About Buildings + Cities
135 episodes - English - Latest episode: 26 days ago - ★★★★★ - 246 ratingsA podcast about architecture, buildings and cities, from the distant past to the present day. Plus detours into technology, film, fiction, comics, drawings, and the dimly imagined future.
With Luke Jones and George Gingell.
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Episodes
112 — John Soane 2 — Rustic / Classical
March 25, 2024 13:19 - 57 minutes - 53.1 MBIn episode 2 of our series on John Soane, we discussed the projects he worked on after returning from his Grand Tour of Italy, but before he got his career-defining job as surveyor to the Bank of England. These include several built and unbuilt schemes for country houses, a proposal for a pair of enormous prisons in strict geometrical manner, and several rural outbuildings in a rustic classicism that draw upon the founding myths of architecture. Images for this episode can be found on our Y...
111 — John Soane 1 — 'Visions of Early Fancy'
March 05, 2024 10:53 - 1 hour - 63.8 MBWe're back!! In this first episode of our new series on John Soane (1753–1837) we discuss his origins: the child prodigy draughtsman, son of a bricklayer, apprentice of George Dance, winner of a studentship at the Royal Academy, and later with his Design for a Triumphal Bridge, winner of the Royal Academy and a travelling scholarship to Italy, enabling him to join the aristocratic young men of Britain on their Grand Tour. Over the rest of this series we will discuss is iconic works: the Bank...
110 — Rem Koolhaas's Delirious New York — 3/3
November 28, 2023 13:36 - 49 minutes - 45.1 MBThe final part of our series on 'Delirious New York'! We discussed the culture clash between European high modernism and Manhattanism. We also discussed the Appendix at the end of the book, a set of speculative, wry, ironic and beautiful visions of where next for the retroactive manifesto, featuring the work of Madelon Vriesendorp, Zoe Zenghelis, Elia Zenghelis and Richard Perlmutter. Hope you enjoy it! Watch this episode with images: https://youtu.be/ouVLzj-292s Edited by Matthew Lloyd ...
109 — Rem Koolhaas's Delirious New York — 2/3
November 06, 2023 15:30 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBIn our second episode on Rem Koolhaas's Delirious New York, we covered his discussion of three heroic skyscrapers of Manhattanism's golden age: The Empire State Building, The New York Athletic Club and The Rockefeller Centre. We also tried to further explain Koolhaas's unique way of thinking about history, and the particular emphases of his project. For images, follow along on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tmOfxCU3dvA Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bon...
108 — Rem Koolhaas's Delirious New York — 1/3
October 02, 2023 11:57 - 1 hour - 65.7 MBIn this episode, the first of a 3-parter, we began our discussion of 'Delirious New York' (1978) by Rem Koolhaas, a 'retroactive manifesto' for Manhattan. In this first part we discussed Rem's reputation, his style and his vision of the historical origins of the skyscraper and its formal qualities, a key part of the book's thesis. This takes us from the tabloid sensibilities of the Coney Island funfair to fraudulent 19thC building scams. You can watch along to see our slides on YouTube http...
Bonus Unlocked — 97.5 — Neom
August 28, 2023 16:08 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MBThis is an unlocked Patreon bonus episode from last year. To get access to all our bonus content and support the show, please subscribe for just £3 a month: https://www.patreon.com/about_buildings In this bonus episode we discussed Neom, the sci-fi project of the Saudi Arabian government to totally reshape the north-west of the country, including a 170km linear city in the desert. We talked a little bit about the history of linear cities from Leonidov to Superstudio, and reflected on what t...
107 – Stewart Brand's 'How Buildings Learn' — "What Happens After They're Built"
August 08, 2023 13:00 - 1 hour - 96.9 MBIn this one-off summer episode we discussed 'How Buildings Learn' (1994) by Stewart Brand. The book is concerned with the whole lifespan of buildings, and "What Happens After They're Built?" This is a valuable and necessary agenda in architecture, however Brand's methodology is sometimes a little slapdash, often to comical effect. Come for the timeless wisdom of the Duchess of Devonshire, stay for the reductive account of the sins of architects. We talked through the book, the things we like...
106 — Antoni Gaudí 7 — La Sagrada Familia
July 06, 2023 11:59 - 1 hour - 71.9 MBIn the final episode of our Antoni Gaudí series, we discussed his magnum opus, one of the most famous buildings in the world: La Sagrada Familia. However, as is always the case, not everything is as it seems. We discuss the complex origins of this remarkable building, Gaudí's work on it over decades, the tragic circumstances of his death, and the life of the building after his death. In the next couple of days we will be releasing a reflective episode on our Gaudí series, looking back at G...
