Podcasts about venice architecture biennale

The second of our two episodes dedicated to the Venice Architecture Biennale’s international showcase. We stop in at the pavilions of Australia, Germany, Togo and the USA. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Unfrozen crew hit the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale with all the furious energy our 100th episode deserved. A rollicking roundup of robots, pans, picks, porches and pavilions, with special guest interviews: Michele Champagne, Kate Wagner, Marisa Moran Jahn, Bekim Ramku, Rafi Segal, Jeanne Gang, and Mark Cavagnero. And finally, while Rome picked a pontiff, we had our own mini-conclave in Venice and humbly offered up our picks for the 20th Biennale curator. Join us for this extra special centenary episode.--Intro/Outro: “Bounder of Adventure,” by The Cooper Vane--Discussed:-      Olly Wainwright: Can robots make the perfect Aperol spritz? – Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 review | Architecture | The Guardian-         Rowan Moore: Venice Architecture Biennale review: ‘a hot mess of pretension' | The Observer-         The New York Architecture Review crew: Nicolas, Chloe and Sammy-         International Exhibition in the Arsenaleo  Robots, hemp, bio-concrete, 8-point font with AI-assisted summarieso  Kate Crawford and Vladan Joier's megascale text: Calculating Empireso   Bjarke Ingels Group's entry: Ancient Future, with Bhutanese carvers paced by an ABB roboto  Christopher Hawthorne's Speaker's Cornero  Shades of Rem Koolhaas' 2014 Fundamentals edition-         Kate Wagner's review:o  Dated techno-optimismo  Cannibalism of architecture by art and exhibition design-         National Pavilions:o  Austria: “Agency for Better Living”o  Canada: “Picoplanktonics” by The Living Room Collectiveo  Denmark: “Build of Site”o  Estonia: “Let Me Warm You”o  Romania: “Human Scale”o  Saudi Arabia: “The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection”o  Slovenia: “Master Builders”o  South Korea: “Little Toad, Little Toad”, but mainly this cato  Spain: “Internalities: Architectures for Territorial Equilibrium”o  UAE: “Pressure Cooker”o  USA: “Porch: An Architecture of Generosity”§  Curators: ·        Peter MacKeith, Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas·        Rod Bigelow, Executive Director, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art·        Marlon Blackwell, Marlon Blackwell Architects·        Susan Chin, Design Connects·        Stephen Burks, Man Made§  Shades of the timber-themed 2021 exhibit, but with a twist§  Interview with Mark Cavagnero, Mark Cavagnero Associates, on participation in Porch and his work updating the original 1969 design of the Oakland Museum of California by Kevin Roche and Dan Kiley o  Uzbekistan: A Matter of Radiance-         Interview with collaborators on Art-Tek Tulltorja, conversion of former brick works into a tech hub and community center, Pristina, Kosovo:o  Rafi Segal, Associate Professor, Architecture & Urbanism, MITo  Marisa Moran Jahn, Director, Integrated Design,Parsons School of Designo  Bekim Ramku, OUD+ Architectso  Nol Binakaj, OUD+ Architects-         Interview with Jeanne Gang, amidst a Bio-Blitz powered by the iNaturalist app and featuring a “disco ball for bees”-         Unfrozen's nominations for 2027 Biennale curator:o  Carolyn Whitzman, Senior Housing Researcher, Schoolof Cities, University of Toronto and author of Home Truths: Fixing Canada's Housing Crisiso  Diane Longboat, Senior Manager, StrategicInitiatives, Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto§  See: Sweat lodge at the Centero  Patrick Bellew, Chief Sustainability Officer, Surbana Jurong (Atelier Ten)§  Gardens by the Bay cooling system,powered by incinerated tree trimming wasteo  Peter Barber, Peter Barber Architectso  Eyal Weizman, Forensic Architecture-         Stafford Beer: “The purpose of the system is what it does.”

In this episode of SPACES, Dimitrius discusses the Venice Architecture Biennale, exploring its significance, themes, and the impact it has on the architectural landscape. He highlights the theme of the 2025 exhibition, critiques the relevance and accessibility of the Biennale in general, and suggests future directions for the event to enhance its societal contributions.As mentioned in the show:Can robots make the perfect Aperol spritz? – Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 reviewBiennale Architettura 2025Exclusive Interview with Curator Carlo Ratti at Venice Architecture Biennale 2025'Whats the point of all this?' Patrik Schumacher's blistering critique of the Venice Architecture Biennale stirs debateAlejandro Aravena: My architectural philosophy? Bring the community into the processTHE ESSENTIAL HOMES RESEARCH PROJECTIf you enjoy our content, you can check out similar content from our fellow creators at Gābl Media. Spaces Podcast Spaces Podcast website Spaces Podcast // Gābl Media All rights reserved Mentioned in this episode:Inside NBTN AdTonicDM

In the first of two dedicated episodes, we visit the pavilions of Denmark, Brazil and Switzerland at the Venice Architecture Biennale. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ready for a whirlwind tour of mass timber innovation happening across the globe? From robotic fabrication in Barcelona to award-winning coastal homes in Cornwall, we're covering the most exciting developments in sustainable construction.The timber revolution continues gaining momentum with Fife College setting new standards in sustainable education buildings. Their new campus has shattered carbon targets, achieving just 560kg CO2/m² by replacing traditional concrete with cross-laminated timber and using 95% recycled steel in their delta beams. This showcase of collaborative design between architects, engineers, and sustainability experts demonstrates how public buildings can lead the way in carbon reduction.Meanwhile, architectural excellence in timber construction is receiving well-deserved recognition, with a stunning two-family home in Cornwall winning the prestigious 2025 RIBA West, South and Wessex Award. This "Hollywood on the sea" property masterfully integrates mass timber elements with breathtaking coastal views. At the Venice Architecture Biennale, the US pavilion is making a statement with a zigzagging mass timber canopy exploring "An Architecture of Generosity," while TU Graz's innovative "HOT" (Holz on Top) system offers modular timber solutions for urban building extensions.Perhaps most exciting is the convergence of technology and timber, with CORE transforming a former Barcelona stable into a "cathedral of robotic artisans" where a KUKA six-axis industrial milling robot crafts extraordinary geometric forms from mass timber. These developments, alongside Sterling Solutions' new Terra-Cross CLT bridge system supporting 100 tons, showcase timber's versatility across architecture, infrastructure, and digital fabrication. Don't forget to check out the Rothobus Build the Impossible competition, now accepting entries until September, and subscribe to our channels for more mass timber inspiration!Send us a textSupport the show

Carlo Ratti is is an Italian architect, engineer and educator, and the curator of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale. As the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale opens its doors, we speak with this year's curator, Carlo Ratti—architect, engineer, and a leading thinker at the intersection of design, technology, and urbanism. Under the theme 'Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective.', Ratti explores how new forms of intelligence—from machine learning to natural ecosystems—are transforming not just the spaces we build, but the tools and processes we use to conceive them. In this episode, he reflects on the Biennale's curatorial vision, and the questions it raises about architecture's evolving role in an increasingly interconnected world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest on this episode is Christopher Hawthorne, the Senior Critic at Yale University's School of Architecture. His previous roles include architecture critic of the Los Angeles Times, and Chief Design Officer of the City of Los Angeles. His current mission is to assemble the Speaker's Corner at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. Unfrozen hears his unique perspective as both critic and exhibitor.--Intro/Outro: “Elevator,” by The Cooper Vane--Discussed:2025 Venice Architecture Biennale: “Inteligens: Natural, Artificial, Collective” – Carlo RattiSpeakers' Corner / Re-staging Criticism series, part of the GENS Public Program-         Florencia Rodriguez, Director, School of Architecture, University of Illinois Chicago-         Mark Lee, Sharon Johnston of Johnston Marklee-         Inspiration: “Vincent Scully: Architecture, Urbanism, and a Life in Search of Community,” by A. Krista Sykes-         9 May: “Exhibition as Critical Vessel”o   Florencia Rodriguez, Moderatoro  Lesley Lokko, 2023 Biennale curatoro  Aric Cheno  Pancho Diazo  Sarah Herdao  Michael Meredith (MOS) > Building with Writing-         10 May: Conversation on L.A. Fireso   Michael Maltzano   Alejandro Haiek Collo  Florencia Rodriguez11 May:o  Kate Wagnero  Samuel Medinao  Sam Jacobo  Shumi Bose1980 Venice Architecture Biennale – The Presence of the Past - Paolo Portoghesi-         Strada Novissima, feat. Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, Arati Isozaki, Robert Venturi, Denise Scott-Brown-         Teatro del Mundo, Aldo Rossi-         Critic's Corner, feat. Vincent Scully, Charles Jencks, Kenneth Frampton & Christian Norberg-SchulzWhy “The Brutalist” Isn't Really About ArchitectureKazuyo SejimaWriting About Architecture - Alexandra LangeCaught practicing without a license: Frank Lloyd Wright and Thomas JeffersonInternational Committee of Architecture CriticsSalon de MobileAda Louise HuxtableYou Have to Pay for the Public Life, by Charles MooreComplexity and Contradiction in Architecture, Robert VenturiCharles Jencks Foundation

Can art be a tool for repair? And what happens when exhibitions themselves move across borders?In this episode of Our World, Connected, host Christine Wilson dives into the relationship between art, architecture, and place — and how both disciplines are being used to challenge colonial narratives, spark dialogue, and imagine alternative futures.Christine is joined by writer, artist and curator Rosie Olang' Odhiambo, who speaks about her collaborative, cross-disciplinary practice and her recent exhibition, In Transit: Under Another Sky, which she co-curated with E.N. Mirembe. First shown in Kampala and Nairobi, and soon opening at the Africa Centre in London, the exhibition weaves together sound, image, and text to explore transience, marginal identities, and shifting geographies.We also hear from Kabage Karanja, an architect and co-founder of Nairobi's cave_bureau. Speaking from the British Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Kabage reflects on using caves as sites of cultural memory and of decolonial storytelling and his bold vision for architecture as a force of geological repair.Together, Rosie and Kabage explore what it means to tell stories of place, migration, and resistance — and how visual arts and architecture can both reflect and reshape the world we live in.Listen to Our World, Connected, brought to you by the British Council. Subscribe and follow for more thought-provoking discussions on culture, connection, and the power of education.Additional Resources & Links:British Council Artshttps://arts.britishcouncil.org/UK at the Venice Biennalehttps://venicebiennale.britishcouncil.org/cave_bureauhttps://www.cave.co.ke/Follow British Council Research and Insight:Newsletter – https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/subscribe Twitter – https://twitter.com/InsightBritish Website - https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight

