On the happy and historic occasion of Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi being jointly awarded the 2016 AIA Gold Medal, we speak with Brown about whether this truly is a watershed moment for architecture, and the long road that she and Robert took to arriving here. We last spoke with Brown on episode #39, when the Vanna Venturi house hit the market.

If we accept that accolades like the Gold Medal have the influence to (potentially) nudge the profession in certain directions, then this time – the first the award has been given jointly, and to a living woman – could signal a movement towards increased inclusivity, and reevaluations of collaborative agency.

Nicholas Korody interviews architect Andreas Angelidakis for our next Mini-Session, originally part of our Next Up event at the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Trained at SCI-Arc, Angelidakis is perhaps better known in contemporary art circles than architecture's (as pointed out by Nicholas in a previous feature here on Archinect), but as proved in his contribution to the Biennial, the context and concerns of his ideas rely on, and contribute to, architectural discourse.

At least once in their professional life, every architect is likely to ask themselves, "Should I start my own practice?" From there, there are countless aspects to weigh against one another, but it begins as a very personal question – what do I want to create, and where?

Longtime Archinector (and tiki-drink enthusiast) David Cole began a discussion in the forum to mull over such questions for himself, as he considers whether to start a firm in his hometown of Cincinnati, or brave new territory in Seattle. We invited him onto the podcast to talk about the process behind such a momentous decision, and swap personal stories from Donna and Ken's experiences working in new cities and running their own practices.

Architect and experimental preservationist Bryony Roberts joins us for our next Mini-Session, a continuation of our Next Up event staged at the Chicago Architecture Biennial. While Roberts' interview at the Chicago Cultural Center unfortunately didn't make it to tape, I called her up for a do-over interview in Rome, where she is currently residing as a winner of 2015-2016's Rome Prize.

Roberts' contribution to the Biennial – a drill team performance entitled "We Know How to Order," staged in downtown Chicago's Mies van der Rohe-designed federal center plaza – was performed for a limited run during the Biennial's opening weekend. Check out a video of the performance here.

For our final live Mini-Session, recorded during our Next Up event at the Chicago Architecture Biennial, we present a festival of Pauls. Archinect founder/publisher Paul Petrunia interviews Paul Andersen (Independent Architecture) and Paul Preissner (Paul Preissner Architects), who designed the University of Illinois at Chicago's kiosk in the Biennial's Lakefront Kiosk competition. You can listen to past Mini-Sessions here.

Our latest installment of Mini-Sessions, recorded live at the Chicago Architecture Biennial's opening weekend as part of our Next Up event series, features John Lin of Rural Urban Framework. This year's winner of the Curry Stone Design Prize, Rural Urban Framework has distinguished itself for work involving China's rapidly urbanizing rural landscapes. You can listen to past Mini-Sessions here.

The Chicago Architecture Biennial is nearing the middle of its run, and we've got more live Mini-Sessions up our sleeve, recorded as part of our Next Up event held during the Biennial's opening weekend. You can listen to past Mini-Sessions here.

Our fourth Mini-Session from Chicago features Biennial participants Ana Paula Ruiz Galindo and Mecky Reuss of Pedro y Juana, based in Mexico City. You can learn more about their contribution to the Biennial (which happened to be the venue for Next Up) here.

The Architecture + Design Museum hosted two panels to close out its "Shelter" exhibition, focusing on local architects visions for future residential architectures in a changing Los Angeles.

The first panel, moderated by Mimi Zeiger (west coast editor of the Architect's Newspaper), focused on the LA River's impact, and featured exhibiting architects Jimenez Lai (Bureau Spectacular), Elizabeth Timme (LA Más), and Lorcan O'Herlihy (of Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects). The second panel, moderated by Amelia Taylor-Hochberg (editorial manager for Archinect), focused on the influence of the Metro expansion in front of LACMA, and featured exhibiting architects Jennifer Marmon (PAR), Bob Dornberger (WHY), and senior architect at LACMA, Priscilla Fraser.

Both panels were recorded live for this special Bonus content on November 6, 2015. In between the panels, you'll hear a special performance by local poet-urbanist, Mike the Poet.

Special thanks to Danielle Rago and Sam Lubell for curating the exhibition and putting the panels together, as well as B&O in Pasadena for their help recording the event.

Long-time Archinector and BLDGBLOG-runner Geoff Manaugh joins us on the podcast this week to discuss his piece on "The Dream Life of Driverless Cars" for the New York Times Magazine. Referencing work like that of London-based design studio, ScanLAB Projects, who use lidar (light + radar) technology to map how autonomous vehicles see and understand the built environment, Manaugh spoke with us about how these vehicles could potentially change the structures and sensations of our cities – and all the unknowns that accompany such speculation.

We also briefly touch on the recent news of Philadelphia becoming an UNESCO World Heritage site; the first city in the U.S. to receive such status. This episode is sponsored by BQE's ArchiOffice.

In celebration of Archinect Sessions' second season, we're posting the "Next Up" live-interviews we did at the Chicago Architecture Biennial as Mini-Sessions, continuing from the interviews done at Jai & Jai Gallery in Los Angeles. You can listen to past Mini-Sessions here.

Our third Mini-Session recorded during the Biennial's opening weekend features François Roche and Camille Lacadée who work together as New-Territories / M4, sometimes known as R&Sie. Check out their contribution to the Biennial here.