Date of Premiere Issue : October 2000
Publishers & Founder : Lara Hedberg
Editor-in-Chief : Karrie Jacobs
Creative Director : Jeanette Hodge
Dimensions : 10 3/4" x 9"
Frequency : 6 issues per year
Country of Origin : San Francisco, USA
Website : www.dwellmag.com
Contributed by : Nazarin Hamid
www.absenter.org
Statement
When asked why I would want to start a magazine, I am inevitably drawn to a memory of a warm afternoon in a History of Design class several years ago. On that day, it seemed as though I had seen thousands of slides of Victorians before I was suddenly jolted awake by the sight of Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House and introduced (finally)to the world of Modernism.
As I delved further into the ideas and philosophies behind Modernism, I was struck by how different this work was from any architecture that had preceded it. What was, and still is, most interesting to me is the way Modernism lends itself to new ideas and individual approaches. Instead of finding a style and adhering to its tenets, modern design allows you to grapple with your own ideas about how you want to live. Modern to me means being in our own day and age.
Don't we deserve our own movement? Many of the styles that are so replicated now were modern when they were developed. The architects were designing homes that best suited the circumstances of their own times. Somehow, times have changed but our houses haven't. Sure, there are economic and nostalgic reasons to build certain ways, but many people are finding they can address these concerns and have something that feels genuinely of this day.
I'm hoping this magazine will help foster a discussion that has already begun with architects. How can we best build our homes to respond to the cultural changes that take place? And, how do we do this is a way that fulfills our deep longing for home to be a place of meaning and beauty?
So, I welcome you to the first issue of dwell, a bimonthly publication that is the result of a long and thoroughly rewarding process that started in that muggy classroom. It is my sincere hope that, though we are not the Robie House, we might spark a similar sort of excitement for an architectural form well worth investigating. I encourage you to let me know what you think.
Thank you.
Lara Hedberg, lh@dwellmag.com