Buildings On Air

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**Buildings On Air**

Buildings on Air is a show that demystifies architecture through wild speculation, good conversation, a healthy dose of lefty political perspective, and lots of skepticism about the ‘power of design.’ Each show features guests from the many different facets of the architecture world in Chicago and beyond. Buildings on Air is from WLPN Lumpen Radio and hosted by Keefer Dunn. New episodes broadcast LIVE on WLPN first Saturdays of the month from 2-4pm. Visit www.buildingsonair.live and www.lumpenradio.com

Latest Episodes:

Episode 38 - A Show Update Jun 15, 2020

Show notes

Get in touch at buildingsonair@gmail.com or keefer@keeferdunn.com.

Episode 37 - April 4th, 2020 Apr 04, 2020

Show notes

This episode of Buildings on Air we we chat with Sean Estelle and Sveta Stoytcheva of Democratic Socialists of America about the campaign to municipalize Chicago’s electric grid.

We are still under stay-at-home orders in Illinois which means the Lumpen Radio studios are closed so we are departing from our usual format to bring you prerecorded interviews.

We are collecting remembrances of Michael Sorkin for possible broadcast - please send in audio clips or writing to buildingsonair@gmail.com.

More info on the campaign to democratize ComEd can be found at http://www.demcomed.org

More information on the Democratize ComEd General Membership meeting can be found here: https://www.chicagodsa.org/event/democratize-comed-march-general-membership-meeting

And lastly if you are a dues paying DSA member you can follow this link to get involved with the national level Ecosocialist working group: http://bit.ly/ecosocialist

Episode 36 - March 24, 2020 Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

This episode of Buildings on Air comes straight from the home recording studio of Keefer. In the midst of the state wide stay-at-home order in Illinois due to COVID-19 the offices and studios of WLPN-LP Chicago are shut down, so this episode comes courtesy of Zoom teleconferencing. Our guest this month is BoA favorite Billy Fleming (@joobilly on twitter) who directs the McHarg Center at University of Pennsylvania. He talks to us about “A Green Stimulus to Rebuild Our Economy: An Open Letter and Call to Action to Members of Congress” (Link).

Buildings on Air will continue to record during the coronavirus, albeit with an altered format accommodating social distancing and a more ad hoc schedule. Bear with us as we tweak our home recording set-up to improve sound quality. If you’ve got ideas for the show send them into buildingsonair@gmail.com.

Bonus - Failed Architecture Episode #11: Architects Unionise! Feb 18, 2020

Show notes

This episode of Buildings on Air is not an episode of Buildings on Air at all! Rather it is an episode of the Failed Architecture podcast. Subscribe to their feed here and check out some of their amazing writing at https://failedarchitecture.com.

Big thank you to Charlie Clemoes and the rest of the Failed Architecture team for letting us share this episode with you.

Buildings on Air Announcements:

We are switching our regular time slot in March. Tune into Chicago’s WLPN-LP Lumpen Radio 105.5FM at 2pm central on THIRD Saturdays to hear our show live. The podcast version will follow shortly after. Send pitches and suggestions to buildingsonair@gmail.com

Failed Architecture Episode 11 - Architects Unionise!:

We tend to think of architects as professionals rather than workers. Architects design, create, delegate, follow a special calling, but they’re not often seen as “working for a living”, and they’re certainly not much like the workers who actually construct or extract the resources for the buildings they design. And yet, architectural work in the twenty first century has become ever more precarious. As with other white collar workers, architects are becoming increasingly accustomed to short-term contracts, overtime without pay and other traditional hallmarks of exploited labour.

In light of this new reality, for this episode we’ll be talking to architectural workers from the UK, the USA, and Brazil, about the role a labour union could play in the contemporary architectural profession. We’ll discuss the difficulties, limits and challenges of organizing architectural workers and speculate as to why architects have, until recently, been relatively absent from the history of the labour movement. We’ll also consider how unionisation could give ordinary architectural workers greater control over the buildings and spaces they design as well as over the wider spatial production sector.

