Archinect Sessions
Banal Sex Mansion

This week we’re joined by special guest co-host Aaron Betsky, author of Queer Space: Architecture and Same-Sex Desire and Building Sex: Men, Women, Architecture & the Construction of Sexuality. As a strong presence in the architectural discourse of gender and sexuality since the 1990s, Betsky discusses with us a few of our recent Features published under April's special editorial theme, Sex, including:

Betsky was last on the podcast in his current professional capacity as the dean at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin, to talk about the school's then-uncertain future. You can listen to that episode here.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-62.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 10:54am PDT

ZHA after Zaha

The sudden death of Dame Zaha Hadid could not also mean the end of Zaha Hadid Architects. With major projects still ongoing all over the world, the firm had to keep things running strong, focusing on the future while managing grief. After working with Zaha for nearly thirty years, Patrik Schumacher has now taken over leadership at the firm, and joins us on the podcast to discuss what it was like collaborating with her "killer instinct", and how he can continue honoring the "DNA" of her work.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-61.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 2:22pm PDT

There is No There There

We're joined by original 'Nector and senior editor Orhan Ayyüce to discuss Zaha Hadid's legacy and his recent piece on LA's industrial urbanism, part of our architectural travel guide through cities worldwide. As a student at SCI-Arc, Ayyüce was first taken aback by Hadid during a visiting lecture she gave in 1985, before she had completed any built work: "I was very impressed by her at that lecture and her strengths and vulnerabilities made a lasting place in my memory bank." We share the impressions she and her work had on us personally, as well as Archinect's memory bank.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-60.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 11:58am PDT

Race for the Prize

Last week we witnessed the loss of Dame Zaha Hadid, one of architecture's most formidable and prolific talents. We'll be devoting a later podcast episode to remembering her and honoring her work. Until then, we'll continue catching you up with the most significant architecture news from the past week.

This episode we discuss Alejandro Aravena's Pritzker acceptance speech (and the designs he's giving away for free), how NASA is experimenting with inflatable space houses, how we "crave" public space, and Nicholas Korody joins us to discuss the cockroach of unpaid architecture internships (they just won't die).

Shownotes:

Zaha Hadid Dies at Age 65

The NASA-grade work of Garrett Finney

Quilian Riano's Who Owns Space project  

Woman calls out Florida Governor Rick Scott in a Starbucks

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-59.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 2:15pm PDT

Last week’s architecture news. When it wasn’t so depressing.

Collecting the most important news of the past week – that is, from the recording date's perspective of March 30th, the day before Zaha Hadid's sudden death – this episode brings stories on: the winning below-grade skyscraper (sinkscrapers?) of eVolo's Skyscraper Competition; a long-lost Le Corbusier tapestry returning to the Sydney Opera House; another twist on co-habitation in the co-work startup, PodShare; Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects taking "revenge" on Charles Moore's Hood Museum; and our future of eating sandwiches while robots do our work

We'll discuss the late Dame Zaha Hadid's legacy on next week's podcast.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-58.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 3:56pm PDT

This past week on Archinect, we heard Thom Mayne's story of "jazz, sex, and the alienation of singular genius" in Julia Ingalls' interview with the Morphosis lead, and hypothesized on the future of architectural work in a world of full automation and universal basic income, based onNicholas Korody's interview with the co-authors behind Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World without Work. Both Ingalls and Korody join us on the podcast to delve deeper into these pieces, and share some juicy tidbits that couldn't make the cut to print.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-57.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 10:29am PDT

Hustle & Bustle

While Amelia is away this week, Alexander Walter fills in and joins Ken, Donna and me for a conversation about competitions, in a celebration of the re-launch of our sister site Bustler. In addition to discussing the new website and its new features, we also talk about the controversial new "Border Wall" competition and look at some current competitions worth checking out. 

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-56.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 12:46pm PDT

Ceci n'est pas un session

Spring is just around the corner, and in the interest of new beginnings and rebirth, Archinect Sessions is taking this week off to get some much needed rest. The market is hot right now, and we're running on all cylinders just to keep up.

We'll be back next week with a brand new episode, devoted specifically to competitions in honor of Bustler's new redesign, and until then, we've got a special half-episode to tide you over. Paul and I run through the recent news and recommend a few episodes to get caught up with to while we're on break (links to all in the shownotes below).

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-55.5.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 3:46pm PDT

Guns in the Studio

A new Texas state law going into effect on August 1 will allow concealed handguns to be brought into public university campus buildings. This isn't sitting well with many members of the public university system, as educators and administrators are now tasked with regulating the presence of guns inside studios and classrooms, and fear that such a law will scare people away from the school (not to mention the obvious safety concerns). Dean of the architecture school, Frederick "Fritz" Steiner, has been critical of the law from its inception, and faced with having to enforce it as campus policy, was prompted to leave UT-Austin for the deanship at PennDesign.

While not the sole reason for his resignation, Steiner is adamant that such a law is simply not good for architecture education and studio culture, and joins us on the podcast to discuss.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-55.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 11:56am PDT

Dispatch from Flint

The tragedy of Flint, Michigan's water crisis seems to worsen with every newly uncovered detail. As a manmade public health crisis provoked by willful denial and compromised safety standards, the entirely preventable poisoning of Flint's water supply with lead stands not only as a failure to care for the citizens of one city, but as a dreadful harbinger for the U.S.'s deteriorating infrastructure networks.

Like any concerned citizen, Filnt-based architect Kurt Neiswender sees this as a call to action to help any way he can. Kurt joins us on the podcast this week to discuss how architects might apply their skills to improve such a monstrous situation, and address the real limitations the profession has when it comes to these scenarios.

Direct download: Archinect-Sessions-54.mp3
Category:architecture -- posted at: 2:31pm PDT