Change at the Helm of Dwell Magazine: Allison Arieff Resigns
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.24.06
Five years ago, one never found the words "modern" and "prefab" in the same sentence; then Allison Arieff and Bryan Burkhart wrote Prefab and suddenly people were paying attention. As editor of Dwell Magazine, Allison ran the competition for the first Dwell House, won by Resolution 4 Architects, that became an icon of the modern prefab movement. Allison and Dwell were at the cutting edge of sustainablilty and good green design, taking it mainstream and influencing architects and homebuyers across North America. She has had a profound influence, never deviating from her focus on promoting modern design, making sustainability sexy, and essentially creating the industry of modern prefab. We are in her debt.
Press Release from Dwell:
August 23, 2006, San Francisco, CA…Michela O’Connor Abrams, President and Publisher of Dwell, announced a staff reorganization at the San Francisco media company, effective today.
Managing Editor Ann Wilson Spradlin, will report directly to Ms. Abrams and will have responsibility for oversight and management of the Dwell edit and art team. Andrew Wagner and Sam Grawe, formerly Senior Editors at Dwell, have each been promoted to Executive Editor. Editor in Chief Allison Arieff has resigned, effective immediately.
“As the mission of the Dwell brand continues to be realized, we are putting in place the organization that supports our business model,” says O’Connor Abrams. “A number of platforms beyond the magazine have been part of the organizational plan for several years. We are maximizing our resources to support Dwell magazine, dwell.com, the Dwell on Design conference series, Dwell Homes by Empyrean and more.”
Not sure how to feel about the editorial staff of any publication reporting to the publisher...we just had a meltdown along these lines in Santa Barbara where nearly the entire edit staff of our daily paper resigned in opposition to a publisher-tainted newsroom. Keep a keen eye out for the effects this has upon objective journalism as a publisher is beholden to advertisers...