In response to that, I can only say that I wish it were that easy.

Most of all, though, I'm delighted with the comments from Anne Burdick and particularly Adrian Shaughnessy, a man whose opinion I trust. Burdick writes

"At the risk of sounding like an elitist, I find it immensely satisfying and refreshing to encounter a clear and intelligent editorial point of view online. Monocle's consistent quality runs throughout the design, the reporting, and the use of media. Whether or not the "international jet set" mentality suits your tastes, it is a well thought-out experiment in the relationship between print and Web, a kind of TV-print hybrid with text and videos perfectly suited in size and substance to Web viewing and reading."

Adrian Shaughnessy writes:

"If the aim of 21st-century publishing is summed up in the dreary phrase 'cross platform', then Monocle hits the target. But the magazine is eclipsed by the website, which is a triumph of confident and unclichéd design. It boasts broadcast quality video and audio, and functions as a genuine expansion of the magazine and not the usual online dumping ground."

While the idea isn't to "eclipse" anything as such - except lazy thinking elsewhere - many thanks to both for those comments in the Eye article. Shared kudos to the team of Richard Spencer Powell, Ken Leung, Maurus Fraser and Paul Finn working with me on that interface between magazine, web and broadcast. Ditto Rufus Leonard, our excellent developers.

It's funny for me, as I've been focused on the editorial side - commissioning and producing those pieces mentioned above - and simultaneously on the design and build of Monocle.com v2, which has just emerged, rather than the v1 they're referring to. (Hence my ability to deep-link to magazine articles above.) Either way, Shaughnessy and Burdick managed to nail exactly what we're trying to do with Monocle.com. What the next release tries to do is keep the best elements of the hastily-built v1 whilst extending it significantly, giving it a bespoke yet scalable architecture yet retaining its clarity. Stay tuned for more on this, and check out the new site in the meantime. Then it's straight into v2.5, which ties up some loose ends and extends the navigation with a few key aggregation points around place and keyword - and then v3, more programmes etc. But all via a few big life-changes first ...

Postopolis!: Michael Kubo

Note: This is a summary of a talk given at Postopolis!, taken in real-time, with minimal editing. Reader beware! Postopolis! was organised by BLDDBLOG, City of Sound, Inhabitat, Subtopia, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, and ran from May 29th-June 2nd 2007. Flickr group for photos here. YouTube videos uploaded here. All Postopolis! posts here.

Actar are architectural publishers based in Barcelona and New York. Michael Kubo works in the New York office, and explained how his firm is exploring the relationship between magazines, books and weblogs.

As some background, he notes that almost all people who work at Actar are trained as architects - so they're practising within the field of architecture. There are echoes here of previous architects who have communciated through magazines, as well as the more traditional communication of books and monographs e.g. Archigram et al.

When asked about weblogs, interestingly Kubo noted that magazines have posed more questions to their work. The Actar boogazine 'Verb' is something of a response to the issues raised by magazines. It has speed and frequency of a magazine, yet also the physical form and presence of a book. It also enables a series of graphic experiments, which in some way is freer than the traditional publishing cycle around books.

So blogs came second to magazines in terms of what Actar responded too. Kubo sees blogs as a kind of intensification of what magazines do. The key struggle is finding the balance between rapidity and depth/quality.

Personally, I don't see so much magazine in 'Verb', so I challenged Kubo on this. What characteristics would he point to in Verb, that spring from the DNA of magazines? He tends to call 'boogazine' a "serial publication", rather than a book or a magazine, and that in some sense is a nod to this magazine format. Likewise, there's a freedom in the production – in terms of the relationship between graphics, illustration, photography etc – that's drawn from the magazine editorial process that many of the Actar staff had previously worked on in Catalonia. It also has an editorial team working across it, as if it were a magazine, rather than a more traditional book publishing process.

He saw that 'Verb' wasn't just an editorial line, but more like "a constellation", which could "sort of throw off other books" e..g. the Verb monographs etc.

There is some talk of Archigram, and communicating architecture through books and magazines. Some of those 60s and 70s experimental magazines – as seen in the recent Clip/Stamp/Fold exhibition – were in a sense going for an aesthetic of cheapness and anti-slickness as a reaction against the increasingly sophisticated media landscape emerging at the time. Kubo notes that the show didn't depict the context of other normative architecture magazines at the time, which was an oversight as it was a large part of what that scene was reacting against. Kubo suggests that books are working in an opposite moment, where everyone uses the same software which always leads to increasing sophistication and complexity. And books therefore have to work with that. As you can do much more complex things, for the same amount of effort, you have to take advantage of that.

Geoff characterised the publishing cycle of blogs as "fast, cheap and out-of-control", and Kubo notes that publishers don't operate within those constraints. Sometimes on purpose, and sometimes because of inherent constraints. Books are different. They have a second life, which is much longer than blog posts. They are referenced 50 years ago. It remains to be seen whether blogs develop that resonance. Essentially, there's a notion that books have more lasting resonance and value, and blogs are a quick cheap thrill. Personally, I think there's something in this, in the main, but there are some blogs which will be referenced for years, just as those magazines in Clip/Stamp/Fold remain influential. It remains to be seen for how long, as the scene is so new.

One of the questioners notes that blogs don't exercise the senses other than sight; don't have the physical resonance of books, which in some way means they have less value. Interesting, and again I think there's something in this. Another questioner notes the structural qualities of magazines i.e. the navigable modular components and units and suggests it would be interesting to see blogs might take that on. Jill's Inhabitat blog has Prefab Friday, which has this sense of periodical feature, for instance, but also interesting to note that Inhabitat has a team of writers and an editor to help enable that.