Archinect Sessions

Paul, Donna and Ken discuss the architecture news and topics with architecture's most influential figures.

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Sam Jacob 08/20/2021

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Sam Jacob Archinect Sessions Next Up: Exhibit Columbus concludes today with our conversations with the recipients of The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize. Today's final episode is a conversation with Sam Jacob. Sam Jacob Studio is a London-based practice that works at a variety of scales from urban planning to architecture, design objects, art, and curatorial work. Sam Jacob also currently works as a Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and as a columnist for Art Review. Sam's installation for Exhibit Columbus is located on Washington Street. He treats the six city blocks as a design object in his project titled "Alternative Instruments," telling a story of Utopia from the perspective of both history and fiction, referencing a 16th century novel by Thomas More through symbolism, mapping, and the typography of the Utopian alphabet. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/20208254

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Olalekan Jeyifous 08/16/2021

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Olalekan Jeyifous Archinect Sessions Next Up: Exhibit Columbus continues with sharing conversations with the recipients of The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize. Today's episode is a conversation with Olalekan Jeyifous. Olelakan, who also goes by LEk, as I refer to him in this conversation, is a Nigerian-born visual artist with an architecture degree from Cornell. His work has been widely exhibited at institutions including the Studio Museum in Harlem, MoMA, Vitra Design Museum and the Guggenheim Bilboa. His work ranges from large-scale art commissions in public spaces and festivals to commercial installations. His contribution to this year's Exhibit Columbus is a fascinating hybrid of physical and virtual space entitled Archival/Revival. The installation directly references exhibits at the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library, the site of the installation, from 1970, celebrating the Black and African arts. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/20161103

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Future Firm 08/09/2021

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Future Firm Archinect Sessions Next Up: Exhibit Columbus continues with sharing conversations with the recipients of The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize. Today's episode is a conversation with Ann Lui and Craig Reschke of Future Firm. Future Firm is a Chicago-based architecture and design research office founded in 2015. Their work spans a wide array of scales, framed by their tagline, "We design on behalf of the secret lives of cities." In the case of their installation for Exhibit Columbus, Midnight Palace, the secret lives represent the nocturnal community in Columbus, Indiana. The sidewalk installation will bring together people that work in manufacturing, one of the most common jobs in the regions, with restaurant workers, truckers on I65, parents of newborns, dedicated stargazers, students, and residents with families overseas. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/20083265

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Ecosistema Urbano 07/30/2021

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Ecosistema Urbano Archinect Sessions Next Up: Exhibit Columbus continues with sharing conversations with the recipients of The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize. Today's episode is a conversation with Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo of Ecosistema Urbano. Ecosistema Urbano is a design and consulting company operating within the fields of urbanism, architecture, engineering, and sociology, with offices in Madrid and Miami. Their work often addresses climate head-on, while incorporating strategies of working with micro-climates to educate communities through public spaces. This focus was applied to Cloudroom, their contribution to this year's Exhibit Columbus. Cloudroom consists of an inflatable "cloud," floating over a wooden structure, acting as a space for education, play, and interaction for middle school students. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/19977617

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Dream the Combine 07/27/2021

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Dream the Combine Archinect Sessions Next Up: Exhibit Columbus continues this week as we introduce the winners of The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize. This series was introduced last week with Mimi Zeiger and Iker Gil, the curators of Exhibit Columbus. If you're not yet familiar with this year's Exhibit Columbus designers and programming, we encourage you to take a listen to last week's episode. To begin our first episode featuring the recipients of The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize, we're sharing my conversation with Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers of Dream the Combine. Partners in work and life, Jennifer and Tom's Minneapolis-based practice explores metaphor, imaginary environments, and perceptual uncertainties that cast doubt on our known understanding of the world. Their installation for Exhibit Columbus starts off with addressing the name Columbus, and the various associations with the controversial name. The project is aptly titled "Columbus Columbia Columbo Colón." /episode/index/show/archinect/id/19939115

