Archinect - News

Influential 1970s women architects exhibition revisited in new Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation series

2024-04-15T14:03:00-04:00

The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) has launched a new audio documentary on an influential 1970s exhibition on women in architecture. Part of the BWAF series ‘New Angle: Voice,’ the episode will profile the Brooklyn Museum’s 1977 exhibition ‘Women in American Architecture.’

Curated by architect Susana Torre and sponsored by the Architectural League of New York, the exhibition received significant coverage across national and architectural media, including a review by Ada Louise Huxtable in The New York Times. The new audio episode, ‘Laying the Groundwork: Women in American Architecture, Spring 1977,’ debuts the first program of New Angle: Voice’s third and conclusive season, with later episodes to continue exploring the influences of women in architecture.

Image courtesy: Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation

Last year, we reported on the series’ profiling of Huxtable, the New York Times’ first-ever architectural critic, and Amaza Lee Meredith, a Black woman born in 18...

'I Would Prefer Not To' looks at refused commissions, the decisions behind them, and their impact on architecture

2023-08-30T17:38:00-04:00

The second season of The Architectural League of New York’s new interview series I Would Prefer Not To is gaining popularity thanks to its ability to shed light on an overlooked area of architectural practice.

A cross-collaboration between the League and MIT's Critical Broadcasting Lab, the series explores the topic of commissioning and the refusal of architects to work with a particular client.

Guests, including Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, speak in detail about the nature of refusals, which The Architectural League argues constitutes a permanent part of architectural history. The stories they share touch on key aspects such as ethics and professional practice, decision-making, business development, the tug-of-war over visions for a project, clashes of creativity, and more.

“Decisions to refuse a commission, or withdraw from one, by definition, stay hidden from public scrutiny, and thus also hidden from architectural history,” The Architectural League notes. “Withdrawals of thi...

New 'Architecture for kids' podcast shares resources on the best engagement practices for children

2023-08-22T15:20:00-04:00

A new podcast series aimed at enhancing educators’ ability to teach architecture to school children is now available thanks to a collaboration between the UK's Built Environment Trust, Thornton Education Trust, and the Welsh School of Architecture at Cardiff University.

Hosted by Architecture for kids CIC founder Antonio Capelao, the ten-episode series engages with various practitioners, academics, and other experts in design education who are working at the field's leading edges with the long-term goal of encouraging wider participation in the built environment from a young age.

The producers share: "These short and to-the-point podcasts hope to improve the interplay between the fields of the built environment and education as we share knowledge between the practitioner, the creative, and the primary school teacher. Exploring how to prepare children and young people for economic, environmental, and societal challenges, and for their professional lives according to today’s needs an...

The BWAF's 'New Angle: Voice' audio series continues with a look at the lives of Ada Louise Huxtable and Amaza Lee Meredith

2023-04-28T18:37:00-04:00

The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation (BWAF) is continuing its ‘New Angle: Voice’ audio documentary series with a look at two early female pioneers of architectural criticism and design education.

The new season premiered last week with an episode highlighting the late writer Ada Louise Huxtable, the New York Times’ first-ever architectural critic and important mentor to Paul Goldberger, Christopher Hawthorne, and other journalists who have shaped the landscape for architecture criticism as it embraces the new digital age.

The next episode, which is set to premiere in mid-May, will focus on the life of Amaza Lee Meredith, a Black woman born in 1895 and credited with establishing Virginia State’s School of Fine Arts Department. Meredith designed several structures in the state and Sag Harbor, New York (including historic Azurest South which she and her partner called home) after 1939, and enjoyed a dual career as an educator in addition to her pursuits as a painter, which are al...

29% Equal podcast explores the impact of women in architectural practice today

2023-03-08T08:00:00-05:00

Just in time for Women's History Month, a new podcast called 29% Equal recently launched, bringing attention to the influence of several women architects on the way the profession is practiced today.

Produced by Newcastle University doctoral candidate Sarah Ackland with support from the RIBA Research Fund, three episodes of the six-part series are available so far, featuring voices like Farshid Moussavi, 2021 MJ Long Prize winner Alice Brownfield, activist architect Elsie Owusu (herself a guest on Archinect's podcast in 2016), and others working in the UK — in close association with the Part W action group — towards similar goals aligned with gender equity and the representation of women in academia, professional practice, and architectural history.

