In Episode 31 of A is for Architecture I speak with Maristella Casciato, Vikramaditya Prakash  & Daniel E. Coslett about the recent volume they edited, Rethinking Global Modernism: Architectural Historiography and the Postcolonial, published by Routledge this year. The book is a collection of essays and studies which critically reflect of 'other moderns', those spaces, places, people and artefacts which are definitively modern but which, for reasons discussed in the podcast, have historically been excluded from established discourse and the canon. It's a recurrent theme for this podcast, reflecting on the peculiar gatekeeping of modernist architecture that has dominated scholarship, architectural education and public perceptions of what modernism is and, by extension, what it is to be modern.   

I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Maristella, Daniel and Vikram by Fran Ford at Routledge, Vikram also hosts a podcast, Architecture Talk, which you should also listen to. We also touch on another recent book which Vikram wrote, One Continuous Line: Art, Architecture and Urbanism of Aditya Prakash, published by Mapin in 2021, and with an introduction by Maristella. 

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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In Episode 30 of A is for Architecture, I speak with Alastair Parvin, CEO of Open Systems Lab, co-founder of WikiHouse, writer and architect. Open Systems Lab 'believe that if we want to build a successful, sustainable, fair and inclusive digital economy and to navigate the massive changes of the next half-century, we need to design, invest-in and deploy new open systems for everyone'. We discuss the impact of these things and the implications and possibilities they suggest, particularly for the production and management of the built environment - towns and cities, house and homes (and the gaps in between). Alastair and I talk about all this with reference to three pieces he has written: A New Land Contract, Planning for the Future and We need new operating systems. Whose job is that?, all linked here but available on Alastair's Medium page.

I met Alastair At Sheffield School of Architecture, where we both studied. His work, which incorporates stints at RSH+P and Architecture 00, is a wonderful example of the possibilities afforded by engaging with socio-spatial and process thinking. Follow the links above to Al's articles, and watch him TED the roof off here: Architecture for the people by the people. He also gave a talk entitled The Future of Regulations at the Radical Practice Conference 2020, Royal College of Art & Dark Matter Laboratories, which is worth a sticky.

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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aisforarchitecture.org

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In Episode 29 of A is for Architecture, I speak with Michael Young, founder of Young & Ayata and assistant professor at the The Cooper Union, New York. We speak about Michael's recent book, Reality Modelled After Images: Architecture and Aesthetics after the Digital Image, published this year by Routledge. Its a fine book, very thoughtful, tempered by Michael's dual role as a practitioner-scholar. We speak about aesthetics, and its diminished role in modern architectural practice and discourse, and the way digital images constitute a challenge to current readings of aesthetics, situating them within an historical narrative with roots in the Beaux-Arts architectural tradition.

I was introduced to Michael by Fran Ford, Senior Editor and Publisher (Architecture) at Routledge. We have never met IRL. You can see Michael's The Cooper Union profile here, and his practice, Young & Ayata, here. The book is linked above.

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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aisforarchitecture.org

Apple: podcasts.apple.com

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In Episode 28 of A is for Architecture, I speak with Professor Harriet Harriss (RIBA, ARB, Assoc. AIA, Ph.D., PFHEA, FRSA), Dean of the School of Architecture at the Pratt Institute, New York. We talk about Harriet's writing, educational practice and academic advocacy, and discuss two of her recent books, Architects After Architecture: Alternative Pathways for Practice, which she co-edited with Rory Hyde and Roberta Marcaccio, published by Routledge in 2021, and Working at the Intersection: Architecture After the Anthropocene: 2022, Volume 4 in RIBA Publishing's Design Studio series, co-edited with Naomi House and published this year.

I met Harriet as an undergraduate in Manchester. She was impressive then, and remains so, publishing, teaching, researching, speaking and writing on varied subjects. You can follow Harriet on Twitter, and on LinkedIn. You should watch her recorded lectures too, particularly Harriet's discussion with Patrick Schumacher in 2019, as part of Dezeen Day, and In Session: Design Curricula for Climate Crisis for the Royal College of Art in 2020 with Dr. Delfina Fantini van Ditmar. (There's a lot more, believe, so have a look around.)

Enjoy, why don't you.

www.aisforarchitecture.org

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

In Episode 27 of A is for Architecture, I got to speak with architect Stefanie Rhodes, founder and director of the London-based practice, Gatti Routh Rhodes. Stephanie's practice collaborates with civic and theatre clients, exhibition design, as well as domestic work. In short, her work is a good model for the everyday life of a young architecture practice, and the story Stefanie tells is interesting, insightful and rather inspiring as a consequence.

You can find out more about Gatti Routh Rhodes at their website here. Stefanie's LinkedIn page is here. The Bethnal Green Mission Church was reviewed on ArchDaily here, on architecture.com here. There's a fantastic review of the church, of GRR and of Stefanie in the Architectural Review here, from February 2020.

