Designer/builder: A Journal of the Human Environment

A Journal of the Human Environment, monthly magazine from Fine Additions, Inc., 2405 Maclovia Land, Santa Fe, NM 87505; 505/471-4549. Monthly, $28/year.

Designer/builder is a low-tech, black-and-white, large-format magazine with a sharply intellectual bent. It features environmental thinking and socially progressive ideas with an eclectic mix of articles that often open the reader to new perspectives on everything from home design to daily life. This wealth of ideas comes from the wide range of cultures, social classes, and historical eras from which the editors draw their material.

Recent issues have included photo essays on inner-city kids making spaces from whatever materials they could find, as well as accounts of the work of successful designers who are pushing the boundaries of traditional architectural practice. Interspersed with these profiles are concept pieces, such as an historical account of the turn-of-the-century movement promoting open-air sleeping porches, and examples from Europe for making accessible design features attractive.

Some of the copy and many of the ads are specific to the publication’s Santa Fe locale, but the publishers are also reaching out to a national audience. It’s not easy to do justice to

Designer/builder in a description—you would do well just to get a copy and see if it grabs you. Don’t rush it, though—there are no bright colors or sexy images here to jump out and draw you in. It might take some time to appreciate the subtle shades of gray in both the words and the pictures.