Bespoke Careers Podcast

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Adam Haddow is an Australian architect, partner at SJB and the current National President of the Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA).

In this conversation, Adam makes the case that architects have spent decades drifting toward irrelevance, avoiding the hard conversations about cities and housing while celebrating beautiful houses and hoping politicians notice. He believes that needs to stop.

We cover what meaningful influence looks like for the profession, why AI is the biggest democratisation architecture has ever seen, how his own 67sqm terrace house is a direct argument against suburban sprawl, and what the RAIA needs to become to stay worth belonging to.

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00:00 Intro

00:53 Growing up in rural Victoria

02:03 Early interest in architecture

03:24 University experience

05:45 The walk-in catchment philosophy

07:12 Joining SJB

10:08 Transitioning practice ownership

13:22 Bringing in multidisciplinary voices

17:13 The tiny terrace house project

20:32 Housing density and apartment standards

26:31 Becoming RAIA National President

27:46 Architects and political relevance

30:28 Rethinking the architecture profession

43:02 How the architect identity has shifted

45:44 Advice for the next generation

Phineas Harper is a London-based writer, founder and cultural leader. A regular contributor to The Guardian, their career spans criticism, curation, education, youth work, journalism and sculpture.

00:00 Intro

1:00 The personal toll of speaking out

3:22 Discovering architecture

6:47 Working at the Architecture Review

10:51 Do architects see the value in writing and critique?

13:51 Architecture Foundation and New Architecture Writers1

5:37 Open City and Open House Festival

21:20 The big wall between architecture and the public

23:43 Architectural communication

25:58 The protection of function

29:10 Filmmaking and social media

35:59 Going freelance

37:28 Writing for the Guardian

39:02 The future of the profession

41:22 Advice for the aspiring architects

43:10 Architecture school

44:25 Persuading the mainstream media to talk about urban issues

47:24 Do architects care about politics?

52:15 The misguided public perception of architects

53:27 Work and values

Lucy Carmichael, former Director of Practice at the RIBA and current Board Member for the University of the Built Environment, explains why the traditional, linear path into the industry is failing most students, and what the alternative looks like.

From her upbringing with architect parents, to navigating the "heyday" of design policy at CABE, Lucy has spent her life 'falling in and out of love with architecture.' The thing that keeps her coming back is the huge potential for positive impact on society.

We explore the "radical realism" of the London School of Architecture, the looming impact of AI on graduate roles, and why the most impactful architectural careers are often the ones that look the least traditional.

00:00 Intro

00:56 Route into architecture

5:48 The reality check: first jobs in architecture

8:10 Stepping out of practice

9:38 The CABE movement

14:17 Communication and storytelling in architecture

18:41 Director of Practice at the RIBA

27:10 The profession's lack of engagement with the RIBA

33:08 The school that works differently (joining the LSA)

35:25 "Radical Realism" - the LSA ethos

47:04 AI and the future of the education and the profession

55:18 Has her career turned out how she imagined?

57:54 Career advice for the next generation

Founder of Gustafson Porter + Bowman, Kathryn Gustafson reflects starting a studio in a second language, and learning the business side of practice through trial, mentors, and persistence.

00:00 Intro

0:59 Growing up in the desert

2:35 Discovering design

6:33 Journey from fashion to landscape architecture

12:04 Business vs Art

16:31 Founding her businesses and 'the invisible years.'

25:47 How to be a good leader

28:39 Building a workplace culture

29:21 Key projects and dealing with criticism

35:52 Navigating cultural contexts as a designer

38:59 Key skills designers need

41:05 Working with other designers: "Architects think they can do everything"

43:31 The changing nature of landscapes

47:58 Legacy

49:36 The next generation of designers

Kai-Uwe Bergmann is a Partner at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), where he leads global business development and oversees urban design and landscape projects. Known for his strategic approach to "the political scale," Bergmann has been instrumental in scaling BIG from a Copenhagen-founded practice into a global force operating in over 40 countries. He is a primary contributor to Manhattan’s "Big U," a 10-mile coastal resiliency project designed to protect the city from future climate events.

BIG, often described as "pragmatic utopian," focuses on transforming complex societal challenges (from energy and food distribution to affordable housing) into opportunities for design innovation.