105 — Antoni Gaudí 6 — Colonia Güell
June 22, 2023 17:24 - 1 hour - 55.6 MBIn this episode of our ongoing series on Antoni Gaudí we discussed the unsolved mystery of the Colonia Güell Church. Perhaps the most enigmatic of Gaudí's projects, and the apotheosis of his method and principles, wholly unrestrained. Only the crypt of this vast proposed church was actually built, in a language of burnt bricks, reclaimed stones and baffling geometries. All that survives to us of his plans are photographs of vast models of string, canvas and lead weights used to model the cat...
104 — Antoni Gaudí 5 —Güell Projects
May 24, 2023 16:35 - 1 hour - 152 MBIn this penultimate episode of our series on Antoni Gaudí, we dicussed projects he developed in his later career for Eusebi Güell. We talked about the Bodegas Güell, a complex of wineries and agricultural buildings in the countryside to the south of Barcelona. This project takes cyclopean masonry, a vast A-frame, gravity-defying stone pillars to create a building that calls back and forwards in time. Then we discussed the Park Güell, a consciously anglophile proposal for a garden city on the...
103 — Antoni Gaudí 4 — Casas Calvet, Batlló & Milà
April 06, 2023 10:10 - 1 hour - 79.2 MBIn the fourth episode of our series on Antoni Gaudí, we discussed two of his large projects in Barcelona. Casa Calvet was built 1898–1900, in many ways a conventional Spanish townhouse with references to the family's textile business into the scheme, and the rear facade with its bay windows and balconies has much of the horizontal boldness of early 20th-century proto-modernism. Casa Battló was built in 1904 on one of Barcelona's most iconic thoroughfares, with some of Gaudí's most radical us...
102 — Antoni Gaudí 3 — Going Gothic
March 08, 2023 16:04 - 1 hour - 142 MBIn our third episode on Antoni Gaudí we discussed some of his work that draws on traditions of Gothic, catholic and medieval architecture. Specifically we discussed his Teresian College of Barcelona, a female residential educational institution built in the rural Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, absorbed into Barcelona in the 20th century. We also discussed the bizarre Episcopal Palace at Astorga, one of Gaudí's strangest works, which we find fairly unsuccessful. We also discussed an unbuilt and sc...
101 — Antoni Gaudí 2 — Palau Güell
February 17, 2023 15:00 - 43 minutes - 39.5 MBIn the second episode of our series on Gaudí we discussed the remarkable Güell Palace, Barcelona, a work of total design with an unlimited budget built 1886–8. We talked about the mixture of cosmopolitan historical references, ornate detailing, and sophisticated urban party house that make up this unique work. We discussed the patron, Eusebi Güell, an industrialist and aristocrat with a reputation as a dandy and a supporter of wayward artists. Lastly we tried to make sense of the house, and ...
100 — Antoni Gaudí 1 — Bad at School
January 19, 2023 16:00 - 1 hour - 91.5 MBIn the first episode of our new series on Antoni Gaudí, we attempt to place him in the history of 19th-century Spain: a time of civil war, booming industry, declining empire and rapid urbanisation. We talked about the complex politics of the time, and movements for devolution and regional autonomy in his native Catalonia. We also discussed the myth of Gaudí, his status as one of the most famous architects in the world, but also the fact that he is considered deeply uncool amongst architects ...
99 — Philip K. Dick's Ubik — Gnostic Paranoia
November 30, 2022 11:34 - 1 hour - 69.6 MBIn this episode we discussed 'Ubik' (1969) by Philip K. Dick, a piece of iconic science-fiction set in a world of psychic corporate espionage and dead relatives suspended in perpetual "halflife". Throughout the novel Gnostic and Platonic philosophy exude through perpetually inventive interpretations of advertising culture, psychotic mental states and satire of domestic mod cons. We talked about Dick's fixation on material culture as it appears in his other stories 'The Man in the High Castle...
98 — The Primitive Hut — The Design of the First Building
October 20, 2022 13:46 - 1 hour - 158 MBIn this episode we discussed the idea of 'The Primitive Hut' in 18th and 19th century architectural theory. A vision of the first building was used by texts dating back to Vitruvius to imagine architecture's origins. We started with Marc-Antoine Laugier, author of Essai sur l'architecture (1753), which used the image of the Primitive Hut to call for a return to austere and structurally declarative classicism after the excesses of the baroque. We also discussed the idea of the Primitive Hut i...
