Podcasts about american architecture

"It's less interesting how technology changes people than how people change technologies." Are you interested in urban water management? What do you think about overstressed urban infrastructure? How can we provide water as a right for everyone? Interview with Anthony Acciavatti, Diana Balmori Assistant Professor at Yale University. We talk about his vision for the future of cities, urban density, water cycles, infrastructure retrofit, and many more. Anthony Acciavatti is a historian, cartographer, and architect whose work explores the intersection of architecture, urbanism, and environmental history in South Asia and North America, teaching at Yale University. As a principal of Somatic Collaborative and co-founder of Manifest: A Journal of American Architecture and Urbanism, Anthony has contributed widely to publications such as The New York Times, Cabinet, and Topos. His acclaimed book, Ganges Water Machine: Designing New India's Ancient River, offers the first comprehensive atlas of the Ganges River basin in over fifty years, crafted from a decade of fieldwork and archival research. Traversing the river basin by foot, boat, and car, Anthony meticulously documented the complex hydrological systems and seasonal rhythms of this vast region. His research delves into the environmental and socio-economic challenges tied to water resources, with Groundwater Earth—his upcoming book—investigating the global impact of groundwater extraction. Anthony's work encourages rethinking our relationship with water infrastructures and the landscapes they shape. Find out more about Anthony through these links: Anthony Acciavatti on LinkedIn @anthonyacciavatti_sc as Anthony Acciaviatti on Instagram Anthony Aacciavatti at Yale University Somatic Collaborative website Manifest: A Journal of American Architecture and Urbanism website Ganges Water Machine: Designing New India's Ancient River - book by Anthony Acciavatti Connected episodes you might be interested in: No.250 - Space Cities Panel conversation No.258 - Interview with Matt Gijselman about urban water management No.281R - Future global urban water scarcity and potential solutions No.298 - Interview with Carina Gormley about climate change being an imagination crises What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shownotes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ are also available. I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in. Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠

In this episode of A is for Architecture, Dell Upton, Professor Emeritus of Architecture, UC Berkeley and Professor and Chair of Art History at UCLA, speaks about his book, American Architecture: A Thematic History, published by Oxford University Press in 2019. To the question, What is American architecture? Dell suggests ‘That is a very long and vexed question, not only with American architecture, but in American culture. And it really starts from at the time of the American Revolution. How are we different from Europe? But how are we also connected to the best aspects of Europe, so can we be refined in a European sense, but also distinctively American? […] Louis Sullivan […] influenced by the poet Walt Whitman, begins to talk about [American] architecture in a kind of rhapsodic way, as somehow tied to the character of democracy, the character of the land, to the … well, he would say spiritual.'  But is it though? Listen to every word of Dell's to see. Dell has a Wikipedia page because he's proper. You can also find him linked above, along with the book. Thanks for listening. +  Music credits: ⁠Bruno Gillick

In 1977, a cavernous, rarely used sculpture gallery in the Brooklyn Museum was filled with drafting tables, their tops tilted to display collages of the work and under-told stories of women working in architecture in the United States.We revisit this first significant effort to publicly tell the little known stories of American women in architecture: “Women in American Architecture: A Historic and Contemporary Perspective.” On view at the Brooklyn Museum from February-April of 1977, the groundbreaking exhibition and simultaneous book, curated and edited by Susana Torre, clearly defined the state of play for women in the architecture profession. Alienated by the profound hostility expressed by the AIA, women architects came together and found an accepting cohort at the Architectural League of New York. They organized. They canvassed. They raised their consciousnesses. The project team identified subjects so previously obscured as to be unknown, and then with the energy and drive of a furious mob, they broke through and laid the groundwork for scholarship, social change, and recognition of women architects for the next fifty years.  Produced by Brandi Howell, for the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation's podcast New Angle Voice.Special thanks to Susana Torre, Andrea Merrett, Suzanne Stephens, Cynthia Rock, Deborah Nevins, and Robert AM Stern. Editorial advising from Alexandra Lange and production assistance from Virginia Eskridge and Aislinn McNamara. Funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Graham Foundation.The Kitchen Sisters Present, part of PRX's Radiotopia network, is produced by The Kitchen Sisters (Nikki Silva & Davia Nelson) with Nathan Dalton and Brandi Howell. For more stories and information visit kitchensisters.org. 

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. 
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That was some party. Even though I didn't make it to the splashy opening, I did attend the transformational exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, our subject in this episode. A rarely used sculpture gallery was filled with ranks and files of cheap drafting tables, their tops tilted to display what seemed to be pages out of the book, one spread to a table. It overwhelmed with information—but seemed void of the chatter of us working women.   Welcome to New Angle Voice, I'm your host, Cynthia Kracauer.  In this episode, we revisit the first significant effort to publicly tell the under-told stories of American women in architecture: “Women in American Architecture: A Historic and Contemporary Perspective.” On view at the Brooklyn Museum from February-April of 1977, the groundbreaking exhibition and simultaneous book, curated and edited by Susana Torre, clearly defined the state of play for women in the architecture profession. Alienated by the profound hostility expressed by the AIA, women architects found an accepting cohort at the Architectural League of New York. We organized. We canvassed. We raised our consciousnesses. The project team identified subjects so previously obscured as to be unknown, and then with the energy and drive of a furious mob, they broke through and laid the groundwork for scholarship, social change, and recognition of women architects for the next fifty years. Get your consciousness raised: listen to our voices. Here's “Laying the Groundwork: Women in American Architecture, Spring 1977.”   Special thanks in this episode to Susana Torre, Andrea Merrett, Suzanne Stephens, Cynthia Rock, Deborah Nevins, and Robert AM Stern. This podcast is produced by Brandi Howell, with editorial advising from Alexandra Lange. Thanks also to production assistants Virginia Eskridge and Aislinn McNamara. New Angle Voice is brought to you by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation. Funding for this podcast comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Graham Foundation. We are beginning our third season, and hope that if you have followed our progress, that you will want to continue to support our ongoing efforts to tell women's stories of challenge, struggle and success. Visit our website to make a contribution. www.bwaf.org.  

Episode: 2977 Thomas Jefferson, the Maison Carrée of Nîmes, and the Virginia State Capitol.  Today, Thomas Jefferson in love.

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 LISTENBuildings are all around us... no, literally, as I am writing this. There's one right there. A couple next door and a ton THAT way. The Old Guys like it when they're cool! Whether they look like they're melting, were built out of spite, or torture the mentally ill, the OGs are all about them. Also, decades of Panda misinformation are finally cleared up. Alfred E. Newman is HOW old? Tall or sprawl? Finally, who was the Flash Gordon of American Architecture?All things Old Guys: https://linktr.ee/ogwltJoin the conversation (and see our artifact album) on our Facebook: facebook.com/oldguyswholovethings and talk to us via email: oldguyswholovethings@gmail.comFind Shawn online: https://linktr.ee/Grue_GalleryFind Eric online:  https://beacons.page/ericpschwartz (all music by Eric)Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com

Amy King hosts your Friday morning Wake Up Call. ABC's Jason Nathanson joins the show to talk about some new movies hitting theaters this weekend, including DC's Blue Beetle. Then, Amy interviews Kevin McManus, who's the PR and Communications Manager at The Pasadena Humane Society; This weekend you can adopt an animal for free! The House Whisperer Dean Sharp joins the show. Today, Dean brings the trivia, and dishes some American Architecture facts that cover a wide range of time and history. And our own Nick Pagliochini comes on to promote his segment with Mo Kelly and share some fun things that are happening around SoCal this weekend.