In this episode of Architecture Talks, I sit down with Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas, the visionary duo behind Studio Fuksas, a practice that has completed over 600 projects across the globe. From fashion boutiques to international airports, their work is both monumental and deeply human.We talk about their lifelong partnership, the poetic influence of Rome's narrow streets and shifting shadows, and how their sculptural architecture always begins with the city, the sky, and the people. The conversation moves from reflections on La Nuvola, Rome's iconic cloud-like congress center, to how water, light, and transparency shape their work, and why, for them, architecture is not about building, but about helping.In this episode, we discuss: La Nuvola in Rome, Fiera Milano, the Church in Foligno, the Armani Store in New York City, the Nardini Research Centre and Auditorium, and their groundbreaking direction of the Venice Architecture Biennale. Follow Architecture.Talk on Instagram to see images of the projects we discuss in this episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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On today's episode we share a conversation with Winka Dubbeldam. Winka is the founder and partner of Archi-Tectonics, a New York City firm widely known for their award-winning work, use of smart building systems, and innovative structures. Winka is also a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and was the Chair of the Department of Architecture from 2013 to 2023 where she gathered an international network of innovative research and design professionals. Winka serves as the RIBA External Examiner for the Architectural Association, is a member of the editorial board for the PLAN Journal Italy, is an advisory board member for Collectible and is one of the creative directors for CityX at the Venice Architecture Biennale.We talk about: - The origin story of Archi-Tectonics and how in 1994, Winka founded the firm with an emphasis on research-driven, innovative design, and pioneering 3D modeling and computational design.- Winka next discusses her transformative 10-year tenure as Chair of the Department of Architecture at Penn, where she expanded faculty and research initiatives, questioned the “New Normal” in Architecture, and encouraged her students to prepare not just for graduation, but for the next 25 years of practice. We get into all the details including what she looks for in faculty hires and how she split her time between NYC and Philly. - We also explore Archi-Tectonics' groundbreaking designs for the 2023 Asian Games which featured an adaptable stadium and ‘earth buildings.' Winka shares what rules her team broke in entering the project competition and how taking this risk led to success.- Winka's interview will inspire you to think more boldly. Grab inspiration throughout the episode with her thoughts on AI, modeling softwares, product innovations, sustainable initiatives, lessons learned from teaching, and more.____Thank you to our sponsors:⁠⁠⁠Arcol⁠⁠⁠ is a collaborative building design tool built for modern teams. Arcol streamlines your design process by keeping your model, data and presentations in sync enabling your team to work together seamlessly.- Website:⁠⁠⁠Arcol.io⁠⁠⁠- LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/arcol-tech⁠⁠⁠- Twitter/ X:⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/ArcolTech⁠⁠⁠⁠Layer⁠⁠ is the workflow platform for buildings, empowering teams to capture field data & photos, connect it to their drawings & models, and create beautiful deliverables & reports.Use Layer to build your own workflow to generate Room Data Sheets from Revit, manage your CA processes such as RFIs or Punch lists, conduct field surveys and much more. The best thing is, it's all connected directly to Revit so you'll never have to copy and paste data between windows again.- Website:⁠⁠https://layer.team/architectette⁠⁠____Links: Website: https://www.archi-tectonics.com/Instagram: @architectonics2129LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/archi-tectonicsFacebook: architectonics.nycNYT ArticleSolar Townhouse ArticleDesignverse- Asian Games ParkValley Village Shopping Concept____Connect with Architectette:- Website:⁠⁠ www.architectette.com⁠⁠ (Learn more)- Instagram:⁠⁠ @architectette⁠⁠ (See more)- Newsletter:⁠⁠ www.architectette.com/newsletter⁠⁠ (Behind the Scenes Content)- LinkedIn:⁠⁠ The Architectette Podcast⁠⁠ Page and/or⁠⁠Caitlin Brady⁠⁠Support Architectette:- Leave us a rating and review!-⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠Music by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AlexGrohl⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ from⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This week Ilana's special guest is Hae-Won Shin, Senior Lecturer at Monash University, an architect who works on architecture and urban infrastructure projects at a wide range of scales. She founded LokalDesign in Seoul in 2005 and received the Young Architect Award from the Korean Architects Institute in 2013. In 2021 she was curator of the Korean Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale with the project ‘Future School'.

An interactive yarn exploring earth, sound, and touch through Indigenous design and knowledge systems. How do we engage with earth, sound, and touch to deepen our connection to the environment? In our second BLAKitecture forum, audiences gathered around Bradley Kerr (Windsor Kerr), Clarence Slockee (Gardening Australia), Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO, and Kaylie Salvatori (Country Oriented Landscape Architecture) for an interactive yarn exploring sensory engagement and design grounded in Indigenous knowledge systems. Linked to the Australian Pavilion for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, this conversation considers our relationships with all living things and reflect on “home” as a convergence of memory, sensation, and future. Led by a Creative Sphere of First Nations architects and practitioners, HOME challenges conventional architectural practices and fosters deep connections through sustainable, culturally rich design and programming.

Ben James is the Founder of 404, a Web3 platform revolutionizing 3D content creation by empowering users to build virtual worlds, games, and AR/VR/XR experiences without technical expertise. Leveraging decentralized technologies and advanced 3D generative models, 404 enables creators to bring their visions to life in real time, driving innovation in immersive digital content. Ben is also the CEO and Founder of Atlas, the Web2 counterpart of 404, focused on enhancing creativity in gaming and virtual world-building. A graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC (Magna Cum Laude) and holder of a Master's in Architecture from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Ben's work has been exhibited at renowned venues such as the A+D Museum in Los Angeles, the Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York.

Ben James is the Founder of 404, a Web3 platform revolutionizing 3D content creation by empowering users to build virtual worlds, games, and AR/VR/XR experiences without technical expertise. Leveraging decentralized technologies and advanced 3D generative models, 404 enables creators to bring their visions to life in real time, driving innovation in immersive digital content. Ben is also the CEO and Founder of Atlas, the Web2 counterpart of 404, focused on enhancing creativity in gaming and virtual world-building. A graduate of the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC (Magna Cum Laude) and holder of a Master's in Architecture from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Ben's work has been exhibited at renowned venues such as the A+D Museum in Los Angeles, the Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York.

An interactive yarn with the creative team behind 'Home' as they prepare for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. Celebrate the opportunities of understanding and shared perspectives on what ‘home' means with Bradley Kerr and the 2025 Creative Directors of the Venice Architecture Biennale's Australian Pavilion as they share insights on their exhibition HOME.  HOME will present an immersive, culturally rich experience grounded in Indigenous Knowledge systems and architectural innovation. “HOME is a generous and timely offering to the Venice Architecture Biennale that will welcome visitors as active contributors and participants. Through design, enlivened public conversations, cultural practice and ceremony, we will facilitate a shared and collective experience that resonates with international audiences and recognises the criticality of First Nations knowledge.”- Emily McDaniel, Co-Creative Director   MPavilion's annual BLAKitecture forum aims to centralise Indigenous voices in conversations about architecture, the representation of histories, and the present and future states of our built environments. The eighth BLAKitecture series features three talks responding to our program series, curated by Bradley Kerr, a member of MPavilion's Curatorial Collective.  HOME is supported by the Australian Institute of Architects, Brickworks and Creative Australia.

Last week Rachel was in Aberfoyle where the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association was celebrating their 50th anniversary. The organisation brings rangers together to share ideas and highlight potential challenges facing the sector. She chatted to some of those who've recently retired, and those who are still working, about the history of the association and the importance of rangers across the country.Mark catches up with photographer Frank McElhinney whose work forms part of an exhibition called A Fragile Correspondence. It's currently on show at the V&A in Dundee after travelling to the Venice Architecture Biennale. He tells Mark what it was like taking a little bit of Ravenscraig to Venice.A cottage where Queen Victoria enjoyed picnics will open to the public next year after being restored by the National Trust for Scotland. The cottage on Mar Lodge Estate had been in a state of disrepair for some years and Mark went along to see its transformation.Over the last few weeks, we've been chatting to the three finalists of BBC Scotland's category at the BBC Food and Farming Awards, the Local Food Hero award. Earlier this week the winners were announced at a ceremony in Glasgow where Rachel and Landward's Dougie Vipond presented the winners with a rather nice chopping board! We hear more from the event including from Rachel's fellow judges Sheila Dillon and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and from the winners of the Local Food Hero award.Have you come across #thicktrunktuesday on social media? The hashtag has been around for a couple of years highlighting the joy of trees. We chat live to artist Tansy Lee Moir who has travelled to visit different trees and met lots of different people all through using the hashtag. She tells us what it is about trees that inspires her and why winter is the best time to appreciate them.Our Scotland Outdoors podcast this week contains the latest instalment of our series following the story of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel, Kidnapped. We re-join the story after the Appin Murder of 1752 with Davey and Alan on the run and in need of help.Paul English explores a new 5K walking route near the Falkirk Wheel from a barge. He takes to the Jaggy Thistle to admire the route's colourful benches which are decorated with locally significant mosaic designs.Cold water swimming might seem like a modern pastime, but PhD student Lucy Janes has been researching urban swimming and found that it was actually pretty popular in Victorian Glasgow. She met Mark on the banks of the Clyde to tell him about who was going for a swim in the 1800s and what hazards they might have faced.

On Episode 130 of A is for Architecture, Tom Morton, architect and principal of Arc Architects, an architecture practice based in Fife, Scotland, discusses his and Becky Little's innovative Earthbound Orkney project, a creative practice which seeks to redefine our connection to the natural world through art, design and community engagement in Orkney. In this episode, Tom shares his vision for Earthbound Orkney, which aims to highlight the rich cultural heritage and stunning landscapes of the Orkney Islands, and describes how his and Becky's work can serve as a catalyst for environmental awareness and community connection. Whether you're an architecture or art enthusiast, a nature lover, or simply curious about innovative projects that make a difference, this episode is a must-listen. Tune in to explore how Earthbound Orkney is cultivating a deeper appreciation for our planet and the stories that shape it. Tom is on Instagram, as is Becky. Earthbound Orkney features in the forthcoming exhibition, A Fragile Correspondence, taking place at V&A Dundee from 21 Nov 2024, Scotland's submission for the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. Thanks for listening. +  Music credits: ⁠Bruno Gillick