Bergmann’s personal journey, spanning from a German upbringing to an apprenticeship in glassmaking and stone masonry, informs his belief that architecture is a "limitless" field that requires the investigative skills of a detective and the foresight of a strategist.

0:00 Intro

1:09 Why architecture?

7:57 Glass-blowing, apprenticeships, and the value of experiences

13:21 Meeting Bjarke: A 20-year collaboration

17:43 Designing beyond election cycles

20:51 BIG's stratospheric rise

32:51 What architecture school doesn't teach you

36:52 What should architects be doing more of?

42:28 Scaling BIG and navigating the global scale

47:48 Balancing work-life and family life

49:48 The importance of architecture and the role of the architect

51:24 Architecture as a hopeful act

On 1 January 2026, Chris Williamson took a deliberate and provocative step. He allowed his registration with the Architects Registration Board to lapse, describing the framework as 'absurd'.

In practical terms, the sitting President of the RIBA, a practitioner with more than forty years’ experience and the founder of one of the UK’s most successful practices, can no longer legally call himself an architect.

"Since I was 18 it's all I've ever wanted to do. But to be asked to pay an annual fee (which is increasing each year) to the ARB for the title - when the function isn't regulated seems madness."

This conversation was filmed in the weeks leading up to that announcement. It captures Chris at a moment of conviction, before he went public with a decision that challenges how the UK regulates the built environment.

As a working class kid, Chris was told architecture wasn’t for "the likes of him." Decades later, as RIBA President and co-founder of Weston Williamson + Partners, he's reshaped global cities through transport and infrastructure.

If you are interested in how architecture survives the collision of technological shift, class barriers, commercial pressure, and declining influence - this is for you.

0:00 Intro

1:28 Chris' route into architecture

4:55 Class and the barrier to professional entry

6:37 Founding ⁨@wwparchitects⁩

12:27 Why architects are losing influence

14:31 Specialisim vs generalism

19:14 In defence of competitions

22:38 Partnerships, pressure and asking for help

27:08 AI: can anyone be an architect now?

30:19 Handing over WW+P to the next generation

32:58 What do you want you legacy to be?

36:56 How to fix architecture's influence problem

41:10 What Chris is doing as RIBA President

45:08 Why young architects aren't joining the RIBA

49:17 Protection of function vs title

52:21 What success as RIBA President looks like

Simon Allford is never short of a view, and this conversation covers the parts of architecture people usually avoid.AHMM was founded in 1989 at possibly the worst moment in modern British architecture.

Gold cards maxed out to cover office debt, competitions won but never built, consultancy work drying up. Those five years of survival shaped everything that followed. The rule from their student days still holds: the best idea wins, not yours or mine. If everyone's comfortable with a design, it's probably not good enough.

His infamous "first we storm the building, then we take back the asylum" quote came from genuine frustration with an RIBA he felt had lost its purpose. Architecture, not architects.

The internal politics proved harder than expected: some figures were "sinisterly unpleasant," but the House of Architecture concept survived. The collection is returning from storage, Portland Place is opening up, and he's still chairing fundraising for the Museum of Architecture.

AHMM now has seven new executive directors and a global team of 400+. Growth was never the goal, they used to joke about never exceeding thirty people, but scale found them anyway.

If you want an honest take on what architecture is really like from the inside, and how to survive those (sometimes) brutal early years - this is a great place to start.

00:00 Intro

01:28 Becoming an architect

05:30 Founding AHMM

11:09 The first five brutal years

18:37 The success of AHMM

26:07 The RIBA presidency and 'that' quote

28:47 The House of Architecture and the role of the RIBA

32:29 The value of architecture and public engagement

42:12 Succession planning at AHMM

46:40 Mentorship and the next generation of architects

50:30 AI, critical thinking and the future of architecture

56:51 Following in his father's footsteps (and his daughters in his)

When Alyssa Anselmo quit her New York design job to build a daycare in Canada with next to no experience, everyone said she was crazy. Since then, she's delivered multiple award-winning projects, amassed a social media empire of 1M+ followers and built a studio that lets her choose work entirely on her own terms. Safe to say she made the right decision.

Alyssa breaks down the decisions, the risks, and what she's learned about taste, money and attention.

Her message is this: You don't need permission. You don't need a decade of experience. You need conviction, a willingness to be uncomfortable, and the courage to back your ideas even when nobody else does.

