This week Zoe caught up with architect Alpa Depani to discuss this week in architecture.

The stories this week include the U+I buyout by behemoth rival, the ground-breaking new research tackling the housing AND climate crisis', why youth homelessness is surging in the city, the new exhibition exploring a novel kind of 21st century architecture, and Grimshaw's plans to electric flying taxi vertiports!

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This week Merlin is joined by fellow AJ journalist Will Ing.

On the menu: A 1.8 billion pounds budget boost for new homes on post industrial ‘brownfields’ | 'Greenwash’ accusations over a rash of vertically planted ‘living walls’ sprouting over London | Outrage after MPs green light dumping sewage in London’s rivers | Hotel plans for Grade-I listed Customs House unanimously voted down | And what the COP26 climate summit could mean for London’s built environment?

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Sadiq Khan announces a major review into affordable housing delivery | Lambeth Council forced to compensate residents over refurb works which left Grade II-listed Kate Macintosh-designed homes in disarray | 'Failing to learn the lessons of Grenfell'. A bitter row erupts over redevelopment plans for Ernö Goldfinger's Notting Hill estate | How private companies are ejecting vulnerable Londoners to cheaper cities | The tens of thousands still waiting for safe bicycle parking spaces | And the Londown is named Best Podcast at the 2021 Archiboo Awards!

Tune in to hear Merlin and Luke Jones; host of the podcast 'About Buildings + Cities' discuss this week in Architecture.

The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link.

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Join critic Phin Harper and head of Accelerate Siraaj Mitha to chew through the week's big stories in London's architecture, housing and planning worlds. On the Londown this week, a Cambridge eco-mosque tipped to win the Stirling Prize, the ARB shake-up architectural education, City of London vetoes new skyscraper next to listed synagogue, an alleged ‘unfair’ estate demolition ballot in Tottenham, iconic post-war housing set to be flattened in massive Lambeth redevelopment, and the life and legacy of the late great Owen Luder.

Support the Londown and Open City in making London's built environment more open and equitable by donating the equivalent of one flat white a month to the charity so it can keep making the Londown, staging the free Open House Festival and delivering important educational work supporting children and young people from under-represented backgrounds. Go to open-city.org.uk/flatwhite.

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This week on the Londown Zoe and FT architecture critic Edwin Heathcote analyse Gove's first public outing as housing secretary, and his comments on 'ugly' concrete and steel buildings. They also discuss why George Clarke is blasting the government over the cladding scandal, the newly opened Cosmic House, the plans for V&A Youth, and the new competition to redesign RIBA HQ... tune in!

The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Merlin spoke with Aydin Dikerdem - the councillor for Queenstown Ward in the Battersea and Nine Elms area of Wandsworth, south west London. They discussed the criticism of the Northern Line extension, the very real flooding threat London faces, the pros and cons of retrofit, and the architecture lecturers who are standing up against unfair and discriminatory contracts.

The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we bring you the first ever Live Londown - direct from the Museum of the Home as part of their Festival of the Home. Merlin is joined by Catherine Slessor; President of the Twentieth Century Society, and architect Thomas Aquilina. Tune into their conversations on legendary bane of architects Michael Gove named housing secretary, the London co-living pioneer teetering on the verge of administration, Kevin McCloud's radical housing reform views, the pedestrianisation of Strand Aldwych, and the explosive planning meeting in Camden that saw furniture fly...

The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two London landmarks vye for architecture’s highest accolade, the Stirling Prize // Government looks set to water down its contentious planning reforms // New Northern Line stations open at Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms // A leading London architecture studio becomes employee owned // And a major international competition to renew the Barbican Centre...

Ellis Woodman - director of the Architecture Foundation, joins Merlin on the Londown this week.

The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rushed Grenfell demolition-plans spark fury over lack of consultation // Architect of London’s new-wave of social housing - Peter Barber - feted for lifetime achievement // Heated debates ignited over fresh wave of iconic London demolitions and retrofits // And why ABBA’s virtual comeback could be big news for architecture.

This week Zoe speaks to writer, architectural designer, and cofounder of POoR Collective - Shawn Adams.

The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Soho ditches al fresco dining as Brick Lane turns car free; A tragic road death sparks new protests over cycling safety; Battle lines drawn over social homes on green spaces; Chloe Phelps leaves Croydon’s Common Ground Architecture; And we ask what this year’s RIBA awards say about architecture in the capital

This week Merlin catches up with Ruth Lang: architect, writer, historian, and head of critical practice at the London School of Architecture

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