New month, new magazine: October 1st saw the launch of an exciting new New York-based architecture magazine, CLOG. Set to publish thrice annually, each issue tackles a specific subject—the premiere issue examines (and cross-examines) Bjarke Ingels; they're currently accepting submissions for round two on Apple— in a series of short essays (submissions for the Apple issue are due on November 1).For its inaugural issue, CLOG focuses on BIG, a firm that keeps pace with the flow of online imagery, but which has largely been left unexamined. Bringing together contributors from backgrounds including art, architecture, criticism, journalism, parkour, engineering, comics, photography, philosophy, and more, CLOG : BIG presents the first holistic, critical examination of Bjarke Ingels and his firm.

The Danish starchitect will be present at the official launch event, dubbed "Interrogation 05: CLOG:BIG," this Friday, October 7, 2011, at Nolita's Storefront for Art and Architecture. We can attest that there will be limited room available, as these events tend to spill into the street (through the space's revolving doors and windows, no less). Per the event description, "The public is invited to submit questions to interrogation@ storefrontnews.org for Bjarke Ingels and his firm through October 6, 2011. A total of 10 questions will be selected by CLOG and SFAA for the discussion."

It's hard to tell from the photos, but the logo is embossed

CLOG came about as a response to the prevalence of new and social media as a mode of distribution and consumption, where architectural discourse is subject to the same double-edged sword as any discipline in the digital age:While an unprecendented amount of wirk is available to the public, the lifespan of any single design or topic has been reduced in the profession's collective consciousness to a week, an afternoon, a single post—an endlessly changing 'architecture du jour.'

This has a steamroller-like democratizing effect, such that "excellent projects receive the same fleeting attention as mediocre ones," as well as a bullet train ADHD mentality: "mere exposure has taken the place of thoughtful engagement, not to mention substantial discussion."

Enter CLOG:CLOG slows things down. Each issue explores, from multiple viewpoints and through a variety of means, a single subject particularly relevant to architecture now. Succinctly, on paper, away from the distractions and imperatives of the screen.

Thus, editors (Kyle May, Julia van den Hout, Jacob Reidel and Human Wu) see the medium—print, as designed by PlayLab—as an essential aspect to the content.