this issue of dwell magazine has been devoured already. this has been my favorite magazine for a year or two now; it's like crack cocaine for the design-addicted. i compulsively page through an issue every time i find myself in a store that carries it, but i couldn't always justify purchasing one every single month... it's just my take on magazines. my mom, however, happened to come across a subscription sign-up a little while ago and she's now receiving these babies in the mail. why i didn't shell out of the $19.95-a-year to do it myself is anyone's guess... but maybe next year i'll take over.
i'm totally enamoured with this magazine. i love the design, i love the simplicity, i love the down-to-earth writing about modern design that is often not down-to-earth at all, and i love the content -- they choose imaginative and fascinating designs and structures to show. i'm so happy this magazine exists.
this is worth a second post in one morning. i may not have mentioned this tiny, but very significant point before -- DWELL IS MY FAVORITE MAGAZINE. i'm a modern residential architecture nerd, and this magazine is a) edgy, b) lay-person and user-friend, and c) awesome! but the greatest news yet to come of my love affair with this periodical is that this past september they put out their first spinoff magazine -- make it yours is a diy-friendly version of their magazine, complete with archive photos and ways that you can make the look your own. that's the whole concept. simple, and rad. i saw it in milwaukee last month and passed it up, but now that i'm redecorating a place of my own, i found it again at lowe's this morning and snatched it up without a second glance. i've fallen hard for a magazine. how nerd is that.
i'd never heard of hugh ferriss before i read the september 2008 issue of dwell magazine. i could write an altogether separate post about how much i love dwell, and i probably will, so i'll save it for now. ;) i discovered hugh ferriss's draughtmanship in the archive section of the magazine, which is one of my favorite sections. i was blown away by the sharp contrast, the gotham-like quality of it all, like king kong could swing off any of the huge skyscrapers, or giant spotlights would careen over the angles of architecture that looked simultaneously sci-fi and stalinesque. his publication, the metropolis of tomorrow from 1986 (it coincided with an exhibit in new york city) foreshadows the cities of the future which, to me, look rather like... dubai.
john king put it right out there in dwell -- "in this age of computer imagery and photoshopped verisimilitude, it's hard to imagine a time when one of the nation's most provocative architectural theorists was an illustrator -- a man who never designed an actual building but instead crafted his visions in charcoal."
i'll also have to check out his tome power in buildings.
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went down to oshkosh's gallery walk. i like local gallery openings, even though it's rare that i find something that really gets me excited. a friend of mine had a small display in a space on main street and it was fun to see her stuff. plus, she's recently engaged! so, i feel i must emphasize my congrats to her for both the show and the engagement. :) woohoo!