“In an effort to eliminate this continual erasure of women, I have invited a young architect, designer, artist or activist from Part W (and friends) to have a discussion with a woman they feel deserves recognition, or perhaps more recogn...

New audio documentary on Ray Eames to launch on International Women’s Day

2023-02-27T11:46:00-05:00

The Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation is set to launch the second season of its award-winning audio documentary series New Angle: Voice. Debuting on March 8th to coincide with International Women’s Day, the first episode in the series will explore the story of Ray Eames (1912–1988), with future episodes exploring other influential female figures in design.

The introductory episode on Ray Eames will present a history of her contributions to the arts, architecture, graphic design, textile design, and furniture innovation. The narrative will also be informed by interviews with figures spanning art history, curation, design, the Eames Foundation, and the Library of Congress.

“Our original story about Ray Eames draws on new research of her years as a painter in New York, from archival footage and audio of her media appearances as well as interviews with Eames family members and employees of Eames Office, their design studio in Venice, California,” explained Cynthia Phifer Kracauer A...

Beverly Willis Architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright foundations among National Endowment for the Humanities grant recipients

2022-08-24T17:18:00-04:00

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced a broad-ranging program of new grants that totaled $31.5 million and were awarded to 226 projects across the United States.

Included in the list are a few architectural organizations and historically significant institutions that were identified by the NEH as helping to “preserve, examine, and share the country’s rich and expansive history and culture.”

One of the biggest winners was the New York-based Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, which received a total of $100,000 outright for their exploratory podcast series titled “New Angle: Voice — Pioneering Women of American Architecture,” wherein the impact of five great women architects are explored by executive director Cynthia Phifer Kracauer in information-rich half-hour segments that garnered some 40,000 listeners by the end of the first season. The series is sponsored by Knoll and SOM and produced by award-winning director Brandi Howell. Their Media Projects ...

Next Up: Exhibit Columbus / Dream the Combine

2021-07-27T09:00:00-04:00

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 Colombo Colón."

Listen to “Next ...

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

2021-07-20T08:27:00-04:00

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.

The designers awarded the Miller Prize were each selected for their commitment to the transformative power that architecture, art, and design have to improve people’s lives and make cities better places to live.

Each designer, or team, was tasked with creating a site-specific installation in and around the city of Columbus, Indiana. Our conversations touch on each project within the context of the designer's body of work, the process involved during the research and development, and finally discussing each installation in detail.

The installations will be unveiled in person with a preview party on August 20th and will be open to the public from August 21st to November 28th.

To begin, our conversation today is with Mimi Zeiger and Iker Gil, co-curators of the ...

99% Invisible gets acquired by SiriusXM

2021-04-26T16:26:00-04:00

One of the first architecture-centric podcasts that got onto the radar of the general population, 99% Invisible, has been sold to SiriusXM. Roman Mars, the founder and host of the podcast, broke the news on Twitter stating, "You’ll never notice the sound of anything different, except I get to be involved more in the stories. So much of my job had become running a business and not making a podcast. I desperately needed that to change."

And more about my amazing colleagues at Radiotopia/PRXhttps://t.co/m8cRhfg2QK
— Roman Mars (@romanmars) April 26, 2021

While terms of the deal are not getting disclosed, it would be safe to say the purchase price was hefty as Roman has committed to donating $1M to PRX/Radiotopia, Roman's network of podcasts and a non-profit media company specializing in audio journalism and storytelling.

Orhan Ayyüce gets interviewed on the podcast 'A Pinch of Doubt'

2020-11-18T19:54:00-05:00

Long-time Archinector, and LA's architect-about-town, Orhan Ayyüce, was recently interviewed for the "A Pinch of Doubt" podcast. Host Cem Kayatekin, Assistant Professor at IE School of Architecture and Design, describes the podcast as "engaging in interdisciplinary jibber jabber."

Orhan, who was among the very first graduates of SCI-Arc, begins with reflecting back on the LA scene in late 70's and 80's... Gehry and co. cool school, and the early days at SCI-Arc. He goes on to talk about LA's unique energy and his work as a writer.

Some highlights from the podcast...

