Combining sex, architecture and design, 'Playboy Architecture 1953-1979' takes a detailed look at the role architecture and design played in the Playboy Magazine, studying how the erotic publication introduced modern architecture to the mass public during an era of political unrest and social change. Featuring original photographs and films, published and unpublished architectural renderings, design objects, interviews with architects and editors, and immersive environments, a pattern is established where architecture and design were used to reshape masculinity, particularly during the 1950s, where American males were supposedly liberated from suburban life in a precursor for the sexual revolution of the '60s.

'Playboy Architecture 1953-1979' runs between September 29th – February 10, 2013, at NAiM, Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Jack Smylie