Journey With Purpose

We explore the life and legacy of Philip Johnson through his iconic Glass House. Delving into Johnson’s multifaceted career, we reflect on Johnson’s profound impact on modern architecture, his controversial political past, and how these facets interplay with his architectural legacy. This episode navigates the complexities of his contributions within the context of his support of fascists, anti-semites, and the Nazi Party. Highlighting the Glass House’s design and significance, we reflect on how to view Johnson’s work in the context of his personal history, emphasizing the importance of learning from the past to inform our understanding of architecture and history.

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• Visit the Glass House in person or on instagram & Twitter, owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation

• Philip Johnson

• Edith An Architectural History (pdf)

Gwen North Reiss is an educator, poet and writer located in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Johnson Study Group is a pseudonymous group of researchers and educators.

Nora Wendl is an associate professor of architecture at University of New Mexico and executive editor of the Journal of Architectural Education. Wendl’s work engages architectural historiography through methods involving image, text, narrative, performance, and exhibition. Her research has been supported by the Graham Foundation, Santa Fe Art Institute, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, among other institutions. Wendl has published, lectured, and exhibited widely. Her book manuscript, “The Edith Project,” was recently shortlisted for the 2022 Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize.

1. Philip Johnson’s Glass House stands as a testament to his pioneering spirit in minimalist architecture, challenging traditional concepts of space, structure, and environment.

Listen to companion episode

If you haven’t listened to the first part – Farnsworth House, Telling the whole story – that’s ok.

This episode unravels the complex story behind the creation of this architectural masterpiece, from Mies’s dramatic departure from Nazi Germany, leaving behind his family, to the protracted design and construction process that eventually led to a notorious lawsuit and rumors of a romantic entanglement with Dr. Farnsworth—rumors that bear no resemblance to the truth.

Join us as we speak with Scott Mehaffey, the Executive Director at the Dr. Edith Farnsworth House National Historic Site, and Nora Wendl, an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of New Mexico, for an in-depth discussion on the house that not only stands as a testament to Mies van der Rohe’s architectural genius but also inspired Philip Johnson’s Glass House, the subject of our next episode. Get ready for a compelling journey into the past, marked by innovation, scandal, and the timeless allure of midcentury modern design.

Dive into the world of Midcentury Modern architecture with the first episode of our two-part series, exploring the iconic Dr. Edith Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe. This episode unravels the complex story behind the creation of this architectural masterpiece, from Mies’s dramatic departure from Nazi Germany, leaving behind his family, to the protracted design and construction process that eventually led to a notorious lawsuit and rumors of a romantic entanglement with Dr. Farnsworth—rumors that bear no resemblance to the truth.

Join us as we speak with Scott Mehaffey, the Executive Director at the Dr. Edith Farnsworth House National Historic Site, and Nora Wendl, an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of New Mexico, for an in-depth discussion on the house that not only stands as a testament to Mies van der Rohe’s architectural genius but also inspired Philip Johnson’s Glass House, the subject of our next episode. Get ready for a compelling journey into the past, marked by innovation, scandal, and the timeless allure of midcentury modern design.

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Sponsored by:

Expedition Works

Hi. We’re a full–service design cooperative – let’s work together to make your journey with a purpose successful.

• Photos of the Edith Farnsworth house I took in 2009

• Edith An Architectural History (pdf)

Nora Wendl is an associate professor of architecture at University of New Mexico and executive editor of the Journal of Architectural Education. Wendl’s work engages architectural historiography through methods involving image, text, narrative, performance, and exhibition. Her research has been supported by the Graham Foundation, Santa Fe Art Institute, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, among other institutions. Wendl has published, lectured, and exhibited widely. Her book manuscript, “The Edith Project,” was recently shortlisted for the 2022 Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize.

Scott Mehaffey, MS, FASLA is Executive Director of the 56-acre Farnsworth House National Historic Landmark, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Scott holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Illinois College of Fine & Applied Arts, and a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Dominican University. Prior to joining the National Trust, Scott was Landscape Coordinator for the City of Chicago under Mayor Richard M. Daley, and for many years, was Landscape Architect for the historic Morton Arboretum. Scott is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and has been active in cultural landscape preservation since the 1980s as a consultant, curator, program organizer, author, speaker and advocate. Scott has been an Adjunct Professor in the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture, a workshop leader and recurrent speaker for the American Public Gardens Association, and has taught cultural landscape preservation for landscape architects, contractors and historic preservation students.

“Because of the lawsuit, she was relegated to the footnotes of history as the crazy spurned ex-lover, who had never appreciated the house. And of course, that was just a mischaracterization. We’ve conducted a lot of research in recent years and learned what a fascinating person she was, that she was integral to the design of the house until the lawsuit. She really hasn’t been given due credit. She was really Mies’ only client, a patron, really, at a point when he had no private commissions.”

“Nobody really has time for propaganda anymore. It doesn’t educate. It doesn’t serve anybody. I think the public can handle that. I think the public actually really wants to know the entire story”

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We speak with good friend and former colleague Erika Lee about being an independent graphic designer and launching a non-profit community-focused maker space in Hawai’i.

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• Our Space Hawaii & @ourspacehawaii

Erika Lee, an independent designer and consultant, employs research, strategy, visual storytelling, and interactions to design emotionally resonating experiences. She helps ambitious web3 startups build great products with WE3, a global design collective. She serves as Vice Chair at Ourspace, a community makerspace. She mentors Hawai‘i’s emerging UX/UI designers through Lady Bandit Studios’ Circular Internship and explores place-based design in a Hawaiian context with Purple Maia’s Ka Maka ʻĪnana Think Tank.

Sponsored by:

Expedition Works

Hi. We’re a full–service design cooperative – let’s work together to make your journey with a purpose successful.

“What we’re learning is that it only becomes real when you believe it is real, and everyone else does. We don’t have everything figured out, but we’re figuring it out as we go.”

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The King of Zoning is empowered to preempt and overrule local, county, and state zoning and land use in order to affirmatively further housing for all.

Here are the king’s first ten proclamations.

1. As of Right Zoning

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• Original King of Zoning Post

In a realm afar, a king of zoning reigned, His passion, city planning, uncontained. He shaped his realm with vision and with care, In zoning’s art, his kingdom’s streets laid bare.

With eco-conscious plans, he led the way, A master of zoning, night and day. His subjects thrived in harmony and grace, In Zoneland’s order, they found their place.

Join our podcast as we journey through,The world of zoning, tales both old and new. In rhymes and rhythm, we’ll unfold his lore, The zoning king, whom legends still adore.

“I am empowered to preempt and overrule all local county and state zoning and land use. In order to affirmatively further housing for all. As you’re king of zoning I take my duties. Very, very serious. And today. My loyal subjects, I will be releasing my first of many proclamations.”

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Julian is one part of the team behind Near Future Laboratory, a design-led innovation practice, who invented design fiction as a thing and practice. When not designing and publishing books, podcasts, and doing consulting, he runs the Near Future Laboratory Discord, a Hypercollaborative where people come together to practice the craft of futuring and design fiction.

We speak about how to balance structure’s need for managed expectations, and imaginations need to jam. How listening to each other and trust in one’s self and each other can make beautiful things. How making things is our differentiator.

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• New Future Laboratory and Julian Bleecker

• My favorite episode: N°44 — Meow Wolf, Public Policy, and Design Fiction with Stephen Bennett

Julian Bleecker is a creative leader with the range of a generalist. He is at his best when he is working with organizations translating the “now” into the “next”. He is an engineer with multiple degrees, so he knows what it means to execute on ideas. He has a PhD in technology and culture, giving him unique perspectives and insights into the meaning of new ideas and how they will fit within marketplaces.

“It’s invigorating to me to just have that feeling that there are other people out there who have the same questions, the same desires; and the approach to doing what I think we all want to do, which is to find the way to just make a corner of the world a little bit more habitable, a little bit more curious, a little bit more inspirational, and a little bit more activating of the imagination.”

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In this episode we speak with Sam Starr, a cargo bike expert about what our cities might look like if we shift some (or a substantial amount) of our in-city freight traffic from giant potential trucks to cargo bikes. Listen to Episode 006 with Sandra Rothbard for more freight pod.

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• Sam Starr on LinkedIn & Instagram

“The future is very bright for cargo bikes, but we need to start thinking about it as that ecosystem. And this is not just for businesses, it’s for everybody.”

In this episode we speak with freight expert Sandra Rothbard, who is an urban planner specializing in freight transportation. After working for public agencies in NYC on city logistics, disaster preparedness and solid waste management, she now supports public, private and non-profit organizations around the world as an independent consultant. She focuses on building sustainable, resilient and safe streets, healthy communities and efficient and economic supply chains.

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Colin Kelly is one part of the NYC-based design firm Group Project, who won the competition for the new Better Bin, to replace the ubiquitous green wire mesh litter bins around New York City. We speak about the state of waste collection in NYC, the design ideas and the prototype process behind Better Bin, and what happens when a group of friends suddenly need to become a real company when they become finalists for a massive design competition.

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DSNY currently has 23,000 litter baskets citywide, including over 13,000 wire litter baskets. These baskets are easy for residents to misuse, accessible to rats, and often overflowing.

Local designers (Group Project) have designed our litter basket of the future: rat resistant, harder for the public to misuse, easier for Sanitation Workers to use, and with more volume. These Better Bins are now beginning mass production.

• Colin Kelly portfolio – Better Bin

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Shaun Mosley is a Designer / Researcher at Nava Public Benefit Corporation. With eight years of experience in Product Design, he applies technology in order to create a more equitable society. As an active member of the civic tech community, Shaun fills his time pushing for prison abolition, mentoring new technologists through Code for Atlanta, and making Georgia the best state for Black people to live in. You can find him emoji-reacting to comments in many Slack channels and on Mastodon as @[email protected].

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• Portfolio: Shaun Mosley

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