97 — Richard Rogers' Reith Lecture — Cities for a Small Planet
September 06, 2022 17:40 - 1 hour - 73.5 MBIn this one-off episode we discussed the late Richard Rogers, particularly his Reith Lectures, given for the BBC in the mid-90s on the subject of the 'Sustainable City'. We compare and contrast his rhetoric and his design work, try to decipher his vision for the future of the city, and think about the ways in which architectural culture has and hasn't changed in the intervening decades. You can listen to the Reith lectures here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p00gxnzz This is a one-off...
96 — Andrea Palladio 6 — Venetian Churches
July 05, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 104 MBIn the final episode of our series on Palladio we discussed four of his great church designs: The facade of San Francesco della Vigna The monastery church of San Giorgio Maggiore Il Redentore Tempietto Barbaro, at Maser For the images accompanying this episode, check out the video version on Youtube. We hope you have enjoyed this series! Let us know what you'd like to see us discuss next Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for ev...
95 — Andrea Palladio 5 — Quattro Libri
June 17, 2022 09:00 - 1 hour - 91.8 MBAndrea Palladio's Quattro Libri is one of the most influential and important architectural books ever published. We discuss the four books of architecture, covering everything from masonry construction to proportional principles to the temples of ancient Rome. To see the images as we discuss them, why not watch this episode on YouTube? Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast stor...
94 — Andrea Palladio 4 — Civic Buildings
May 13, 2022 09:29 - 1 hour - 62.9 MBSome of Andrea Palladio's most powerful and enduring work was carried out for his home city of Vicenza. We discuss some of his civic projects, and his extraordinary unrealised design for the Rialto Bridge in Venice You can find the images on YouTube Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other people find us! Follow us on twitter // instagram // facebook We’re on...
93 — Andrea Palladio 3 — Palladian Palazzi
April 07, 2022 09:26 - 1 hour - 64.5 MBThough less wholly innovative than his villas, Andrea Palladio's palazzi for the nobility of Vicenza are still full of fascinating ideas, from the treatment of the facade, to the handling of difficult and strangely shaped sites. We discuss the Palazzos Thiene, Valmarana, Chiericati, Schio and Porto (x2). We also discuss their relation to roman villas and city houses, and their presentation in the Quatro Libri, or Four Books on Architecture. Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show...
92 — Andrea Palladio 2 — Greatest Villas
March 17, 2022 09:53 - 1 hour - 87.5 MBAndrea Palladio created a new style of classical domestic architecture in his villa designs in the 1540-60s. We talk about some of the big hits: - Villa Saraceno - Villa Barbaro - Villa Cornaro - Villa Foscari 'La Malcontenta' - Villa Capra 'La Rotonda' Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other people find us! Follow us on twitter // instagram // facebook We’re...
91 — Andrea Palladio 1 — The Most Imitated Architect in History
February 21, 2022 18:01 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MBWe're starting a series exploring the work of Andrea Palladio. In his own time, Palladio was a prominent architect based in 16th century Vicenza. Subsequently he's become arguably one of the most influential architects of all history -- defining a style of classical architecture which became the house-style of elites around the world. The most characteristic works in his long career are villas -- country houses on "terra ferma" for the rich merchants of Vicenza and nearby Venice -- though ...
90 — Carlo Scarpa — 4/4 — All I Want Is A Pharoah
December 09, 2021 19:48 - 1 hour - 83.1 MBWe round off our series on Carlo Scarpa with two projects for Italian consumer electronics dynasties — the Olivetti corporation, for whom he designed a famous shop in Piazza San Marco, and the Brion-Vega family for whom he designed an extraordinary cemetery complex. These are two of his most unrestrained, symbolically laden and elaborate projects — in which Scarpa's unique approach to architectural form, decoration, materials and narrative are most powerfully evident. Thanks for watching...
89 — Carlo Scarpa — 3/4 — Castelvecchio, Invented History
November 10, 2021 15:39 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBThe Castelvecchio Museum (1959-73) in Verona is an elaborate spatial narrative, weaving together historic structures and ingenious design elements to create a fragmentary and multi-layered story about the site, the city, and the objects contained in it. The project was Carlo Scarpa's largest and longest running, and we go through it at some length. For images, subscribe to us on YouTube. Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. ...
