A new magazine about architecture is being created

The former editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Architekt Jiří Horský is launching a new magazine about architecture. The first issue of the periodical titled Architektura is set to be released in the fall. Horský told ČTK that he will stop leading Architekt from July, with his current team transitioning to the new project. Architekt was developed over five years in the company J.H. & Archys, which had a time-limited agreement with the Architects' Association. This agreement expired this month, and the Architects' Association wants to continue publishing the magazine on its own. The editorial board of the magazine Architekt wrote an open letter in April expressing its concerns about the future of the periodical. Board members were worried that the Architects' Association's emphasis on the commercial success of the magazine jeopardizes its professionalism and independence, and demanded that revenues from business activities remain within the magazine. The Architects' Association defended itself at the time, asserting that demands for the magazine's economic success do not have to lead to a compromise in quality. The association claims that the magazine Architekt is “an important, but not the only means of fulfilling its goals.” However, it acknowledges that it is one of the few means that “ensures and will ensure revenue to fulfill these goals set by its statutes.” A recent proposal from J.H. & Archys to split the agenda into a professional part, which would be handled by J.H. & Archys, and an economic-operational part, managed by the Architects' Association, was rejected by the association, Horský said.