Anyone who has spent years writing about refurbishment should eventually try doing it themselves. That's exactly what we've done with our website. Since 1961, DETAIL has amassed a substantial archive of documented projects, construction drawings, and specialist articles. Online, however, this collection was scattered, like a complex of buildings to which new extensions had been added over the decades, each with its own entrance. The latest articles were on detail.de, the projects with plans and details were in the DETAIL Inspiration archive, and of course there was also the printed magazine.
Our new online magazine brings together all the content and drawings from DETAIL in a daily newsletter. Since 22 September, the latest articles, our project archive, in-depth specialist knowledge, and information on materials and products have been available at detail.de.
As with renovations, it is often the new connections that improve a building, and it’s much the same for us. Anyone reading an article about reused building components can go straight to the projects where this has worked well and view the cross-sections.
With this relaunch, detail.de is no longer freely available. Good architectural journalism takes time and care – and even a clearly legible structural drawing involves a great deal of effort. Before it is published, we’ve carried out research, consulted the structural engineer and coordinated with the practice; and it’s not uncommon for us to redraw the detail from scratch because the working drawings are simply illegible to outsiders. We want to continue doing this work, and to do so we need readers who value it.
Following this relaunch, detail.de will no longer be freely available. Good architectural journalism takes time and care, and even producing a clearly legible structural drawing involves considerable effort. Before one is published, we research it, consult the structural engineer and liaise with the practice, and we often redraw the detail from scratch because the working drawings are simply illegible to outsiders. We want to keep doing this work, and for that we need readers who value it.
There is a whole range of new content and features on detail.de designed to make research easier. These include:
- the BMB archive, containing over 1,600 articles and drawings on building structures from 1870 to 1960,
- a detailed project search with sophisticated filter functions,
- a search function for individual images and drawings,
- the option to create wishlists for articles and images.
A refurbishment is rarely ever fully complete. Here at detail.de, a few minor tweaks will be made over the coming weeks. We welcome any feedback or suggestions for topics at redaktion@detail.de.
Your editorial team
Sabine Drey, Nils Freiwald, Nora Good, Marion Griese, Valentina Grossmann, Martin Hämmel, Claudia Hildner, Frank Kaltenbach, Varvara Kalupina, Heike Kappelt, Barbara Kissinger, Jeanette Kunsmann, Julia Liese, Dejanira Ornelas Bitterer,Tim Petersen, Peter Popp, Jana Rackwitz, Lilli Ritter, Anne Schäfer-Hörr, Zoe Scholz, Jakob Schoof, Laura Traub, Julia Voitl, Edith Walter, Leonie Weiß, Barbara Zettel, Martin Zott