88 — Carlo Scarpa — 2/4 — Querini Stampalia, Venetian Sci-Fi
October 14, 2021 09:30 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBWe talked about Carlo Scarpa's work at the Querini Stampalia foundation (1959-63), a palazzo-museum in Venice. Scarpa's interventions are focussed on the ground floor spaces, including a new entrance bridge, galleries and courtyard garden. There's a very distinctive mixture of restoration and fantasy, historical narration and occasional touches of grooviness. You can watch this episode, including relevant images, on our YouTube channel. Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on...
88 — Carlo Scarpa — 2/3 — Querini Stampalia, A Modern Palazzo
October 14, 2021 09:30 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBWe talked about Carlo Scarpa's work at the Querini Stampalia foundation (1959-63), a palazzo-museum in Venice. Scarpa's interventions are focussed on the ground floor spaces, including a new entrance bridge, galleries and courtyard garden. There's a very distinctive mixture of restoration and fantasy, historical narration and occasional touches of grooviness. You can watch this episode, including relevant images, on our YouTube channel. Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on...
88 — Carlo Scarpa — 2/4 — Querini Stampalia, A Modern Palazzo
October 14, 2021 09:30 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBWe talked about Carlo Scarpa's work at the Querini Stampalia foundation (1959-63), a palazzo-museum in Venice. Scarpa's interventions are focussed on the ground floor spaces, including a new entrance bridge, galleries and courtyard garden. There's a very distinctive mixture of restoration and fantasy, historical narration and occasional touches of grooviness. You can watch this episode, including relevant images, on our YouTube channel. Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on...
87 — Carlo Scarpa — 1/4 — Not Every Architect is an Artist
September 15, 2021 13:00 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MBIn our first episode on Carlo Scarpa, we're trying something new! We've made a video to accompany the episode that you can find on our YouTube Channel, in which you can watch Luke and George discuss the enigmatic architecture of Carlo Scarpa, accompanied by images of the buildings! Make sure you subscribe on YouTube to keep up to date. This is an experiment, so let us know what you think! We will always put out these main episodes here on the podcast feed, and we will try to keep them acces...
87 — Carlo Scarpa — 1/3 — Not Every Architect is an Artist
September 15, 2021 13:00 - 57 minutes - 52.8 MBIn our first episode on Carlo Scarpa, we're trying something new! We've made a video to accompany the episode that you can find on our YouTube Channel, in which you can watch Luke and George discuss the enigmatic architecture of Carlo Scarpa, accompanied by images of the buildings! Make sure you subscribe on YouTube to keep up to date. This is an experiment, so let us know what you think! We will always put out these main episodes here on the podcast feed, and we will try to keep them acces...
86 — Ian Nairn — 3/3 — Nairn on TV
August 17, 2021 12:21 - 1 hour - 105 MBIn the final episode in our series on Ian Nairn, we discussed the 1967 book 'Britain's Changing Towns' and the BBC television work that has granted Nairn a viral afterlife on YouTube. Here's the Nairn clip from the outro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K-53widcdY You can find all the Nairn tv shows we discussed in the episode by simply searching 'Ian Nairn' on Youtube, and we'll be posting some Nairn clips on the socials over the next couple of weeks. Bonus episode for patreon subscriber...
85 — Ian Nairn — 2/3 — Nairn's London
August 03, 2021 13:32 - 1 hour - 84.3 MBIn the second episode of our series on Ian Nairn, we talked about Nairn's London, the 1966 architectural guide to the city which was the critic's magnum opus. We discussed his inimitable prose style, his deep knowledge of the buildings of London, the afterlife of the book and its un-propositional nature. This episode includes clips from a walking tour of the West End that we took with Nairn's London in hand. The full audio tour of the West End will be published on our Patreon for subscriber...
84 — Ian Nairn — 1/3 — Subtopia
July 12, 2021 14:05 - 55 minutes - 76.2 MBThe first episode in our new series on the work of architectural critic Ian Nairn. In this first episode we discussed his breakout work for the Architectural Review, Outrage, which railed against 'subtopia', the suburban sprawl of concrete and fencing that Nairn saw ruining the British environment in the decades after World War 2. We also discussed his writings on America, his similarities to Jane Jacobs and his work on Nikolaus Pevsner's Buildings of England. Nairn has become something of ...