The House Whisperer Dean Sharp joins Amy King on her Friday morning Wake Up Call! Today, Dean brings the trivia, and dishes some American Architecture facts that cover a wide range of time and history.

Louis Sullivan was an architect working in Chicago at the dawn of the skyscraper. He sought to define a new, bold style of design in the U.S., and was deeply frustrated when his peers didn't do the same.  Research: Sullivan, Louis. “An Autobiography of an Idea.” Dover Architecture. 2012. Kindle Edition. “Louis Sullivan.” Chicago Architecture Center. https://www.architecture.org/learn/resources/architecture-dictionary/entry/louis-sullivan/ “Auditorium Building.” Chicago Architecture Center. https://www.architecture.org/learn/resources/buildings-of-chicago/building/auditorium-building/ Smith, Mark Richard. “Louis Sullivan – The Struggle for American Architecture.” Whitecap Films. 2010. “Charnley-Persky House Museum.” https://www.sah.org/about-sah/charnley-persky-house Glancey, Jonathan. “The city that changed architecture forever.” BBC Culture. October 5, 2015. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150930-chicago-birthplace-of-the-skyscraper “Auditorium Theater.” https://auditoriumtheatre.org/ Chewning, John Andrew. “William Robert Ware and the beginnings of architectural education in the United States, 1861-1881.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1986. https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/14983 Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Dankmar Adler". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Apr. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dankmar-Adler Koeper, H.F.. "Louis Sullivan". Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 Apr. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Sullivan Lowe, David Garrard. “Architecture: The First Chicago School.” Encyclopedia of Chicago. http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/62.html “World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.” American Experience. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/chicago-worlds-columbian-exposition-1893/ Crook, David H. “Louis Sullivan and the Golden Doorway.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, vol. 26, no. 4, 1967, pp. 250–58. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/988451 Mumford, Mark. “Form Follows Nature: The Origins of American Organic Architecture.” Journal of Architectural Education (1984-), vol. 42, no. 3, 1989, pp. 26–37. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1425061 Gary C. Meyer. “Louis Sullivan's Columbus Jewel Box.” The Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 88, no. 3, 2005, pp. 2–17. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4637133 Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "William Le Baron Jenney". Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Sep. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Le-Baron-Jenney See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever wondered why multifamily housing has the same, copied look in most places? Part of the reason is due to the way regulations require architects to build stairs. On this Upzoned podcast, host Abby Kinney talks with special guest and architect Kevin Klinkenberg about how building codes and zoning laws can be helpful, yet at the same time limit building possibilities. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES “Why Does American Multifamily Architecture Look so Banal? Here's One Reason,” by Michael Eliason, The Architect's Newspaper (March 2023). Abby Kinney (Twitter). Kevin Klinkenberg (Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

Georgian, Federal, Greek revival styles are truly American.

How the American version of architecture change with different materials in regional influences.

Studying vernacular American dwellings

Sadly, very little 17th or early 18th remains of architecture can be found.

Natalie de Blois loved systems – understanding how things worked.  For her, it wasn't just pretty buildings, she challenged the code and questioned the status quo. And like the buildings she designed, there was a certain complexity to Natalie herself.  She was a woman of resilient beauty, inspiring yet distant, ahead of her time. Natalie de Blois (1921–2013), a pioneering woman architect, contributed to some of the most iconic modernist works for corporate America, all while raising four children.  After leaving a significant mark on post-war NYC Park Avenue, she transferred to the Skidmore Owings and Merrill Chicago office, where she became actively involved in the architecture feminist movement and was one of the leaders in the newly formed Chicago Women in Architecture advocacy group.  Later, she finished her career as a professor at UT Austin, where she trained a future generation of architects. The Kitchen Sisters Present Episode 2 from New Angle: Voice, produced by Brandi Howell with editorial advising from Alexandra Lange. New Angle: Voice is a new podcast exploring the lives and careers of female pioneers of American Architecture brought to you by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, with support from Miller Knoll and SOM. Special thanks to Matt Alvarez and Iowa Public Radio for their production assistance. Thanks also to Gabrielle Esperdy, Audrey Matlock, Carol Krinsky, Carol Ross Barney, Margaret McCurry, Peter Dixon, John Newman, Liz Watykus, Julia Murphy and Robert de Blois.  The archival audio of Natalie de Blois interviewed by Betty Blum is from the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Architects Oral History Project.  Thank you to Nathaniel Parks, Director of the  Art Institute of Chicago Archives, for help with this recording.

A Photographer's Life™ interview with award-winning architecture photographer Sterling Stevens. Sterling is an architect turned architectural photographer based in Raleigh, North Carolina and a long-time member of The Association of Independent Architectural Photographers™ (AIAP). Sterling's photography can be viewed at his website: https://www.sestevens.com In this episode's interview by AIAP director Alan Blakely, Sterling discusses a wide range of subjects relating to his successful career as an architectural photographer, including: • His education and training as an architect, and his transition into photography. • Sterling's beginnings as a real estate photographer and the move towards high-end architectural photography. • Sterling's past and current challenges and opportunities as an independent business owner. • His philosophy for business success. • His rapid rise to success and his expansion into nationwide assignments. • His unique approach to architectural photography given his training as an architect. • Sterling's approach to lighting and camera equipment. • Sterling's advice for photographers contemplating a career in architectural photography.   The Association of Independent Architectural Photographers™ was established in 2001 and is an Internet-based trade association with one primary purpose: To promote the professional success of established independent architectural photographers. Membership in the AIAP is open to full-time professional architectural photographers. You can find the AIAP online at www.aiap.net. This Video and Podcast are Copyright 2022 The Association of Independent Architectural Photographers™, All Rights Reserved. This content may not be used either in full or in part without the written consent of the AIAP.

Ray Eames was a graphic designer and abstract artist at the height of the post war era. She studied abstract art with Hans Hoffman for six years before meeting and moving to California with her husband, Charles Eames, in 1941. Ray was not professionally trained as a designer but was deeply involved in the design process. She combined her abstract sensibilities with her interest in structure and form. The Eames are most well-known for developing molded plywood chairs and other furniture that blurred the line between playfulness and function. The Eames Office did more than just design furniture. They worked on ads, packaging, exhibition spaces, toys, and even films. The Eames Office was incredibly collaborative, and everyone at the office was involved in every project. As a result, Ray never claimed any design as her own. However, she was responsible for some textile designs and magazine cover illustrations for the Arts and Architecture publication. Ray was in her element when it came to color and arrangements. She arranged furniture exhibits for Herman Miller and designed the color schemes for her own home. It's not hyperbole to say the furniture and designs that came out of the Eames Office defined a generation and they have Ray's influence written all over them.TIMELINE1912 – b Sacramento, California1931 – May Friend Bennett School for Girls 1932 – mentor at Hans Hoffman studio for 6 years1940 – moved to Michigan, studied at Cranbrook Academy of Art1941 – married Charles Eames1943 – Eames office established1942-1947 – covers for Arts and Architecture magazine1946 – Ray Eames pattern designs made 1953 – Deborah Sussman hired at Eames office1957 – Day of the Dead film1959 – Moscow World's Fair2010 – Eames exhibit made by Deborah Sussman and Andrew ByromREFERENCESBanks, T. (2012, August 22). Addressing the need: The Graphic Design of the Eames Office. Design Week. https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/may-2012/addressing-the-need-the-graphic-design-of-the-eames-office/BBC The Genius Of Design 3 of 5 Blueprints For War 2010. (2011, October 21). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_0z1kvM6nsBrown, B. (2017, November 6). Celebrating Graphic Design Sorceress Deborah Sussman. Journal. https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/industry/deborah-sussman-dies-at-83/Butler, A. (2013, December 11). Deborah Sussman Interview. Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine. https://www.designboom.com/design/deborah-sussman-interview-12-11-2013/Caduff, R. (Director). (2011) The Visual Language of Herbert Matter. [Film]. PiXiU FilmsCohn, J. & Jersey, B. (Directors). (2011) Eames: The Architect and the Painter. [Film]. Quest Productions. Bread & Butter Films. American Masters ProductionsEllison, K. (2018, March 10). The chromatic legacy of environmental designer Deborah Sussman. 99designs. https://99designs.com/blog/famous-design/environmental-design-deborah-sussman/Hans Hoffman. (n.d.). HANS HOFMANN. http://www.hanshofmann.org/1930-1939Ray Eames in World War II. (2019, September 27). Eames Office. https://www.eamesoffice.com/blog/ray-eames-in-world-war-2/4 films by Charles and Ray Eames. (2019, October 18). Eames Office. https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/4-films-by-charles-and-ray-eames/Day of The Dead. (2019, April 16). Eames Office. https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/day-of-the-dead-2/Dot Pattern.(2019, October 24). Eames Office. https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/dot-pattern-drawings/Eames in NYC.(2017, March 2). Ray (Kaiser) Eames Office. https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/ray-kaiser-eames-new-york-city/Ray's Arts & Architecture magazine covers. (2019, October 4). Eames Office. https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/rays-arts-architecture-magazine-covers/Kirkham, P. (2021). Ray Kaiser Eames. Pioneering Women of American Architecture. https://pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/ray-kaiser-eames/Lawrence, S. (1985). Declaration of Function: Documents from the Museum of Modern Art's Design Crusade, 1933-1950. Design Issues, 2(1), 65-77. doi:10.2307/1511530McGuirk, J. (2020, September 23). There's no I in Eames. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/oct/26/eames-furniture-team-charles-rayNarkiewicz-Laine, C. (2020, June 1). The Good Design Awards. Good Design. https://www.good-designawards.com/news/2020/06/01/the-seventy-year-history-of-good-design%C2%AE/Neuhart, M., & Neuhart, J. (2010). The Story of Eames Furniture: The Early Years (Vol. 1). Gestalten Verlag, Berlin.Olsberg, N. (2017, November 27). Herbert Matter. Drawing Matter. https://drawingmatter.org/herbert-matter/Phaidon Editors. (2012). Eames graphic designs on show | design | Phaidon. Phaidon. https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/design/articles/2012/august/28/eames-graphic-designs-on-show/Raphael, T. (2016, April 12). The “Damsels of Design,” women who changed automotive history. The World from PRX. https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-12/damsels-design-women-who-changed-automotive-historyRomano, A. (2019, June 17). The Value of Good Design. DisegnoDaily. https://www.disegnodaily.com/article/the-value-of-good-designSaval, N. (2019, April 4). How “Good Design” Failed Us. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/how-good-design-failed-usSchuessler, J. (2020, May 16). Ray Eames, Out of Her Husband's Shadow. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/15/arts/ray-charles-eames-artists.htmlSmith, R. (2009, June 5). The Ordinary as Objects of Desire: MoMA Looks Back at Everyday Design. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/arts/design/05desi.htmlSussman/Prejza & Co. (2020, June 29). Deborah Sussman. Sussman Prejza. https://sussmanprejza.com/bio/deborah-sussman/The design genius of Charles + Ray Eames. (2009, July 6). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0vDWqp6J7YThe Museum of Modern Art. (2009, May 6). MoMA REVISITS WHAT ‘GOOD DESIGN' WAS OVER 50 YEARS LATER[Press release]. https://assets.moma.org/documents/moma_press-release_387178.pdf?_ga=2.250983619.475073280.1609623298-1952243929.1609623298Veit, R. (2016, March 22). The Story Behind GM's Celebrated “Damsels of Design.” Core77. https://www.core77.com/posts/49498/The-Story-Behind-GMs-Celebrated-Damsels-of-DesignWalker, A. (2015, April 2). The Designer Who Helped Give L.A. Its Look. T Magazine. https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/on-view-the-designer-who-helped-give-l-a-its-look/

A Photographer's Life™ interview with award-winning architecture photographer Brad Feinknopf. Brad is an elite architectural photographer based in Columbus, Ohio and a long-time member of The Association of Independent Architectural Photographers™ (AIAP). Brad's photography can be viewed at his website: https://www.feinknopf.com In this episode's interview by AIAP director Alan Blakely, Brad discusses a wide range of subjects relating to his 30-year career as a commercial photographer, including: • Brad's early work experience in New York City with photography legends Richard Avedon, Robert Mapplethorpe, Arnold Newman, Horst, Joyce Tenneson, and others. • Brad's descendency from a long line of architects and a lifetime of looking at architecture. His degree in Design from Cornell University and his transition from architecture into photography as a junior. • Brad's past and current challenges and opportunities as the owner of a commercial photography studio. • Brad's gradual transition from general commercial photography to a more focused business of photographing architecture and interiors. • His unique artistic and philosophical approach to architectural subjects. • Brad's advice for photographers contemplating a career in architectural photography.   The Association of Independent Architectural Photographers™ was established in 2001 and is an Internet-based trade association with one primary purpose: To promote the professional success of established independent architectural photographers. Membership in the AIAP is open to full-time professional architectural photographers. You can find the AIAP online at www.aiap.net. This Podcast is Copyright 2021 The Association of Independent Architectural Photographers™, All Rights Reserved. This content may not be used either in full or in part without the written consent of the AIAP.

In this episode, we discuss historian Vincent Scully's legacy in constructing a narrative of American architecture. A year ago, the introduction to art history course at Yale, previously taught by Scully, was removed from the curriculum. By looking deeper into his accounts of American architecture through a settler colonial lens, namely at the Stick and Shingle Styles, we begin to uncover new ways of reading and understanding history. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis Trilogy, published in 1987-1989 and republished in 2000 as Lilith's Brood, follows the generational struggle of humanity against the alien race called the Oankali. Through an analysis of the events of the book, this podcast will situate the trilogy as a precursor to Afrofuturism within a context of settler colonialism. Through our conversation we will briefly delve into: how settler-colonialism has historically approached indigeneity; feminist models of resistance; race and representation; and the language settler colonialism uses to categorize architecture. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

In this podcast, we examine Little Tokyo in Los Angeles in the 1940s during and after Japanese American internment, its brief transformation into a prominent center of black life called Bronzeville, and the role of whiteness in the formation and subjugation of non-white spaces. By examining general understandings of “ethnic landscapes” alongside the history of racialized spaces like ‘ghettoes,' we seek to uncover overlooked histories latent within them that reveal racial dynamics still relevant today. https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

Public transportation systems operating within American cities are highly racialized. By tying together first-hand accounts, news stories, and a range of data from studies in different disciplines, with an emphasis on conditions in Los Angeles, we aim to show how the country's systems of capital and infrastructure are deeply entwined and organized to make people of color feel invisible and unwelcome as they navigate through space. At both macro and micro levels, these networks reinforce segregation and the policing of bodies, imposing damaging and deliberate impediments on the freedom and agency of people of color. It is clear, when looking at investment decisions and service plans, that funding and effective routes are steered away from communities of color toward vanity projects for white people. Transportation systems may not necessarily seem to fit into the traditional definition of architecture, but they are indisputably a part of the physical environment. As such, they play an important role in providing – or limiting – access to other architectures of society, whether those places be for work, domesticity, or leisure. Again, though, this infrastructure is in and of itself a site of racialized power dynamics, a direct mode for industries and the government to filter, control, and corral people of color. Studying transportation networks is a way to explore the spatial practices of people, to understand how settler colonialism and other socioeconomic dynamics condition life for disenfranchised populations, and to see how space and material can be used to keep people apart and assert who belongs where. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

