Architecture publications come and go, but lately it seems more of the latter. The phenomenon is particularly true in Los Angeles, where titles like L.A. Architect and the L.A. Forums newsletter ceased (and, before that, Architecture/West folded in the 1960s and Archetype in the 80s). More recently, critics like Christopher Hawthorne and Carolina A. Miranda departed The Los Angeles Times.AN even gave the West Coast a go with its regional print edition, an effort that began in February 2007 (with Sam Lubell at the helm as California Editor) and ceased in 2016.So it was a pleasant surprise to receive Of the Moment (OTM), a new effort instigated by Thom Mayne, edited by Dora Epstein Jones and Frances Anderton, and supported by the A&D Museum. The publication is a folded newsprint item printed in black ink with a trim size of roughly 10.5 inches by 16.5 inches. It is mostly useful, content-rich interviews that lean academic with a host of architects, educators, and students chiming in. In between, individual projects are presented in write-ups with supporting photos, renderings, drawings, and diagrams. There are excursions to Santa Barbara (Robin Donaldsons impressive Hill House) and Argentina (a home designed by Florencia Pita and Hernn Diaz Alonso). And across the top, a Greek chorusBarbara Bestor, Greg Lynn, and Joe Dayoffers running commentary. The issue was a real labor of love for the city of L.A. and its current architecture scene, Epstein Jones shared via email.Despite its useful record of local concerns, OTM lands as indulgent, as Mayne instigated it out of spite. Last year, the New York Review of Architecture (NYRA) decamped to Los Angeles for its inaugural issue of the Los Angeles Review of Architecture (LARA), guest-edited by AN contributor Mimi Zeiger. (Samuel Medina, ANs prior executive editor, edits the RAs.) Mayne and his wife, Blythe Alison-Mayne, financially supported the effort, and NYRAs publisher, Nicolas Kemper, stayed with them when in town to launch LARA. But upon thumbing through its green-tinted pages (which were nearly matched by OTMs dimensions), Mayne found that his enthusiasm had dimmed. LARA missed the point, he said on a recent phone call. It was kind of snarky, and, frankly, I dont think they understood L.A. Perhaps he was personally offended: In the issue, Zeiger, a longtime Angeleno, pans his M3 as a relentless, I-Ching of disciplinary thought thats generally unreadable.For Mayne, the point of OTM is dialogue, not single voicesand certainly not the whiny takes of downer naysayers: Architecture doesnt need critics right now. Its hard enough. And hes not above a clap back: OTM ends with Maynes tribute to Antoine Predock, who is shown flipping off the camera. (Sources say Mayne wanted to put this photo on the cover to send a message to the haters but later changed his tune.) Mayne also came to the rescue of his friend Eric Owen Mosss (W)rapper building, which was savaged by critics, including Ryan Scavnicky writing for AN and Oliver Wainwright in The Guardian. In a country that loves freedom, why pan a building that so proudly embodies the ideal? That aint right.On the phone, Mayne widened his complaint: The U.S. is a very difficult place to practice architecture. Its just not interested in the culture of architecture. And if you look at especially experimental work, theres just about nothing coming out of this country right now. Its totally amazing. [Its] the richest country in the world, and if you talk to anybody thats interested in innovation, all the work will be in China and the Middle East. Mayne would know: Morphosis, the office he founded, works around the world. It contributed to The Line at NEOM, though it reportedly stepped away last summer after the project was scaled back and news emerged about the high number of worker deaths across the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative. Mayne rightly said American culture is obsessed with private space. When it comes to civic grandeur, forget it. Its hard to get money to build a reasonable public building today. These days, he believes, the press [moi?!] is interested in being negative instead of supporting architects. A thin skin does one no favors: If architects cant tolerate the jabs of those who encourage practitioners to do better, how are they going to survive in the mean wider world of culture?OTM debuted back in September at an event at the A&D Museum with regular tickets priced at $200. Since then, there has been some feedback. Hawthorne, in a short note in the latest issue of NYRA, summed up OTM as intermittently enlightening if rambling conversations among talented L.A. architects before lamenting Maynes demolition of Ray Bradburys home to build his own compound. Mark Lamster, Alexandra Lange, and Miranda, in their year-end fake awards roundup, gave it the X-Acto of Doom Award, because pesky critics have a habit of getting in the way. Are L.A. architects allergic to criticism? Julie Eizenberg told Kemper that architects do not come to L.A. to be part of a villagethey want to do their own thing. LARA, in Kempers view, demonstrated that the metropolis might be ready to have a proper town square, a bastion of reported and critical pieces written by working writers deeply in tune to the city. He continued, I think [Maynes] work building up architecture institutions, most notably SCI-Arc, demonstrates that he really understands that building the town square benefits all architects, even if he may not agree with everything that is said in it.Whats next for OTM? Mayne said he is looking for someone else to steer the ship. Meanwhile Epstein Jones, who teaches at The University of Texas at Austin after a stint at Texas Tech, wants to take OTM on the roadChicago? Detroit? Miami?provided theres financial support.Mayne, who instigates from his Culver City venue called the Stray Dog Caf, comes across as a swaggering outsider despite his starchitect status. OTM collects valuable discourse but even though it was organized by a Pritzker Prize winner, the effort scans as an amateur publication, like an inky 1990s alt-weekly. Maybe in addition to paying writers it should invest in a proper graphic designer?If OTM can squeak out another screenshot of the L.A. zeitgeist, it will face competition: NYRA has fundraised $20,000 to support its next issue of LARA, due out later this year. Kemper shared, I hope OTM publishes a second issue, too, and look forward to reading it. Same. A version of this story appeared in the January/February 2025 print issue ofThe Architects Newspaper.