“I started to journal early on in a disorganized way. I had mentors and friends in architecture school who advocated conversation and writing, that part of talking about design was encouraged among friends and like critical minds. We spent a lot of time on public spaces and sidewalks looking at buildings, construction, demolition of things, and replacing them with something else, all the while studying in school. Eventu...

Archinect Sessions #159: On Racial Inequality in AEC, with Karen Compton

2020-09-28T16:15:00-04:00

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 A3K Consulting, 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, Breaking the Silence of Design, started just 2 months ago, with co-host Gabrielle Bullock, Director of Global Diversity at Perkins & Will Architects, as a platform to address the uncomfortable conversations around race and inequality in the AEC industry.

Listen to episode 159 of Archinect Sessions, “On Racial Inequality in AEC, with Karen Compton”.

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Melissa Daniel, host of Architecture Is Political podcast, creates a new voice for architectural discourse

2020-09-22T08:55:00-04:00

As Black and minority voices continue to impact the industry's progress towards equity and inclusivity, one woman is sparking opportunities for Black and Brown voices and opinions to be heard.

Architectural designer Melissa Daniel is the creator and host of the growing podcast series Architecture is Political. Daniel specifically emphasizes the podcast is where "Black and Brown folks have a conversation about architecture," and the reasons for starting the podcast is to "rediscover why I went into architecture." It's this point that makes her mission towards amplifying the experiences of minority voices and their views on how the discipline impacts their lives a much-needed outlet for digestible discourse.

Having launched her first podcast episode earlier this year, topics include mapping segregation in D.C., Muslim Women in architecture, gentrification, and issues on "curated tolerance." After listening to a few of her podcasts, it's clear that her vocal presence, openness, and con...

DnA: Design and Architecture, KCRW radio show hosted by Frances Anderton, to go off the air

2020-09-18T12:11:00-04:00

Amid a dramatic staff downsizing at leading Southern California public radio station KCRW, it was reported that the popular show and podcast DnA: Design and Architecture hosted by Frances Anderton will be discontinued from mid-December after being on the air for 18 years.

The Los Angeles Times writes that the cuts "represent a loss of 18% of the NPR affiliate’s staff, reducing it to 127 full- and part-time employees. It comes less than two years after the station began moving into its $38-million media center on the campus of Santa Monica Community College."

In a Sep-15 tweet, Anderton stated: "It's official: 24 of us are taking buyouts from @KCRW, mine effective mid-Dec. Working there w/ huge talents has been the gift of a lifetime. So has the chance to spread the word about LA design + arch. I'll keep on doing so (unless I go start my fantasy goat farm). Stay tuned!"

It's official: 24 of us are taking buyouts from @KCRW, mine effective mid-Dec. Working there w/ huge talents has b...

The Nexus Podcast seeks to highlight the work of Black designers and architects

2020-07-20T17:50:00-04:00

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design's Design Nexus group has launched a new podcast, The Nexus, meant to highlight the work and roles of Black architects and designers.

Created in collaboration between the school's African American Student Union and the Frances Loeb Library, the podcast is hosted by GSD students Tara Oluwafemi and Caleb Negash and stems out of Design Nexus's work as a "preeminent resource for those interested in the intersection of Blackness and design practices throughout the built environment as well as those represented in 'public art, fashion, music, movies and other media,'" according to a Harvard GSD blog post.

The Nexus’s inaugural episode features an interview with Boston-based architect, filmmaker, illustrator, and children’s book author Aisha Densmore-Bey and is set to engage in future discussions with other Black designers, including Stephen Gray, De Nichols, and Trenton Doyle Hancock.

...

The Midnight Charette podcast interviews architects from SHoP, Marmol Radziner & Laney

2020-02-06T18:09:00-05:00

David and Marina, the dynamic duo behind the Midnight Charette podcast, have hosted some big hitters in the architecture industry recently. We've particularly enjoyed their recent episodes featuring interviews with architects. Their informal style breaks the typically serious, academic format this industry tends to find comfort in, providing a fun peek into their guest's life in and outside of the work we've become familiar with. In particular, we encourage our readers to take a listen to the following episodes:

#160 - Gregg Pasquarelli Architect & Founding Principal of SHoP on The World's Slimmest Skyscraper and New York City

#156 - Leo Marmol FAIA on Design-Build Architecture, Technology, and Modernism

#153 - Anthony Laney On Starting Your Own Firm (And Being Successful At It)

In addition to these recent architect interviews, they've released a number of other episodes covering San Francisco's Castro District, movie reviews, random observations, and working in architecture. Che...