Keefer Dunn is an architect based in Chicago and a former national organiser for the Architecture Lobby

Fernanda Simon Cardoso is an architect based in São Paulo and a former Director for the FNA (Federação Nacional dos Arquitetos e Urbanistas)

Sam and Alex are architectural workers based in the UK and organisers for Workers Inquiry: Architecture

This episode was directed by Charlie Clemoes/Jake Soule/The Failed Architecture Team

Episode 35 - January 4th, 2020 Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

This episode we take a look at Edward Bellamy’s socialist utopian novel Looking Backward with Garrett Dash Nelson. Check out Garrett’s excellent article on the subject in Places Journal here: https://placesjournal.org/article/edward-bellamy-urban-planning/.

Then in a special edition of our regular mailbag segment we have guests from way out of town! Architecture students from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam come into the studio to ask us questions about Chicago.

Episode 34 - December 7th, 2019 Dec 14, 2019

Show notes

This episode of Buildings on Air we sit down with members of Extinction Rebellion for a discussion about the strategies and tactics that will win us climate justice. Then we open up the mailbag with Ann Lui and Craig Reschke and answer your listener questions about buildings. Lastly, in our regular segment about the architecture discourse, Fun and Angry with Anjulie Rao, we read Patrick Sisson's recent article in Curbed that asks: who exactly is buying all these downtown luxury condos anyway?! Read more here: https://www.curbed.com/2019/11/12/20944374/apartment-downtown-empty-nester-baby-boomer

Episode 33 - November 16, 2019 Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

This episode its classic Buildings on Air as we visit our two regular segments. First up! In our segment on the architectural discourse, Fun and Angry, Keefer and Anjulie Rao talk about hostile architecture! Then we visit the mailbag with Craig Reschke and Ann Lui of Future Firm and answer your listener questions about building!

Articles discussed in this episode include:

“‘Hostile Architecture’ How Public Spaces Keep the Public Out” by Winnie Hu, appearing in the New York Times

“At Cornell’s New Fine Arts Library, the Book Sets the Standard” by Audrey Wachs, appearing in Metropolis

Episode 32 - The Bridgehouse Special Oct 08, 2019

Show notes

In this special episode of Buildings on Air we turn to the Chicago River, asking our guests about the past, present, and future of our cities waterways. This episode was recorded from the Michigan Avenue Bridgehouse in the heart of downtown, and produced in collaboration with the Tender House Project. It originally aired on WLPN-LP Lumpen Radio on October 5th, 2019.

Guests on today's program include Patrick McBriarty of Chicago Maritime Arts, Ward Miller of Preservation Chicago, Mejay Gula of Tender House Project, Joanne So Young Dill and John Quail of Friends of the Chicago River, and Chloe Gurin-Sands of Metropolitan Planning Council.

Episode 31 - September 7, 2019 Sep 08, 2019

Show notes

This episode of Buildings on Air marks our triumphant return to the Lumpen Radio airwaves after a summer break. First up! We will chat with Tom Jacobs of Architects Advocate about getting architects involved in the September 20th Climate Strike. Find out more at http://www.architects-advocate.com.

Then in our regular segment “Fun and Angry” we will discuss Alexandra Lange’s reflections on S,M,L,XL (https://www.curbed.com/platform/amp/2019/8/22/20755386/rem-koolhaas-smlxl-review-oma). Regular Anjulie Rao can’t make it this month, but lucky for us the inimitable Marianela D’Aprile will be filling in.

Last! We open up the Buildings On Air mailbag to answer your listener questions about architecture and buildings with Ann Lui and Craig Reschke of Future Firm! Send in those questions to buildingsonair@gmail.com.

____

Buildings on Air is hosted by Keefer Dunn, and produced by Jamie Trecker. Listen live on WLPN-LP Lumpen Radio first Saturdays of the month at 2pm central.

Episode 30 - July 6, 2019 Jul 08, 2019

Show notes

This episode of Buildings on Air! First, we invite writer and activist Keith Rosenthal on the show to discuss capitalism, disability, and the ADA. Check out Keith’s website here: https://joanofmark.blogspot.com/.

Second, Anjulie and Keefer offer up some cool takes on the discourse in our regular segment “Fun and Angry.” First, we will do our best to unpack a truly baffling article on parametric architecture from Forbes.

And last! We open up our mailbag with Ann and Craig of Future Firm! Send in your listener questions for a chance to have them answered on air!

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