On today's episode of Architectette we are joined by Ming Thompson and Christina Cho Yoo, the founders of Atelier Cho Thompson (ACT), a New Haven and San Francisco based multidisciplinary practice working between architecture, interiors, graphics, and strategy.  ACT's work frequently blurs the boundaries between typologies, as they draw inspiration from their work in schools, museums, offices, restaurants, and homes around the world. The firm has been awarded numerous national and regional design honors and has been featured in Metropolis, Architect Magazine, Interior Design Magazine, and at the Venice Architecture Biennale.  We talk about:  - The origin story of ACT and how Ming and Christina were inspired by a Parking Day collaboration to start their own firm to pursue projects that complemented their diverse sets of skills and passions.  - Entrepreneurship and Motherhood: Ming and Christina talk about establishing a business while growing their families and how even though they themselves didn't take maternity leave, we talk about how each founder works hard to make sure their employees are able to do so. - The catalyst for expanding their San Francisco practice with an office in New Haven, CT. We talk about virtual collaboration, expanding in a new market, and how the firm was well-prepared for the hybrid shift that caught so many businesses off guard during the pandemic.  - We end by discussing Ming and Christina's work to advance women and the AAPI community, their favorite projects, impactful pro bono work, public art installations, and how the firm has established and expanded their reputation for gorgeous, design-rich spaces Links:  ACT's Website: www.chothompson.com Architectette Podcast Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.architectette.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with the pod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@architectette⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠), and TikTok (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@architectette⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) Exclusive Content on our Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.architectette.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support the podcast on Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/Architectette?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link⁠⁠ Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AlexGrohl⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Architect and theorist Jimenez Lai was born in Taiwan, grew up in Canada, and lives in Los Angeles. He holds the Robert Gwathmey chair at Cooper Union, and is the director of architecture agency Bureau Spectacular. Before establishing Bureau Spectacular, Lai lived in a desert shelter at Taliesin and resided in a shipping container at Atelier Van Lieshout on the piers of Rotterdam. Lai's first book, Citizens of No Place: An Architectural Graphic Novel, was published by Princeton Architectural Press with a grant from the Graham Foundation. Lai has won various awards, including the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects, the Debut Award at the Lisbon Triennale, and the Designer of the Future at Art Basel. Lai represented Taiwan at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale. Lai's work is in the permanent collection of MoMA, SFMOMA, Art Institute of Chicago, and LACMA.Jimenez Lai's Instagram (look at his great hair!) https://www.instagram.com/0super/Bureau Spectacular https://bureau-spectacular.net/Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimenez_Lai This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theclusterftheory.substack.com

Why is it so tough to ramp up housing supply when it seems like everyone's talking about it? In this episode, we're joined by Jill Garner, the Victorian Government Architect, who gives us a behind-the-scenes look at why boosting supply isn't as simple as just setting targets. Jill brings her extensive experience to the table, sharing insights into the realities of urban planning and design from both government and industry perspectives. Jill helps us understand the challenges that come with trying to increase housing supply discussing the struggles that state and local governments face in balancing the need for more homes with the importance of good design and quality construction. She explains why meeting housing targets isn't just about making plans—it's about dealing with real-world obstacles like costs, time, and planning rules. Our conversation also touches on the “Future Homes” initiative, which aims to provide more housing options in Melbourne's suburbs without sacrificing livability and explore why simply rezoning areas for higher density doesn't automatically result in new homes and what's really holding back development. This episode is perfect for anyone who wants to understand the real reasons behind the housing shortage and what needs to happen to make more homes available. The insights presented in this episode offer a clear look at the challenges and possibilities in solving this complex issue. So let's dive right into it! Episode Highlights: 00:00 - Introduction 01:06 - Who is Jill Garner? 02:38 - What is a government architect and their role in the Victorian government 05:04 - How does each level of government address housing supply and affordability issues? 08:02 - How does the state government coordinate with local councils in Victoria? 10:48 - Is Melbourne seeing similar government rhetoric on housing density as other places? 12:59 - Where is the disconnect between housing targets and actual construction? 15:33 - Can pre-designed homes compete with custom builds? 22:45 - Can rezoning truly improve housing affordability, or is something missing? 25:18 - Is the pushback on future homes driven by consumer resistance or developer concerns? 28:55 - How are Victoria's ongoing projects impacting developers' building costs and decisions? 33:28 - Is Melbourne better equipped for density with its transport system? 38:52 - How can Melbourne address city-level needs and past high-density apartment mistakes? 43:37 - Should other states follow Melbourne's lead on sustainability and passive design? 48:24 - How are government plans for Melbourne adapting to the rise in remote work? 52:58 - Jill Garner's property dumbo About Our Guest: Jill Garner, the first woman to serve as Victorian Government Architect, was appointed in 2015 and brings 40 years of experience in both practice and government. She leads a team promoting integrated design and collaboration within the state government. Jill continues her architectural practice through Garner Davis Architects, which has earned numerous awards. An RMIT Masters by Design alumnus, she has taught at RMIT and Melbourne Universities and served on several industry boards. Jill chaired the Australian Committee for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale and became a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects, receiving the President's Prize in 2022. In 2023, she was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for her contributions to architecture, education, and professional associations. Connect with Jill Garner: Office of the Victorian Government Architect https://www.ovga.vic.gov.au/jill-garner Garner Davis Architects https://garnerdavis.com.au/ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-garner-ab5a214a/ Resources: Visit our website https://www.theelephantintheroom.com.au If you have any questions or would like to be featured on our show, contact us at: The Elephant in the Room Property Podcast - questions@theelephantintheroom.com.au Looking for a Sydney Buyers Agent? https://www.gooddeeds.com.au Work with Veronica: https://www.veronicamorgan.com.au Looking for a Mortgage Broker? https://www.flintgroup.au Work with Chris: chrisbates@flintgroup.au Enjoyed the podcast? Don't miss out on what's yet to come! Hit that subscription button, spread the word and join us for more insightful discussions in real estate. Your journey starts now! Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theelephantintheroom-podcast Subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/the-elephant-in-the-room-property-podcast/id1384822719 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Ge1626dgnmK0RyKPcXjP0?si=26cde394fa854765 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For episode 167, guest host Justin Salhani is joined by Yasser Elsheshtawy to talk about the Dubaization plan that Netanyahu's team put forward for Gaza after their genocide. You won't be surprised to know that we think it's a terrible plan, but what is dubaization? du·bai·za·tion /dōō'bīzāSHən/ adjective: 1. the act of building a city which relies on spectacular, non-contextual architecture (“The dubaization of Cairo's skyline”). Synonyms: gulfication; spectacular urbanism. Antonyms: context-oriented urban development; integrated urban fabric; informality. Bio: Yasser Elsheshtawy is a Non-Resident Scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC, and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University (GSAPP). His scholarship focuses on informal urbanism and environment-behavior studies, with a particular focus on Middle Eastern cities. Moreover, he is an Independent Consultant and has worked on numerous projects in Saudi Arabia, collaborating with renowned architectural and planning practices. He taught at United Arab Emirates University from 1997 till 2017 and was appointed as Curator for the UAE Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016. He was a Visiting Professor at Université Paris Sorbonne during the Fall semester of 2017. He has authored over 70 publications including Riyadh: Transforming a Desert City, Temporary Cities, and Dubai: Behind an Urban Spectacle. He also edited The Evolving Arab City which received the 2010 International Planning History Society Best Book Award, and Planning Middle Eastern Cities. Two chapters on urban development in the Arab world were published in the widely-known City Planning and Urban Design Readers. Elsheshtawy has a PhD in Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Master in Architecture from Pennsylvania State University, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cairo University. Links: Salhani's profile at Al Jazeera Jerusalem Post's article on Netanyahu's plan: From crisis to prosperity: Netanyahu's vision for Gaza 2035 revealed online by Yuval Barnea Yasser's piece for DAWN MENA: Selling Egypt by the Pound: 'Gulfication' and the Ras al-Hekma Land Deal Yasser's blog Dubaization.com Recommended Book: Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال) Support us: The best way to support The Fire These Times is to become a member of our ⁠⁠⁠"From The Periphery" Patreon⁠⁠⁠. For only 5$ a month (and less if you pay yearly) you get perks such as early access, exclusive episodes, an invitation to our monthly hangout, upcoming book clubs, and more. You can also help a lot by leaving a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Credits: Host(s): ⁠⁠Justin Salhani Guest(s): Yasser Elsheshtawy Music: ⁠⁠⁠Rap and Revenge⁠⁠⁠ Sound editor: Elliott Miskovicz Episode designer: ⁠⁠Elia J. Ayoub⁠⁠ Team profile pics: ⁠⁠Molly Crabapple⁠ Original TFTT design: ⁠⁠Wenyi Geng⁠⁠ TFTT Transcripts: ⁠⁠Antidotezine⁠

Florian Summa and Anne Femmer are founding directors of the Leipzig based Summacumfemmer and guest professors at the University of the Arts in Berlin.The practice's built work includes San Riemo (2020), a co-operative housing development in Munich designed with Büro Juliane Greb. Summa and Femmer were co-curators of Open for Maintenance, the German contribution to the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.“[Teaching architecture] doesn't work when you don't have real problems, and so this is the strategy we find most useful for us right now: leave the university, leave the institution and go to the problems directly. This prevents you from just talking and mapping and analyzing things, and having the whole thing just remain a conversation within the institution. What we liked about the Venice project was that the most successful projects were the ones that went directly to the workshop – thinking while making.” – SCF*Join Florian and Anne at this year's Architecture Foundation Summer School (11-15 September). To learn more and register, click here.* Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nearly two decades ago, while swimming in the Aegean Sea, Yasmine encountered a distressing sight: plastic waste clinging to rocks. This observation marked a turning point in her life. Over the years, the situation worsened, with more plastics dumped into the oceans, often with poorer countries being paid by the Western world to accept this waste. This realisation struck a chord with her, especially since she has always had a passion for materials in her roles as a designer and architect.It was then that her interest in sustainable materials took root. She dedicated her time and that of her team to researching and experimenting with recycled materials and various sustainable alternatives from around the globe. Yasmine's ambition is about demonstrating tangible, viable design and architectural solutions that avoid environmentally harmful materials like plastics and concrete, the latter of which accounts for a significant portion of global CO2 emissions.Today, she and her team have amassed a library of over 300 sustainable materials. Gradually, they started incorporating these into their projects, and it's only in recent years that the demand for sustainable options has surged. Yet, the battle against greenwashing persists. Yasmine is committed to demonstrating that sustainable decisions not only benefit the environment but can also enhance financial returns, contrary to common misconceptions. Her mission is to change the way we build by utilising alternative materials that are not only environmentally friendly but also aesthetically pleasing. This journey began with a single, transformative moment in the Aegean Sea, and it has propelled her to advocate for a more sustainable future in design and architecture.This meaningful moment extends beyond her personal realisation and into her broader mission to mobilize others towards sustainability. Her involvement in global discussions on sustainability, such as those at COP28 and during the World Economic Forum, has provided her with a platform to share her experiences and advocate for the adoption of sustainable materials. These talks are an integral part of her effort to not only showcase the environmental benefits of such materials but also to highlight their positive impact on our health. This awakening drove me to explore beyond traditional material research into the realm of 3D printing, specifically with recycled plastics, leading to global recognition and opportunities to exhibit her work at prestigious venues like Design Miami in Basel, the Venice Architecture Biennale, and the London Design Festival. Follow and learn more about my guest today:Websites: Impact Design & www.mahmoudieh.comInstagram: Yasmine MahmoudiehLinkedIN: Yasmine MahmoudiehTo learn more about SHIFT HAPPENS, click here To learn more about Claudia's business Curated Conversations and her Salons in New York, Zurich and Berlin, click hereYou can also connect with Claudia on Instagram @shifthappens.podcast and LinkedIn at ClaudiaMahlerNYCThis podcast is created, produced and hosted by Claudia Mahler.Social Media support Magdalena Reckendrees

