Pli #3
There’s a long tradition of magazines and zines about contemporary architecture, but bilingual journal Pli goes a step further by focussing on the intersection between architecture and publishing. Our latest page 23 comes form this new, third issue of the book-ish annual magazine.
Published from Paris by a group of print-loving architects, Pli is a beautifully conceived, book-ish publication that takes a theme (and a single colour) each issue – this one looks at potential conflict between its two disciplines. It is not a hopeless list of complaint, however; the editors promise, ‘To give an account of the positive aspects of conflict (that) allows for the resolution of problems.’
The natural connections between architecture and editorial design are many and the design of page 23 is typical of the magazine and the way it expresses this similarity. The opening page of an essay, the design uses the grid structure, titling hierarchy and page furniture used throughout the issue. All content is tightly reined in by this underlying structure in a manner that echoes the control architects apply to grand projects. If this means the introduction text suffers some awkward linebreaks, so be it. There’s a system at stake!
Seriously, though, I enjoy this kind of typographic structure. I like the way the system is slightly quirky yet resolutely consistent.
Design: Jean-Baptiste Parré.
Founder and Head of Publication: Christopher Dessus,
Editorial and Communication: Adrien Rapin,