Pidgin Magazine
A publication of the graduate students of the Princeton University School of Architecture
www.pidgin-magazine.net
Seeing a gap in the publication output of Princeton with the departure of 306090, three students founded Pidgin to assemble and distribute a diverse range of work from student and faculty contributors. Generous support from Dean Stan Allen allowed the editors to solely determine the direction, style, and content of the project, a practice which continues today at the journal readies to produce its 7th biannual issue.
To date, issues have included original translations of works by Siegfried Ebeling, Henry van de Velde, and Bruno Zevi, and contributions by Beatriz Columina, Edward Eigen, Stan Allen, Hal Foster, and R.E. Somol, in addition to work from graduate students at the school.
As stated in an early editorial, Pidgin was conceived of as:
“A humble vessel for the transportation of urgent cargo. Pidgin is a way for ideas to escape the often hermetic confines of our computers, desks, and buildings and find their way into the larger world”
The editors worked hard to tear the project away from either being a glossy brochure or a staid technical journal. The strong use of the visual essay, as well as the inclusive nature of the content, seeks to make architectural discussions available and engaging to a wider audience.