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Part 1: A Conversation with the Curators 07/20/2021

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Part 1: A Conversation with the Curators Today, in partnership with Exhibit Columbus, we're introducing Next Up: Exhibit Columbus, our 5-part series of conversations with the curators of Exhibit Columbus and the recipients of The J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize. More: https://archinect.com/news/article/150274759/next-up-exhibit-columbus-part-1-a-conversation-with-the-curators /episode/index/show/archinect/id/19869962

Goat Wisdom with Frances Anderton 12/24/2020

Goat Wisdom with Frances Anderton On our year-end show Donna, Ken and I are joined by Frances Anderton. For those listeners that are in LA, Frances's voice is probably very familiar to you. Frances is the host of DnA, the radio show the focuses on architecture and design on KCRW, the local favorite station among architects in the Southern California region. A few weeks ago Frances broke the news that she would be leaving the beloved radio show at the end of the year, after an 18-year run. Today she joins us to tell us about work with DnA, the backstory behind her transition from architecture student to journalist to radio personality, and gives us a hint at what she'll be doing next. Later in the episode, the four of us discuss some of the bigger news stories that helped define what 2020 meant for architects. We also share what we're each looking forward to as we enter into a new year. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/17322575

On Racial Inequality in AEC, with Karen Compton 09/28/2020

On Racial Inequality in AEC, with Karen Compton On today’s episode of Archinect Sessions Donna and I are joined by Karen Compton, a Los Angeles-based business consultant, business owner and podcast host. As the Principal at , Karen oversees a team of professionals to help clients in the AEC industry grow and improve their businesses applying strategy, business planning, education, training and recruitment. Her vodcast, , started just 2 months ago, with co-host , Director of Global Diversity at , as a platform to address the uncomfortable conversations around race and inequality in the AEC industry. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/16188380

A Conversation with Nathalie Frankowski and Cruz Garcia of WAI Architecture Think Tank 07/28/2020

A Conversation with Nathalie Frankowski and Cruz Garcia of WAI Architecture Think Tank On today’s show Donna and I are joined by Cruz Garcia and Nathalie Frankowski of WAI Architecture Think Tank. The last time we had Cruz and Nathalie on the podcast was for our Next Up series at the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial. We’ve since also had Cruz on the podcast to discuss the unfortunate changes at Taliesin’s School of Architecture, where Cruz and Nathalie were both visiting teaching fellows. On each of these instances we had a limited time with them to discuss highly specific aspects of their work, so we wanted to have them back on to learn more about their backgrounds, how they met, and what drives their work. If you’ve been following them, you’ll know that they recently published a book on their work entitled Narrative Architecture. They’ve also published a powerful anti-racist manifesto on un-making architecture, as the fight for equality pushes forward, propelled by the Black Lives Matter movement. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/15377582

Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 6/6 06/19/2020

Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 6/6 This is the final installment of we've had with architects, designers, and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to the toll it's taken on and the . Today we share our conversations with , an architectural designer working for a developer in the Coachella Valley; Lauren Harris, a BIM Manager in Philadelphia; , an architect and just outside of Detroit; and Carl Emberger, a Technical Director at a mid-size firm in Philadelphia. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/14893790

Archinect Sessions: Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 5/6 06/11/2020

Archinect Sessions: Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 5/6 This is the fifth installment of we've had with architects, designers, and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to the toll it's taken on and the . Conversations in this episode include , an and who has been stuck in Canada, his country of citizenship, while unable to return to Tokyo, his home of residence. We also speak with , an architect in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Dillon Jones, a Portland-based architect who has been sheltering-in-place in California since getting furloughed. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/14785775

Archinect Sessions: Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 4/6 05/26/2020

Archinect Sessions: Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 4/6 This is the fourth part of we've had with architects, designers, and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to the toll it's taken on and the . Conversations in this episode include four architects and designers based in New York - Brandt Knapp & Jerome Haferd of , , and . /episode/index/show/archinect/id/14565947

Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 3/6 05/22/2020

Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 3/6 Today we share the third part of we've had with architects, designers, and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to the toll it's taken on and the . Conversations in this episode include , an architect and illustrator in Portland, Oregon; , a practicing architect and teacher of architectural ethics, in Tucson, Arizona; and , an architect/sole-proprietor in La Mesa, California. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/14529950

Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 2/6 05/15/2020

Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 2/6 Today we share the second part of Archinect Sessions six-part series of conversations we've had with architects, designers, and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to the toll it's taken on jobs and the economy. In this second part, we feature the perspectives of Autumn, a commercial interior designer in Chicago; Daniel, a project architect/project manager in Oakland; and Casey, an American architect working in Berlin. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/14427221

Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 1/6 05/05/2020

Conversations with the Architecture Community, Part 1/6 Today's installment of Archinect Sessions introduces the first of six episodes sharing conversations we've had with architects, designers. and others in the industry. The discussions address the challenges experienced navigating these uncertain times, from the stay-at-home orders due to the coronavirus, to the toll it's taken on jobs and the economy. In this first part, we feature the perspectives of Zachary, a recently laid-off unlicensed architectural designer in Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Nancy, an architect-turned-architectural-consultant in New York; and an architect in Glasgow, Scotland, who wishes to remain unnamed because of the potentially-illegal layoffs he's been the victim of in recent months. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/14295410

Quarantine Check-In 04/24/2020

Quarantine Check-In This episode of Archinect Sessions was intended to be a brief introduction to a number of conversations we've been recording with members of the architecture community from around the world, checking in to see how people are coping through the current and related . Since it's been so long that the three of us recorded our last episode, we ended up spending a full hour catching up amongst ourselves, sharing stories and perspectives on what we're experiencing ourselves, and observing around us. Our conversations with the architects we've been talking to will follow in subsequent episodes, beginning next week. If you have stories to share, please and tell us about it. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/14132558

Paulette Singley helps us understand 'How to Read Architecture' 03/06/2020

Paulette Singley helps us understand 'How to Read Architecture' Today Donna, Ken and I are joined by Paulette Singley. Paulette is a respected architectural historian, educator and author. Her writing and editing expands beyond the world of architecture, looking at connections within the culinary arts and film. In today's conversation we’re focusing on her latest book "How to Read Architecture: An Introduction to Interpreting the Built Environment,” a must read for architecture students, architects, designers and admirers of the built world. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/13442792

Director Alysa Nahmias on László Moholy-Nagy and The New Bauhaus 02/13/2020

Director Alysa Nahmias on László Moholy-Nagy and The New Bauhaus On this episode of Archinect Sessions we’re sharing a conversation I had with , the director and producer of the documentary film “.” We recorded this conversation last month, poolside, a few hours before the film premiered to a packed house in the at the . Alysa, a trained architect-turned-filmmaker, made her directorial debut in 2011 with , a critically acclaimed documentary about the unfinished National Art School in Cuba. While she has a number of producing credits under her belt, The New Bauhaus is the second documentary film project that she directed. The film focuses on the life and legacy of László Moholy-Nagy, the Hungarian artist and teacher most famously known through his work at the Bauhaus. It’s a beautifully told story, presented in a unique, non-linear fashion, narrated by who represent Maholy in a surprisingly effective way. The film will be screened again at this year’s in Palm springs, tomorrow, February 14th, followed by screenings at the in March, and in Los Angeles, at . Full details can be found at . /episode/index/show/archinect/id/13142177