In this episode, we had a great conversation with Alper Derinbogaz, an innovative architect and academic. He is the founder of Salon Alper Derinbogaz and a visiting professor at the Pratt Institute in New York. His research has been featured in various biennales and museums, including the Koolhaas-curated Venice Architecture Biennale 2014. His latest book “Geospaces” includes projects from his diverse portfolio. Check out our weekly courses at the PAACADEMY: https://parametric-architecture.com/workshops/ Check the "Geospaces" book: https://parametric-architecture.com/geospaces-continuities-between-humans-spaces-and-the-earth-by-alper-derinbogaz/ Follow us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parametric.architecture/ X: https://twitter.com/parametricarch/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parametric.archi/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/parametric.architecture #parametricarchitecture #architecture #podcast

Carolyn Harding with visual artist/activist Andrea Bowers and Lauren Leving, curator at Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art, or commonly called moCa. On December 21, 2023, Andrea, you posted on Face Book, “A line from the Lake Erie bill of rights will be shining over Lake Erie on the science center across from the rock and roll hall of fame!” with photos and video clip from the installation of your work of Art, which is now hundreds of feet high installed on the Great Lakes Science Center, next to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in downtown, Cleveland, Ohio. Congratulations! That's a big and very public work of Art. Let's Talk about this huge Glowing Sign that says “Lake Erie has the Right to Exist, Flourish and Naturally Evolve” in Red, Green, Blue and Yellow Neon. Ohio-raised Andrea Bowers is a Los Angeles-based artist who has been recording and amplifying the work of activists present and past for more than two decades. Her multi-media practice includes drawing, video, sculpture, and installation work that foregrounds the experience of the people who dedicate their time and energy to the struggle for gender, racial, environmental, labor, and immigration justice and those who are directly affected by systemic inequality. Over time, her different bodies of work have become a document of the changing language, prerogatives, and dynamics of social justice movements. In 2021, a major mid-career survey of Bowers's work curated by Michael Darling and Connie Butler opened at the MCA Chicago and traveled to the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in 2022. Other recent solo exhibitions include Grief and Hope, Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany and Light and Gravity, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany. In September 2022, Bowers opened a solo exhibition including both new and existing work at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Milano as part of an exhibition program organized by the Fondazione Furla. Bowers is represented by Vielmetter Los Angeles, Andrew Kreps Gallery, Kaufmann Repetto, and Jessica Silverman Gallery. Lauren Leving (she/her) is a curator and writer based in Chicago, IL and Cleveland, OH. Her work explores how creative practice can expand institutionally-rooted understandings of access. Currently, she is Curator-at-Large at the Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa) Cleveland; Associate Curator for the Orange County Museum of Art's 2024 California Biennial; and Co-Curator of Everlasting Plastics, originally presented in the U.S. Pavilion during the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Since joining moCa in 2019, Leving has organized projects including the Getting to Know You residency, which supported the production of Messages to Authorities (Go Away!), a largescale textile commission by Aram Han Sifuentes and Don't mind if I do, a group exhibition stewarded by Finnegan Shannon. She holds an MA in Museum & Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois–Chicago and a BA from Tulane University. https://www.mocacleveland.org/exhibitions/andrea-bowers-exist-fourish-evolve Celdf.org GrassRoot Ohio - Conversations with everyday people working on important issues, here in Columbus and all around Ohio. Every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org, Sundays at 2:00pm EST on 92.7/98.3 FM and streams @ WCRSFM.org, and Sundays at 4:00pm EST, at 107.1 FM, Wheeling/Moundsville WV on WEJP-LP FM. Contact Us if you would like GrassRoot Ohio on your local LP-FM community radio station. Face Book: www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/grassroot_ohio/ All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! @user-42674753 Apple Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/.../grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ/ Intro and Exit music for GrassRoot Ohio is "Resilient" by Rising Appalachia: youtu.be/tx17RvPMaQ8 There's a time to listen and learn, a time to organize and strategize, And a time to Stand Up/ Fight Back!

Olalekan Jeyifous' irresistible visions of a future in which humanity makes the best out of its many mistakes and thrives within the strictures of its self-inflicted handicaps have had a remarkable effect on the architecture world––and beyond. From the Venice Architecture Biennale, where he won the Silver Lion in 2023, to the Museum of Modern Art and the Sharjah Biennial, his work never ceases to delight and puzzle. Could these really be the futures we are heading for? In this episode of the Design Emergency podcast, Olalekan explains to Paola his idea of utopia and the role of speculation in guiding our behaviors towards positive change.Nigerian-born and Brooklyn-based, Olalekan puts his architectural training to good use and imagines our old cities reframed on new systems of communication, transportation, occupation, and exchange. He describes them in rich visual detail with immersive collages, videos, objects, and even VR experiences. The characters in his tableaus are often smiling, gregarious, in charge of their destinies, imaginary and yet familiar. His communities are strong, his economies a mix of informal and creatively structured. His work has been described with many florid labels––from architectural utopianism to speculative world-building and eco-fiction, by way of Afrofuturism and retrofuturism.You can find images of Olalekan and his work on our Instagram grid @design.emergency. Please join us for future episodes of Design Emergency when we will hear from other global design leaders who, like Olalekan, are at the forefront of positive change.Design Emergency is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 123: Architectural Education: Evolving Curriculum & Alternative PathsHow has the MIT School of Architecture and Planning driven innovation and influenced alternative career paths for students in the field? In response to their listeners' curiosity on bridging pathways into alternative careers, co-hosts Evelyn Lee and Je'Nen Chastain interview Nicholas de Monchaux, Professor and Head of Architecture at MIT, to discuss the evolution of curriculum at the oldest architecture program in the US. They'll discuss potential career paths students can take and how Nick created a career that blends architecture, teaching, writing — and even installation work.Learn about the history of MIT and how its architectural program is immersed in both research and entrepreneurial culture, as well as how the history and culture of MIT has influenced graduating students' ideas of architecture in the world. In this conversation, Nick illustrates how MIT enhances its students' experience, the types of students MIT attracts, and how moving through unexpected spaces allowed Nick to redefine the possibilities of his career and carve a path of his own.To wrap up the episode, Nick shares advice to students about fusing curiosity and passion into new career pathways as faculty strive to expand the profession, its impact, and who has access to it — all in an effort to find other ways to speak with and to the world.“The architecture of our world is much bigger than bricks, although bricks are very, very important. I'm interested in that largest meaning of architecture, both as a sense of what we describe architecture as being — which extends far beyond buildings both bigger than them and much smaller than them — and also extends far beyond the traditional notion of practice as well.”Tune in next week to hear a conversation with Evelyn and Je'Nen as they discuss the upcoming Mental Health in Architecture Summit.Guest:Nicholas de Monchaux is Professor and Head of Architecture at MIT, as well as a partner in the architecture practice modem. He is the author of Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo (MIT Press, 2011), an architectural and urban history of the Apollo Spacesuit, winner of the Eugene Emme award from the American Astronautical Society and shortlisted for the Art Book Prize, as well as Local Code: 3,659 Proposals about Data, Design, and the Nature of Cities (Princeton Architectural Press, Fall 2016). His design work has been exhibited widely, including at the Biennial of the Americas, the Venice Architecture Biennale, The Lisbon Architecture Triennial, SFMOMA, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Storefront for Art and Architecture and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome. Until 2019, he was Craigslist Distinguished Professor of New Media and Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at UC Berkeley.

The urbanist and founder of RMA Architects reflects on the importance of twinning practical work with academic research, as well as his continued participation in the Venice Architecture Biennale.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite its looming omnipresence, the Venice Architecture Biennale had very little material on virtual/augmented reality and the metaverse. Unfrozen interviews two of the exceptions. First, Era Merkuri and Martin Gjoleka, principals of the Karlsruhe, Germany-based Heramarte, are the curators of the ⁠2023 Albanian Pavilion⁠, titled "Untimely Meditations: How We Learn to Live in Synthesized Realities." The project takes two real but highly adulterated 1950s public works projects in Tirana - the Dinamo Stadium and the Artificial Lake - and situates reimagined augmented-reality objects within them, projecting the results throughout the space at the Arsenale, and online.   Second, Chidi Nwaubani is the founder of Looty, a “virtual restitution project” in which a team of artists stages a “heist,” in masks and dark clothing, to (perfectly legally) scan detailed 3D images of looted artifacts from Africa now sitting in places such as the British Museum. The 3D images of such works as the Benin Bronzes and the Rosetta Stone are then converted into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), with 20 percent of the proceeds going to grants for young African artists.   Intro / Outro: “Untimely Meditations” by Shortwave Research Group Intermezzo: “Heist” by Noisestorm

Welcome back!This time, Cathi Bond talks about the Norman Foster Foundation's participation in the Venice Biennale of architecture. It's a sustainable, durable, and beautiful prototype for emergency shelter in the wake of natural or human-caused disasters. You can see it and read more here. Nora Young mentions the Canadian delegation's Venice project.Nora's come across two recent articles on the importance of embodiment in therapy. The New York Times piece on somatic therapy is here. The interview in Atmos on embodiment is here. Cathi describes Dialectical Behavioural Therapy.

Join us for an inspiring podcast featuring the curators of the Albanian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. Explore their innovative concept, cultural representation, and future visions. Don't miss this captivating conversation on the intersection of architecture and culture!

Architect Lesley Lokko is a Black woman working in a field dominated by white men. But she hasn't let that hold her back, and she's now curator at the Venice Architecture Biennale, focusing on Africa and ecology.

Ever dreamed of ditching the rat race for a life on the land? We meet the new Mediterranean farmers doing just that in the latest edition of Monocle. Issue 164 also includes an Art Special that puts collectors, galleries and this year's Art Basel in the frame. Plus: a guide to the Venice Architecture Biennale and a rare venture into Syria. [Order your copy today.](https://monocle.com/shop/product/2326118/issue-164/)

Ever dreamed of ditching the rat race for a life on the land? We meet the new Mediterranean farmers doing just that in the latest edition of Monocle. Issue 164 also includes an Art Special that puts collectors, galleries and this year's Art Basel in the frame. Plus: a guide to the Venice Architecture Biennale and a rare venture into Syria. [Order your copy today.](https://monocle.com/shop/product/2326118/issue-164/)

The Venice Architecture Biennale is one of the most important building exhibitions in the world. For the first time, Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko dons the curatorial hat.

The UN General Secretary proclaims the climate change consequences will be of ‘biblical proportions'. But what will that feel like in the cities we know and love today – and what can we expect from the solutions? That is what the team behind the Danish Contribution to the Venice Architecture Biennale has set out to explore. The contribution “Coastal Imaginaries” explores how we can secure the livability in coastal cities by staging the future scenarios theatrically to create emotional experiences of climate change. Join us for this episode of Let's Talk Architecture when Michael Booth visits the Danish Pavilion in Venice to interview curator Josephine Michau and scenographer Christian Friedländer. Through the exhibition they intend to evoke a sense of hope in the audience while grasping a rather dark future. Let's talk architecture is a Danish Architecture Center podcast, sound edits by Munck Studio. You can hear previous episodes here.

