The Architectural Review is today launching AR On Site, a redesigned newsletter offering a richer and more direct way to keep up with what we publish. In each edition you’ll find the full introduction to a piece we’d like to highlight that week. Below this will be a mix of stories from the current issue, archive pieces that speak to the current moment, and online-only articles that won’t appear in print. In tone, we hope it feels closer to the daily editorial conversations we have within our editorial team, while retaining the rigour, design quality and breadth of coverage that define the magazine.
For subscribers to the magazine, AR On Site will be the best way to follow the AR and keep up to date with what we’re publishing, in and outside the print publication. For those who don’t yet subscribe, think of On Site as a trial: a demonstration of the best of what we do, in a product crafted by our editors with the same care and attention we put into our renowned print issues.
To place a renewed focus on our newsletters means also to shift some priority away from social media, which have become increasingly hostile places for publishers. This isn’t just about the recent political machinations at X and Meta. Ever more optimised recommendation algorithms and the prevalence of link throttling – where social platforms limit the reach of posts containing links to articles elsewhere – make for an adverse environment for the kind of thoughtful criticism the AR trades in. This is a magazine meant to be read, contended with and enjoyed – and we would like best to reach readers in an environment that supports these modes of engagement.
AR On Site replaces AR This Week and our other editorial newsletters, but AR Competitions remains unchanged. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the new look in this quick feedback form. You might also notice some changes on the AR’s website. These are aimed at bringing the website closer to the feeling of the print magazine, and allowing us to publish certain stories in different ways, as we did recently with Jan-Werner Müller’s Outrage published on the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
But we’ve started with a newsletter. Partly because, like a clandestine house extension, we could do it ourselves without the need for permits, planning permissions and consultants. And – to drop the metaphor – because it’s the most direct way for us to be in dialogue with our readers.
Reuben J Brown
Digital Editor
