FRAME (magazine)

FRAME (magazine)
Title	FRAME
Frequency	Quarterly
Category	Design magazine
Publisher	Frame Publishers
Firstdate	1997
Country	Netherlands
Based	Amsterdam
Language	English

FRAME (magazine) is an international quarterly magazine dedicated to interior design, architecture, and product design, based in Amsterdam. It has profiled leading practices, institutions, and events across Europe, North America, and Asia, situating projects within broader cultural conversations about urbanism, hospitality, retail, workplace design, and exhibition-making. FRAME has engaged with major firms, cultural organizations, and institutional exhibitions to document and influence profession-specific debates.

History

FRAME was founded in 1997 in Amsterdam amid a European design resurgence involving figures such as Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, and Richard Rogers. Early coverage connected practitioners like Patricia Urquiola, Philippe Starck, Piet Boon, Marcel Wanders, and Hella Jongerius with institutions including Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and Design Museum. FRAME chronicled projects by studios such as OMA, BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), Herzog & de Meuron, Sanaa, and Snøhetta, aligning with events like Milano Salone, London Design Festival, Salone del Mobile, and La Biennale di Venezia. The magazine’s trajectory intersected with corporate collaborations involving Ikea, Herman Miller, Vitra, Knoll, and Muji while mapping dialogues around adaptive reuse exemplified by the Tate Modern, Het Nieuwe Instituut, and Centre Pompidou.

Editorial Focus and Content

FRAME emphasizes interiors, spatial strategy, product launches, and exhibition design, regularly profiling studios such as Studio Drift, Neri & Hu, David Chipperfield Architects, Conran and Partners, and Foster + Partners. Articles contextualize work of designers like Nendo, Kengo Kuma, Tadao Ando, Shigeru Ban, and Jean Nouvel alongside brands including Arper, Flos, Cassina, B&B Italia, and Kartell. Features examine hospitality projects by firms like Rockwell Group, Yabu Pushelberg, WATG, Gehry Partners, and David Adjaye Associates and retail commissions for Apple Inc., Nike, Gucci, Hermès, and Louis Vuitton. FRAME covers institutional programming from Cooper Hewitt, Vitra Design Museum, Designmuseum Denmark, Centre Pompidou-Metz, and The Barbican Centre, and explores conservation work at The Getty, Smithsonian Institution, and Victoria and Albert Museum.

Publication and Distribution

Published quarterly by Frame Publishers and headquartered in Amsterdam, FRAME reaches subscribers, retailers, and libraries across Europe, North America, and Asia, appearing alongside periodicals like Architectural Digest, Wallpaper*, Dezeen, Domus, and ICON. Distribution partners include independent bookstores near institutions such as MoMA PS1, Fondazione Prada, Cooper-Hewitt, and The Photographers' Gallery. FRAME’s circulation strategy engages trade fairs and conferences including ICFF, Munich Creative Business Week, Stockholm Furniture Fair, Design Miami/, and Frieze Art Fair. The magazine offers print and digital formats catering to academic collections at TU Delft, The Bartlett, Parsons School of Design, Royal College of Art, and Politecnico di Milano.

Notable Issues and Projects

Notable themed issues and editorial projects have focused on hospitality, workplace transformation, sustainable materials, and cultural venues, spotlighting projects like Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Tate Modern Switch House, Saint Petersburg Hermitage renovation, and the High Line. FRAME has commissioned special reports and collaborations with institutions such as Royal Institute of British Architects, Pratt Institute, IED (Istituto Europeo di Design), Dutch Design Week, and Vitra Design Museum exhibitions. The magazine has curated city-focused dossiers on Copenhagen, Tokyo, New York City, Shanghai, and Amsterdam and supplemented coverage with interviews with practitioners like Ilse Crawford, Michael Anastassiades, Sabine Marcelis, Tom Dixon, and Marcel Wanders.

Awards and Recognition

FRAME’s editorial work has been recognized by design and publishing bodies including the Red Dot Design Award, D&AD Awards, German Design Award, European Design Awards, and ASME Awards. Features and photographers published in FRAME have received accolades from AIGA, World Architecture Festival, Architizer A+Awards, Dezeen Awards, and BDI (Bundesverband) recognitions. FRAME itself has been cited in curated bibliographies at institutions like Victoria and Albert Museum Library, RIBA Library, and MoMA Library.

Contributors and Editorial Team

FRAME’s contributors include critics, photographers, and editors who have worked with publications and institutions such as Cereal Magazine, Monocle, The New York Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Review, and Domus Academy. Regular contributors feature writers and editors with ties to Aldo Cibic, Deyan Sudjic, Joseph Grima, Paola Antonelli, Phaidon Press, and Bloomsbury. Photographers and visual collaborators include names associated with Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk, Iwan Baan, Hélène Binet, Rafael Pavarotti, and studios that have documented projects for Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Partners, Herzog & de Meuron, and OMA.

Impact on Design and Architecture Industries

FRAME has influenced discourse among practitioners, clients, and educators by documenting seminal projects and catalyzing collaborations between studios, manufacturers, and cultural institutions such as IKEA Foundation, European Cultural Foundation, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICLEI, and WDO (World Design Organization). Its profiles of firms including BIG, Gensler, Perkins and Will, HOK, and Hassell have informed commissioning trends and interior programming standards adopted by corporations like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Airbnb. FRAME’s curated content has been referenced in curricula at Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, Cooper Union, and Southern California Institute of Architecture, and cited in case studies at consultancies including Arup, AECOM, BuroHappold Engineering, and WSP Global.

Category:Design magazines Category:Magazines established in 1997