This episode originally aired in April 2022. Lesley Lokko is founder of the African Futures Institute and curator of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.“I don't see myself as being ‘the future', but the expanded field [of architecture] that I've operated in for most of my life has given me something that is of use to he generation coming behind me, so that no matter how I end up making my living, I see myself first and foremost as a teacher.”Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production. For more information visit https://www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brokeback Mountain on stage: musician and librettist Dan Gillespie Sells discusses writing the songs for a new stage production of Brokeback Mountain, adapted from Annie Proulx's short story about the romance between two men working as sheep herders in 1960s Wyoming. Venice Architecture Biennale: the exhibition at the British Pavilion this year draws on traditions practised by different diaspora communities in the UK - such as Jamaicans playing dominoes and Cypriots cooking outside - and explores how they occupy space, so this can be included in planning the built environment. Two of the curators, Meneesha Kellay and Joseph Henry, discuss how architecture goes beyond buildings and economic structures. Plus art generates art in Malaysian novelist Tan Twan Eng's new book The House of Doors, inspired in part by the life of William Somerset Maugham and the stories he wrote drawing on his travels in Malaysia. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Julian May

Cassim Shepard is distinguished lecturer in architecture and urban studies at City College, City University of New York. Trained as an urban planner, geographer, and documentary filmmaker, Cassim produces nonfiction media about cities and places, with a particular emphasis on housing and civic life. His film and video work about cities around the world has been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Museum of the City of New York, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the United Nations, Pavillon de l'Arsenale in Paris, and the African Centre for Cities in Cape Town. His current exhibition, Mass Support, running at CCNY's Spitzer School of Architecture through May 7, with a symposium scheduled for April 26, explores the legacy and contemporary relevant of Stichting Architecten Research (SAR). SAR was an architectural think tank active in the Netherlands between 1964 and 1990, which proposed a radical new way of thinking about mass housing. The essential gambit was to fuse industrial production with mass customization, a concept that has strong implications for today's urban issues. Intro/Outro: “Plug In!” by Porci Scomodi Discussed:   John Habraken: “Supports” Places article The New York Housing Compact Prefab Problems: Pacific Park B2 Project – Forest City and Skanska Tim Swanson, Inherent Homes, ChicagoPeople's Architecture Office: Plug-in Houses Gans & Co.: Build it Back Modular Nakagin Capsule Tower > Unfrozen episode “1972: A Spatial Oddity” Levittown MoMA: Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling Herman Hertzberger Baugruppen R50, Kreuzburg, Berlin San Riemo, MunichKooperative Grosstadt Top Up and PATCH22, both by Lemniskade Projecten (Developer) and Frantzen et al architecten (Architect) Lewis Mumford Lecture: “Pressing Change in the Increasing Inflexible City,” Featuring Emily Badger (April 27, CCNY) Lacaton & Vassal Elemental

***There is an explicit language warning for this mini-season of Business Edge. The thoughts and opinions of our interviewees do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity. From designing Olympic stadiums, metro transit systems to entire city masterplans, HY William Chan is an urbanist and futurist innovating for social inclusion and climate resilience in our urban communities. A dual Convocation and University Medallist, William is a headline TEDx speaker and recent UN Fellow. William led the World Economic Forum's Global Shapers community in Sydney. His team drives next-gen solution building, policymaking and systems change as part of the Davos Lab. William's innovative practice showcases the future of cities: co-living affordable housing to solve homelessness in Sydney, smart infrastructure to address food security in Milan, and the circular economy in refugee camps to upcycle plastic waste into 3D-printed construction elements in Athens. In 2019, he was the only architect recognised by Forbes magazine on their '30 Under 30' list globally. His executive leadership includes serving on Cox Architecture's Board of Management Design Committee, University of Sydney Academic Board and School of Architecture, Design and Planning Board, Executive of Climate Emergency Australia, National Council of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC), and City of Sydney's Expert to the Sydney 2050 Citizens Jury. William has shared his expertise on the global stage from the Venice Architecture Biennale to the UN General Assembly, addressing world leaders on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Honoured by TED as among "the world's greatest TEDx speakers", he features with Greta Thunberg on the new TED podcast series. William is named in the top 20 on the Qantas Centenary '100 Inspiring Australians' list, top 25 most influential people in the social sector by Pro Bono Australia, and GreenBiz top 30 young global sustainability leaders by the World Business Council for Sustainable Business. An avid surf lifesaver and past UNICEF Ambassador, William was inducted into the Australian of the Year Awards Honour Roll in 2020. This season of Business Edge is sponsored by Montclair Flowers and Gifts. They have been hand-delivering premium floral arrangements and gift baskets to celebrate life's special moments since 1972. Visit their website at montclairflorist.net.

In accordance with the G20 presidency conversations, one of the key conversations that has been missing from the main discourse has been the relationship between Brazil and India. Brazil will be taking over the G20 presidency from India. Therefore, it is imperative that these two countries think about some of the issues around climate finance, energy, technological innovation, global governance, and the SDGs. In this episode of Interpreting India, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago joins Anirudh Suri to discuss issues around climate finance, energy, technological innovation, global governance, and the SDGs. --Episode ContributorsAndré Aranha Corrêa do Lago is the former ambassador of Brazil to India. A recognised architecture critic and writer, has has been a member of the prestigious Pritzker Prize jury, and has served as the curator of the Brazilian Pavilion in the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale. Between 2011 and 2013, he was also Brazil's Chief Negotiator for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, including for the Rio+20 UN Conference, which launched the Sustainable Development Goals. Between 2005 to 2016, André served as a member of the Architecture and Design Committee of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, and is currently a member of the International Council of MoMA.Anirudh Suri is a nonresident scholar with Carnegie India. His interests lie at the intersection of technology and geopolitics, climate, and strategic affairs.--Additional ReadingBrazil, India can steer global transportation towards biofuels by André Aranha Corrêa do LagoBrazilian ambassador offers green growth solution to stubble burning in India by André Aranha Corrêa do LagoThe case for a comprehensive Indian climate bill by Anirudh Suri --

Architect and novelist Lesley Lokko, the founder and director of the African Futures Institute and the curator of this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, discusses how, for her, the rich context of Africa has always served as a “testing ground for ideas” about the future; why she has become disenchanted with the academic establishment over time; and how architects serve as translators between the imaginary and the real.Episode sponsored by MUDWTR.

Dan and Greg return from podcast sabbatical to bring you tasty riffs and preview Unfrozen's spring docket. You didn't think you could get rid of us that easily, did you? Intro/Outro: “I'm Alive,” by Electric Light Orchestra -- Discussed: IIT MTBVU goes to Malaysia and Singapore CTBUH 2023 Conference Crescent City CA - site of a future megacity, and maybe tsunamis. A job for Climate Alpha Vanity Fair - Horseshoe Theorists - network states, crypto communities Economists believe architecture doesn't matter Trads vs mods Human scale vs megaprojects - there are no natural norms of architecture Singapore - the ultimate tabula rasa city: Koolhaas, S, M, L, XL The 7 peaks Devils Pool and Marina Bay Sands pool -- great, but you've got to see the employee dry cleaning operation at Marina Bay Sands SIM City for Real How do we disrupt Autodesk? Who is the Carlos the Jackal behind Trump's first policy proposal for 2024 campaign: Freedom Cities! With EVTOLS! = Bioshock Infinite University of Notre Dame vs. a supertrad grad Threatcasting and Micro-targeting with the Secret Service Next up: Nick Kaufmann, Spectra Cities and Andreea Ion Cojacaru, Numena Peter Apps, “Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen” The MCHAP …and Venice Architecture Biennale - countdown to May …tying it back to the Chicago Architecture Biennial

Iker Gil is an architect and director of MAS Studio, the editor-in-chief of MAS Context, and the Executive Director of the SOM Foundation. He was the co-curator of Exhibit Columbus 2020-2021 and associate curator of the US Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016. In this conversation, Jarrett and Iker talk about the relationship between architecture and editing, sustaining a publication, and the value of organizing and administration in creative work. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm/222-iker-gil. — If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon and get bonus content, transcripts, and our monthly newsletter! www.patreon.com/surfacepodcast

In this episode, we are in conversation with the architect, writer, and Professor of Architecture at Yale, Keller Easterling. Her books include Extrastatecraft: The Power of Infrastructure Space (Verso, 2014); Enduring Innocence: Global Architecture and its Political Masquerades (MIT, 2005); and her latest Medium Design: Knowing How to Work on the World, to which we dedicate special attention to in this episode.I think Easterling's project boils down to how architecture and design can actually intervene and/or contribute to the cultural change around social justice and ecological crises; through thinking about, and ‘knowing-how' to work the systems at play. So designing within interplay; rather than the total compliance and submission on behalf of the architectural profession is what she seeks. She redirects our attention to the spatial dimension of how things are arranged, be it politically, financially, or socially. Episode Notes & Linkshttp://kellereasterling.com/ In Extrastatecraft: The Power of Infrastructure Space, Keller Easterling reveals the nexus of emerging governmental and corporate forces buried within the concrete and fiber-optics of our modern habitat. https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/enduring-innocence http://kellereasterling.com/books/extrastatecraft-the-power-of-infrastructure-spaceIn Enduring Innocence, Keller Easterling tells the stories of outlaw "spatial products"—resorts, information technology campuses, retail chains, golf courses, ports, and other hybrid spaces that exist outside normal constituencies and jurisdictions—in difficult political situations around the world. https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/enduring-innocenceMedium Design by Keller Easterling looks not to new technologies for innovation but rather to sophisticated relationships between emergent and incumbent technologies. It does not try to eliminate problems but rather put them together in productive combinations. And it offers forms of activism for modulating power and temperament in organisations of all kinds. https://www.versobooks.com/books/3245-medium-designhttp://kellereasterling.com/books/medium-design-knowing-how-to-work-on-the-worldElements of Architecture was the title of the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale curated by Rem Koolhaas. https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2014/elements-architectureBeatriz Colomina is an architecture historian, theorist, and curator.Mark Wigley is an architect and author. Colomina and Wigley co-curated the 3rd Istanbul Design Biennial with the same title in 2016. https://tasarimbienali.iksv.org/en/biennial-archive/3rd-istanbul-design-biennialJames Jerome Gibson (1904-1979) was an American psychologist known as a seminal figure in the field of visual perception. He coined the phrase “affordance” which later became a key concept in the field of design.John Durham Peters is a professor of English and film and media studies. His book The Marvelous Clouds reveals the long prehistory of so-called new media and shows how media lie at the very heart of our interactions with the world around us. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo20069392.htmlTim Ingold is an antropologist. This is the text Can is referring to:https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203807002127Michael Polanyi (1891-1976) was a polymath of the 20th century. He was engaged in many knowledge fields including physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. Check his thoughts on positivism to provoke your mind.Gilbert Ryle (1900-1976) was a philosopher, principally known for his critique of Cartesian dualism, for which he coined the phrase "ghost in the machine." which of course influenced the legendary Ghost in the Shell manga series by Masamune Shirow.Bruno Latour is a philosopher, anthropologist, and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies. http://www.bruno-latour.fr/Richard III by William Shakespeare is the last in a sequence of four history plays known collectively as the “first tetralogy,” treating major events of English history during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Lady Anne is a fictional character from Richard IIIhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Lady-AnneCharles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an author, poet, and mathematician. His most notable works are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass. Jorge Luis Borges (1889-1986) was an essayist, poet, and translator of Carroll's work to Spanish.Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer. MarshallAI detects objects and incidents in real-time from any video feed through consistent monitorization and employment of precise artificial intelligence and machine vision. They provide sharp and automatic situational awareness and intelligent automation by gathering relevant data for smart cities, security, and authorities. https://marshallai.com/ J.K Gibson-Graham is the pen-name of Katherine Gibson and the late Julie Graham. As feminist political economists and economic geographers, they have extensively written about diverse economies, urbanism, alternative communities, and regional economic development. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._K._Gibson-GrahamArturo Escobar is an anthropologist whose research interests include political ecology, anthropology of development, social movements, anti-globalization movements, and post-development theory. We suggest Territories of Difference published by Duke University press in 2008 to learn more about his thought. https://www.dukeupress.edu/territories-of-differenceZenzile Miriam Makeba (1932-2008) nicknamed Mama Africa was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights, activist. https://www.miriammakeba.co.za/Silvia Federici is an academic and activist particularly influential for radical Marxist feminist theory.McKinsey & Company is a management consulting firm that advises on strategic management to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Deloitte is one of the Big Four accounting organizations and the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of professionals, with headquarters in London, England.Vilém Flusser (1920-1991) was a philosopher, writer, and journalist. You can meet fellow flusserians or learn more about his works through https://www.flusserstudies.net/flusserKathrin Böhm is an artist. Listen to Episode 13 to get to know her better. https://www.ahali.space/episodes/episode-13-kathrinbohmThis season of Ahali Conversations is supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. The Graham provides project-based grants to foster the development and exchange of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and its role in the arts, culture, and society. This episode was also supported by a Moon & Stars Project Grant from the American Turkish Society.This episode was recorded on Zoom on March 29th, 2022. Interview by Can Altay. Produced by Aslı Altay & Sarp Renk Özer. Music by Grup Ses.

Lesley Lokko is founder of the African Futures Institute and curator of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. “I don't see myself as being ‘the future', but the expanded field [of architecture] that I've operated in for most of my life has given me something that is of use to he generation coming behind me, so that no matter how I end up making my living, I see myself first and foremost as a teacher.”Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production. For more information visit https://www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bob speaks with author and scholar Lawrence Weschler, who shares astonishment that The Machine Stops could — from very few data points — extrapolate our present, so paradoxically connected and detached.* FULL TRANSCRIPT *TEDDY ROOSEVELT: Surely there never was a fight better worth making than the one which we are in.GARFIELD: Welcome to Bully Pulpit. That was Teddy Roosevelt, I'm Bob Garfield. This is Episode 7: Back to the Future.It's a special episode, featuring not an essay or an interview exactly but a conversation — a literary conversation no less — with author Lawrence Weschler. The subject is a 12,000-word novella called The Machine Stops, and the occasion, for reasons that soon will be apparent, is the Venice Architecture Biennale. This is an abridged version of our back-and-forth for that audience.Now you may know Ren Weschler from his decades as a staff writer for the New Yorker, or for his dozen-some books on subjects as varied as Chilean torture, Polish liberation politics and his Boswell-ish engagements with such pioneering artists as David Hockney, Robert Irwin and the maker of hand-inked paper-money facsimiles, JSG Boggs. And so much more, because he is a journalist of astonishing scope and erudition, as you are about to ear-witness.At some points I may interrupt the Venice conversation for a clarifying point. Meantime, for reasons that will also soon be obvious, we will begin not with a description of The Machine Stops, but of Ren reading the first page or two.WESCHLER:Imagine, if you can, a small room, hexagonal in shape, like the cell of a bee. It is lighted neither by window nor by lamp, yet it is filled with a soft radiance. There are no apertures for ventilation, yet the air is fresh. There are no musical instruments, and yet, at the moment that my meditation opens, this room is throbbing with melodious sounds. An armchair is in the centre, by its side a reading-desk — that is all the furniture. And in the armchair there sits swaddled a lump of flesh — a woman, about five feet high, with a face as white as fungus. It is to her that the little room belongs.An electric bell rang.The woman touched a switch and the music went silent.“I suppose I must see who it is”, she thought, and set her chair in motion. The chair, like the music, was worked by machinery and it rolled her to the other side of the room where the bell still rang importuningy.“Who is it?” she called. Her voice was irritable, for she had been interrupted often since the music began. She knew several thousand people, in certain directions human intercourse had advanced considerably.But when she listened into the receiver, her white face wrinkled into smiles, and she said: Very well. Let's talk, I will isolate myself. I do not expect anything important will happen for the next five minutes — for I can give you fully five minutes, Kuno. Then I must deliver my lecture.She touched the isolation knob, so that no one else could speak to her. Then she touched the lighting apparatus, and the little room was plunged into darkness.“Be quick!” She called, her irritation returning. “Be quick, Kuno; here I am in the dark wasting my time.”But it was fully fifteen seconds before the round plate that she held in her hands began to glow. A faint blue light shot across it, darkening to purple, and presently she could see the image of her son, who lived on the other side of the world, and he could see her.“Kuno, how slow you are.”He smiled gravely.“I readily believe you enjoy dawdling.”“I have called you before, mother, but you were always busy or isolated. And I have something particular to say.”“What is it, dearest boy? Be quick. Why could you not send it by pneumatic post?”“Because I prefer saying such a thing. I want  —”“Well?”“I want you to come and see me.”Vashti watched his face in the blue plate.“But I can see you!” she exclaimed. “What more do you want?”“I want to see you not through the Machine,” said Kuno. “I want to speak to you not through the wearisome Machine.”“Oh, hush!” said the mother, vaguely shocked. “You mustn't say anything against the Machine.”“Why not?”“One just mustn't.”“You talk as if a god had made the Machine,” he cried. “I believe that you pray to it when you are unhappy. Man made it, do not forget that. Great men, but men. The Machine is much, but it is not everything. I see something like you in the plate, but I do not see you. I hear something like you through this telephone, but I do not hear you. That is why I want you to come. Pay me a visit, so that we can meet face to face, and talk about the hopes that are in my mind.”And it goes on from there.GARFIELD: Well, thank you, Ren. As you in our audience have by now divined, The Machine Stops is a work of science fiction depicting a techno totalitarian state in which citizens from their hexagonal hive quarters conduct their lives almost entirely mediated by an internet called The Machine. And as we'll discuss, it really kind of nails some of the biggest issues we face as Earthlings in 2021, Ren so far so good. Fair description?WESCHLER: I think that's good. Keep going.GARFIELD: All right. The Machine Stops portrays a dystopian future society, denuded as will learn of trees and of real human contact, where physicality is not really déclassé, but bred out of the species all together. The inhabitants of this world are flaccid and lumpen and pale and depend on the Machine to the limit to deliver them, not just images on the screen, but through that network of tubes the food and oxygen they need to sustain them.WESCHLER: They're all living underground.GARFIELD: Oh, and they're living underground. Stop me if I'm getting any of this wrong, if there's any other additions.WESCHLER: Something appears to have happened on Earth, on the surface, and everybody's been moved underground and is living in a hive of hexagonal rooms.GARFIELD: Exactly. So here's the thing. To read The Machine Stops is to immediately think of other fictional techno dystopias from which such a scenario would seem to derive. George Orwell's 1984, written in 1949. and Aldous Huxley's Brave New Worldfrom the year 1932, each depicting authoritarian societies which controlled the population through centralized media and creature comforts to make individuals docile and compliant. But Ren, you stubbornly refuse to call this story derivative of either Orwell or Huxley. Why is that?WESCHLER: Because it was written in 1909, by E.M. Forster. And it's amazing because we don't think of E.M. Forster, who we associate with those of us who either read it in college or went to the movies, we associate it with A Room with a View, which is a book that came out just before he wrote this, or , which is a book that came out just after. He wrote it in 1909. And as we'll discuss as we go on, it is unbelievable how he nails the current moment. He nailed the current moment even three or four years ago, but after Covid, it completely nails the current moment. It's, it is absolutely amazing that he would have had this vision in 1909. A few thoughts on that and then we'll go back to the story itself. I've been doing some reading of his biography, in various biographies, and all of them quote this very seminal diary entry he had in January, 1908. So this is a year before he wrote the story. And he's all upset because that morning comes news. Well:Last Monday, a man named Farman flew a three quarter mile circuit in one and a half minutes.He's talking about planes, airplanes, the early airplanes.It's coming quickly. And if I live to be old, I shall see the sky as pestilential as the roads. It really is a new civilization coming. I have been born at the end of the age of peace and can't expect to feel anything but despair. Science, instead of freeing man — the Greeks nearly freed him by right feeling — is enslaving him to machines. Nationality will go, but the brotherhood of man will not come. No doubt the men of the past were mistaken in thinking dulce decorum est pro patria mori — it's beautiful to die for one's country — but the war of the future [this is 1909]  will make no pretense of beauty or of being the conflict of ideas. God, what a prospect. The little houses that I'm used to will be swept away. The fields will stink of petrol and the airships will shatter the stars. Man may get a new and perhaps a greater soul for the new conditions, but such a soul as mine will be crushed out.GARFIELD: He was a hell of an extrapolator.WESCHLER: Yeah, you can see it going from there. By the way, it reminds me of an amazing passage from Henry James writing to a friend in 1914. In August, 1914:Black and hideous to me is the tragedy that is gathering and I'm sick beyond cure to have lived on to see it. You and I, the ornaments of our generation should have been spared this wreck of our belief that through the long years we had seen civilization grow and the worst become impossible. The tide that bore us along was then all the while moving to this, it's Grand Niagara. Yet what a blessing we didn't know it.GARFIELD: OK, as threatened, popping in here after the fact to point out what Ren and I failed to remind the audience — which is that Henry James was responding to the outbreak of World War I and the shattering realization that evolved societies can devolve in the worst way — which he simply did not see coming.WESCHLER: Interesting thing there is that in many ways Forster did. And for that matter, it was this fantasy that both Foster and James had that, this was a time of civility and so forth, completely occludes what was, for example, taking place in Africa and in imperialism all over the world and that wasn't going to lead directly to World War I. By the way, one other thing to say about 1909 before we go on is, 1909 is not just an average year. 1909 is the year that Cubism is invented. And in some ways, I would argue and we can go into this later on, that the Cubists, too, are having this sense of the limitations of things and how one needs to think differently, to think in new ways and how to evade the totalitarianism of one point perspective and so forth.GARFIELD: You could say that cubism is extrapolation itself, so they share that in common. You mentioned the air travel. I mean, this is just a couple of years after the Wright Flyer got a few feet off the ground at Kitty Hawk. And he's imagining transcontinental travel, which is just one element of just the jaw dropping list of prescient observations. You referred to the Covid lockdown. Everybody is in absolute isolation. They see other people only through that screen, that blue lighted screen in their hands, which is like a smartphone or an iPad.WESCHLER: They've all gone flaccid and flabby. There's an amazing passage, by the way. He does a flip on several things. He does a flip on eugenics, that in this society, any babies that are born that seem to be strong and athletic are immediately eliminated. This is just the opposite of the fantasy of eugenics at that time. And they're eliminated because, you know, what's the point? It would just make them uncomfortable and it would be embarrassing for everybody else. So they are killed at their very births.GARFIELD: Yeah, and that will become a plot point because they've culled physicality from the species. But the son who we're introduced to in the first passage will actually cultivate his muscles for what will be his escape to the surface.WESCHLER: Right.GARFIELD: Just a couple more things Ren. There's the environmental devastation that I don't know that others anticipated in 1909, but the air is despoiled, the trees are gone. We are forced as a species underground because it is uninhabitable above.WESCHLER: One point where he says that, for our comforts, we despoiled the entire planet and made it unlivable, some phrase, just because we wanted to be more comfortable. Amazing phrase in 1909.GARFIELD: There is also, and again, this was, this was long before globalism and the interconnectivity of the whole world. Distant places were distant and discrete. But what he somehow envisioned was this vast cultural homogeneity as a result of globalism. Every hexagonal hive around the world was the same and all of the media content was the same, and we all lived the same experience.WESCHLER: He has this great line. What's the point of going to Beijing, or Peking as it's called, when when you get there, it's going to look exactly like your own town. He has malls, he has FedEx. He has this great line where he says, we've solved the problem of people having to go places to get things. Things come to people. That solves that. No need to go outside. No need to leave your room. He has this very funny thing about why one of the reasons that the world was despoiled was because all the trees were cut down for pulp, for books.GARFIELD: And newspapers.WESCHLER: And he has a thing that's basically Kindle. And there are no books anymore. There's basically this plate. You can read any book you want on that plate. There is one book, which is the manual for the Machine basically, that's achieved kind of the role of the Bible almost.GARFIELD: Yeah. And there's this recurring theme in the book about the deification of the technology and the ongoing debate between the mother Vashti and the son Kuno about whether they have actually defaulted to the religion that they're nominally not permitted to have in this society. There's one thing about that  iPad or smartphone, the image that is at the very beginning of the story — it comes just about where you left off.WESCHLER: Right. Right.GARFIELD: And I wanted to read this because it's describing the low resolution of the screen.WESCHLER: And we are not unaware of how meta this whole conversation … GARFIELD: Yeah, especially if your Zoom feed is pixelating right now. But it said:She could not be sure, for the machine did not transmit nuances of expression. It gave only a general idea of people, an idea that was good enough for all practical purposes, Vashti thought. The imponderable bloom declared by a discredited philosophy to be the actual essence of intercourse was rightly ignored by the machine, just as the imponderable bloom of the grape was ignored by the manufacturers of artificial fruit. Something good enough had long since been accepted by our race.It's an astonishing observation. And you don't know whether he's talking about the Uncanny Valley, by which animated figures and robots can be seen not to be human because there's a certain light missing from their eyes. Or whether it's a society wide kind of Aspergers where you're blind to nuance of expression. Is it just technological, is it just that there aren't enough pixels on the screen. Or, and this is what I think, is the loss of resolution, the just good enough, a metaphor for the loss of rich experience and rich inquiry and the sense of mystery which the society has forsaken? What the hell is the imponderable bloom, Ren?WESCHLER: Well, I'm reminded of when you go to museums and you see those — using the example he himself uses — the paintings of still lifes, the Dutch still lifes. And they do have that incredible, that little powdery dust on the plum, for example.GARFIELD: Mm hmm.WESCHLER: That is the essence of a plum. And yet you don't — when you go to the store, the supermarket, all the plums have been polished — and so you don't see that at all. For that matter, I'm reminded of, in that context, John McPhee's book, Oranges, in which he asks the question one morning at his breakfast table, why does the orange juice, his packaged orange juice from Florida, taste the same every single time? And that became a whole book of the entire industry, the superstructure of creating oranges and everything that has to happen to make sure that they stay exactly the same. God forbid you should have a separate kind of taste one morning from the other morning. You would, of course, take it back to the supermarket and complain, you know, you would become like one of the satirical characters in this story. I mean, that's how you would respond to it.GARFIELD: I'm no longer surprised, now that you mention the orange thing, which I had been unaware of, that John McPhee also wrote 60,000 words on rice.WESCHLER: Yeah, yeah. Well, that was the good old days at The New Yorker.GARFIELD: Those were the days. And you were in the thick of The New Yorker.WESCHLER: I was in the thick of the rice.GARFIELD: Them days. I just wanna, if I had E.M. Forster here, I would say to him: I got news for you, dude — I grew up in the 50s and 60s and we had artificial grapes that were made of glass and they had some sort of, I don't know, latex around them. And they looked really, really foggy. You know, they had that misty look to them. So we solved that problem motherfucker. You know …WESCHLER: I'm sure the two of you would have gotten along great.GARFIELD: Oh, I have no doubt. So, Ren, obviously it's jaw dropping that he was so prescient in so many ways.WESCHLER: There's a few other ones that I wanted to point out. One of the things that's absolutely amazing is that Vashti's job is essentially she's an influencer. And when she's not influencing, she's a TED lecturer. She basically gives these lectures that everybody all over the world, because she has thousands of friends, that's basically what she has, tune in to her lectures and they are 10 minutes long. They are never more than 10 minutes long. And we were talking a bit about the standardization of the world. All beds are exactly the same size and are the same everywhere. It's basically the IKEA of the world. You realize that for him, this is dystopian and for you this is your life.GARFIELD: There's one big difference between like TED culture and The Machine Stops culture, and that is that these lectures, they mustn't, they mustn't contain new ideas.WESCHLER: Exactly.GARFIELD: It's a beehive. It's also a cow stomach, where you're allowed to digest in ...WESCHLER: Ruminate, as it were.GARFIELD: … different chambers, but you're not allowed to do anything new.WESCHLER: Right.GARFIELD: And again, early in the book, there's something I find astonishing. Can I read one more passage?WESCHLER: Yeah, yeah. Do, do.GARFIELD: In the very first pages, the son