What happened at The School of Architecture at Taliesin??? 01/31/2020

What happened at The School of Architecture at Taliesin??? On this special (and very spontaneous) episode of Archinect Sessions we are joined with three members of the Taliesin community to help shed some light on the mysterious and disturbing sudden announcement of the . With us are Benjamin Aranda, partner at with Chris Lasch, the Dean at ; Cruz Garcia co-director at and a previous visiting teaching fellow at The School of Architecture at Taliesin; and of Extra Office, and former visiting teaching fellow at The School of Architecture at Taliesin. Our conversation shares our guest's experiences at the school, with insight into the questionable relationship between the foundation and the school. We talk about what happened this week, how these events conflict with Frank Lloyd Wright's wishes, as outlined in his will, about the direction of the foundation as an institution for learning, and the troubling lack of transparency from the about the decisions that have been made. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/12970472

Giving Shelter 11/28/2019

Giving Shelter On this installment of , we’re sharing a conversation I had a couple of months ago with Sofia Borges and , the leaders of a design-build studio at USC that addressed one of the most pressing issues in Los Angeles today - homelessness. The Homeless Studio set out with the goal of addressing this city-wide crisis by developing a real-world architectural response. The initial motivation for the studio came from the founders of MADWORKSHOP, Mary and David Martin, who reached out to USC School of Architecture with the hope that the students would be able to come up with some practical, creative and buildable solutions of homelessness in Los Angeles. You can learn more about the studio in we have previously published. Since the completion of the studio they have produced a book documenting the process and results in "Give Me Shelter." The book is currently available for purchase from , the publisher, or on . Our conversation ranges from discussing both Sofia and Scott’s complementary backgrounds, considerations for approaching this difficult and delicate problem in an academic environment, to thoughts on how architects can actually make a positive difference to this growing problem. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/12207152

The Current State of LA's Architecture Student Publications 10/28/2019

The Current State of LA's Architecture Student Publications On this episode of Archinect Sessions we’re sharing the recording of a panel discussion I moderated last weekend at the , as part of the current exhibition . The panel brought together five students and three faculty members representing student-led publications from LA’s architecture programs. Rayne Laborde and Phoebe Webster represented 's ; Marcelyn Gow represented ’s ; Richard Mapes, Corie Yaguchi and Irvin Shaifa represented 's ; represented ’s ; and , Cal Poly LA Metro’s Director, represented their program’s hardcover publication . Our talk covers a lot of ground, exposing the inner-workings of editing and producing publications in today’s unique and highly transformative media landscape. Our conversations cover issues of editorial decision-making, design, freedom of expression and thoughts on the future of student publishing in architecture school. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/11774840

Madame President Goes ALL-In 09/26/2019

Madame President Goes ALL-In For Archinect Sessions episode #145 we are joined by , a principal at in Chicago and the current President of the . Our conversation covers Kimberly’s impressive path to success in architecture, and the leadership role she’s taking in NOMA. We’ll also discuss the upcoming taking place in Brooklyn in a few weeks from October 14th-20th. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/11412404

The War on Cliché 09/20/2019

The War on Cliché On this episode, we're joined by Chilean architect . A long-familiar name to most of our listeners, Aravena’s work gained significant media attention upon , elevating his reputation for working to address some of today’s most difficult issues through participatory design, engaging users, groups, experts, and the public-at-large. His most notable projects are his “incremental housing” developments, a partially subsidized low-income solution for displaced families providing half-built homes for families to complete on their own, within their own budgets and tastes. Elemental has since released the plans for these projects for free, via . This week Aravena was awarded another significant prize, the . The award recognizes visionaries that are making significant contributions to international community building, with an emphasis on land use and development bettering society. Our conversation starts with him describing how this ULI prize is so important to him... /episode/index/show/archinect/id/11332313

Space Settlements; A Conversation with Author Fred Scharmen 08/29/2019

Space Settlements; A Conversation with Author Fred Scharmen This week we’re joined by one of our favorite regulars, Fred Scharmen. Fred currently teaches architecture and urban design at Morgan State University's School of Architecture and Planning, and is the Principal and Co-Founder of The Working Group on Adaptive Systems. What brings him on today’s show is his just-released new book Space Settlements. The 400-page paperback contains a visually stunning collection of designs for space colonies from the mid-70’s, including iconic artwork and comparison studies of 20th and 21st century architecture projects. Our conversation talks about his research leading up to this book, the process of writing the book and the fascinating stories discovered along the way. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/11038316

In Conversation with Paul Goldberger 07/04/2019

In Conversation with Paul Goldberger We have a very special July 4th episode for you today. Today’s show offers a very American conversation with the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Paul Goldberger. The discussion was recorded live at last month for the launch of his latest book . Ballpark takes a deep dive into the history of the ballpark, and the impact it’s had on the evolution of the American city. The book looks at a selection of case studies to arrive at a simple yet compelling thesis: “In the ballpark,” Goldberger writes, “the two sides of the American character - the Jeffersonian impulse toward open space and rural expanse, and the Hamiltonian belief in the city and in industrial infrastructure - are joined, and cannot be torn apart. If you’re interested in a copy of the book, we have a few copies available at Archinect, both in our shop in downtown Los Angeles, and . Paul Goldberger began his career at The New York Times, where in 1984 his architecture criticism was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, the highest award in journalism. From 1997 through 2011 he served as the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where he wrote the magazine’s celebrated “Sky Line” column. He is currently a contributing editor for Vanity fair and holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/10407182

A Conversation with Dream the Combine 06/20/2019

A Conversation with Dream the Combine On this latest episode of the Archinect Sessions podcast we're joined by Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers of the Minneapolis-based practice Dream the Combine. Jennifer and Tom are a husband and wife team that specialize in site-specific installations. Their work is deeply-collaborative, directly referenced in the name of their practice, and looks at the overlaps in art, architecture, and cultural theory, while manipulating the boundary between real and illusory space. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/10227971

Radical Reconfigurability 05/21/2019

Radical Reconfigurability This week Ken and I are speaking with the leadership team responsible for the upcoming Brown University Performing Arts Center – Joshua Ramus of REX, Carl Giegold of Threshold Acoustics and David Rosenburg of Theatre Projects. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/9856019

Olson Kundig's Alan Maskin on Icons and Architecture for Children 04/30/2019

Olson Kundig's Alan Maskin on Icons and Architecture for Children This week Ken and I are joined by , partner and co-owner of Seattle-based . Alan shares his story growing up on the East Coast, working as an artist and arts educator before moving onto architecture school in his 30s. He tells us about how he finally landed a job at Olson Kundig after 4 failed job applications, and then strategically moved his way out of his initial role of IT manager. He provides insight into what it took to move up in the firm, eventually becoming a partner and co-owner, and what kind of qualities Olson Kundig looks for when hiring new talent that fits well with time-crafted firm culture. Of course, we also talk about his work, including the highly publicized , and some recent projects he has designed for children and families. We even get his thoughts on two topics weighing heavily in the news these days - and the . /episode/index/show/archinect/id/9581732

Everything's Gonna Be Great 03/22/2019

Everything's Gonna Be Great On this episode of Archinect Sessions we're joined by , a and . Our conversation covers Eva’s architectural studies at and , and how that transitioned into a successful writing career spanning to writing about her own life in her recently published memoir . We also talk about the unique personality traits of architects and her approach to helping architects communicate. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/9107825

From Tower Fantasies to Writing Realities 03/01/2019

From Tower Fantasies to Writing Realities On this week's episode of Archinect Sessions we talk with Carlo Aiello, a Mexican-born, LA-based designer and founder of . Most of our readers are familiar with eVolo's (very) popular annual skyscraper competition and related series of books. Carlo, the founder of eVolo, is also the designer of the award-winning and the designer of the Kickstarter-success , a 2-in-1 drawing tool combining the scale-ruler with an insertable fountain pen . In our conversation we track his progress from his studies at , to working for and , to embarking as a self-made entrepreneur with a move west, to LA. /episode/index/show/archinect/id/8839790

Archinect Sessions

TOPICS