83 —Otto Wagner — 5/5 — Proto-Modernist
June 07, 2021 13:02 - 1 hour - 101 MBOur final episode on Otto Wagner considers his relationship to modernism, asking whether Wagner was a predecessor to modernism. We discussed his most modern building, the Österreichische Postsparkasse or Austrian Postal Savings Bank, like so much in Vienna at this time, a coming together of the old world and the new. Our next series on Ian Nairn will start very soon! Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and rev...
82 — Otto Wagner — 4/5 — Secession
May 10, 2021 11:55 - 1 hour - 83.3 MBIn the penultimate episode in our series on Otto Wagner, we discussed Wagner's most famous projects, the art nouveau works produced at the height of the Vienna Secession. We talked about the Majolikahaus, other art nouveau apartment blocks, the Karlsplatz stadtbahn station and his transcendent Kirche am Steinhof designed for a psychiatric hospital with Wagner also masterplanned. There's one more episode to come on Otto Wagner, where we will discuss his relationship to modernism! Our next se...
*Preview* — 81.5 — Vienna Secession
April 29, 2021 12:03 - 6 minutes - 8.96 MBThis is a preview of our latest bonus episode on Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secession, get access to the full episode on our Patreon. In this episode we discussed the work of the Vienna Secession beyond Otto Wagner, particularly the artist Gustav Klimt. The Secession were a group of radical artists who were central to establishing the Art Nouveau in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Klimt's paintings, with their flattened perspectives, hallucinatory colours and heroin-chic female nudes made him...
*Preview* — 81.5 — Klimt
April 29, 2021 12:03 - 6 minutes - 8.96 MBThis is a preview of our latest bonus episode on Gustav Klimt and the Vienna Secession, get access to the full episode on our Patreon. In this episode we discussed the work of the Vienna Secession beyond Otto Wagner, particularly the artist Gustav Klimt. The Secession were a group of radical artists who were central to establishing the Art Nouveau in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Klimt's paintings, with their flattened perspectives, hallucinatory colours and heroin-chic female nudes made him...
81 — Otto Wagner — 3/5 — On the Stadtbahn
April 18, 2021 16:43 - 1 hour - 95.2 MBIn this episode, we talked about the middle stage of Otto Wagner's career, primarily his work on the infrastructure of the city of Vienna. Visit our instagram and Twitter for pictures of the dams, railway stations and bridges that shaped Viennese modernity and provided the infrastructure for this rapidly growing city. Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other peo...
80 — Otto Wagner — 2/5 — The Style Question
March 31, 2021 21:09 - 1 hour - 83.3 MBIn our second episode on Otto Wagner, we discussed a couple of Wagner's early buildings, specifically the Landerbank in Vienna and the Rumbach Street Synagogue in Budapest. Both are tantalising glimpses of the themes that would dominate his later, most famous works. We then discussed the architectural theory that was being produced in vast quantities in the German-speaking lands of the 19th century, specifically how they addressed the question of architectural style, posing the question 'In...
79 — Otto Wagner — 1/5 — Ringstraße Rent Palaces
March 18, 2021 21:24 - 44 minutes - 61 MBThis is the first episode in our new series on Otto Wagner. In it we discussed 19th century Vienna, an ancient city wracked by extremes of urbanisation and population boom; political radicalism and revolution. A crumbling ancient order and an emerging modern metropolis came to create the Ringstraße, a vast redevelopment programme that took the empty space around the walls of the old city and filled it with vast marble institutions and speculatively built apartment complexes that came to symb...
*Preview* — 77.5 — Patrick Keiller Bonus Episode
March 10, 2021 17:56 - 6 minutes - 9.23 MBThis is a preview of a bonus episode we published on Patreon as part of our series of WG Sebald's 'Austerlitz', subscribe to our Patreon to subscribe and get access to our back catalogue of bonus episodes. In this bonus episode we talked about the films of Patrick Keiller, specifically 'London' (1994) and 'Robinson in Space' (1997), a pair of meticulously observed polemical psycho-geographies, exploring the derangements and idiosyncrasies of Britain in the Long 90s. Like in the work of Seba...
78 — WG Sebald's 'Austerlitz' — 2/2 — Locked Rooms
March 04, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBOur second episode on WG Sebald's 2001 novel 'Austerlitz', encountering strangely preserved rooms, nightmarish dream landscapes, gigantesque 19th century fantasies, and a mix of psychoanalysis, Perrault's Bibliothèque Nationale, Liverpool Street Station and Casanova. Watch Sebald giving a reading of Austerlitz and listen to an interview with him on KCRW. This episode is sponsored by Blue Crow Media, who gorgeous architectural maps. Use the offer code aboutbuildings at checkout to get 10% o...