00:00 Intro

01:20 Why architecture and design made sense

08:46 What Italy, Canada and the US taught her about design

17:17 Walking away from commercial practice to start her own studio

22:02 How the Bambini daycare project began with her mum

28:31 Taking on a 1,000 square metre childcare centre solo

30:24 Rethinking daycare interiors for light, calm and curiosity

35:07 What she wants to design next

37:04 How TikTok and Studio Anva’s online presence started

43:04 Turning a rented flat into a content engine

45:11 Good design on a tight budget with Facebook Marketplace and IKEA

47:47 Money, taste and why some rich homes still feel flat

53:04 Why good design should scare you a little

54:09 Lessons for designers who want to grow on social media

1:00:25 Advice for young architects and designers backing their ideas

1:07:27 Her slow, human response to AI in design

1:13:29 Has her career gone to plan or not at all

Sarah Gibson & Nicholas Karlovasitis leave uni, cram a fledgling furniture brand into a Newtown flat, and decide they are going to export Australian design to the world. That is the starting point for DesignByThem. In this episode we unpack how fifteen years later, they're actually pulling it off.

We talk about building a design brand from a tiny local market, backing Australian designers, and choosing factories around the world without losing the integrity of the work.

The conversation gets into IP, copies, pricing, cashflow, and why treating business as a design problem changed everything for them.If you care about turning design from a side project into a viable brand, this one is worth your time.

0:00 Intro

1:22 Why design still hooks them after all these years

3:00 Chasing ideas that make beautiful things accessible

4:08 Childhood Lego, pulling things apart and thinking like designers

5:11 Sarah’s path from obsessive floor plans to industrial design

6:10 Education, UTS and putting Australian industrial design on the map

7:34 Spotting the gap and founding DesignByThem as a collective

9:39 Building a platform for Australian designers not just a personal studio

11:02 Royalties, collaboration and why the best invoices go to other designers

13:08 Designers as business people and treating business like a design problem

15:09 Systems and spreadsheets

16:29 How they find designers and why so many wait to be discovered

19:29 Social media, saturation and why direct outreach still wins

21:35 Young designers, polish, missing knowledge and the AI trap

22:56 Why outsourcing the concept is a mistake and IP is everything

24:16 Using AI for the boring bits so more time goes into design

24:23 Sustainability, materials and designing for the full life cycle

27:15 Greenwashing, regulation and how far Australia needs to go

33:20 Working with architects and interiors and learning from clients

34:50 Feedback loops, data and using colour and custom work smartly

39:21 Australian craft as limitation and why they went global with manufacturing

41:42 Balancing local pride, accessibly priced products and global factories

43:52 Turning furniture design from a second job into a real career

45:03 Educating the public and putting the designer behind the product

50:03 How products, brands and spaces work together in the real world

53:12 Their Smart Design Studio workspace and why the setting matters

55:33 What they have learned, what they would change and why they still love coming to work

A few times in a generation, a piece of technology comes along that changes everything. The internet, smart phones, or if you're an architect, CAD and BIM. Now, we have AI to add to that list. But can our profession embrace this, move forward, or even absorb another push for efficiency without hollowing out our expertise or having to question our real value now or in the future?We wanted to find out the answers to these questions and more. So we spoke to Rada Daleva, project lead at Studio Tim Fu, the leading AI-first architecture firm working with real clients on real projects and making real money.This studio is at the vanguard of what our future could look like, and that debut, commissioned at Lake Bled in Slovenia, is billed as the first fully AI driven architecture project.00:00 Intro01:25 Is AI coming for my job?02:37 What are the tangible use cases for AI right now?06:34 Rada’s path to Studio Tim Fu11:01 Using AI across the business11:54 Lake Bled: World's first fully AI driven architecture project15:06 Human touch, local context and training models19:14 Why later stages are harder for AI21:45 Does AI steal the fun part of design?24:17 How AI could shift architectural value26:55 What to do if you just started a design practice31:13 Should students be learning AI at University?34:57 Using AI as a marketing strategy38:49 Do clients actually want AI?39:45 Navigating the AI divide43:03 Will AI fundamentally change design forever?47:07 What do you say to the haters?48:15 How do we define our value in this new era of design?50:03 How will the industry evolve in the next five years?