Folly Journal: Architectural History

In 2019 Folly started as an email newsletter. Initially delivered once a month, it aimed to explore architectural history through a light-hearted approach. Taking the Folly as our primary reference – a foolish entity with no apparent function – it strove to exist in a delightful, fanciful, and fertile space, where disparate forms of writing and methodological approaches could coexist. Growing organically it started to include a range of voices, asking new contributors to expand this curious approach. At the end of each year, we published a collection of texts; Book One, Two, Three, and Four. Their profits were donated to New Architectural Writers. In 2024 Folly became a print journal. An analogue move that refocused its original ethos; its medium adding more weight, rigour, and seriousness. It reflects a heightened engagement with the editorial process, interrogating submissions and working with authors to present lyrical and experimental writing in a tangible, physical object. Folly has also collaborated on exhibitions; working as part of research teams to explore the constellations of physical and digital archives or the domestic and feral nature of Pigeons. ----- Folly was founded by Rosie Ellison-Balaam. She studied History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art and alongside Folly, works at Drawing Matter. Previously she worked in architecture practices, publishing houses, and as a freelance editor for design publications. Her interests lie in the intersection of language and architecture.