After a year’s hiatus, AIA New York Chapter’s Oculus magazine has returned in its new incarnation as a four-color glossy quarterly. Its handsome, clean design by Pentagram, complemented by the journalistic hand of Editor-in-Chief Kristen Richards, offers an upbeat profile of the triumphantly phoenix-like profession and professionals of New York City’s unique architecture scene.

As New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger, Hon. AIA, pointed out at this year’s Accent on Architecture gala, “The age of Architecture is upon us.” The public’s interest peaked by Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and crescendoed with the task of rebuilding Ground Zero, where people have seen in a tangible way that they own the process of creating public architecture. They want to touch it, see it, discuss it—and read about it. What better time to re-launch an architecture magazine than now, and what better place than New York?

Architect inspired
Although Oculus’ potential for popular appeal is readily evident, it’s still an architect’s architecture magazine. The new design (Helvetica Light type!), easy navigation and clear organization, and the inspired array of articles show the caring and know-how of the architect team that makes up Oculus’ advisory committee. Noted architect and writer Stephen A. Kliment, FAIA, chairs the group, which includes AIA New York Chapter Executive Director Fredric M. Bell, FAIA; John M. Howell, AIA; Sandro Marpillero, AIA; Chapter Chair George H. Miller, FAIA; Margaret Sobieski Rietveld, AIA; and Robert Young, AIA.

Themed “History as prelude—historic preservation/adaptive reuse,” the inaugural issue offers a half dozen disparate cover stories on the topic, including “Subway Series: Transit Pride,” an informed look by Richard Staub at the never-ending process of renovating the Big Apple’s stations, some of which date back to 1890. Carl Hauser, AIA, and Bradley Richard of the Hillier Group contributed “Lever House: Inside Out,” explaining how the interiors renovation captures the design intent of the 51-year-old landmark, which captured a 2003 AIA Honor Award for its curtainwall replacement. Then there are the sharp-edges and well-turned phrases of David Sokol’s “When Good Restorations Go Bad.” It discusses two projects; yes, they are both in the city, and you have to read the magazine to find out what they are.

Good side dishes to the topical entrée, the departmental articles complement the theme. In this issue, Fred Bernstein’s “40-Year Watch” a feisty one-pager about Pier Luigi Nervi’s George Washington Bridge Bus Station, queries, “Is intercity bus travel so déclassé that Americans can’t take a bus terminal seriously?” Kliment contributes “Good Practices: Choose the Clients You Want to Work For.” And San Francisco Chronicle architecture critic John King offers “The Outside View: Take Heart, New York,” heartfelt admiration for the “caffeinated pace” of the New York spirit and the architecture that sustains it. All in all, the well-illustrated editorial is a lively mixture of informative and easy reads.

More to come
Does the return of print signal the end of electronic newsletters as a passing fad? Hardly. e-Oculus, the biweekly electronic newsletter, over its two-year lifespan has earned its keep as bearer of chapter news and messenger of urgent communications—notably in the aftermath of 9/11—and will continue as a workhorse teamed to its glossy new cousin.

Slated on the 2003 editorial calendar for the printed Oculus are:
• Summer: “Everything Manhattan [and Surrounds]
• Fall: New York as Global City—projects abroad, projects in the city for global clients, partnering with foreign firms
• Winter: Everything Housing—from shelters to luxury living.

It has been said that 9/11 made every American a New Yorker. The new Oculus may make us all hold onto that honorary status for a while longer.

—Stephanie Stubbs

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