Hasta La Ideas

A North Africa issue from the newly-redesigned mag covering contemporary Middle Eastern culture

Dubai-based Brownbook Magazine celebrates the 22nd issue of their “urban guide to the Middle East” with a focus on North Africa—all done up in their recently-debuted redesign. The fresh look includes a new Arabic-inspired font that blends seamlessly with text (primarily in English) for a magazine with a style as worldly as the stories it features.

At three years in, the bimonthly publication’s content covers its home base and surrounding regions, resulting in a magazine with a focus similar to Bidoun’s but from a less indie perspective that has more in common with
Monocle. Organized into lifestyle, culture, travel and design sections, the magazine’s original photography and layout lends a contemporary feel to stories and interviews for a read that’s not quite like anything else. Highlights from the new issue include a profile of emerging French-Moroccan designer Younes Duret, an in-depth piece on the architects changing Tehran’s urban landscape, a look at A.P.C.‘s Jean Touitou’s experience of growing up Jewish in Tunisia, and a tour of Morocco by artist Hassan Hajjaj (whose work also graces the cover).

Check out previews of Brownbook’s main articles on its website, where you can also check out video shorts on skateboarding in Qatar or surfing in Yemen, and sign up for the magazine’s podcasts. A one-year subscription to the magazine can also be purchased online for $70.

pThe A HREF=”http://www.gasandairstudios.co.uk/about.html” Pallet Chair/A has a neat sort of Adirondacks-meets-warehouse aesthetic and comes in a Pantone-like variety of colors./p

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pEach chair is made from a single pallet, and in the sake of eco-friendliness the paint is chemical-free, and no further treatment is applied to the wood (which is hopefully splinter-free). By Wimbledon-based A HREF=”http://www.gasandairstudios.co.uk/” GasAir Studios/A./p

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Dezeen have got together with publishers Actar to offer our readers the chance to win one of five copies of RGB – Reviewing Graphics in Britain. (more…)

A grim subject, but of important architectural significance. Following decades of discussion and well over 1,000 deaths, a committee within the San Francisco area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission has approved some of the funds needed to build a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. A first step, through an early one for sure, as the Marian Independent Journal reports that the committee only agreed to include $5 million of the $45 million needed. The group will hunt for funding among private donors or through federal and state government channels. Once the money is available, the report continues, the large net will take roughly 18 months to install. Here’s a bit about its design:

The barrier plan calls for a net extending 20 feet below and 20 feet from the side of the span. The net would be made from stainless steel cable and would collapse slightly if someone jumped in, making it difficult to get out, bridge officials said.

…The district had also considered glass panels and fencing along the bridge walkways, but that was deemed to pose too much of an impact on aesthetics.

The Golden Gate has long been a specific draw for people wanting to commit suicide, so much so that a documentary about the subject, The Bridge, was made back in 2006.

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