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 this kind do not leave paper trails. If at all, they exist as specters of professional gossip, not easy to examine or learn from. And yet, the lessons contained in architects’ deliberations about, and decisions not to engage, are politically relevant and urgent.”

Tatiana Bilbao, for example, explained the complicated process of working with government agencies and other parts of an apparatus she refers to as “systems of power,” while on a more local scale, LEVER Principal Chandra Robinson recently discussed her firm’s lauded approach to elevating proximity in the sourcing of materials, the work to support small-scale builders, and other related topics inherent in a community-oriented focus of practice. 

The project was conceived and produced by Critical Broadcasting Lab Director Ana Miljački, who is also currently the Chair of Architecture and Urbanism at MIT. She is aided in her efforts by co-producer Julian Andrew Escudero Geltman. Episodes are typically 35 minutes to an hour in length. The full trove of I Would Prefer Not To interviews can be found here via Spotify.