77 — WG Sebald's 'Austerlitz' — 1/2 — In the Nocturama
January 31, 2021 18:46 - 58 minutes - 79.9 MBIn our first episode of 2021 we discussed 'Austerlitz', the final novel by W.G. Sebald. It's the story, at the most basic level, of an architectural historian, Jacques Austerlitz, who in middle age begins to rediscover his own submerged history. It's a novel driven by architectural spaces, which are mysterious containers of both individual and collective memory and history. Austeritz's own memories of his childhood escape from Nazi-occupied Prague, his lost parents, and the bloody history of...
77 — WG Sebald's Austerlitz — 1/2
January 31, 2021 18:46 - 58 minutes - 79.9 MBIn our first episode of 2021 we discussed Austerlitz, WG Sebald's last novel, published just months before he died in a tragic accident. The novel is concerned with memory and trauma, explored through the life of Jacques Austerlitz, an architectural historian who has repressed his childhood memories of fleeing Prague as a refugee on the Kindertransport. Through Austerlitz's process of remembering and discovering his history, and the fate of his parents in Nazi concentration camps, the book e...
*Preview* — 76.5 — Robert Moses Bonus Episode
December 28, 2020 08:37 - 5 minutes - 7.23 MBThis is a preview from our latest Patreon Bonus Episode – subscribe to our Patreon for just $3 a month to listen to the whole episode! Thank you to everyone who supported the show this year, we couldn't have done it without you, and we can't wait to discuss more architectural history in 2021. Our final episode for 2020 is here and our last episode on Jane Jacobs. We're discussing Robert Moses, the megalomaniacal titan of New York planning who wielded enormous political power and bent the me...
76 — Jane Jacobs — 2/2 — Unslumming and Gentrification
December 10, 2020 10:50 - 1 hour - 105 MBOur second episode on Jane Jacobs' canonical work, 'The Death and Life of Great American Cities'. In this second half we further discuss her vision for the ideal city, based on her experiences in Greenwich Village in the 1950s. We focus on her ideas around 'unslumming', her alternative model of gentle and community-led gentrification which offered an alternative to the mass-demolition of deprived neighbourhoods advocated by planners during this period. We talk about the ethics and politics o...
75 — Jane Jacobs — 1/2 — Eyes on the Street
November 25, 2020 07:53 - 90.2 MBThe first episode in a two-part series on Jane Jacobs, a profoundly influential writer, thinker and campaigner on issues of urbanism, whose magnum opus 'The Death and Life of Great American Cities' (1961) forms the backbone of our discussion. In it, Jacobs lays out an idealised vision of tight-knit, dense communities, inspired by her time living in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It is a vision of an interconnected, urban way of life dominated by local small-scale agents: families, independent...
74 — Monasteries — 3/3 — Fourier, Narkomfin, La Tourette
October 27, 2020 07:34 - 1 hour - 95 MBThe final episode in our series on the deep history of the monastery. Modernity has arrived and monasticism is living a strange afterlife. First, we discuss the early 19th century Utopian Socialism of Charles Fourier, whose Phalanstère take the framework of the monastery and repurpose it to build community whose purpose is not the Opus Dei, but to ensure that all its members live fulfilling and happy lives. Next come the Constructivist communities of the early Soviet Union, where monastic co...
73 — Monasteries — 2/3 — The Apostolic Life
September 25, 2020 08:28 - 1 hour - 90.6 MBIn our second episode on Monasteries we're talking about Carthusians, millenarian religiosity, the co-option of radicalism by the mainstream, baroque splendour, Slow TV, retirement bungalows and whether Jesus owned the shirt on his back. In this episode we attempt to delve into the way that monastery buildings facilitate true Monastic obedience, and the way that different typologies of monastic domesticity might reflect different priorities in their orders. We also question how the Church ha...
72 — Monasteries — 1/3 — Cluniacs and Cistercians
August 19, 2020 10:15 - 1 hour - 110 MBIn this new 3 part series we’re trying something a little bit different, we’re going to try and think about the monastery from deep time up to the present day. The monastery is an almost unique architectural typology; in its continuity, the specificity of the brief and its legacy and afterlife. In this first episode we discuss the origins of the monastery, and the conflict that arises between differing visions of monastic life in 11-12th century France. What role should architecture, art, sc...