SCI-Arc launches "The Arc" podcast hosted by History + Theory Coordinator Marrikka Trotter

2019-12-18T16:42:00-05:00

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) has launched its own podcast, The Arc.

The podcast is hosted by SCI-Arc History + Theory Coordinator Marrikka Trotter. Each episode, according to the school, "juxtaposes a contemporary architectural idea or concern with related concepts from other disciplines, ranging from science to sports, in casual, unscripted, and intimate conversations."

So far, two full episodes have been released in the series, including one episode on Scale that focuses on examining the effect of size on architecture, experience, and design thinking. The episode features guest appearances by SCI-Arc Undergraduate Program Chair Tom Wiscombe, neuriscientist Dr. Yawende Pearse, and Bill Boes, a Hollywood production designer and art director.

A second episode, Roughness, interrogates the recent turn in architecture toward texture and alternative or unintended uses for objects, ideas, and conventional forms of practice. The show positions this turn as...

Have questions or comments on job interviewing? Send them to The Midnight Charette's "Design Companion" phone hotline!

2019-11-05T16:13:00-05:00

Here's a phone number worth having on speed-dial. The Midnight Charette podcast recently launched a “Design Companion” phone hotline that welcomes architects, designers, or anyone else, to call in with questions, comments and the like, on buzzworthy topics relevant to the community.

The Midnight Charette is currently accepting your most burning questions about job interviewing for their next Tips & Tactics podcast episode!

Here's how it works: Anyone who wants to share their questions, insights, observations, or concerns can call or text — if that's more your style — the Design Companion Hotline at 213-222-6950. If you call, the number goes straight to voicemail. The Midnight Charette will then play your message on the podcast and build a discussion around it. The hotline is always open for any topic, but as of right now, The Midnight Charette is focusing on interview-related questions.

With this episode, callers will have the opportunity to ask specific questions and receive spec...

Afternoon Delight with Midnight Charette

2019-02-07T18:01:00-05:00

This week we are joined, in studio, by David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, the hosts of the Midnight Charette podcast. You may be already familiar with their podcast, or perhaps you’ve just heard about the podcast since they released their episode with me a couple days ago.

The Midnight Charette has been podcasting for a while now. They're quickly approaching their 100th episode. They describe their show as an explicit podcast about design, architecture and people. The format is casual, and unscripted, and tends to run on the long side, 2 hours being about average for an episode. While this is an architecture podcast, it’s often not addressing architecture directly, rather, David and Marina discuss non-architectural issues from the perspective of a couple of architecturally-minded professionals.

Marina enjoying a cup of Brutal during the show

In today’s conversation we learn more about the host's backgrounds, and how they came together and conceived of the podcast. We also take a peek...

Archinect's Founder, Paul Petrunia, shares his true feelings about Archinect's trolls

2019-02-06T16:45:00-05:00

With a plethora of podcasts readily available, sometimes a good one worth listening to is hard to come by. This week Archinect's very own Founder/Director, Paul Petrunia, sat down with David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, from Midnight Charette, to discuss an array of topics. Known for their informal, unscripted, and in-depth interviews, Paul discusses Archinect's humble beginnings back in 1997 (22 years ago!), the problem with journalism today and the faults of internet technology, expanding Archinect into print and retail, dealing with forum moderation and trolls, and much more. The entire conversation runs almost 2 hours long.

Finding a balance between light-hearted discussion and in-depth design focused conversations Midnight Charette has created a platform, especially for young design professionals, to hear and learn what's out there in the profession. Known for their "brutally honest and often not work appropriate" discussions, these podcasts should be added to the must listen t...

Long Time Listener First Time Talker

2018-09-07T19:06:00-04:00

This week's podcast episode is all about podcasting. So meta. We're joined by Sera Ghadaki, a recent graduate of Pratt M.Arch program, and a contributing editor of Tarp: Digital, Pratt’s podcast spinoff from their long-running student publication.