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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aisforarchitecture.org

Apple: podcasts.apple.com

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In Episode 26 of A is for Architecture, I speak with the Glasgow School of Art's Professor Bruce Peter, about themes, buildings, people and ideas gleaned from his 2020 book, Jet Age Hotels and the International Style 1950-1965. It's a wonderful book, and Bruce is a remarkably knowledgeable, entertaining and insightful conversationalist. The topic might seem niche, and away from the thing A is for Architecture has done so far, but it isn't. Have a listen and you'll see...

I met Bruce at Glasgow when I got to seem him teach enthralled classes with a verve and energy I could only dream of manifesting, born from a real mastery of his subject. Read the book and listen to the fella. He's worth it. You can get Jet Age Hotels and the International Style 1950 - 1965 here.

Bruce can be looked at here, and his Tweets can be read here. You can LinkedIn him here.

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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aisforarchitecture.org

Apple: podcasts.apple.com

Spotify: open.spotify.com

Google: podcasts.google.com

In episode 25 of A is for Architecture, I speak with Albena Yaneva, Professor of Architectural Theory at the Manchester School of Architecture, University of Manchester, about her new book, Latour for Architects, published by Routledge at the end of March. In it, we discuss Albena’s reading and application of the work of the great sociologist, Bruno Latour’s and in turn, his reading of society, particularly his important concept of Actor-Network Theory, and his work’s application to the practice and production of architectural thinking. Latour’s work has great influence on contemporary practice, even if often under-played, particularly as practice life waxes networked and complex. Albena’s elegant and enlightening exposition is a timely interjection, then, perhaps helping architects understand themselves a wee bit better.

I was introduced to Albena by Fran Ford, Senior Editor and Publisher (Architecture) for Routledge, who also sent me the book hot off the press. All thanks for that.

Albena’s research/ academic profile can be seen here, and she is also available via Twitter. Latour for Architects can be purchased here, and Albena’s great lecture for McGill University - The New Ecology of Architectural Practice: An ANT Perspective on the Effects of Covid-19 – is definitely worth a butcher’s.

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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aisforarchitecture.org

Apple: podcasts.apple.com

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In episode 24 of #aisforarchitecture, I speak with Dean Hawkes, Emeritus Professor of Architectural Design at the Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University and emeritus fellow of Darwin College, University of Cambridge, about his 2022 book, The Architect and the Academy: Essays on Research and Environment, published by Routledge, and the second edition of his great work, The Environmental Imagination: Technics and Poetics of the Architectural Environment (2019) also by Routledge. We focus on the latter, naturally, and its thoughtful and quietly radical approach to interpreting the icons of modernism and their socio-environmental intelligence, and reflect on the possibilities and function of the academic architect (or the architect in academia…).

I was introduced to Dean by his publishers, Routledge although I saw him speak at the Glasgow School of Art in 2014 (a talk you can watch here). Tickets for his forthcoming Daylight Talk, The sun never knew how great it is until it struck the side of a building, can be gotten here. You can see his CV here too. Dean is a wonderful communicator and an inspiring thinker and writer, and I know you’ll enjoy this discussion.

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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aisforarchitecture.org

Apple: podcasts.apple.com

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Google: podcasts.google.com

In Episode 23 of A is for Architecture, I got to speak with Neil Pinder, Head of Product Design and Architecture at Graveney School, Tooting, London. Elected Honorary Fellow of the RIBA this year, Honorary Professor at the Bartlett, UCL, and (STOP PRESS!), Fellow of the RSA, Neil has spent the last 25 plus years developing programmes for advancing design thinking for secondary school education, expanding the discipline’s reach into underrepresented communities and groups, supporting young learners to develop confidence in design and design thinking, and challenging the profession to promote diverse perspectives and values in its practices, education, communication and ethics.

Neil is wonderfully inspiring, and very funny. His initiative Home Grown Plus+ is worth exploring, and he can be found here on Twitter and LinkedIn, and via the links below, too.

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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aisforarchitecture.org

Apple: podcasts.apple.com

Spotify: open.spotify.com

Google: podcasts.google.com

In Episode 22 of A is for Architecture, I speak with architect, urban designer and anthropologist, Shira de Bourbon Parme, co-founder of ForeGrounds and member of the London Collective. Shira's background is as an architect, but through doctoral research in social anthropology, now works alongside developers, planners and architects to guide them in the production of sustainable urban spaces that are rooted in a close and sensitive reading of the social and material nature of places.

I was introduced to Shira through another member of the London Collective, Bee Farrell, a food anthropologist, with whom I work. Shira holds a doctorate from the Future of Cities programme at the University of Oxford, for a thesis entitled How do master planners think? A sociomaterial inquiry (2018).

Enjoy!

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Music credits: Bruno Gillick.

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aisforarchitecture.org

Apple: podcasts.apple.com

Spotify: open.spotify.com

Google: podcasts.google.com