About Architectural Record

Architectural Record

Architectural Record is an American monthly trade magazine covering architecture, design, projects, and industry news. Founded in 1891, it is one of the oldest architectural magazines in the United States and describes itself as the "#1 source for news and information about architecture and design." The editorial offices are located in Manhattan in the Empire State Building. Its official website is architecturalrecord.com.

Currently published by BNP Media, the magazine reaches more than 40,000 subscribers and nearly 160,000 unique monthly visitors to its website. It is also the largest provider of continuing education to architects, with over 150,000 AIA-accredited learning units earned each year. Its glossy, high-quality photographs of featured projects give the magazine a readership well beyond design professionals.

Publication at a Glance

Architectural Record is a monthly publication in English, based in New York, New York, serving architecture, engineering, and design professionals in the United States and worldwide. Coverage spans noteworthy and innovative building projects, architectural criticism, building technology, residential architecture, sustainability, architectural products, and the design profession. Its multi-platform portfolio includes the print magazine, the website, and AIA-accredited continuing-education offerings. The company behind the magazine is privately held BNP Media, employing between 51 and 200 people.

Founding in 1891

Architectural Record began publication in 1891 by Clinton W. Sweet, who also published the Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide (founded in 1868). Sweet and Frederick Warren Dodge soon formed a partnership. Dodge published an information service for builders and architects, originally in Boston and expanded to New York with the partnership. Together they established Sweet's Indexed Catalogue of Building Construction, a publication intended as a summary filing of manufacturers' catalogs.

As the magazine's own 2011 history series recounts, Sweet decided that 1891 was a good time to launch a quarterly periodical devoted to architecture because the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago was in the works and had stirred up public interest in its architecture. While the Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide was essentially a news publication centered on New York construction, Architectural Record had higher aspirations: it would emulate the small literary and art periodicals proliferating in the 19th century — the North American Review, Harper's Monthly, Putnam's Monthly, Crayon, The New Path, and Scribner's.

The First Editor: Henry W. Desmond

The founding editor was Henry (Harry) W. Desmond, a 28-year-old journalist who had been editing the New York weekly Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide. Born in 1863 in Kingstown, Ireland, Desmond had studied at the University of Dublin before visiting the United States in the 1880s and deciding to stay, taking on reporting jobs including ones with The New York Evening Post and The New York Times.

Desmond's inaugural editorial in the July 1891 issue expressed a disdain for America's cultural vulgarity and argued that architecture could have a transformative effect on society. "To amuse the public with Architecture obviously is out of the question," he declared, entering the field with what he called a "serious purpose." Though he fancied himself a literary figure and included poetry among articles on plumbing and Romanesque Revival architecture, Desmond made the magazine a force in criticism — fitting for a quarterly (it went monthly in 1902) modeled on literary journals.

The 1938 Merger

In March 1938, the periodical American Architect and Architecture, first published in 1876, was merged with Architectural Record. This combined the two oldest architectural magazines in the United States — a consolidation that cemented Record's position as the profession's leading journal.

Corporate Ownership Through the Decades

Sweet's Catalog and Architectural Record became part of the F. W. Dodge Corporation in 1912. McGraw Hill acquired F. W. Dodge in 1961. McGraw-Hill divested its McGraw-Hill Construction subsidiary — including Engineering News-Record, Architectural Record, Dodge, and Sweet's — to Symphony Technology Group for US$320 million on September 22, 2014. McGraw-Hill Construction was renamed Dodge Data & Analytics. On July 1, 2015, the magazine was sold to BNP Media, along with Engineering News-Record and SNAP, a bi-monthly print product associated with Sweet's.

Relationship with the AIA

Architectural Record once held a close relationship with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), serving as its magazine of record. That relationship continues through programs such as the AIA Continuing Education sections offered in the magazine and its website — indeed, the magazine is the largest provider of continuing education for architects. A previous editor-in-chief of the magazine, Robert Ivy, went on to become a long-term CEO of the AIA.

Editorial Content

The magazine covers noteworthy and innovative architectural projects in the United States and across the globe — recent features have included the David Geffen Galleries at LACMA and the New Museum expansion. Regular coverage areas include architectural criticism, architecture news, building technology, residential architecture, sustainability, AEC topics, architectural education, multifamily and interior architecture, and the design profession. Special issues spotlight building types such as colleges and universities and libraries.

Of particular note are the glossy, high-quality photographs of featured projects, which give the magazine wider readership outside of just those working in the design professions. The publication's editorial environment is pitched as the highest-quality in the industry, and its reach is described as extending beyond any other architecture publication for active architects in North America.

125th Anniversary

In 2016, Architectural Record marked its 125th year — "a longer run than almost any other brand in American publishing," as the magazine noted at the time, looking back on a rich legacy while continuing to cover the newest projects and latest design ideas and technology. Founded in 1891 as "the Magazine for Architects and all persons who take an intelligent interest in the design, the construction, and the embellishment of the buildings in which they live," the magazine has maintained that broad vision through 134 years of publication.

Reach and Industry Standing

The magazine's reach includes more than 40,000 subscribers and nearly 160,000 unique visitors per month to architecturalrecord.com. It is the largest provider of continuing education for architects, with over 150,000 AIA-accredited learning units earned annually. The magazine's LinkedIn presence — more than 72,000 followers — reflects its standing as the architecture publication with the broadest reach among active architects in North America, delivering what it calls "blanket market coverage of the most active architects designing and specifying for a wide range of building types, with extended exposure to owners and related professionals in the United States and worldwide."

Its multi-platform solutions make Record available wherever architects are — "in the office, on the road, at the job site, even at home." Throughout its 134 years, the award-winning publication has fostered readership among architecture, engineering, and design professionals by covering noteworthy and innovative projects in the United States and across the globe.

Official Website

The magazine's official website is https://www.architecturalrecord.com, carrying the latest news and information on architecture and design, product coverage, continuing-education courses, and digital editions. Subscriptions are available through the site. The "About Architectural Record" page summarizes its standing: founded in 1891, the #1 source for news and information about architecture and design, fostering readership among architecture, engineering, and design professionals throughout its award-winning history.