US Modernist is seeking a few old issues of Inform Magazine and Virginia Record to complete the publication archive. If you’ve been cleaning and purging like many of us, US Modernist is asking you to keep your eye out for the following issues:
1958: Issues 8 and 11 1959: Issues 4 and 9 1961: Issue 1 1963: Issues 8 and 12 1964: Issue 12 1965: Issue 7 1966: Issue 10 1967: Issues 7 through 12 1968-1975: all issues 1978: Issue 2 1980: Issues 6 and 7 1984: Issue 11 1986: Issues 1, 7 and 11 1988: Issues 9 and 11 1989: Issues 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 1990: Issues 1, 3, and 5 1991: Issues 5, 7, 9, and 11 1992: Issue 1 1993: Issue 1 1997: Issue 1 2002: Issue 4 2007: Issues 2 and 3 2009: Issue 4 2010: Issue 1
US Modernist will pay for shipping and you can rest assured that these old treasures will find a new life on the web – free and available to anyone! Contact George Smart to add your issues to the archive.
Inform Magazine launched on Earth Day with the Energy Issue and the Wellness Issue premieres soon.
We’re now seeking contributors for our Equity Issue.
Are you an expert in accessibility, universal design, or affordable housing? Do you have insights to share on equity, diversity, and inclusion in the profession or the built environment? What is the architect’s role in advancing social justice? Add to the discourse on these topics by becoming a contributor.
Articles should be between 300-1,000 words (depending on the topic) and may link to outside sources — including your firm or university website. Content may be edited for style and accuracy.
Content Guidelines
Our goal is to help highlight our members’ contributions to the built environment to each other and to the public, so it is ideal to highlight methods, research, and materials that elevate the overall understanding of a particular typology or approach.
We ask our contributors to avoid marketing or sales-oriented language (as well as “archi-speak”) in submitted pieces, however you are welcomed —even encouraged — to credit consultants or products that contributed to the overall success of the project.
We’d ask you to share images of your work or research. We prefer images to be at least 650 pixels wide and ask that you include any necessary image credits.
Let us know if you want to contribute by May 29. The content deadline is June 15. Questions? Contact Rhea George.
Inform Magazine celebrates Virginia’s rich culture of design and the diverse individuals who shape it.
“Architecture is to make us know and remember who we are.” ~ Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe
Over the last several months, I have highlighted some of the significant changes and transformations taking place within your professional society at the state level. For this issue, I turn my focus to Inform magazine, which is being completely refreshed.
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA
In fully considering the future of the magazine, we actually revisited and returned to the original publishing ideal, which so strongly called for a focus on reaching and educating a broad public audience. In order to realize this ambitious vision and shepherd the overall effort, we secured an expert in the field. M. Hunter Haglund has a long history of successfully evolving and curating mixed media. One of his recent success stories involves RVA Magazine, which in just ten years has redefined the region and now boasts one of the largest user bases of any independent media on the East Coast.
Though Hunter believes in the incredible potential of Inform as an outreach vehicle, he is also well aware of the immense challenge presented by grasping the future while embracing the past. It is for this and innumerable other reasons that we are being so careful and thoughtful about each step forward on what we hope to be a bright and prosperous path for all.
As you have likely already noticed, the first and second (spring and summer) issues were not printed this year. This was a tough decision, reached after much deliberation in order to better serve our advertisers, core stakeholders, and expanded audience. This choice was ultimately deemed necessary for unilateral improvements in the print version, web presence, and general infrastructure. It was the first hiatus (temporary or otherwise) in 25 consecutive years of publication. We were resolute about the importance of launching the next 25 years with our feet firmly planted in the future of 21st-century need fulfillment. It was simply not possible to continue obliging your interests without completely redefining how we serve tens of thousands of partners and readers.
Members of AIA Virginia will continue to receive the print version as a benefit of membership. Emphasis will center on subscriptions as well as placement in major book stores and retail shops. No longer will thousands of free copies of the magazine be distributed beyond the boundaries of the state; instead, careful consideration will be given to determine who receives strategic complimentary copies.
