USModernist Radio - Architecture You Love

Latest Episodes:

#326/Children of Genius: John Barnes + Ainslie Gores Gilligan Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

In our ongoing series Children of Genius, we'll talk to John Barnes, son of New York Modernist architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, and Ainsley Gores Gilligan, daughter of Connecticut architect and one of the Harvard Five, Landis Gores. They join our past interviews with family of well-known architects such as Eric and Susan Saarinen, children of Eero; Raymond and Dion Neutra, children of Richard; grandchildren of Frank Lloyd Wright and Charles and Ray Eames; and children of Craig Ellwood, Bill Cody, Charlie Gwathmey, Charles Deaton, and many more.

Special Event! Modapalooza in Palm Springs February 2024 Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

George sneaks into the studio to make a special announcement.

#325/Albert Frey, Inventive Modernist: Adam Lerner + Brad Dunning Nov 06, 2023

Show notes

Few large art museums in the world are dedicated to architecture as well as art, and joining us is Adam Lerner, the CEO of one of those, the Palm Springs Art Museum. A few blocks away, that museum owns another museum, the Palm Springs Architecture and Design Museum, location of an upcoming January exhibition on architect Albert Frey, the patron saint of Modernist design in Palm Springs. Curating that exhibition, we have the noted and in-demand Palm Springs and LA designer, preservationist, returning podcast guest Brad Dunning.

#324/The Getty's Chandler McCoy + AI with Michael Gilbride Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

Back in the 1980's, architect Richard Meier got a commission for a series of buildings in Los Angeles. The Getty Foundation, sourced from the prestigious family of oil fame, wanted a huge new complex on land they owned off the 405. This would turn out to be one of the largest private commissions in the world at the time, costing about 1.3 billion by the time it opened in the 1990's. Of course, the neighbors fought it, as neighbors do with just about anything Modernist, and now it's a source of pride for all of Los Angeles. If you're into architecture, art, history, or research, the Getty is a must-see Modernist complex, all-white, of course, that's a Richard Meier thing. Admission is free, and it's an astonishing accomplishment and gift to the world, especially the gardens. On the show, we've got Chandler McCoy, the Getty's Senior Project Specialist with Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative. Later we'll talk AI with Michael Gilbride and how it's affecting architecture and design.

#323/Organic Architecture: Michael Johnson + Bart Prince + Musical Guests Peter Lamb and the Wolves Oct 23, 2023

Show notes

The Modernist architecture we love is exciting, edgy, sometime inexplicable, often brilliant. Modernism has been around a long time, yet there's also been a movement beyond Neutra and Corbusier and Gropius and Breuer and Mies, that's frequently misunderstood. We're talking about organic architecture, houses that make Neutra look downright classical. Organic architects are a fiercely independent breed, using their intuition like Yoda would use the Force, taking on unusual materials and construction techniques, and sculpting residences that look out of this world. More simply put, organic architecture is to modernism like monks are to priests, and these monks take their craft very seriously. As a client, you tell them what you need, but you are not going to tell them what to design. Joining us today are two prominent living organic architects, Bart Prince and Michael Johnson and later on, returning musical guests Peter Lamb and The Wolves.

#322/Stewart Hicks of YouTube's Architecture with Stewart Oct 16, 2023

Show notes

Returning podcast guest Stewart Hicks is best-known for his wildly popular YouTube video series Architecture with Stewart, and in his spare time, he's Associate Dean at the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Every few weeks, you'll find a new YouTube release helping the general public, which is us, on topics as varied as the desperation of contemporary mall architecture, why linear cities don't work, why people want to live in corncob-shaped buildings, the latest in toilet design, and the many ways your Roomba is spying on you.

#321/Andras Szanto: The Future of Museums Oct 09, 2023

Show notes

What modernist architect doesn't want a museum commission? Along with airports and hotels, or huge corporate campuses for tech bros, museums are the most lucrative and high-profile projects an architect can get. Budgets are big, backers are rich, publicity is guaranteed, and most of the time clients want the architect to fully self-express their wildest plans. It's a good deal for the museum, too, as they get to brag about their remarkable new building. A graduate of the PhD program in sociology at Columbia, museum consultant Andras Szanto he has written for New York Times, ArtForum, and Art Newspaper, and has overseen the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia and the Global Museum Leaders Colloquium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His latest books are The Future of Museums which interviews 28 of the world's leading museum directors – and Imagining the Future Museum, 21 conversations with prominent museum architects.

#320/Melodie Yashar of ICON + Jan Schmidt-Garre on BV Doshi + NY ADFF with Kyle Bergman Oct 02, 2023

Show notes

Melodie Yashar is VP for building design and performance at ICON, a firm devoted to developing 3D construction. Their neighborhood of attractive, affortable 3D-printed houses, designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group, went on sale in Austin TX this past June. Later on, we talk with German director Jan Schmidt-Garre whose latest film is The Promise: Architect BV Doshi, an intimate portrait of the late architect's life and work. But first, we check in with Kyle Bergman, founder of the New York Architecture and Design Film Festival, on this year's lineup.

#319/Palm Springs Glamour: Will Friedwald + Courtney Newman + Susan Claassen Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

Palm Springs has seen its share of glamour, from the Hollywood celebrities who made the place their playground last century to the musicians and entertainers who kept the party going. Today we'll hear from Will Friedwald on the jazz trio The Poll Winners; Courtney Newman on the classic entertainers who flocked to Palm springs; and Susan Claassen, who has brought legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head to life. If you don't know who Edith Head is, think Edna Mode from the Incredibles movies, a character that was based on Edith Head.

#318/Modernist Renovations: Nick Martin + Matt Loader + Iain King + Musical Guest Jen Ash Sep 18, 2023

Show notes

Renovations on Modernist buildings can be particularly tricky. Nick Martin's firm recently remodeled Charles Gwathmey's Tolan House in the Hamptons. Matt Loader and Iain King of Loader Monteith lead Modernist preservation projects including the Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh Building, the Jenners Building redevelopment, and something definitely not Modernist, Rosslyn Chapel, a church made famous the Dan Brown book and movie, the Da Vinci Code. More recently, Loader Monteith conserved and updated High Sunderland, a Modernist house designed by Peter Womersley.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

USModernist Radio – Architecture You Love

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected