Technology in Architectural Practice

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What to do with Old Magazines?

  • 1.  What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-21-2015 09:43 AM
    In the process of moving to a new office I am clearing most of paper drawings, cataloges, samples, etc.
    I can't bring myself to chuck years of Architectural Record, PA, and so on, 
    Looking for some words of wisdom, Anybody?

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    Dov Hadas AIA
    Architect/President
    Studio Hadas
    Oceanside NY
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  • 2.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-22-2015 05:35 PM
    In my area, the local library will take them and digitize those copies that aren't in their collection. Consider the local historic society and on occasion the school libraries can use them.

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    Tak Louie AIA
    Project Manager, Sustainable Services
    Antunovich Associates
    Oak Park IL
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  • 3.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-22-2015 05:56 PM

    I have always had the fantasy that my local library would like to have them.  Couldn't hurt to ask.  Maybe an architecture library somewhere would take them.
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    Ralph Olivier AIA
    Principal
    Ralph A. Olivier AIA
    Landenberg PA
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  • 4.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-22-2015 06:06 PM
    Hi Dov;

    I'd been collecting The Magazines since the 70s, and finally chucked them all after moving the house and office twice in two years. The back and knees just weren't as enthusiastic about dead-lifting those massive little boxes, which kept multiplying.

    Ninety percent of those magazines consist of adds, which are sometimes valuable but mostly dreck.

    If you have the space and don't plan on moving, I say collect away; if you are forced to run a lean, mobile operation, advise losing the mags.

    But don't toss them in the trash - donate them to your favorite library.

    Good luck!

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    Dennis Glynn AIA
    Principal
    Dennis Glynn Architects, Inc.
    Honolulu HI
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  • 5.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-22-2015 06:27 PM
    Hi Dov
    When I moved my office about 7 years ago, I had decades worth of material to consider - magazines, walls covered with framed project photos, another wall covered with notes/accolades/clippings; and many file cabinets filled with painstakingly cataloged articles, clippings and so forth (dating back to long before the days of internet ready access to information).  

    I tossed all the mags on the theory that anything in there would probably be found on line.  

    I also decided to NOT rehang decades worth of framed old project photos but could not bear to simply throw that away.  I pondered what to do and came up with a rather curious solution.  I decided to put my 'old' work in the toilet'.  Literally.

    I had a very high ceiling and large toilet room in my new office that was as blank a canvas as any.  Having determined that the old work was 'baggage' that I did not want to be defined by, but too precious to toss, I completely covered all the walls of that room with it, from top to 12 foot ceiling.  

    Being president of my local AIA component at the time, I wrote a short piece titled 'My Work is In the Toilet' .  It was illustrated with a photo taking from an ants eye view (very wide angle) of the walls densely hung with framed projects; in the foreground on the edge was a white object - barely recognizable as a toilet fixture profile.  

    Measured by 'click throughs' this became the most highly posting ever by my local component, perhaps a reflection of curiousity about how an AIA Chapter president might want to 'shout out' that his work was 'in the toilet' LOL.  

    Cheers and good luck

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    Michael Malinowski AIA
    AIACC President Elect
    Applied Architecture, Inc.
    Sacramento CA
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  • 6.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-26-2015 02:25 PM
    Michael:

    Great response!

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    Andy Caldwell AIA
    Sr Architect
    Shalom Baranes Associates
    Washington DC
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    "Being president of my local AIA component at the time, I wrote a short piece titled 'My Work is In the Toilet' .  It was illustrated with a photo taking from an ants eye view (very wide angle) of the walls densely hung with framed projects; in the foreground on the edge was a white object - barely recognizable as a toilet fixture profile.  "




  • 7.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-22-2015 07:32 PM
    Having all those magazines on your shelf makes you feel like you COULD read all that accumulated wisdom, if you wanted to, doesn't it? But face it, if you haven't by now, you probably won't ever. (Someone else is not likely to, either.) The value of an article written in a 1997 issue of AR probably isn't going to justify the psychic burden of keeping it around. Recycle it all. Personally, I'm not sure I would shift the burden on the library to deal with what you weren't willing to do in the first place. I haven't looked at an AR in years, and I've lived to tell about it.

    If you want to feel better, get a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner and a copy of Evernote Premium. Sit down with a sharp Xacto knife and quickly cut out articles that might interest you in the future. You can probably cut and scan everything you'd ever likely need to refer to in a long weekend afternoon or two, and it will be searchable. Then recycle it all.

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    Richard Morrison
    Architect-Interior Designer
    Redwood City CA
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  • 8.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-23-2015 08:50 AM
    Start spreading the word. When I go to a doctors office, or any waiting room, I take an old architectural magazine. I look at it while waiting then leave it behind for others to see and become more aware of our profession. It does not hurt to leave my address on the publication.

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    Richard Linderman AIA
    Principal
    The Linderman Group Architects, Inc.
    Media PA
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  • 9.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-26-2015 06:52 AM
    Finally - 500 magazines later ... a great suggestion.

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    Philip Kabza AIA
    Partner
    SpecGuy Specifications Consultants
    Mount Dora FL
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  • 10.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-23-2015 04:50 PM
    If your local chapter has a library, perhaps they would be interested. We have a local museum that took a donation from a patron who was an architect that consisted of his entire library. Books and magazines both. Depending on the age of the ones in question, a local institution may be interested. Or perhaps a technical school that offers Associates Degree level training would welcome such a collection. Check with your collegiate alma mater as well.

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    Dan Wyckoff AIA
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  • 11.  RE: What to do with Old Magazines?

    Posted 05-25-2015 05:32 PM
    To all responders,
    Thank you all, great ideas, I'm glad to see I'm not that crazy,


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    Dov Hadas AIA
    Architect/President
    Studio Hadas
    Oceanside NY
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