In the world of consumer publications, cosmetic tweakings are common; with professional journals, preening is largely beside the point of discourse. The dramatic makeover of Architecture California that premiers with this issue, then, was commissioned after much deliberation. The reality was that without a new format and broader scope, the journal would cease to publish.
Survivability has never looked so good. arcCA is a graphically crisp quarterly designed at once to thrive in the marketplace and wholly retain the sensibility and heft of Architecture California. The new publisher, McGraw-Hill, has provided the green energy: with advertising, arcCA is self-sustaining. Most important, there has been no compromising autonomy. Editorial control remains with the AIACC Editorial Board. The voice, as ever, is yours.
From its 1981 inception the journal evolved onto a singularly thoughtful publication that reflected the era as well as the exigencies of the membership and Council. Commercial viability means that it remains—through a committed publishing schedule and attracting the highest-level editorial content—the one vital forum on issues of architectural practice in California.
No reversal of the earth’s poles, the transition to arcCA has been satisfying and smooth. Now we set about engaging the future: selected newsstand placement, cyberspace presence, expanded reach within and outside the profession. It’s a move both exhilarating and obvious. It’s time.
Therese Bissell, editor
Illustration by Bob Aufuldish.
Originally published in early 2000, in arcCA 00.1, “Zoning Time.”
