Open City

By Open CitySociety & Culture Arts Visual Arts Design

Open City episodes

February 11, 2021 Demolition go-ahead for Cressingham Gardens. With Will Ing.
Demolition go-ahead for Brixton’s iconic Cressingham Gardens, a double blow for planning as trailblazer Finn Williams leaves for Sweden and sensational YouTube video exposes committee shambles, and the looming fire sale of Croydon’s Brick by Brick housebuilding arm – Merlin Fulcher and special guest Will Ing round up and decode this week’s big architecture stories in London.
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26 min
February 03, 2021 The Londown | Feb 3 | This week in London's architecture
Protestors tunnelling under Euston Square, enormous British Library extension plans, and warning sounds over jobs in the centre of the capital – Merlin Fulcher and Phineas Harper round up and decode this week’s big architecture stories in London
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29 min
January 28, 2021 Is land to blame for the housing crisis?
Why do we agree to pay extortionate prices for poor quality housing, and will this ever change?In this episode we are joined by Alastair Parvin, founder of Open Systems Lab, to discuss the role land plays in making our urban landscape so political. The latest podcast follows on from our previous episode with Emma Dent Coad, former Labour MP for Kensington, where we discussed housing, the crisis we are in and how competing visions of the city make architecture so political. In this episode we dig deeper into the history of land, it’s increasing value and where this has left us today…We also talk with Anurag Verma, chairman of the community land trust, Russ, in Lewisham who sheds light on how things can be done differently.Listen to Why is Architecture so Political: https://bit.ly/39uXkWl
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42 min
January 13, 2021 The Old Kent Road: Is there room on the gravy train for everyone? 2/2
For this second part of our two-part episode we continue exploring all the amazing work local people are doing to create spaces and opportunities to thrive in the shadow of ambitious regeneration agendas.Part one is available here: https://open-city.org.uk/podcast-episodes/the-city-and-the-sandwich-22mr6-5m78r
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27 min
December 03, 2020 Old Kent Road: Is there room on the gravy train for everyone? 1/2
In this two part episode we will be learning about one of London's most important roads, Old Kent Road, and the work that local people are doing to make sure that the future of the area is one that belongs to them and their communities. Hosts Arman Nouri and Selasi Setufe are joined by Nicholas Okwulu, social entrepreneur, community organiser and founder of Livesey Exchange - a grassroots cultural and educational space and a vital part of the people's plan to make the multi-billion regeneration of Old Kent Road something that works for them. Over two episodes, we will drive rich industrial history of Old Kent Road, tracing its story through the wreckage of WW2 and exploring the amazing work that local people are doing to create spaces and opportunities to thrive in the shadow of ambitious regeneration agendas.
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33 min
November 26, 2020 Public Transport: What do bus drivers really think of you?
In this episode we will be discussing how our modes of transport have changed - what works, what doesn’t and what is still needed to make our journeys accessible, enjoyable and effective. Hosts Lara Kinneir and Arman Nouri are joined by Joe Kerr, architectural historian and bus driver of the No.19 route that journeys from Finsbury Park to Battersea Bridge and Jon Little, transport engineer behind the Mini Holland project in Walthamstow, East London. Specifically, this episode looks at how London can provide a greater diversity of transport modes for public need, and what the challenges are for those that provide some of these transport offers, and those that negotiate their design and delivery.https://open-city.org.uk/podcast
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32 min
November 12, 2020 The Fast Consumer City: can a sandwich really run the city?
How can a cheddar and pickle baguette shape our city? Why does a £3 flat white make a difference to how open a city is? This episode looks at the work and lifestyle habits of the fast consumer city and how our cities start to look and run when they cater to the well heeled urban professional. Hosts Lara Kinneir and Zoe Cave look to the big issues of a global economy on our cities and high streets, alongside the everyday experiences of the humble cafe and its visitors. They are joined by James Meadway, economist and Associate Fellow at the Centre for Economic Justice who discusses how the economy has shaped the city and how we live and consume within it. Alongside this, a visit to the 120 year old E’PElliccis cafe in East London gives an insight into how independent offers in the city survive and strive to serve the communities they are in despite the turbulence of economic social change.
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42 min
November 03, 2020 Would young people design a better London for us all?
"In this Open House special episode we will be talking about how young people are currently shut out of the conversation about planning and regeneration and how they could help design the happy, healthy, sustainable London we all want. Specifically we will be discussing a new Youth Engagement Toolkit which has been developed by Grosvenor Britain & Ireland with ZCD Architects, Sport England and the TCPA as part of a drive to transform our approach to city making.In this episode we are joined by Matt Bell, Director of Corporate Affairs for Grosvenor, Dinah Bornat, Director at ZCD Architects, Hamza Taouzzale, Labour Councillor for Queens Park Ward.
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49 min
October 28, 2020 Lighting up London's bridges
Hosts Merlin Fulcher and Lara Kinneir will be talking about the architecture of London’s bridges. Specifically this episode will be focussing on Illuminated River, an ongoing £20 million project to create a slowly colour-changing lighting scheme synchronised across all 15 of central London’s crossings. It’s designed by US artist Leo Villareal with London architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and you can see the first phase in place on London Bridge, Canon Street Railway Bridge, Southwark Bridge and Millenium Bridge any evening. With the second phase stretching up to Lambeth Bridge now under way for a spring 2021 completion, it’s an ideal moment to reflect on the bridges themselves and the role light can play in enhancing our experience of their extraordinary architecture.We are joined by Sarah Gaventa, director of Illuminated River Foundation and Benedict O’Looney, director, Benedict O’Looney architects.
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41 min
October 15, 2020 Why is Architecture so Political?
In this episode Merlin Fulcher and Arman Nouri are joined by Emma Dent Coad, former Labour MP for Kensington to discuss why architecture and housing is so political. Dent Coad -- who remains a councillor at Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea -- will discuss how the stories of the Trellick and Grenfell towers reflect the failure of politics to safeguard the notion of public housing as a public good.The debate will cover topical issues stemming from the present housing crisis such as micro-apartments, help to buy and estate regeneration while also revealing the limited lived experiences of MPs who seek to address our present challenges. It will ask whether a new generation of visionaries could be the solution, and how the story of Barcelona shows one way forward...
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49 min