TWO DECADES IS A LONG TIME to do just about anything. Today we announced that Architosh—an award-winning and highly influential online publication founded in 1999 in Boston—has turned two decades old this month.
Looking Back—The Original Mission
Within an established field of mostly print-based publications, Architosh.com launched on 13 February 1999, as a by-product of a Cambridge, Massachusetts, based one-man digital consultancy called BritasMedia (parts of the old website via Wayback Machine here.).
01 – In the early years teaching and 2D animation went together at focus activities for BritasMedia in Cambridge, along with website development, architecture and model-making services.
“I was a young architectural graduate who needed a break from the grind of architectural practice,” says site founder, Anthony Frausto-Robledo. “I was tremendously disenchanted with the toiling aspects of architectural practice and wanted to explore digital technologies to see how they could streamline practice. My interest was in having a more balanced life. I now know that technology alone isn’t going to provide that for people by itself; policy change is vital but technology still plays a massive role.”
Architosh.com was instantly praised for its scope, intentions, and timeliness. Focused on helping architects to continue practicing on the Mac platform, the site has slowly moved on from that orientation and today Architosh’s mission is simply stated:
Architosh’s mission is to empower its readers with leading-edge information on CAD/BIM/3D technologies across diverse industries.
The larger goal at Architosh has always been to help people master technologies in their CAD and 3D-based industries. This begins with education and awareness of what is possible.
Looking Ahead
“Looking forward, the original reason for mastering technology remains the same but two decades on the entire AEC industry has found little profound efficiency improvements,” adds Frausto-Robledo. “Therefore, more than ever before, the focus at Architosh is on illuminating the solution vectors among the broader technologies offered in the market.”
02 – Xpresso is the new monthly newsletter that will have a focus on emergent technologies (emTech) in CAD industries. Sign-up!.
Architosh will do this through a sharpening of its editorial calendar and larger engagement of experts as we drive towards ever higher levels of technology journalism. Located in the metro Boston area, Architosh will also utilize its geographical advantage to a much larger extent than in the past. New editorial products over the past two years are unfolding under the Architosh INSIDER brand.
INSIDER Xpresso
Architosh is launching a new monthly newsletter, on 3 March, called architosh INSIDER Xpresso. The focus is on (emTech) emergent technologies like AI, ML, robotics, computational design, accessible programming for designers (APFD), 3D printing, and smart cities technologies.
“The 2020s are going to be a transformative decade as Industry 4.0 technologies synergize and move through mass deployment,” says Frausto-Robledo. “Architosh’s specialized sub-brand publications like INSIDER Xpresso will drill down into the factors and technologies reshaping the CAD-based industries.”
INSIDER Reports
Launched in December of 2017, Architosh will continue developing its in-depth and “on-focus” special annual reports issues. “INSIDER Reports have a special place in the future of the publication,” says Frausto-Robledo, “as we learn to calibrate the demands of incremental timed publication with the goal of print-based versions in the future.”
03 – The covers of the first two annual issues of INSIDER Reports.
Each issue of INSIDER Reports focuses on either a company or a specific industry technology. The first issue was dedicated to GRAPHISOFT and its worldwide leadership in BIM technologies. The second issue, just recently published, focuses on the resurgence of (.dwg) native CAD technologies altering the AutoCAD competitive landscape.
Notes of Appreciation
Architosh is the product of more than just one person. The site has regular contributions by senior associate editors and other influential contributors and news editors (see masthead here).
“While this has been my labor of love for two decades, I am forever indebted to many site supporters, most importantly to senior editors Pete Evans, AIA, and Akiko Ashley,” adds Frausto-Robledo. “Pete Evans with his AIA TAP background and knowledge as an architect and faculty member at the Iowa State University College of Design has dramatically shaped Architosh over the years,” adds Frausto-Robledo. “Pete has been instrumental in traveling to conferences in the States and abroad for Architosh for many years now, always delivering razor-sharp analyses of events and technologies within the industry.”
“Akiko is the west coast editor, and along with her architect/VFX pro husband, Kevin Cahill, are deeply entrenched with the Hollywood VFX scene,” adds Frausto-Robledo. “Akiko is our knowledge domain expert in the VFX and animation market and her insights—particularly around Apple’s hardware—always challenge and surprise me.”
Architosh is also indebted to many returning corporate advertisers and sponsors, including companies like Autodesk, Graphisoft, IMSI, Vectorworks, OrthoGraph, and many others, whose patronage has made Architosh possible over the past 20 years.
“I owe a lot a people a big thank you and will be reaching out to folks personally in the weeks ahead,” says Frausto-Robledo.
Finally, we want to thank our readers who are supporting our work by subscribing to architosh INSIDER Membership. We have a special gift for our founder subscribers which we will reveal in a couple months time.
We look forward to serving our readers in the decade ahead.
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