is talking to his mother, whose job is to lecture about stuff that people already know. And he talked about his experience when he was on one of these airships of seeing stars take a familiar shape. He says:Do you not know four big stars that form an oblong and three stars close together in the middle of the oblong and hanging from these stars, three other stars?No, I do not, she says, I dislike the stars.But did they give you an idea?How interesting. Tell me.I had an idea they were like a man.I do not understand.The four big stars are the main shoulders and his knees. The three stars in the middle are like the belts that men wore once, and the three stars hanging are like a sword.A sword?Men carried swords about with them to kill animals and other men.He had reinvented the wheel called constellations.WESCHLER: Orion, in particular.GARFIELD: It had vanished from humankind, the notion of looking at the stars and marveling and imagining what images they conjured. This was, this was a revelation. This is how far the society had devolved, that they lost track of the very stars.WESCHLER: And there is the wonderful phrase at one point where Forster says that above them, night was turning to day, day was turning to night. They were completely unaware of the cycle, even that cycle. At one point she does, Vashti does decide to go and they have these airships they are called. They're like kind of like planes, kind of like balloons — it's not quite clear what they are. But they're traveling, and this description of what it is like being on the airship:It was night. For a moment she saw the coast of Sumatra, edged by phosphorescence of waves and crowned by lighthouses still sending forth their disregarded beams. These also vanish, and only the stars distracted her. They were not motionless, but swayed to and fro above her head, thronging out of one skylight into another, as if the universe, and not the airship, were careering. And as often happens on clear nights, they seemed now to be in perspective now on a plane now plied tear beyond tear into the infinite heavens, now concealing an infinity of roof limiting forever the visions of men. In either case, they seemed intolerable. Are we to travel in the dark?, called the passengers angrily. [In other words, in night? And what the hell is this? What are we doing?] And the attendant who had been careless generated the light and pulled down the blinds, a pliable metal. When the airships had been built, the desire to look direct at things still lingered in the world. Hence the extraordinary number of skylights and windows and the proportionate discomfort of those who are civilized and refined. Even in Vashti's cabin, one star peeped through a flaw in the blind, and after a few hours of uneasy slumber, she was disturbed by an unfamiliar glow, which was the dawn.She's furious that there's a rip in the curtain that is allowing this stuff through. Close it, close it. All ideas have to be, at very most, original secondhand and preferably third or fourth hand. And that's all the discourse that's going on.GARFIELD: Hold on. Now, on the subject of intolerable, dude, keep reading because something happens between her and the flight attendant.WESCHLER: Yeah, that's fantastic, too, yeah:People are almost exactly alike all over the world. But the attendant of the airship, perhaps owing to her exceptional duties, had grown a little out of the common. She had often to address passengers with direct speech, and this had given her a certain roughness and originality of manner [originality being a very bad word]. When Vashti swerved away from the sunbeams with a cry, she behaved barbarically. She put her hand out to study her. “How dare you?,” exclaimed the passenger. “Vashti, you forget yourself.” The woman was confused and apologized for not having let her fall. People never touched one another. The custom had become obsolete, owing to the Machine.Welcome to Covidland.GARFIELD: Yeah, the 12:44 is coming in right on schedule.WESCHLER: Right, there it is, outside.GARFIELD: A society denuded not only of trees, but of touch, of human contact. So we've established clearly that Forster was prescient beyond beyond belief, right? But the other thing that's beyond belief is that the person who's writing this is E.M. Forster.WESCHLER: Right.GARFIELD: Because E.M. Forster, A Room with a View, Passage to India, where at least at first glance, the issues that he's concerning himself with are very, very different, in class division and so on. So my question for you is, are they really that different?WESCHLER: Well, there's that.GARFIELD: Is there a line between A Passage to India and The Machine, you know, styles?WESCHLER: Well, a couple of things. First of all, in terms of the immediate background, according to some of the biographies I've been reading, he wrote it, he said at the time, as a counter to some of H.G. Wells's most recent work at the time, which was utopian — where H.G. Wells was imagining actually a happy outcome, where the world, where all these machines were taking care of all these things and so forth, and he was not at all sure about that. So, he also, somebody said, he was writing an encounter to an Oscar Wilde line that he had quoted at one point, who in 1890 — so that would have been 20 years before this — had written this is Oscar Wilde, the Oscar Wilde of Art for Art's Sake, as:… we become more highly organized, the elect spirits of each age, the critical and the cultured spirits, will grow less and less interested in actual life, and will seek to gain their impressions almost entirely from what Art has touched.In other words, that is a different kind of utopianism, where you no longer have to deal directly with life and so forth.GARFIELD: Well, you just described Wilde's actual life because, you know, I think probably into the 20th century, well into the 20th century, art was the stuff of aristocrats.WESCHLER: Yeah, yeah. And so that in turn, of course, aristocrats and bohemians — that great line of Kurt Vonnegut's, that that art is a conspiracy between artists and rich people to make poor people feel stupidGARFIELD: (laughing)WESCHLER: But indeed, I think Forster is very, elsewhere, is very focused on partly the comforts of a certain layer of bourgeois life. But also the underpinnings and the way that there is beginning to be this growing polarization of wealth, you might say — we are in the Gilded Age after all — and the terrible way in which servants and so forth are being treated. He's quite sensitive to that. And oddly enough, one of the things that's interesting here is that the dystopian society has had a solution which is making everybody live in beehives, you know, and so that that class culture has disappeared, but in a kind of dystopian way. I think, though, that some of those passages, the passage of the dawn in Sumatra and the lighthouse, that's pure E.M. Forster, A Passage to India. I mean, this extraordinary sensitivity to the tactile quality of experience. Especially as opposed to the everydayness of most people's lives, his heroes have these moments, these epiphanies.GARFIELD: To the textures, to the smells, to the colors, right, of different cultures — the antithesis of the homogeneity.WESCHLER: You go to Beijing because Peking is different. You go to Delhi because Delhi is different. You go to that cave because, good Lord, is it different than something you would have experienced at home?GARFIELD: That's something else he nailed too, because, you know, increasingly Shanghai is Los Angeles or whatever.WESCHLER: Yeah. And by the way, Los Angeles is Shanghai.GARFIELD: Yes, that's right.WESCHLER: It's just this remarkable thing to come upon and to come upon it now. So part one is basically this, brings out this world. In part two, there's three parts, part two — in what in one sense is the climax of the story — is how Kuno not only is sacrilegious in that he doesn't honor, he says things that, Be quiet, don't say those things. The machine is listening. You know, the machine is our benefactor.GARFIELD: Popping in again, because I also failed to notice this when Ren raised it, but the idea of the Machine is listening. If this were Orwell, or Huxley, or Ray Bradbury, the machine would have been listening like an electronic Stasi, like an omniscient security state — which is not quite the case in Forster or even in our own surveillance society. It's not eavesdropping per se. Yes, in 2021, the Machine does know, because we surrender data willy nilly, and our every click and keystroke are recorded and we spill our guts on social media for eternity. Forster somehow knew that the machine would somehow know. And so Kuno tried to explain to his mom.WESCHLER: And he's saying, no, I want to get out. And she says, well, there's no way to get out. The only way to get out, you take the train to the air thing and then you can take airships but you can't go on land, you just can't go on the land. And he says no but I figured something out. And he has this amazing description of, he — well, as you say, he began exercising, which was like completely crazy. He turned off all the stuff and just would do pushups and so forth to get stronger and stronger because, and then he has this extraordinary line, by the way, let me see if I can find this, this amazing line about what we've lost: We have lost the sense of space. We say space is annihilated. That's from the phrase that the telegraph had annihilated space and time, that it used, when the telegraph and the telephone and eventually email come online, the feeling was that space and time — where it took a long time for a message to get from one place to another, you know, and so forth — had been annihilated by by this incredible thing. Initially, the telegraph or along with the telegraph, exactly along with the telegraph, is the train system because the trains need telegraphs to set up all the signals and so forth. And they were exulting at the annihilation of space and time. Which reminds me, by the way, some other time we should have a conversation, if you will, if you enjoy these conversations, about an amazing book by Wolfgang Schivelbusch called The Railway Journey, in which he goes back and looks at what people's experience of railway's was when it first happened. And he describes people are suddenly going six miles an hour, seven miles an hour. And universally, the letters that everybody's writing each other is about the G forces on their bodies. They're being hurled back into the seat. You know, this is, everybody has this same experience. GARFIELD: Not the soot in their teeth, but but that thrill ride of seven mph.WESCHLER: Right. Anyway, so he goes on:We say space is annihilated, but we have annihilated not space, but the sense thereof. We have lost a part of ourselves. I determined to recover it. And I began by walking up and down the platform of the railway outside my room, up and down until I was tired and so did I recapture the meaning of near and far. Near is a place to which I get quickly on my feet, not a place to which the train or the airship will take me quickly.He's walking, he walks farther and suddenly one day, he comes upon this little pile of rubble on the thing and he looks above and he realizes this must have been when they were building the hives. There must have been a tunnel that went through here up to the, up to a vertical tunnel. And this is left over from the building. And he kind of scratches away and he suddenly finds himself in a tunnel. And he's saying to his mother, there was a ladder. He opens it up and there's this little thing and it goes way straight up, and he says:There was a ladder made of some primeval metal. The light from the railway fell upon its lowest rungs. And I saw that it led straight upwards out of the rubble at the bottom of the shaft. Perhaps our ancestors ran up and down it a dozen times daily in their building. As I climbed the rough edges, cut through my gloves so that my hands bled, the light helped me for a little, and then came darkness and worse still silenced, which pierced my ears like a sword. The machine hums. Did you know it? Oh, that its hum penetrates our blood and may even guide our thoughts. Who knows. I was getting beyond its power then I thought the silence means that I am doing wrong. But I heard voices in the silence and again, that strengthened me. He laughed. I had need of them. The next moment I cracked my head up against something.And he's bumped up against the top and eventually gets out. And there's this amazing moment when he is hurled out of, the air pressure hurls him out into this bowl of grass and the sunshine and so forth. George Lucas and Walter Mirch in 1971 made a film called THX 1138 about an incredibly disposed dystopian world in which everybody is living underground.THX 1138 soundtrackThere has been some kind of calamity on the surface. Everybody is told they can't go on the surface. There is a machine that is in control of everything. And there is Donald Pleasence and Robert Duvall and so forth. And Robert Duvall suddenly decides that he wants to escape. And the climax of the film is his escape. And I just want to show this to you, because the climax of the story I'm going to tell you is that neither of them were aware of The Machine Stops when they wrote and they made this film.THX 1138 clipIt's absolutely staggering. Talk about a weird echoes, and in fact it was Walter Mirch who eventually first showed me The Machine Stops. He says, look at this thing. We didn't know about this. It occurs to me that it also has echoes of the great Chris Marker film from the French New Wave La Jetée, where society is underground. There it's not a tunnel that you go through, but there's some time travel stuff and they keep on sending the character back in time, and he is walking around Paris. And the wonderfulness of the life beforehand — again this is a theme that keeps coming up. But as far as I know, it first shows up in The Machine Stops, in its kind of purest form.GARFIELD: So in this film, the reward for escaping to the surface is kind of splendor. And going back to the extraordinary prescience of The Machine Stops, I think the reward is slightly different. We've all experienced, through Covid, isolation — I believe, a kind of loss of proprioception of time. We don't feel like we have purchase on our lives anymore. We can't quite get a grip on the past and we certainly have trouble envisioning what six months will be like or, you know, in some cases six days. And it's a distracting sensation of just not knowing where you are, which I think is more or less the definition of proprioception, having a sense of where your body parts are. But in this society, that Forster's talking about we, you know, we are completely atrophied. There is no human touch. Light and sound is all controlled by the machine. And we can't fix ourself based on the stars. All of humankind has lost its sense of place and time and self. And that was, I believe, the son's reward for getting to the surface. Maybe we should withhold the consequences of his decision.WESCHLER: Let's withhold that. But just note that there's a whole part three. And without going into too much detail, but it's absolutely fascinating. The machine begins to break down. And it is the most, it breaks down in absolutely the ways it breaks down for us, you know, but we can imagine it continuing to breakdown more and more. Suddenly the air begins to get staler, you know, and the food isn't so good. And there are moments where the iPhone's not working and and so forth, that it kind of climaxes.GARFIELD: I'd like to ask a question, and I'm doing this for a couple of reasons, one, out of genuine curiosity and another for having a natural ending to the podcast version of this. And that is Ren, what have we learned?WESCHLER: I guess this isn't so much a learning as an awakening. You know, I hope that this story wakes us up to the way we've been sleepwalking. I mean, in some sense, if the fantasy of Kuno climbing those stairs allows us — in the short term about Covid, to imagine what it might be to climb out of Covidland — but more importantly, to understand that Covid is just a metaphor in some sense, notwithstanding all the actual damage it's done of what's coming and what's coming more and more and more. And for God's sake, wake up. And engage or, in Forster's words, only connect. Break down the hive walls. And for an architecture biennial, break down the goddamn hive walls.GARFIELD: All right, we're done here. What you have just heard was an abridged version of my conversation with author Lawrence Weschler, as part of his Mr. Weschler's Cabinet of Wonders series for the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale. If you like what you've heard here, do please venture beyond our Great Paywall of Booksmart to be a paid subscriber to our offerings, including the works of professors John McWhorter and Amna Khalid in their respective podcasts Lexicon Valley and Banished. You'll get longer form interviews, access to our hosts and, in my case, my weekly text column — which is, let's just say, “uncompromising,” because that sounds better than “indelicate” or “brutal.” Now then, Bully Pulpit is produced by Mike Vuolo and Matthew Schwartz. Our theme was composed by Julie Miller and the team at Harvest Creative Services in Lansing, Michigan. We had technical help in Europe for this episode from Adrianos Efthymiadis. Bully Pulpit is a production of Booksmart Studios. I'm Bob Garfield. Get full access to Bully Pulpit at bullypulpit.substack.com/subscribe

Loukia Tsafoulia is the cofounder of PLB Architectural Design and Research Studio, and teaches at the College of Architecture and the Built Environment, at Thomas Jefferson University, where she has cofounded the Synesthetic Research and Design Lab.  We speak about the book she has edited, titled ‘Transient Spaces', and her devotion to exploring belonging for migrant and refugee populations.  Her other works examine the connections between design, technology and science, specifically the human body and its interactions with the objects and place.  One project we speak about is now being exhibited at the the Venice Biennale.

In this special edition of ‘The Curator', we recap the best of Monocle's coverage of the opening of the long-awaited Venice Architecture Biennale. We stop off at the Grenada pavilion to speak to its curator and director Bryan Bullen. We explore the Polish pavilion to learn about an installation called “Trouble in Paradise” examining tensions in the Polish countryside. And we peel open the pages of Monocle's special edition newspaper for the biennale.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.