Archinect Sessions (architecture)

This week we are joined, in studio, by David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, the hosts of the Midnight Charette podcast. You may be already familiar with their podcast, or perhaps you’ve just heard about the podcast since they released their episode with me a couple days ago.

The Midnight Charette has been podcasting for a while now. They're quickly approaching their 100th episode. They describe their show as an explicit podcast about design, architecture and people. The format is casual, and unscripted, and tends to run on the long side, 2 hours being about average for an episode. While this is an architecture podcast, it’s often not addressing architecture directly, rather, David and Marina discuss non-architectural issues from the perspective of a couple of architecturally-minded professionals.

In today’s conversation we learn more about the host's backgrounds, and how they came together and conceived of the podcast. We also take a peek behind the curtain by talking about all of the little details that we use to make these podcasts.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-135.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 3:06pm PDT

On this week's episode of Archinect Sessions Ken, Donna, and I share our conversation with Rusty Long, an architect based in Cary, North Carolina. Rusty’s private practice focuses on sustainability and community engagement with a style that bridges modernism and the history of the the American South. 

Rusty’s day job, however, is a State Architect for the USDA Rural Development office. As a federal employee, Rusty is one of approximately 800,000 individuals currently furloughed by the Government Shutdown. On this 34th day of the historic shutdown, as he and many others remain unpaid after two pay cycles, Rusty sits down with us to share his story. We talk about how and why he entered public service, the work he typically undertakes as a state architect, and the problems that this shutdown are causing for him, his colleague and the US taxpayers in general.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-134.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 12:58pm PDT

On this episode of Archinect Sessions we're joined with Alex Baca, a Washington DC-based journalist focused on smart cities, planning, bike advocacy and urban mobility devices. Recent news, and related controversy, surrounding Amazon’s newly announced move into New York City and Washington DC is what initially motivated us to bring Alex onto this show.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-133.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 3:39pm PDT

This week we’re sharing my conversation with Sou Fujimoto, recorded immediately before his new show opened to the press at Japan House in Hollywood last Friday. The show, titled “FUTURES OF THE FUTURE”, brings together large-scale renderings and photographs, along with over 100 models showcasing a selection of Fujimoto’s distinctive work and process.

Our conversation covers his upbringing in Hokkaido, his academic and personal studies in Tokyo, and how these experiences contributed to his highly unique approach to architecture; investigating primitive lifestyles, blurring boundaries and breaking down walls. If you’re in the LA area, the exhibition will remain until December 12th at Japan House, which is located on the 2nd floor of the bustling, tourist-filled Hollywood and Highland complex.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-132.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 10:22am PDT

On this latest episode of Archinect Sessions we talk with Sekou Cooke, Syracuse-based architecteducator and curator of the upcoming exhibition at the Center for Architecture, "Close to the Edge: The Birth of Hip-Hop Architecture", scheduled to open this Monday, October 1st in New York City.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-129.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 11:11am PDT

This week's podcast episode is all about podcasting. So meta. We're joined by Sera Ghadaki, a recent graduate of Pratt M.Arch program, and a contributing editor of Tarp: Digital, Pratt’s podcast spinoff from their long-running student publication.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-128.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 4:04pm PDT

On this latest issue of the Archinect Sessions podcast Ken, Paul and Donna talk with Peggy Deamer  and Shota Vashakmadze , from the Architecture Lobby . For those of you unfamiliar, the Architecture Lobby is a non-profit organization run by and for architectural workers that advocate for the value of architecture to the public, and for the value of architectural work within the industry. The Lobby is rooted in a 10-point manifesto:

  1. Enforce labor laws that prohibit unpaid internships, unpaid overtime; refuse unpaid competitions.
  2. Reject fees based on percentage of construction or hourly fees and instead calculate value based on the money we save our clients or gain them.
  3. Stop peddling a product–buildings–and focus on the unique value architects help realize through spatial services.
  4. Enforce wage transparency across the discipline.
  5. Establish a union for architects, designers, academics, and interns in architecture and design.
  6. Demystify the architect as solo creative genius; no honors for architects who don’t acknowledge their staff.
  7. Licensure upon completion of degree.
  8. Change professional architecture organizations to advocate for the living conditions of architects.
  9. Support research about labor rights in architecture.
  10. Implement democratic alternatives to the free market system of development.

One of the most recent initiatives by the Architecture Lobby is Just Design , recognizing firms exhibiting exemplary labor practices. Archinect is currently working in partnership with the Architecture Lobby to profile these firms, which we are excited to announce soon, so stay tuned. Until then, enjoy this conversation with Peggy and Shota... 

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-127.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 10:36pm PDT

Earlier this summer I sat down with Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee to discuss their practice, Johnston Marklee, in front of a live audience at this year's LA Design Festival. We discuss the origin of their practice, their relationship to LA, the eclectic group of collaborators they have worked with over the years, and their unique approach to telling the story of their work in their recently published monograph.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-126.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 5:39pm PDT

On this week's show, Archinect Sessions episode 124, Ken and Donna look back at this year's AIA National Convention in NYC.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-125.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 4:03pm PDT

The LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design has offered a critical look at the city of Los Angeles since the late 80's. The nonprofit has been providing public programming, exhibitions, and publications through its ever-shifting board of directors and volunteer contributors. To celebrate this 30-year milestone, the Forum has carefully selected a collection of pieces published from its origin to today, and has published these in a book under the themes of Experiments, Detours, Hunches, and Santa Anas.

Today, Los Angeles is a major architectural and urban player, but for decades the city was dismissed suburban and centerless. In republishing three decades of material on architecture and design in Los Angeles, the LA Forum Reader reclaims and reconsiders the city’s architectural and discursive histories. It establishes, or reestablishes, a textual context for critical experimentation and urban investigation. This anthological volume includes essays, interviews, and reproductions of publications that have long been out of print, including pamphlets by Craig Hodgetts and Margaret Crawford, as well as early writings by Aaron Betsky and John Chase.

In this week's show I invited editors Mimi Zeiger, Chava Danielson and Michael Sweeney to Archinect's recording studio to discuss the history of the Forum and the process of putting together this anthology. 

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-124.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 2:34pm PDT