Update: As anyone who clicked the "buy now" button discovered, this was of course a good-humored prank for April Fools' Day. ArchDaily has no plans to expand into print media, and we haven't been stalking Bjarke Ingels via his social media—honest! Our thanks to those who took it in good humor, including "the BIG man" himself for helping spread this "news" to his followers!
One year ago today the Editors of ArchDaily conceived of a project which has consumed a small and dedicated team ever since. After drawing the best talent following an international (and highly secretive) recruitment drive in 2016, a special task force was engaged with the challenge of developing our company’s first printed publication.
“The decision to break into print was not one we took lightly,” explains ArchDaily’s Managing Editor of Books, Lea Brary. “However, we are confident that this endeavor will please architecture fans and bibliophiles worldwide.”
Following twelve months of intense work and production we are proud to reveal BjarkeDaily: What It's Like to Write About the BIG Man – the first comprehensive biographical study of Bjarke Ingels and BIG; an homage to the architect and practice who have become a quotidian feature of our platform for over half a decade.
BjarkeDaily was born out of an absence – an absence of news. On a daily basis our Editors are faced with the same perennial questions: “Where in the world is Bjarke today? Is the ‘Courtscraper’ finished? Did you see that documentary with him in, yet?” On days in which no news comes from either Copenhagen nor New York City, the emptiness in our Newsroom is palpable. "Sometimes we have no Bjarke news; those days are very strange... hollow, even,” one Editor commented.
This project has filled the void. A 1417-page publication, which will be published in four volumes between now and Summer 2018, documents all there is to know about Bjarke Ingels, his practice, and their completed and ongoing projects. Our specialized team of Editors painstakingly recreated his travel itinerary by triangulating locations of Instagram posts of and by the Danish architect. In so doing, they have inadvertently developed new location techniques which have since been purchased and implemented by two notable intelligence agencies. Including a comprehensive post-lecture selfie-survey crowdsourced from 22 cities around the world and curated from over 600 submissions, the publication is also printed on high-quality 110gsm Swedish Munken paper and will be available in six languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Danish, and Gaelic).
The decision to move forward with the project came about when the team realized that close to 25% of visitors to ArchDaily’s digital platforms were coming solely for information about Bjarke and his projects. It is estimated that 9 out of every 10 readers consumes at least one article about Bjarke per day. Every indication suggests that this figure will rise exponentially with Bjarke’s age. In an added bonus, it is expected that people will actually take ArchDaily more seriously now that we are publishing words on paper and not just on screens.
I've had to replace my B, J, A, R, K, and E keys on numerous occasions. They've just worn out. —Rory
I follow him on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. I try to like all of his posts. —Patrick
Sometimes I wish I spoke Danish so I could write about him faster. —James
Bjarke doesn’t eat fruit but his designs are still pretty dope. —Becky
A fifth volume will be published in 2019 outlining the long process of production and creative endeavours of our team. This behind-the-scenes ‘reveal’ will be called Behind the Bjarke, and will be published by our new imprint, ArchBookly. Noah’s Bjarke, a children’s story about ArchDaily intern Noah Klue’s journey to get to know the architect and his partners, is expected to be available online and in all good book stores in time for the 2017 Holiday Season.