In our previous episode, our investigation on Seneca Village led us to consider the erasure of black urban spaces and settlements. In this episode, we question how this narrative intersects with current ecologies of displacement and transformations of the populus in the City of Detroit, Michigan? We investigate these topics through a more informal interview about Evan's own personal narratives and experiences with urban greening in Detroit, along with discussions surrounding current trends of reverse white flight and evolved settler colonialism as gentrification of the urban frontier. Enjoy the show! Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

This is “All Roads Lead to Chinatown”, a podcast about deconstructing settler colonial narratives in architectural history. My name is Piao Liu and my name is Elena M'Bouroukounda and we are both from The School of Architecture in Princeton University. This podcast will analyze the reconstruction of San Francisco Chinatown through two architecture cases after the earthquake in 1906, exploring how the very image of Chinatown was realized, produced, and experienced in the beginning of the 20th century. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

This podcast revisits the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, acclaimed American architect, at three scales: first, at a national scale, with his vision for a Usonia, then the urban scale, with the theoretical Broadacre City, and finally at the building level, with a close eye on the Jacobs House, the first in his Usonian series. Princeton University architecture graduate students Julia Medina and Taka Tachibe examine these aspects of Wright's career and ideology with a critical eye toward the aspects of settler colonialism and cultural appropriation in the work. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

Responding to the modern development of unchecked placeless suburban sprawl, and the disinvestment of inner city centers, a group of architects, led by couple Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Andres Duany, launched a movement with the intention of a radical paradigm shift in the way we conceive urbanism and urban planning. Termed New Urbanism, accompanied by the Charter for New Urbanism released in 1999, this movement advocated for the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the conservation of natural environments and the preservation of our built legacy. Although sounding well-intentioned, the goal of New Urbanism is a retreat and renewal of planned communities of the early 1900's. We argue that by retreating to this form of “traditional” community design, new urbanists brought back romanticized notions of the earliest American colonies and by doing so reinforced settler colonial narratives of land acquisition and white placemaking. Show Notes Available at https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

Levittown is often thought of as a paragon of mass-housing efficiency and as an influential model of how to execute suburban sprawl. It is also a primary spatiotemporal incidence -- and general representation -- of a settler colonial disposition toward occupying land in the United States. We propose that by focusing on the parallel nature of written policies that codified segregation, discrimination, and other white supremicist values, and the instantiation of these systems and beliefs “on the ground,” in the form of pastoral, quaint imagery and objects on a typical suburban street, it is possible to see how Levittown -- and suburbia at large -- used traditional settler visual cues to both soften the insidious nature of the discriminatory policies underlying its organization, as well as to signal to prospective and current homeowners that this form of community was an extension -- a direct descendant -- of the centuries-old practice of white folk settling in the country(side). Levittown is known among planners, designers, and architects for its role in ushering in a new mode of living that is highly dependent on the petrol economy, and it is also, more or less, already recognized as being a prime example of racist housing policies. In this podcast, we seek to more explicitly show how images embody and convey meaning, and to assert, via the example of Levittown, that innocuous, even decorative objects and architectural constructs and expressions, may symbolize far more sinister machinations. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

In this episode, we take a trip to Wakanda, the fictional country in Marvel's Black Panther, and explore and analyze the speculative architecture through a dual-lens of Afrofuturism and settler colonialism. What can we learn about architecture from Wakanda? And how can Black Panther learn from the critiques of the series' first installment? Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

When Sidney Fiske Kimball's book American Architecture was published in 1928, a peer reviewer at the time praised its vision by remarking that Kimball “recognizes both the body and soul of architecture.” This utterance was not simply high praise. Moreso, it was a reassertion of the central claim in Kimball's book: that American architecture had a body and soul; that it had, in short, a distinct and definable identity. This podcast investigates how this idea of a distinct American identity was formed in connection with architecture, and architectural history, through Kimball's book American Architecture. What does it mean to recognize a ‘body and soul of architecture' in the nation building context of the 1920s? And what legacy has it left for us today? In our discussion of Sidney Fiske Kimball's book American Architecture we bring forward examples from the text to understand how Kimball's identification of “American Architecture” was constructed through the confluence of race, capitalism, labor, and settler colonialism. We argue that Kimball's book uses these concerns to construct an origin story and historical myth for architecture that promotes white ways of being through the doctrine of progress. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

Today we explore the Seneca Village- one of Manhattan's first predominantly Black neighborhoods….. Started in 1825, Seneca Village was settled by freed African-Americans when parcels of land in the area were subdivided and sold off. Over the next few years, it would grow to become a thriving, heterogeneous community of over 220 residents, 50 homes, 3 churches. However, starting in the 1850s, the residents of Seneca Village and the territory of what would become Central Park were faced with eminent domain actions by the city of New York. The erasure of Seneca Village and surrounding neighborhoods gave way to Olmsted's reassertion of the space as a “natural” terrain. The dominant narrative of Central Park's transformation from an untamed tabula rasa wilderness to the tamed, domesticated urban park is an unacknowledged story of settler colonialism. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

This is “ A House on the Hill”, a podcast about deconstructing settler colonial narratives in architectural history. My name is Piao Liu and my name is Elena M'Bouroukounda and today we invite you to join our conversation about the 19th century American Biltmore Estate. In this episode, we will examine the critical relationship between Appalachia, the Biltmore estate, and French Renaissance architecture by considering the role of folk identity in the construction of settler colonial narratives. Show Notes Available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

In 1842, Andrew Jackson Downing wrote Cottage Residences; or a series of designs for rural cottages and cottage-villas and their gardens and grounds adapted to North America. By paying equal attention to what is made explicit and to what is intentionally omitted, this podcast will situate the book in a context of intersecting forces of settler colonialism, imperialism, and post-colonialism. Using the subtitle of the book as an outline, we will briefly delve into: the function of pattern books in mid 19th century America; the implications and framing of the “cottage”; the role of landscape and nature in property-ownership; and the use of the Anglo-Saxon identity as a legitimizing narrative for American architecture. Show Notes Available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

Porches, their origin in the United States as a space constructed by and for the Black body, has become a key architectural space fundamental to Black culture as a space for exchange, storytelling and comfort. The porch, as a typology, often linked to the shotgun house, through its image making, produces a symbol for Black Identity in the United States. It therefore subverts the settler colonialist strategies and regimes of exclusion and the history of producing spaces around whiteness. By looking at the construction of these liminal spaces produced at the boundary between the private dwelling and the public sphere, we might better understand how the manifestation of Black culture is inherently tied to physical architectural spaces. Show Notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

Show notes available at: https://www.sahraah.com/race-podcast

The colonial Period

In this episode, Stacy chats with Karyn Norwood, an architectural historian and teacher. Karyn founded the popular Instagram account, What Style is That? an educational and fun side-project where she photographs, identifies, and labels the defining features of old American architecture.  Also, Stacy and Ashley discuss when, and if it’s ever ok to “fake” historic features using modern replacements.  

Tonight’s reading comes from Sticks and Stones – A Study of American Architecture and Civilization. Published in 1924, this book was authored by Lewis Mumford. My name is Teddy and I aim to help people everywhere get a good night’s rest. Sleep is so important and my mission is to help you get the rest you need. The podcast is designed to play in the background while you slowly fall asleep. If you do appreciate the podcast, a lovely way to say thank you is to leave a 5 star review in iTunes or your podcast app, even one sentence helps out. It would also be awesome if you were able to share the podcast with someone you know who may also need a good night’s sleep. If you would like, you can also say hello at Boreyoutosleep.com where you can support the podcast. I’m also on Twitter and Instagram @BoreYouToSleep In the meantime, lie back, relax and enjoy the readings. Sincerely. Teddy --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/boreyoutosleep/support

Michael Benedikt is an ACSA Distinguished Professor of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Hal Box Chair in Urbanism and teaches design studio and architectural theory. He is a graduate of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and of Yale University. Although he has practiced at small scale, he is best known for his writings and lectures. Architecture Beyond Experience is his ninth book. He also edited and contributed to fourteen volumes of CENTER: Architecture and Design in America, on a wide range of topics. Some of Benedikt's writings can be found at http://www.mbenedikt.com. The event and publishing activities of the Center for American Architecture and Design can be found at http://soa.utexas.edu/caad. The ISOVIST app for OSX and Windows, written by Sam McElhinney of UCA Canterbury, can be downloaded from http://www.isovists.org.

This episode explores the beginning, rise and duration of the use of columns and posts in American Architecture from the beginning to present day.

In this episode, I talk to Luis Carranza a researcher whose work focuses primarily on modern architecture and art in Latin America (with an emphasis on Mexico). His work emphasizes how the relationships between social, literary, philosophical, and theoretical ideas impact the conceptualization and materialization of architecture and design. Luis is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and Professor of Architecture and of Art and Architectural History at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island. He obtained his B.Arch. at the University of Southern California and his PhD in Architectural History and Theory from Harvard University. He has published Architecture as Revolution: Episodes in the History of Modern Mexico (University of Texas Press, 2010) and Modern Architecture in Latin America: Art, Technology, Utopia (with Fernando Lara, University of Texas Press, 2015). We talked about writing history, researching, and doing archival work in Latin America and specifically in México, and how the culture of material conservation and access needs to change. We also discuss the work of women architects in Latin America and México, and how it hasn't been included in the narrative of modern architecture of the territory, its link to the archive culture, and the need to research and publication of those histories. We discussed teaching history of Latin America, the meaning of being modern in these territories, and how these courses are still on the margins of the narratives of modern architecture history. Luis told us about his courses, the material they produce, and why they are still considered non-western histories. Recommendations Vivienda y Ciudad - Wladimiro Acosta Nice Try Podcast - With Avery Trufelman The World as an Architectural Project by Gabriel Kozlowski, Hashim Sarkis, and Roi Salgueiro Barrio Fantasma by Lisandro Alonso Güeros by Alonso Ruizpalacios

