In her latest book, The Art of Architectural Grafting, architect and MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang digs into how the horticultural practice of "grafting" — joining a new plant to an older one so they can grow and thrive as one — inspires a fresh paradigm for sustainable design. As the founding partner of architecture and urban design practice Studio Gang, Jeanne and her firm are known for designing the 82-story Aqua Tower on Chicago's skyline and the St. Regis Chicago. Then, she's joined by Lee Bey, an editorial writer and architecture critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, for a lively and humorous chat through Chicago's contemporary architecture problems and promises.

Watch the full conversation here.

Read the podcast transcript.

PHOTO: Jeanne Gang and Lee Bey at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in 2024.

Read:

Jeanne Gang, The Art of Architectural Grafting

Marc-Antoine Laugier, An Essay on Architecture

Daniel M. Abramson, Obsolescence: An Architectural History

Leo Marx, The Machine in the Garden

Emanuele Coccia, The Life of Plants: A Metaphysics of Mixture

Explore:

Guerilla Grafters

Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

American Museum of Natural History Richard Gilder Center

Live event programmed by Lauren Pacheco

Live event produced by Jesse Swanson

Live event stage managed by Kait Samuels

Live event produced and mixed by Nick Broste

Production assistance by Christopher Moore and Josh Harlow

Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

Podcast copy assistance from Katherine Kermgard

Additional support provided by David Vish

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