The Inform Awards program is also being enhanced with additional categories, increased relevance, and deliberate partnerships to better guarantee the well-deserved recognition of the finest in spatial design. Submission criteria, deadline(s), and nomination schedule(s) will be disseminated soon.
We know everyone will be better represented – if not inspired – by this much needed and exciting transformation. We’re truly devoted to curating each and every issue with care and attention, and we thank you for understanding that this takes time! Watch for your Directory first in late summer, followed by the magazine’s new web version, and then the gorgeous new print edition in mid-October …
Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA
Executive Vice President, AIA Virginia
To accommodate requests for a little more time to submit registrations for the 2013 Inform Awards, the deadline for registration is extended to March 15, 2013. In fairness to those who have already registered, the deadline for project submission is also extended to March 22. Both days fall on Fridays.
In other news, 2013 Inform Awards Jury Chair L. William Chapin, FAIA, has selected a jury. He will be joined in April by Graham Gund, FAIA; Susan Maxman, FAIA; Bing Thom, AIA, to select the projects highlighted this year in the categories of Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Object Design.
The Inform Awards recognize design excellence beyond the more strictly defined realm of whole-building design. Specifically they highlight LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR DESIGN, and OBJECT DESIGN.
The Inform Awards are open to anyone in the Inform magazine primary circulation area (Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and the District of Columbia). The program recognizes the work of architects, interior designers, landscape architects, furniture designers, industrial designers, students, faculty, and clients.
Position your award-worthy talents for publication in Inform and in news releases to Mid-Atlantic publications and get your work before the eyes of your clients, potential clients, colleagues, and the public.
Entrants must have a business address in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, or North Carolina, and submitted work must have been completed after January 1, 2008. For members of the Virginia Society AIA, there is a special entry-fee discount.
Award winners in both the Honor and Merit categories will be featured in a special section of Inform magazine and announced to the public. The registration deadline is now March 15, 2013, and you can enter online or via email, fax, or mail using the PDF registration form.
The Inform Awards fee structure for 2013 is $135 per project for members of the Virginia Society AIA, and $175 per project for entrants who are not members of the Virginia Society AIA. Note that the fees are due upon registration, non-refundable, and non-transferable.
As a clarification, the Object Design category covers furniture, appliances, fixtures, and building components and systems, as opposed to full-building design. For more details, click on one of the registration links above.
Douglas E. Gordon, Hon. AIA, has been named Editor-in-Chief of Inform Magazine.
Former Executive Editor of AIArchitect, Douglas E. Gordon, Hon. AIA, has been named Editor-in-Chief of Inform Magazine.
A life-long resident of Virginia — including Fairfax, Montgomery, Alexandria, and Stafford counties — and a career-long writer and editor of architectural publications, Gordon brings a depth and breadth of understanding and appreciation to drive Inform and readinform.com forward in this rapidly unfolding century. He was at the vanguard of the AIA national component’s effort in Managing Rapid Change during the construction slowdown in the 1990s and its shift to electronic communications in 2000. With a specialization in architectural practice and technology and deep appreciation of the value architects contribute to aesthetic delight, health, safety, welfare, context, and sustainability, he is poised, willing, and eager to help reinvigorate the profession’s leadership role in the eyes of fellow professionals and the public.
In making this appointment, Inform publisher and the Virginia Society AIA’s CEO John Braymer noted that “Doug Gordon is exactly what Inform needs as we move forward in our third decade of publication—a long history with the profession, a keen sense of the peculiar challenges facing design and designers in a poor post-recession economy, a special insight into Virginia, and versatility in print and online communications.” Gordon’s appointment is effective immediately as he prepares the final issues in 2011.
Inform magazine and readinform.com are published by the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects. Inform magazine launched in 1990 to be a source and guide to those who are responsible for making architecture happen—clients, public officials, and design professionals. The magazine strives to create an opportunity for the public and design professionals to find a common ground in the practice and production of this region’s architectural culture.