Today we remember the beloved English writer who was punished for treason but adored with flowers. We'll also learn about the female botanical illustrator who is known as the "Audubon of botany." We celebrate the Dean of American Architecture. We also salute the "poet of the blackbirds." We honor the establishment of the horticulture program at the Smithsonian Gardens. In Unearthed Words, we say goodbye to July and hear some poems about the fleeting summer. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that celebrates 25 years of the Garden Conservancy through over 50 gardens from across the country. And then we’ll wrap things up with a little story about the Alligator Pear. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today’s curated news.   Subscribe Apple  | Google  | Spotify  | Stitcher | iHeart   Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy.   Curated News How To Grow A Mood-boosting Garden| Financial Times | Clare Coulson Here's an excerpt: “Isabel Bannerman – who along with her husband, Julian, has created atmospheric gardens for the Prince of Wales at Highgrove [and other royalty] – is a passionate flag-bearer for good-for-you gardening. “Plants are a really good steadier. You can’t let them die, you have to keep going. Like having children, but less demanding,” she says. But as she also notes, gardens are very forgiving. “There’s always another year, another season to look forward to, to try again. There is so much beauty, such sensory pleasure, all of which feeds the soul and the psyche.” For Bannerman, scent is key to creating gardens that transport and revive – a subject she explores in her book Scent Magic: Notes from a Gardener. Natural chemical “uppers”, including indole, are present in the fragrance of lilac and jasmine, while the calming qualities of lavender are connected to linalool. Bannerman uses their powers to envelop the home." Garden designer Jo Thompson says it is really important to have an “enclosed garden (the hortus conclusus). “It’s really important to have a place to sit or even a retreat,” she says. “These areas are magical and inspiring. You’re in nature, there’s movement and life but you feel safe...”  American journalist and author Florence Williams has gathered and simplified the research in her book The Nature Fix, which reveals that we are hard-wired to be in the natural world. “Our brains become relaxed because these are things that we are designed to look at, hear and smell,” she says. “The frontal lobe – the part of our brain that’s hyper-engaged in modern life – deactivates a little when you’re outside, while alpha waves, which indicate a calm but alert state, grow stronger.” Korean researchers have found that pictures of landscapes stimulate brain function in... areas associated with empathy and altruism."   Alright, that’s it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events 1703  It was on this day in 1703 that the English journalist and author Daniel Defoe was made to stand in the pillory in front of the temple bar. Daniel is remembered for his popular novel Robinson Crusoe which, at the time, claimed to be second to the Bible in its number of published translations. After Daniel was convicted of treason for one of his political writings, he was punished with time at the pillory. The pillory was essentially a stockade; the hands and head were stuck between two giant beams of wood. The person would stand in the pillory for days. It was a horrible punishment and it was usually reserved for hideous crimes. While Daniel was in the pillory, the crowds did their best to show their support; they sang songs, shouted encouragements, and threw flowers at his feet instead of mud. In 1830, a biography of Daniel said that his stocks were adorned with garlands and that drinks were provided to celebrate Daniel's release. The image of Daniel standing with his head and hands in the stocks surrounded by an adoring audience was memorialized in an 1862 painting by Eyre Crowe. Gardeners will especially notice the flowers strewn on the ground in the foreground. On the right, there are two women struggling to hold on to a large basket of flowers as they are being pushed away by the red coats. Behind the women, a man has managed to attach a small bouquet to the tip of a spear that he is attempting to give to Daniel who is standing calmly in the pillory.   1860  It’s the birthday of the botanical illustrator Mary Vaux Walcott who born in Philadelphia on this day. Gardeners appreciate Mary for her meticulously accurate watercolors of plants and flowers. For this reason, Mary is regarded as the "Audobon of Botany." Mary began her career as an illustrator one summer after being challenged to paint a rare blooming Arnica. Although her effort was only a modest success, it encouraged her to pursue art. In the pursuit of her art, Mary met Charles Doolittle Walcott. They were both doing fieldwork in the Canadian Rockies, and they found they were equally yoked. They married the following year. At the time, Charles was the secretary of the Smithsonian; that's how Mary was tapped to develop the Smithsonian process printing technique. Mary created hundreds of illustrations of the native plants of North America. Her five-volume set entitled North American Wildflowers showcases the stunning beauty of common wildflowers, many of which are at peak bloom right now. In addition to her work as a botanist, Mary was a successful glacial geologist and photographer. She was the first woman to summit a peak over 10,000 feet in Canada when she tackled Mount Stephen. Today Mary even has a mountain named after her in Jasper - Mount Mary Vaux.   1895  Today is the anniversary of the death of Richard Morris Hunt, who was an American architect during the gilded age. Gardeners know Richard for his collaborations with Frederick Law Olmsted. They worked together on the Vanderbilt mausoleum and the Chicago world‘s fair. Their ultimate collaboration occurred in Asheville, North Carolina, where they worked together to design the gardens, house, and manor village for the Biltmore Estate. Richard is often recognized as the Dean of American Architecture. He was the first American trained at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. If you get the chance to walk around Central Park, you’ll discover a memorial to honor Richard Morris Hunt. The memorial is located on the eastern perimeter of the park, and it was created by the same man who created the monument to Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial: Daniel Chester French. When he was alive, Richard wanted to elevate the public taste in design and the arts, but he was also flexible enough to meet them where they were. Modern-day designers will recognize the truth of Richard’s advice to other Landscape Architects. He said, "The first thing you've got to remember is that it's your clients' money you're spending. Your goal is to achieve the best results by following their wishes. If they want you to build a house upside down standing on its chimney, it's up to you to do it."   1917  Today is the anniversary of the death of the Irish war poet and soldier Francis Ledwidge. Francis grew up in the Irish countryside. When he became a writer, he established himself as the "poet of the blackbirds." Francis was killed in action during World War I at the Battle of Passchendaele.   When the clouds shake their hyssops and the rain Like holy water falls upon the plain, 'Tis sweet to gaze upon the springing grain And see your harvest born. And sweet the little breeze of melody The blackbird puffs upon the budding tree, While the wild poppy lights upon the lea And blazes 'mid the corn. — Francis Ledwidge, A Rainy Day in April   Broom out the floor now, lay the fender by, And plant this bee-sucked bough of woodbine there, And let the window down. The butterfly Floats in upon the sunbeam, and the fair Tanned face of June, the nomad gypsy, laughs Above her widespread wares, the while she tells The farmer's fortunes in the fields, and quaffs The water from the spider-peopled wells. The hedges are all drowned in green grass seas, And bobbing poppies flare like Elmo's light While siren-like the pollen-stained bees Drone in the clover depths. And up the height The cuckoo's voice is hoarse and broke with joy. And on the lowland crops, the crows make raid, Nor fear the clappers of the farmer's boy, Who sleeps, like drunken Noah, in the shade. And loop this red rose in that hazel ring That snares your little ear, for June is short  And we must joy in it and dance and sing, And from her bounty draw her rosy worth. Ay! soon the swallows will be flying south, The wind wheel north to gather in the snow Even the roses spilt on youth's red mouth Will soon blow down the road all roses go.  — Francis Ledwidge, June   1972   It was on this day that the horticulture program at the Smithsonian Gardens was established by Sydney Dylan Ripley, who served as the secretary of the Smithsonian. An American ornithologist and conservationist, Sidney had been inspired by the area around the Louvre in France as a child. With the Louvre always in the back of his mind, Sidney hoped to make the Smithsonian a bustling destination with activities to engage crowds of visitors and tourists. The horticultural services division was created to provide landscaping in and around the Smithsonian museums. Sidney knew that gardens not only attracted pollinators but people as well. In 2010, the Smithsonian horticultural program was renamed the Smithsonian Gardens to recognize the central role that the gardens play in the visitor experience.   Unearthed Words Today we say, “Goodbye, July. Until next year, we’ll miss you.”  Today’s words are about the fleeting summer.   Our fear of death is like our fear that summer will be short, but when we have had our swing of pleasure, our fill of fruit, and our swelter of heat, we say we have had our day. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet   You have seen the blossoms among the leaves; tell me, how long will they stay? Today they tremble before the hand that picks them; tomorrow they await someone's garden broom. —Hanshan, Chinese Tang Dynasty   Grow That Garden Library Outstanding American Gardens by Page Dickey This book came out in 2015 and the subtitle is  A Celebration: 25 Years of the Garden Conservancy. This gorgeous book celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Garden Conservancy. The book highlights eight gardens preserved by the conservancy and 43 gardens that have participated in the Open Days Program. The author, Page Dickey, is a well-known garden writer. Among her many books are Gardens in the Spirit of Place, the award-winning BreakingGround: Portraits of Ten Garden Designers, and Duck Hill Journal. She created Duck Hill, her garden in North Salem, New York, over the past 30 years. This book is 272 pages of inspiring gardens from all around the country and photographed in a variety of seasons from spring to fall. You can get a copy of Outstanding American Gardens by Page Dickey and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $20.   Today’s Botanic Spark Today is National Avocado Day. Avocado is a fruit, and it was initially called an alligator pear by Sir Hans Sloane in 1696. And, Guinness has a giant avocado recorded at 5 pounds, 6 and ½ ounces. Don’t forget that the skin of an avocado can be toxic to cats and dogs - but the flesh of an avocado is higher in potassium than bananas. Now, the next time the price of avocados gets you down, remember that avocados are harvested by hand. Pickers need to use a 16-foot pole to reach the hanging fruit. And, finally, here’s a little fun fact about avocados: The conquistadors used avocado seeds to write. It turns out, the avocado seed produces a milky liquid that changes to the color red when exposed to air.

According to a brief published by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, white college freshmen entering civil, mechanical and electrical engineering programs outnumber Black and Indigenous People of Color 7:1. A panel of experts at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine cited factors such as lack of funding and resources available for minorities who want to focus on STEM, the lack of accessibility to technology by low-income students, and sub-par teaching at lower tier schools. These experts never toured The Howard School's Future Ready Institute of Architecture, Engineering and Construction in Chattanooga, or met its director, Japho Hardin.Japho designed his fellowship to enroll at Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Waitsville, VT. Afterwards, he will experience an off-campus design/build program called The Rural Studio at Auburn University, and document prominent works of American Architecture in New York City. His mission, both at The Howard School and with this fellowship, is to provide Architectural & Engineering Design students with equitable access to quality design education.

Episode: 2977 Thomas Jefferson, the Maison Carree and the Virginia State Capitol.  Today, Thomas Jefferson in love.

Americans love their lawns. We spend billions maintaining them and pour millions of gallons of water on them. But why do we have lawns? Why do we care so much? How did Eurasian sub species of grass end up so well distributed across America? Well it's a long story involving a boat fire, homeowner associations, The Deadliest Event In Human History, and poison sumac. Also we get in to how Central Park ended up costing more than Alaska, how to sweep dirt and the legend of Billy Joel.

Philip Goad is the Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser Visiting Professor of Australian Studies (AY2019-20) at Harvard University and Chair of Architecture and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor at the University of Melbourne. He was trained as an architect and gained his PhD in architectural history at the University of Melbourne where he has taught since […]

