Robert A.M. Stern is an architect, teacher, and writer. He is the founder of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, served as dean of the Yale School of Architecture from 1998 to 2016, hosted the PBS series Pride of Place in 1986, and served on the board of directors for the Walt Disney Corporation from 1992 to 2003. He’s the author, most recently, of Between Memory and Invention: My Life in Architecture. In this conversation, Mr. Stern talks about his early interest in architecture history and the possibilities of an alternate career as a historian or curator, how leading Yale changed how he thought about architecture, and why the architecture discourse isn’t as interesting to him anymore. (Oh, and we also talk about martinis! Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/212-robert-a-m-stern.
—
If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast

212. Robert A.M. Stern

Scratching the Surface is a podcast about design, theory, and creative practice. Hosted by Jarrett Fuller, each episode features wide-ranging conversations with designers, architects, writers, academics, artists, and theorists about how design shapes culture. Previous guests include architecture critic Paul Goldberger, MoMA design curator Paola Antonelli, architect and OMA partner Reinier de Graaf, Pentagram partner Michael Bierut, RISD President Rosanne Somerson, writer Kurt Andersen, and designer Jessica Helfand. Featured in Architectural Digest, Dezeen, Curbed, and Eye. New episodes every other Wednesday.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Leonard Koren is a writer, aesthetics expert, artist, and publisher. He’s the author of books like Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, What Artists Do, Arranging Things: A Rhetoric of Object Placement, Musings of a Curious Aesthete, and most recently Making Things Aesthetic. From 1976 to 1981, he was the editor and publisher of Wet: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing. In this conversation, Jarrett and Leonard talk about methodologies and conceptual tools, bookmaking, avant garde graphic design, and the influence of Leonard’s architecture education on his career. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/253-leonard-koren.
 —
 If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast

253. Leonard Koren

Ingrid Schroder is the director of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. She was previously Head of Design Teaching and Director of the MPhil in Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Cambridge Department of Architecture. In this conversation, Jarrett and Ingrid talk about the legacy and future of the AA, the changing states of architecture and design education, and what experimental design education looks like today. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/252-ingrid-schroder.
 —
 If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast

252. Ingrid Schroder

Cynthia Davidson is the cofounder and executive director of Anyone Corporation, a nonprofit architecture think tank. She is the editor of the architecture journal Log, and previously ANY magazine, an architecture theory tabloid that published from 1993-2000. She is also responsible for more than 40 books in print, including 24 books in the Anyone project’s Writing Architecture series, published with MIT Press. In this conversation, Jarrett and Cynthia talk about the evolution of architecture publishing, the state of design discourse, and how the visual design of Log and ANY shapes how it is read. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/251-cynthia-davidson.
 —
 If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast

251. Cynthia Davidson

Jacob R. Moore was named the executive director of The Architectural League of New York in June 2023. He previously served as associate director of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University. He’s worked as a writer, editor, curator, and publisher and helped co-found The Avery Review. In this conversation, Jarrett and Jacob talk about the mission of The Architectural League, the role of non-profits in design discourse, and the changing state of design publishing. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/250-jacob-moore.
 —
 If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast

250. Jacob Moore

José Esparza Chong Cuy is the executive director and chief curator of Storefront for Art and Architecture, a New York-based institution that amplifies the understanding of the built environment through artistic practice. Before Storefront, José was an associate curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and an associate curator at the Museo Jumex. In this conversation, Jarrett and José talk about the history and mission of Storefront, their year-long curatorial framework, and balancing institutionalism and experimentation.  Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/249-jose-esparza-chong-cuy.
 —
 If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast

212. Robert A.M. Stern

Download our free app to listen on your phone