Cathleen McGuigan has announced she plans to step down as editor in chief of Architectural Record at the end of December. McGuigan, who took the helm in May 2011, will become a consulting editor to the publication. Under her leadership, RECORD has won numerous journalism honors, including the Grand Neal award, and has expanded its global reach and the scope of its digital publishing. While continuing its key mission to cover major trends in architecture and explore the best new projects, RECORD has also sharpened its editorial focus on the climate crisis; on cities—in particular such urban problems as lack of affordable housing and inadequate public space; and on the inequities that persist in the field. In 2014, she launched RECORD’s annual Women in Architecture Design Leadership awards, the only such prize in the U.S.
“It’s been an honor to edit the premier publication for the profession,” said McGuigan. “RECORD has been published for 132 years, and each editor has a chance to continually refresh it. I have been so fortunate to work with a deeply knowledgeable, talented editorial staff, past and present, and with our contributors. I know RECORD will thrive under its next editor, in our ever-changing media landscape.”
RECORD Publisher Alex Bachrach has announced that deputy editor Josephine Minutillo will succeed McGuigan as editor in chief on January 1, 2023.
A New York native, Minutillo has a long history with RECORD, first contributing to the magazine in 2001, the same year she began practicing architecture, where she focused on affordable housing in New York and, later, preservation. Simultaneously, she wrote for a number of international architecture, art, and design publications and was a contributing editor to Architectural Digest. Over the last two decades, Minutillo has covered the full gamut of topics for RECORD, from products, exhibition reviews, and continuing-education articles to feature projects—traveling the world to report on new buildings. She has served as an invited critic at architecture schools across the country, including Washington University in St. Louis, from which she received her Master of Architecture degree. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University.
“We had the perfect person in place on our staff to fill this role,” said Bachrach. “She has a profound knowledge of practice.”
“It’s been a great privilege to work with Cathleen during her tenure as editor in chief,” commented Minutillo. “She’s brought a very high standard of journalism and original reporting to the magazine that is unequalled—one I plan to continue.” Minutillo also acknowledges this time as a critical moment for the architectural profession as it confronts the building industry’s impact on the climate crisis, works to diversify the field, and responds to calls for change from emerging professionals. “Architects face many challenges. It is RECORD’s responsibility to be an advocate for architecture.”
In addition to leading editorial efforts at the magazine and its various platforms, Minutillo will oversee an expanded events program that includes the Record on the Road series across the country and the annual Innovation conference.