Did you know that poppies were Christopher Lloyd's his favorite flower?  In his short essay about poppies, he introduces 'Goliath' poppies which grow to 4 feet tall and offer the largest blooms of any poppy.   Lloyd wrote about the blooms saying, "They are rich crimson, which is as exciting as scarlet. In choosing plant neighbors to vie with it, I have been best pleased with an equally bright and pure yellow giant buttercup. Ranunculus acris ‘Stevenii.’ It is, however, shocking to discover that there are some gardeners (and non -gardeners) of congenitally weak and palsied constitution who do not like strong colors and who even pride themselves, as a class apart, on their good taste. The good-taste brigade can only think comfortably in terms of color harmonies and of soft and soothing pastel shades." Oh, how it pains the heart to be called out by Christopher Lloyd, doesn't it? Well, even though he thinks we're too meek when it comes to color in the garden, we are in violent agreement when it comes to procurement. You'll love this little snippet about how he came to own the poppy "Beauty Queen": "I took a fancy to ‘Beauty Queen’ in a friend’s garden in Scotland in June, when it was flowering, and received permission to take a piece. When you see a plant that you must have, the answer to the question “Would you like some at the right time? should be “I’d rather have it now,” right time or not. Otherwise, the right time will surely slip by, the transference of the coveted piece from central Scotland to the south of England (or from California to Maine) will be in convenient, and all you’ll have is a gnawing gap in the pit of your wish-world."   Brevities #OTD  It was on this day in 1703 that Daniel Defoe was made to stand in the pillory in front of the temple bar.  The pillory was basically a stockade; the hands and head would be caught between two large beams of wood. It was a horrible punishment. It was usually reserved for the most hideous crimes. When Dafoe was convicted of sedition, the crowds did their best to show their support; they threw flowers at his feet instead of mud.   The image of Defoe standing with his head and hands in the stocks surrounded by an adoring audience was memorialized in an 1862 painting.    In 1830, a biography of Defoe said that the stocks were adorned with garlands and that drinks were provided to celebrate Dafoe's release.     #OTD It’s the birthday of Mary Vaux Walcott born in Philadelphia today in 1860. Gardeners know Walcott for her work as a botanical illustrator; she created meticulously accurate watercolors of plants and flowers. She is known as the "Audobon of botany". Walcott became an illustrator one summer after being challenged to paint a rare blooming Arnica. Although her effort was only a modest success, it encouraged her to pursue the art. In that pursuit, she met Charles Doolittle Walcott. They were both doing fieldwork in the Canadian Rockies and they found they were equally yoked. They married the following year. At the time, Charles was the secretary of the Smithsonian; that's how Walcott came to develop the Smithsonian process printing technique. Walcott created hundreds of illustrations of the native plants of North America. Her five volume set entitled North American Wildflowersshowcases the stunning beauty of everyday wildflowers, many of which are at peak bloom right now. In addition to her work as a botanist, Mary was a successful glacial geologist and photographer. She was the first woman to summit a peak over 10,000 feet in Canada when she tackled Mount Stephen. Today Walcott even has a mountain named after her in Jasper - Mount Mary Vaux.     #OTD   Today’s the anniversary of the death of Richard Morris Hunt who was an American architect during the gilded age.   Gardeners know Hunt for his collaborations with the Frederick Law Olmsted. They worked together on the Vanderbilt mausoleum and the Chicago world‘s fair. Their ultimate collaboration occurred in Asheville, North Carolina, where they worked together to design the gardens, house, and manor village for the Biltmore estate.   Hunt is often recognized as theDean of American Architecture. He was the first American trained at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.    Although Hunt and Olmsted had history, they clashed over Hunt's design for the southern entrance to Central Park.   Hunt had won the competition to design it, but Olmsted and Vaux balked when they saw Hunt's glorious plan.   For the main entrance at Fifth Avenue, Hunt had designed what he called the Gate of Peace. It included a circular fountain within a square parterre.    The most magnificent part of his plan, was a semi circular terrace with a 50 foot column featuring a sailor and a Native American holding up the cities arms. At the base of the column was to be a monument to Henry Hudson. It involved a pool of water featuring Neptune in his chariot and Henry Hudson standing on the prowl of a ship. On the back side, there was a memorial to Christopher Columbus.   Thinking the public would embrace his grand vision, Hunt made the decision to promote his designs for the park all on his own.   But Hunt did not appreciate Vaux's is power. Although privately Vaux said that Hunt's plans were "splendid and striking"; publicly he told a friend they were, "what the country had been fighting against... Napoleon III in disguise all over. Vaux summarized that Hunt's designs were, "not American but the park was."    Ironically, in 1898, a memorial was erected in Central Park to honor Richard Morris Hunt.   The memorial is located on the eastern perimeter of the park and it was created by the same man who created the monument to Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial: Daniel Chester French.   When he was alive, Hunt wanted to elevate the publics taste in design and the arts, but he was also flexible enough to meet them where they were. It was Richard Maurice Hunter who said, "The first thing you've got to remember is that it's your clients' money you're spending. Your goal is to achieve the best results by following their wishes. If they want you to build a house upside down standing on its chimney, it's up to you to do it."     #OTD  It was on this day in 1972 that the horticulture program at the Smithsonian Gardens was established by Sydney Dylan Ripley who was the secretary of the Smithsonian. An American ornithologist and conservationist, as a child Ripley had been inspired by the area around the Louvre in France. He had hoped to make the Smithsonian a bustling area with activities for visitors and tourists. The purpose for the establishment of the horticultural services division was to provide landscaping  in and around the Smithsonian museums. In 2010, the horticultural program was renamed the Smithsonian Gardens to recognize the role that the gardens play in the visitor experience.         Unearthed Words Here's a poem by Robert Frost called ‘Lodged’.  This is a short garden poem. In six little lines, Frost connects himself to the flowers in the flowerbed, pelted by wind and rain; yet through it all, managing to survive. The rain to the wind said, 'You push and I'll pelt.' They so smote the garden bed That the flowers actually knelt, And lay lodged--though not dead. I know how the flowers felt.   Today's book recommendation: Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces by Michelle Slatalla    Slatella's book was named "the best gift book for gardeners" by the New York Times book review.   The book was put together by the team responsible for Gardenista and Remodelista. It’s chockfull of hundreds of design tips and easy DIY‘s. It features 100 classic garden objects and a landscape primer with tips from the pros.   It’s a fantastic resource for folks hoping to get Garden Design 101 tips from the best and most creative in the business.     Today's Garden Chore Check for overcrowding and overall areas of meh. Garden chores tend to get pushed aside this time of year. But it's worth spending a little time this week looking closely at the overall appearance of your beds, borders and containers. Take your camera with you to document what you see. If the beds are both crowded and unattractive, you'll probably need to do a bit of pruning and transplanting to whip those beds into shape for the remainder of the season.   Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart   Today is National Avocado Day.   Avocado is a fruit and it was originally called an alligator pear by Sir Hans Sloane in 1696.   And, Guinness has the largest avocado recorded at 5 pounds 6 1/2 ounces.   Don’t forget that the skin of an avocado can be toxic to cats and dogs - but the flesh of an avocado is actually higher in potassium than bananas.   Now, the next time the price of avocados gets you down, remember that avocados are harvested by hand. Pickers need to use a 16-foot pole to reach the hanging fruit.   And, finally, here’s a little fun fact about avocados:   The conquistadors used  avocado seeds to write.   It turns out, the avocado seed produces a milky liquid that changes to the color red when exposed to air.     Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

This episode is a live recording of a panel discussion, featuring Association for Women in Architecture and Design (AWA+D) members Lise Bornstein of KFA, Wena Dows of Wena Dows Designs, Marisa Kurtzman of Frederick Fisher and Partners, Brenda Levin of Levin & Associates Architects, Kate Diamond of HDR, and Nina Briggs of The Fabric, moderated by XX|LA host Audrey Sato. It was recorded on Sept. 30 at WUHO, which is Woodbury University’s Gallery space right on Hollywood Boulevard. Our event was held in conjunction with Architexx’s exhibit, “Now What: Advocacy, Activism and Alliances in American Architecture since 1968”.