Listen to episode 128 of Archinect Sessions, “Long Time Listener First Time Talker”.

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Archinect Sessions & Bureau Spectacular team up at the Arroyo Seco Weekend festival this Saturday in Pasadena

2017-06-22T17:45:00-04:00

For those of you in the Los Angeles area, you are already aware of the Arroyo Seco Weekend music festival, taking place in Pasadena this weekend. The festival is a new event hosted by the same people that run Coachella, Desert Trip, and other amazing art/music/culture events.

For this inaugural festival, Archinect has teamed up with Jimenez Lai/Bureau Spectacular. Hosted by Archinect's Paul Petrunia and Nicholas Korody, we will be running our 5th Next Up podcasting event inside of Bureau Spectacular's project "Field House."

If you're coming to the festival, come by and say hi, or pull up a blanket and stick around for a few to listen to our conversations.

Lineup & Schedule

Mimi Zeiger: 1 PM
Mimi Zeiger is a Los Angeles-based critic, editor and curator that has covered art, architecture, urbanism and design for a number of publications including The New York Times, Domus, Architectural Review, and Architect. She is also author of New Museums, Tiny Houses, Micro Green: Tiny Houses i...

A Salute to Garbage Fires: moving on from 2016 and predictions for 2017, on Archinect Sessions #93

2016-12-22T18:24:00-05:00

It's that time of the year – for washing away the stench of the past and basking in the sweet, slightly terrifying promise of an uncertain future. This week on the podcast, we dish out our predictions for architecture in 2017, and try to digest the year that was 2016.

This is our final episode for the year – we'll be back in a few weeks with fresh discussions, but in the meantime, if you like the podcast, you can do us a huge solid by rating us on iTunes. Send us thoughts, comments, and suggestions through connect@archinect.com, or find us on Twitter, @archsessions.

Listen to episode 93 of Archinect Sessions, "A Salute to Garbage Fires":

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Shownotes:

What Amel...

DIY Space, After Ghost Ship: Safety, community and informal venues after Oakland's tragic fire, ft. S. Surface and David Keenan on Archinect Sessions #91

2016-12-08T19:22:00-05:00

Last Friday night, a fire broke out during a concert at the Ghost Ship warehouse in Oakland, California, killing (at present count) 36 people. While the precise cause of the fire is still unknown, the building was rife with code violations that accelerated the fire's damage, many related to its adapted use for living and work-spaces. While criminal investigations are just beginning, local artists worry that the city will use the tragedy to crack down on other adaptive and DIY venues in the Bay Area, restricting access even further to affordable spaces in an already tight housing market.

Within the architecture community, the tragedy has prompted discussions surrounding the safety and vitality of DIY venues, and the long-term effects of such building code violations for gentrification and zoning. To discuss on the podcast, we're joined by two guests who have personal and professional experience with forming community spaces: designer, curator and organizer S. Surface, and David Keenan...

HUD-winked: Ben Carson takes on housing for Trump and ZHA distances itself from Patrik Schumacher on Archinect Sessions #90, ft. special guest Marc Miller

2016-12-01T15:46:00-05:00

When president-elect Donald Trump nominated Ben Carson to lead the department of Housing and Urban Development, the response was resoundingly: huh?

The neurosurgeon came onto the national political scene in 2015, during his run for the Republican nomination, but after Trump took the presidency and started throwing around the idea of offering a Cabinet position to Carson, a spokesperson said "Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he's never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Despite all that, Carson is now (almost definitely officially) secretary of HUD (which he knows just enough about to seriously backtrack the agency's work as pushed by Obama). So here we are.

Special guest Marc Miller joins us on the podcast to discuss the implications of Carson's inexperience for HUD, as well as chew on the latest Schumacher-induced controversy: when the architect promoted the privatization of public space an...

Mia Lehrer discusses her long-running history with the LA River's redevelopment on our final 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session

2016-11-29T13:09:00-05:00

It's here: our final interview from 'Next Up: The LA River', featuring Mia Lehrer of Mia Lehrer + Associates. Lehrer was a major driving force in the 2007 Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan, and has worked for nearly 20 years on projects related to the River—undeniably preceding any involvement from Frank Gehry.

Paul Petrunia sits down with Lehrer to speak about her history with the river and its redevelopment, as well as her thoughts for how the project must proceed. Read more about Lehrer's work on the LA River here.

To get caught up on all Mini-Sessions from our Next Up: The LA River event, you can listen to the whole first half at once on One-to-One (the second half will be available next week), or download each interview separately through Archinect Sessions.

Listen to Archinect Sessions Mini-Session #8 from 'Next Up: The LA River' with Mia Lehrer:

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Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #6: Julia Meltzer (Clockshop) and Elizabeth Timme (LA-Más)

2016-11-22T14:46:00-05:00

For this Mini-Session from our Next Up: The LA River event, Nicholas Korody spoke with Elizabeth Timme, co-director of the urban design and architecture non-profit LA-Más, and Julia Meltzer, director and founder of non-profit arts organization, Clockshop.

Both Clockshop and LA-Más are located within Elysian Valley, aka Frogtown—a sliver of a neighborhood bordered by the LA River, the 5 and the 2 freeways. In recent years, Frogtown (predominantly a low-density neighborhood of single-family homes) has become a major focus in LA conversations about gentrification and development, and both Timme's and Meltzer's work is heavily invested in their context. Clockshop (in collaboration with California State Parks) has its HQ in Frogtown and hosts art events in the Bowtie, an undeveloped plot of land along the river. In 2015, LA-Más led a community "co-visioning process" (the 'Futuro de Frogtown') to determine the kind of development decisions residents were concerned about.

Korody spoke with b...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #3 with Steven Appleton and Catherine Gudis

2016-11-18T20:04:00-05:00

Steven Appleton and Catherine Gudis are some of Next Up's most active participants when it comes to physically being in the LA River. Appleton co-founded LA River Kayak Safari, which has lead over 6000 people on kayaking tours down the river. He's also a public artist, and has made work that engages with the river for more than 15 years—his "50 Clean Bottles of LA River Water" used a bespoke water wheel to pump the river's water into bottles, and clean it to potable levels.

Gudis, while her core role is directing UC Riverside's Public History Program, also co-founded Project 51's 'Play the LA River'—a game that invited Angelenos to explore different areas along the river's entire 51-mile stretch. While over 80% of the river is paved, there are stretches of soft-bottom, green wetlands that host their own diverse, unique ecology.

Paul spoke with Appleton and Gudis for Next Up about reframing Angelenos' expectations of the river by helping them get their feet wet.

Listen to Archinect Sess...

AIAWOL: Dissenting architects and the #NotMyAIA fallout, ft. Katherine Darnstadt of Latent Design, on Archinect Sessions #89

2016-11-17T17:15:00-05:00

This week we're devoting our entire episode to the debacle that was AIA CEO Robert Ivy's statement in support of President-elect Donald Trump, and the ensuing fallout among AIA members and others within the architecture community. Joining us is Katherine Darnstadt, founder and principal at Chicago-based Latent Design, and the originator of the dissenting #NotMyAIA hashtag, tweeted in response to Ivy's initial letter.

To get the full background to the whole controversy, read our feature: Architects Respond to the AIA’s Statement in Support of President-Elect Donald Trump

Listen to episode 89 of Archinect Sessions, "AIAWOL":

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...

Listen to 'Next Up: The LA River' Mini-Session #2 with Marissa Christiansen, Senior Policy Director of Friends of the Los Angeles River

2016-11-17T12:55:00-05:00

Our second conversation from 'Next Up: The LA River' is with Marissa Christiansen, Senior Policy Director of Friends of the Los Angeles River. FOLAR, as the non-profit is known, turned 30 this year, and was founded on the mission to "protect and restore the natural and historic heritage of the Los Angeles river and its riparian habitat through inclusive planning, education and wise stewardship." Its role in much of the river's discourse has often included reminding all parties involved that the river is indeed a natural river, and host to a diverse ecosystem—despite its characterization as the "world's largest storm drain" ever since the Army Corps of Engineers paved most of it for flood control in the 1930s.

Christiansen trained as an urban planner before joining FOLAR this year, and spoke with Nicholas Korody about the organization's history within the river's redevelopment, its focus on reconnecting people with the river's immense natural resources, and the delicate balance betwee...