''Architectural Design'', also known as ''AD'', is a UK-based architectural journal first launched in 1930 as ''Architectural Design and Construction''. The journal is currently published by

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, ...

, and has been edited by Helen Castle since 2001.

History

In its early days, the journal was more concerned with the British architectural scene, but it gradually became more international in scope. In 1946 Monica Pidgeon became editor and developed the magazine under the ownership of Standard Catalogue Company. Contributors during the 1960s included

Theo Crosby Theo Crosby (3 April 1925 – 12 September 1994) was an architect, editor, writer and sculptor, engaged with major developments in design across four decades. He was also an early vocal critic of modern urbanism. He is best remembered as a found ...

and

Kenneth Frampton Kenneth Brian Frampton (born 20 November 1930) is a British architect, critic and historian. He is the Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York. He has b ...

. Over time, the journal moved away from news coverage towards theme-based issues. During the late 1970s and 1980s it was a bastion of Postmodernism, with frequent articles and special editions guest-edited by

Charles Jencks Charles Alexander Jencks (21 June 1939 – 13 October 2019) was an American cultural theorist, landscape designer, architectural historian, and co-founder of the Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres. He published over thirty books and became famous i ...

, the theoretical father of postmodern architecture. At that time the journal was the mouthpiece of the publishers Academy Editions (marketed in the USA under St. Martins Press), based in Leinster Gardens,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(they also had their own bookstore), and they published very many well-known titles concerned with postmodernism. The long-standing Editor-in-Chief, until the mid-1980s, was

Andreas Papadakis Andreas Constantine Papadakis FLS (17 June 1938 – 10 June 2008) was a Cypriot-born British academic, entrepreneur and leading figure in the field of architectural publishing. He opened the Academy Bookshop in Holland Street, Kensington, in 196 ...

. The content of the journal is seen during the latter half of its history as running parallel with the cutting edge of avant-gardism, promoting innovation as well as celebrity status – ' stararchitects'. Thus, at the height of Postmodernism in the late 1970s – when it often featured the works of

Michael Graves Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Gr ...

, Robert Stern,

Leon Krier Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, James Stirling, Robert Krier and Aldo Rossi – it also published Rem Koolhaas's later influential book ''

Delirious New York ''Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan'' is a 1978 book, written by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. The book serves as a ''retroactive manifesto'' for Manhattan between 1850 and 1960, analyzing the development of architecture a ...

'' (1979). An undercurrent to Postmodernism featured in the journal was that of "architecture without a style", a vernacular classical architecture, epitomised by the work of Quinlan Terry,

Demetri Porphyrios Demetri Porphyrios ( el, Δημήτρης Πορφυρίου; born 1949) is a Greek architect and author who practices architecture in London as principal of the firm Porphyrios Associates. In addition to his architectural practice and writing, ...

and John Simpson. The journal went partly into decline with the demise of postmodernism, though it then shifted its coverage towards

Deconstructivism Deconstructivism is a movement of postmodern architecture which appeared in the 1980s. It gives the impression of the fragmentation of the constructed building, commonly characterised by an absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry. ...

, folding in architecture, 'blob' architecture, biomorphism, and digital architecture. The shift in emphasis can be pinpointed to a single edition of the journal, devoted to the two polar positions at that time: "Peter Eisenman versus Leon Krier: 'My ideology is better than yours.'" ('Architectural Design', 9-10/1989). The current avant-gardist interest of the journal in biomorphism is a return to issues the journal was covering in the 1960s and 1970s, before posism, with the architecture of

Archigram Archigram was an avant-garde architectural group formed in the 1960s ⁠that was neofuturistic, anti-heroic and pro-consumerist, drawing inspiration from technology in order to create a new reality that was solely expressed through hypothetical ...

Cedric Price Cedric Price FRIBA (11 September 1934 – 10 August 2003) was an English architect and influential teacher and writer on architecture. The son of an architect (A.G. Price, who worked with Harry Weedon), Price was born in Stone, Staffordshire ...

and the thinking of

Reyner Banham Peter Reyner Banham Hon. FRIBA (2 March 1922 – 19 March 1988) was an English architectural critic and writer best known for his theoretical treatise ''Theory and Design in the First Machine Age'' (1960) and for his 1971 book ''Los Angeles: Th ...

. The publication became part of John Wiley & Sons in 1997 when it acquired AD's German publisher VCH who had acquired the title from Andreas Papadakis' Academy Editions in 1991.

References

External links

*
''Architectural Design'' website
{{Authority control Architecture magazines Architectural design Science and technology magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1930 Bi-monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom