Architecture facing the global events we are witnessing cannot remain neutral. Climate change, pollution, gentrification, reprivatization, residents’ rights, or homelessness should be architecture’s concerns. The Architecture Snob magazine emerged out of a need to discuss modern architecture and reality from diverse, critical perspectives. The purpose of the magazine is to promote best practices and role models and to educate society about the importance of architecture in life.
Cross-border/international
Poland
Spain
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Poland - abroad, all cities
Spain - Barcelona
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
As an individual
First name: Marcin Last name: Szczelina Gender: Male Nationality: Poland Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: ul. Meksykanska 8/108 Town: Warsaw Postal code: 03-948 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48730772772 E-mail:marcin@archisnob.com Website:http://archisnob.com
URL:http://archisnob.com Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #architecturesnob #archisnob
A magazine devoted to architecture in a functional approach. Its message is #architecturematters – the belief that the space and objects that surround us have a direct impact on the quality of life. The magazine collaborates with outstanding critics and curators of architecture and design and is a partner of prestigious events in the country and around the world.
So far, the Architecture Snob magazine has released 4 printed issues. Each of them offers a coherent story about the role of architecture from a specific angle (like Hope, Education, and Distance) – not only in the context of an individual but also in entire communities. In the magazine, we discuss topics related to the homelessness crisis, climate catastrophe, accessible and universal design, and the need for architectural education from an early age.
The editor-in-chief of the magazine is Marcin Szczelina, a critic and curator of architecture, and an expert on the European Mies van der Rohe Award. – Together we want to look for hope for the future in the era of the climate crisis and try to put in order the reality that surrounds us, full of inequalities, also in terms of access to architecture – emphasizes Szczelina.
The international premiere of the Architecture Snob magazine took place in August 2021 at the Fundació Mies van der Rohe Pavilion. The event in Barcelona was the first in a series of foreign presentations during which we present the most interesting issues in contemporary architecture and promote the best Polish projects of recent years. That's why the magazine is bilingual.
Architectural education
Promotion of Polish architecture abroad
Networking architecture professionals
Counteracting the climate catastrophe
Counteracting architectural exclusion
For the Architecture Snob the ecology and sustainable development are among the most important issues in contemporary architecture. We wanted to minimize our environmental footprint also when printing the magazine.
The entire volume was printed in the Akapit printing house, which is ISO 9001 certified in the field of “Printing and publishing services”. This certificate confirms that an uncompromising quality management system has been introduced for all production process stages. The printing house has, among others, its own water treatment plant, which minimizes the consumption of household and production chemicals needed for water softening, and the use of paints with higher PVC allows for lower overall consumption of paints. Instead, we use a CORE UNCOATED paper, characterized by high dimensional stability, excellent printing properties and printability. This raw material has all the leading certificates including ISO9001, ISO14001, OHSAS18001, FSC, PEFC and ECF.
Architecture Snob was the only publishing house in 2022 to be included in the report “Responsible Business in Poland. Good Practices”.
From the very beginning, we wanted the magazine not only to raise important issues in the context of architectural education, but also to function as a high-quality product. The Architecture Snob introduces in-depth insights in accessible language, which is understandable for everybody, not only for architecture professionals. We discuss issues through setting positive examples of how to deal with them.
The quality of text goes in pair with the quality of design and photography. The graphic design of the first issue was created by the UNIFORMA design studio which specializes in designing visual identifications. In the following issues, we started cooperation with ONTO Studio, which specializes in universal design. On the initiative of this studio, we have introduced accessible typography that is as legible as possible.
Most of the photos we use in the magazine are shot exclusively for the Architecture Snob. We put a lot of effort into delivering a product which can function as a well designed book with contents that won’t outdate soon.
Architecture Snob magazine was nominated in 2021 in the Polish Graphic Design Awards in the Magazines category.
The magazine is printed in an accessible, legible font. The cost of the issue is less than 5 EUR, which makes it affordable for readers, and is one of the cheapest quarterly magazines in Poland. We also provide a lot of free content on the online platform.
As for the content of the magazine, we put a lot of work into sustaining gender balance among our guests and authors. We platform for women to speak about issues of sexism and gender inequalities in architectural professions and in architecture studies. We work towards shifting the view of architecture as a predominantly male occupation. We raise awareness of how various identity factors can affect the way we perceive, navigate, and create households, streets, and private and public spaces. We discuss factors of homelessness, age, or class in relation to architecture. We are also probably the only Polish architecture magazine that openly discusses issues of the LGBTQ+ community.
The Architecture Snob magazine is not only a printed periodical but also a networking platform for the community of Polish and worldwide architects. The premiere of each issue is based on the live exchange of experiences and cooperation in education in the context of good architectural practices. One of our goals is also to meet professionals from various fields and meet their different perspectives on architecture life and on paper. We hope to produce fresh and usable knowledge to work towards sustainable, environmentally- and user-friendly architecture.
As a platform, Architecture Snob is also involved in charity work. As part of the "Architects play for the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity" campaign, they support the community of architects to help a leading Polish foundation, which consists in raising funds for the most modern life-saving equipment for public hospitals. During the four editions of the action, architectural auctions were organized, which raised a total of over PLN 300,000 to support a foundation.
In creating the magazine, we cooperate with leading architects from Poland and worldwide. This is evident in the interviews opening the issues. So far, the following people have appeared in them:
Joseph Rykwert – one of the most eminent architectural historians and theorist in the world. Using various perspectives to shed light on architecture, including anthropology, philosophy, and even religious studies, Rykwert created an innovative body of work that is essential to contemporary architecture criticism and theory.
Ewa Kuryłowicz – an architecture visionary distinguished by a complete devotion to the diffusion of the idea of universal designing.
Deadline Architects – in addition to architectural design, they are involved in urban activism and art.
Fernando Menis – a Spanish architect, a professor at the European University of the Canary Islands, whose work remains intriguing for many decades now.
XYstudio – a Warsaw-based architectural studio. It specializes in public utility buildings, mainly care and educational facilities - nurseries, kindergartens, schools.
When creating the magazine, we collaborate with experts from various fields – mainly with architects and interior designers from Poland and worldwide, but also with academics, fashion designers, ecologists, and artists. By dedicating a lot of space for interviews, we create a new discourse on architecture in Poland – which is sensitive, responsible, and empathetic. The conversations bring the greatest educational value, offering different angles and perspectives on architecture.
The project itself is the result of the cooperation of the design studio with the editorial team and a group of photographers who create original, high-quality sessions. The result of such cooperation is a magazine whose content stands the test of time. They take up universal topics that are important in the long term. Also, the visual side takes up a story that does not become outdated.
Architecture Snob is an example of a high-quality periodical, which as an object is an example of functional design. Architecture functions here in broad contexts of various fields – from fashion and design, through social sciences, to ecology.
The added value of this process is definitely the community that is growing around it.
The innovations that distinguish us on the Polish market are:
– fully ecological print,
– creating a committed community of empathic and ecological design enthusiasts,
– networking people from different communities – users of architecture with its creators,
– interdisciplinarity and looking at architecture through the prism of other arts.
Popularization of architectural education includes, among others, presence in public spaces practiced by the Architecture Snob magazine. We care about circularity in all possible fields – not only in the printing of the magazine itself, but also in the design of exhibition stands in cooperation with innovative Polish design offices.
For example, during Warsaw Home & Contract, Architecture Snob magazine collaborated on the creation of a trade fair stand with the VANK company and the Mili Młodzi Ludzie studio. As a result of the cooperation, the VANK_WALL_3_GRAPHIC_LIGHT acoustic box was created with rPET non-woven fabric applied to acoustic panels and the cover of the first issue of Architecture Snob illuminated with LED. Inside, smooth panels also made of rPET non-woven fabric (consumer waste - PET bottles) covered with acoustic SONUS fabric. Wooden structure - made of a renewable raw material that absorbs CO2 growth in the long term.
After the fair, the facility was intended for use in Warsaw, Hala Koszyki, by the Julian Cochran Foundation, which organizes classical music concerts there and supports young artists. VANK's characteristic product – an acoustic box fits in with thinking about sustainable architecture. The idea of movable, easy to assemble and disassemble VANK facilities increases the possibilities of using the work space after changing the location of the company. Thus, it minimizes construction waste after modernization of buildings and investments in fit-outs of new office spaces.
Our main approach is to stay in constant conversation – that’s why we dedicate a lot of space to interviews. We believe only through thinking together and sharing perspectives we can build a better, more equal and sustainable future.
Alexandra Lange, an art critic, in her book Writing About Architecture wrote that „Buildings are everywhere, large and small, ugly and beautiful, ambitious and dumb. We walk among them and live inside them but are largely passive dwellers in cities or towers, houses, open spaces, and shops we had no hand in creating.” Architecture Snob magazine wants to change it. Its leading motto is „Architecture Matters”. Our ambition is to make the importance of architecture discussed not only in the closed circle of a handful of architecture lovers. We want to talk about the space we live in with all the users.
Sam Lubell, a writer and journalist of the New York Architect’s Newspaper called for restoring criticality to architecture: „Architecture is not art in gallery. Along with landscape architecture and urban design, it is a public profession. It is for the public, not despite them. We need to empower more informed voices to keep it that way.” We need well designed cities and spaces; we need responsible construction - thoughtful, durable and respecting the environment. The execution of these tasks is not only the architects’ job, which is why Architecture Snob is meant to be a space for everyone who considers architecture important.
By spreading the best architectural practices, we try to educate the entire architecture community about the role of design that takes into account the specificity of the times we live in.
We live in times of many challenges for architecture. Design cannot exist in isolation from what is happening in the world. It must look at buildings in a broad time span and find ways to realistically reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere – both during construction and later use of the facility. The specter of a climate catastrophe is also more and more frequent migrations and the need to reformat thinking about architecture – so that it finds realistically supportive answers to the deepening housing crisis.
By giving the medium to experts' statements, we encourage good practices that have the potential to minimize the negative human impact on the natural environment and the socio-economic situation. By presenting the best examples of local sustainable architecture we turn people’s eyes towards possible futures that are already there.
Architecture Snob is a magazine focused on continuous development and promotion of good practices brought by Polish architecture in the international community. The 4 issues of the quarterly magazine reached about 18 000 readers. The online platform is visited by circa 20 000 people monthly. We have 17 000 followers on Facebook and 3 500 on Instagram.
We organized and co-organized a few national and international events, among which there was the magazine premiere combined with the symposium on Polish architecture at the Fundació Mies van der Rohe Pavilion and 4 new issues launching networking events.
In addition to regular quarterlies, in 2023 there will be 2 special issues, fully dedicated to Polish architectural studios. The first of them is the APA Wojciechowski. We deliberately choose it first because it is recognized as a design studio that deals mainly with commercial architecture, and investments in it (even in times of galloping inflation) are significant. The APA Wojciechowski team shows in all fields of its activity that in this area you can not only design in accordance with the art, but also demand more from yourself and investors. To create objects that go beyond the schemes and are friendly – for people, urban tissue and the environment. Know that certificates that are easy to obtain will not solve any of the pressing problems of the modern world.
We contribute to developing new competencies also by discussing the topic of sustainability and providing tools, examples, and best practices around it – not only in theory but also in practice (like creating a sustainable, zero-waste stand at the Warsaw Home fair). The magazine itself is produced with sustainability values described in other answers. We provide information on how it is printed in every issue, giving a living, transparent example of sustainable release.
Warsaw Home Fair - design fairs.
We believe that products should be designed and made with the goal of reducing the consumption of raw materials. For Architecture Snob ecology and sustainable development are among the most important issues in contemporary architecture. We also took care of minimizing our impact on the natural environment in the production of the stand.