Leslie Sydnor is an architect now working as a Director / Planning Project Manager at Cumming Corporation.  Leslie grew up in New York City wanting to effect change in the built environment, and so she went on to study architecture at Yale and then UCLA.  After about 20 years in architecture, having risen to the level of Associate Principal, Leslie left her traditional career in architecture to work on the other side of things in project, program, planning, and construction management.  Throughout her career, she gained expertise in education projects, and we hear stories about her work, her experiences rising up in a firm and then leaving it, and why being an architect now helps her excel at her current job.  As women of color, we also discuss issues of race and gender, and talk pretty candidly about our experiences as architects. Links to upcoming events: Now What?! Advocacy, Activism and Alliances in American Architecture since 1968 Opening Party Sept. 8 at WUHO Gallery Powerful Conference 2018 Sept. 20 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion  

In the late 19th and early 20th century United States, many printmakers were attracted to architecture as subject matter. Artist Victoria Chick discusses how the dynamics of what was going on in the world of Architecture, largely represented characteristics of the American people and American life during an approximate 50 year period of printmaking. Read Victoria's article here: http://blendradioandtv.com/listing/the-american-character-represented-by-architecture/ Music on this episode is ‘Heart of the City by Wally Lawder.

Crystal Bridges architect Moshe Safdie reflects on his many projects, as well as architectural elements at Crystal Bridges including Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome and the Frank Lloyd Wright Bachman-Wilson House that collectively tell a story of American architecture.

Most of us have been to strip malls–lines of shops fronted by acres of parking–and most of us have been to closed malls–massive buildings full of shops and surrounded by acres of parking. Fewer of us have been to open malls: small parks ringed by shops with parking carefully tucked out of sight. That's because open malls–once numerous–have largely disappeared, having been replaced by strip malls, closed malls and, more recently, big-box stores. As David Smiley points out in his wonderfully researched and beautifully illustrated book Pedestrian Modern: Shopping and American Architecture, 1925-1956 (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), the open mall was a response to a number of macro-historical, mid-twentieth century forces: the explosion of car culture, the decline of urban centers, the rise of suburbs, and, of course, mass consumerism. But he also shows that the open mall wasn't just an banal machine for selling; it was a canvas upon which Modernist architects could create a uniquely American kind of Modernist architecture. The strip mall, the closed mall, and the big-box store may be artless, but the mid-century open mall certainly was not. It had style, as the many wonderful images in David's book show. Interestingly, the open mall is making a comeback. I visited one outside Hartford, Connecticut. Alas, it has none of the Modernist elements that made the original open malls so interesting. To me, it looked like a closed mall turned inside out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us have been to strip malls–lines of shops fronted by acres of parking–and most of us have been to closed malls–massive buildings full of shops and surrounded by acres of parking. Fewer of us have been to open malls: small parks ringed by shops with parking carefully tucked out of sight. That’s because open malls–once numerous–have largely disappeared, having been replaced by strip malls, closed malls and, more recently, big-box stores. As David Smiley points out in his wonderfully researched and beautifully illustrated book Pedestrian Modern: Shopping and American Architecture, 1925-1956 (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), the open mall was a response to a number of macro-historical, mid-twentieth century forces: the explosion of car culture, the decline of urban centers, the rise of suburbs, and, of course, mass consumerism. But he also shows that the open mall wasn’t just an banal machine for selling; it was a canvas upon which Modernist architects could create a uniquely American kind of Modernist architecture. The strip mall, the closed mall, and the big-box store may be artless, but the mid-century open mall certainly was not. It had style, as the many wonderful images in David’s book show. Interestingly, the open mall is making a comeback. I visited one outside Hartford, Connecticut. Alas, it has none of the Modernist elements that made the original open malls so interesting. To me, it looked like a closed mall turned inside out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us have been to strip malls–lines of shops fronted by acres of parking–and most of us have been to closed malls–massive buildings full of shops and surrounded by acres of parking. Fewer of us have been to open malls: small parks ringed by shops with parking carefully tucked out of sight. That’s because open malls–once numerous–have largely disappeared, having been replaced by strip malls, closed malls and, more recently, big-box stores. As David Smiley points out in his wonderfully researched and beautifully illustrated book Pedestrian Modern: Shopping and American Architecture, 1925-1956 (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), the open mall was a response to a number of macro-historical, mid-twentieth century forces: the explosion of car culture, the decline of urban centers, the rise of suburbs, and, of course, mass consumerism. But he also shows that the open mall wasn’t just an banal machine for selling; it was a canvas upon which Modernist architects could create a uniquely American kind of Modernist architecture. The strip mall, the closed mall, and the big-box store may be artless, but the mid-century open mall certainly was not. It had style, as the many wonderful images in David’s book show. Interestingly, the open mall is making a comeback. I visited one outside Hartford, Connecticut. Alas, it has none of the Modernist elements that made the original open malls so interesting. To me, it looked like a closed mall turned inside out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us have been to strip malls–lines of shops fronted by acres of parking–and most of us have been to closed malls–massive buildings full of shops and surrounded by acres of parking. Fewer of us have been to open malls: small parks ringed by shops with parking carefully tucked out of sight. That’s because open malls–once numerous–have largely disappeared, having been replaced by strip malls, closed malls and, more recently, big-box stores. As David Smiley points out in his wonderfully researched and beautifully illustrated book Pedestrian Modern: Shopping and American Architecture, 1925-1956 (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), the open mall was a response to a number of macro-historical, mid-twentieth century forces: the explosion of car culture, the decline of urban centers, the rise of suburbs, and, of course, mass consumerism. But he also shows that the open mall wasn’t just an banal machine for selling; it was a canvas upon which Modernist architects could create a uniquely American kind of Modernist architecture. The strip mall, the closed mall, and the big-box store may be artless, but the mid-century open mall certainly was not. It had style, as the many wonderful images in David’s book show. Interestingly, the open mall is making a comeback. I visited one outside Hartford, Connecticut. Alas, it has none of the Modernist elements that made the original open malls so interesting. To me, it looked like a closed mall turned inside out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us have been to strip malls–lines of shops fronted by acres of parking–and most of us have been to closed malls–massive buildings full of shops and surrounded by acres of parking. Fewer of us have been to open malls: small parks ringed by shops with parking carefully tucked out of sight. That’s because open malls–once numerous–have largely disappeared, having been replaced by strip malls, closed malls and, more recently, big-box stores. As David Smiley points out in his wonderfully researched and beautifully illustrated book Pedestrian Modern: Shopping and American Architecture, 1925-1956 (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), the open mall was a response to a number of macro-historical, mid-twentieth century forces: the explosion of car culture, the decline of urban centers, the rise of suburbs, and, of course, mass consumerism. But he also shows that the open mall wasn’t just an banal machine for selling; it was a canvas upon which Modernist architects could create a uniquely American kind of Modernist architecture. The strip mall, the closed mall, and the big-box store may be artless, but the mid-century open mall certainly was not. It had style, as the many wonderful images in David’s book show. Interestingly, the open mall is making a comeback. I visited one outside Hartford, Connecticut. Alas, it has none of the Modernist elements that made the original open malls so interesting. To me, it looked like a closed mall turned inside out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A screening of the documentary film The Pruitt-Igoe Myth followed by a conversation between Catherine Fennell, Columbia University Anthropology, and Reinhold Martin, GSAPP Organized by The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture #wood021312

A conversation with Michel Abboud, Amale Andraos, Robert Beauregard, Andrew Bernheimer, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Karen Fairbanks, Laurie Hawkinson, Florian Idenburg, Laura Kurgan, David Lewis, Scott Marble, Gregg Pasquarelli, Susan Rodriguez, Leopoldo Sguera, David Smiley, David Stark, Bernard Tschumi, Marc Tsurumaki, Henry Smith-Miller, and Dan Wood. Moderated by Reinhold Martin, GSAPP, and organized by The Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture