“Everything that happened in architectural discourse is presented in the magazine but it’s sexualized,” Beatriz Colomina, the exhibition’s curator, told The Architectural Review in January 2011. But it did hold a mirror–even if that mirror was mounted onto the ceiling–to the design trends of the day, from midcentury modernism to inflatable architecture (headline: “The Bubble House: A Rising Market”).

Which isn’t to say that the magazine always upheld good taste–plenty of Playboy Pads in the ’60s and ’70s feature mega beds, replete with such essentials as a vibrator system, hi-fi stereo, humidor, and cocktail bar. The message here: Architecture and design are major forces influencing the world, and if you’re not familiar with the heavy hitters, perhaps you’re not a Playboy. And who can forget the famous (and downright respectable) spread featuring the midcentury design greats George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames, and Jens Risom with their respective chairs? (See image below.) Almost from its very start, Playboy made a point of featuring architect’s big shots, from Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe to Buckminster Fuller and John Lautner. And it’s actually not too much of a stretch. That’s the thesis of Architecture in Playboy, 1953–1979, an exhibition at the NAiM/Bureau Europa, in the Netherlands, that explores how the magazine depicted the major design players of the time.

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