New York and Dwell magazines are prepping their second City Modern festival, an unusual cross-title collaboration consisting of a week of events and home tours for consumers and trade professionals.
The inaugural City Modern included a jointly produced onsert that was polybagged with 150,000 copies across both magazines. This year's publication, however, will appear as a 24-page insert that will be distributed to 700,000 subscribers. The insert will appear in the October Dwell (on newsstands Sept. 10) and New York's Fall Preview double issue (on stands Aug. 26).
The agenda will be more consumer-oriented this year, said Dwell Media president Michela O'Connor Abrams, noting that the design industry has only recently begun to open up to nonprofessionals. “In New York, there’s been a sea change around how design is discussed,” said Abrams. “These days, design-savvy consumers wouldn’t dream of standing outside the window while their designer or architect makes decisions." (Dwell’s print readership already reflects the consumer/trade crossover, with a 40 percent trade readership.)
With the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy in October, the timing of City Modern could make for an awkward juxtaposition. The festival will dedicate part of its programming to urban development and rebuilding, though. "Everyone seems to be talking about cities this year, and we are excited to present the designer's perspective and look at how we want to live in the modern world," said Abrams.
Other new areas of focus may include topics like hospitality, art and fashion design. The festival also will have more programming and home tours in Manhattan and Brooklyn, pop-up stores, and installations.
City Modern is still seeking sponsors for the festival, which attracted 12 backers last year including presenting sponsors Audi and Grohe.
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