End of an era: Architecture NZ magazine bows out
“THAT’S IT! 40 years of 7 editors, deadline terror, late night unfiltered dyspeptic architectural observation and advice…. “
So began the last gasp text to Malcom Walker’s final cartoon contribution to Architecture NZ magazine, which, after the decision taken by owners to wind down AGM Publishing, has bowed out with its May/June 2026 edition.
In the closing edition Malcolm was acknowledged for being a good friend and great contributor of “wit and critique” to Architecture NZ and its predecessor NZ Architect for 40 plus years.
After his seven years in the editor’s chair, Chris Barton signed off with an expression of how privileged it felt to be associated with a magazine of record that was “inextricably interlinked with the evolving life and culture of Aotearoa”.
Reflecting on his editorials over the years, he noted a recurring exasperation that more needed to be done in the face of climate change, salved somewhat by the rise of buildings that were meeting the “sustainability challenge”. AGM had been facing its own gathering storm since the demise of its titles Urbis, Homes and Interior in 2024, and Chris had been heartened by the numbers who stood valiantly by Architecture NZ by taking up paid subscriptions.
Architecture NZ and its expansive companion website Architecture Now have been a mainstay of architectural reporting in this country in many different forms, so the rallying together of NZIA and Nook Publishing to ignite a replacement in the shape of Architecture Aotearoa in June 2026, as below, is to be welcomed.
Nook Publishing’s titles include HOME. Edited by Federico Monsalve, Architecture Aotearoa will be published as a quarterly print magazine, accompanied by leveraging an existing online platform, homeofarchitecture.co.nz
“Inextricably Interlinked”
The phrasing of ‘inextricably interlinked’ has over the years been entirely relevant too for the relationship between landscape architecture content via the NZILA’s formal and informal relationship with AGM Publishing.
Putting landscape architecture into the search box within quote marks on ArchitectureNow as a simple query presents 307 articles, 70 projects, 48 organisations, 16 events and 102 contributors. One step down from that, a simple search just on NZILA shows 82 articles, 20 projects, 14 events and 7 contributors.
A small cross-section of this content featured stories swapped between ArchitectureNow and the website you’re reading now, Landscape Architecture Aotearoa, which has been sustained solely by NZILA for almost 10 years.
Prior to 2016 it’s worth remembering that the stable of AGM publications once included an award winning print magazine ably managed by the AGM publishing team for landscape architecture followers.
A pinnacle of those years was 2012, when Landscape Architecture NZ took out the Best Trade or Professional Magazine Award at the Canon Media Awards.
At a time when print magazines have been falling like flies - Australian’s Landscape Architecture Australia and BRANZ’s Build magazines being two examples this year - it’s a little ironic to read award judge Ross Middleton’s 2012 citation:
In a world where magazines are supposedly under threat of extinction, this year’s winner tells us otherwise, epitomising the very best features of a vibrant and relevant media model. Stylish in form, simple yet elegant in design, cleverly targeted yet wide ranging in its editorial delivery, Landscape Architecture NZ combines clear and logical typography with stunning imagery to remind us all why we love magazines.
Earlier in 2012 the magazine, under AGM’s stewardship, had also taken out a ‘Maggie’ for cover design, which had ensued since a comprehensive redesign in 2010.
In memoriam of AGM, the following images represent a blast from the past from the heyday of the LA print edition:
