USModernist Radio - Architecture You Love

Latest Episodes:

#297/From Modernism Week 2023: Midcentury Architects + Designers Apr 24, 2023

Show notes

We've got a full roster of guests from Modernism Week 2023 in Palm Springs. Speaking on famous midcentury architects and designers, you'll hear from Jacques Caussin on Raymond Loewy, Lila Cohen on Herb Greene, Alan Hess on Googie architecture, and Michelangelo Sabatino and Maristella Casciato on Carlo Mollino.

#296/From NYC: Cathleen McGuigan + Bilyana Dimitrova + Adam Beaulieu + Martin Pedersen Apr 17, 2023

Show notes

Today, our world is New York City, where you'll hear conversations between George and former editor-in-chief of Architectural Record Cathleen McGuigan, architecture photographer and documentary filmmaker Bilyana Dimitrova, architect Adam Beaulieu of COOKFOX, and Common Edge editor Martin Pedersen.

#295/Modernism Week 2023: Critic Blair Kamin + Musical Guest Cheryl Bentyne Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

Nowhere in the world celebrates Modernism better than Modernism Week in Palm Springs, California. Every February, they have a weeklong architecture and design festival, which actually lasts 11 days, and USModernist Radio was there interviewing keynote speakers plus special guests at the USModernist compound, aka poolside at the hip Hotel Skylark.

Our 2023 coverage kicks off with architecture critic, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Blair Kamin. Now retired from the Tribune, his latest book project, Who Is the City For?, pairs a selection of his essays about the inequities in Chicago's built environment with photographs by past podcast guest Lee Bey. Later on, from a Bill Krisel house in Palm Springs, musical guest Cheryl Bentyne of the Manhattan Transfer, famous for songs like Operator and Boy From New York City. They've won 10 Grammys, and this year, they're on their 50th anniversary and final world tour.

#294/Modernist Office: Ryan Anderson of MillerKnoll + Musical Guest Tony Desare Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

You just can't underestimate the satisfaction of a great office chair. We spend most of our waking lives at work, often sitting, so comfort is important. And for many, the location of work has changed. Accelerated by the pandemic, your workplace is as likely to be a kitchen or den as it is a floor of offices. The KNOLL company had some of the most celebrated chairs in the world including Eero Saarinen's womb and tulip chairs, the Barcelona chair by Mies Van der Rohe, and the Wassilly chair by Marcel Breuer. Herman Miller was famous for the Aeron chair, the Noguchi table, the Marshmallow sofa, and the Eames Lounge Chair, among many others. These companies have been the leaders in well-designed, comfortable office furniture for generations, and in 2021 they merged. With us today is Ryan Anderson, vice president for global research and insights at MillerKnoll – and podcast host of Looking Forward: Conversations about the Future of Work. Later on, jazz with the remarkable Tony Desare.

#293/New Architecture Movies: Adrian Dorschner + Thomas Beyer + Jan Louter Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

The Architecture and Design Film Festival, or ADFF, brings the stars, producers, and creators to premiere their latest documentaries. ADFF Executive Director Kyle Bergman curates visually wonderful, thought-provoking, and faithfully documented films that capture the brilliance of architects, artists, and significant buildings around the world. Bergman started the series in New York and now it's in major cities here and abroad, and the pandemic ushered in an online series you can view from home. Today we talk to the people behind two films from the ADFF. Adrian Dorschner and Thomas Beyer created the film Robin Hood Gardens, the story of a concrete housing project in London, loved by architecture fans but unloved by residents and critics, including King Charles. Later, you'll learn about Winy Maas, founder of world class architects MVRDV in the film Under Tomorrow's Sky, with director Jan Louter.

#292/Architectural Photographer GE Kidder Smith: Michelangelo Sabatino and Hoppy Smith + Detroit Architect Michael Poris + Musical Guest Diana Panton Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

G. E. Kidder Smith was a trained architect, an architectural historian, and an architectural A prolific scholar, teacher, and author, he is the subject of a new book by Angelo Maggi. Joining us today from Switzerland is Kidder's son, internationally acclaimed lutist, or is it lutenist, Hoppy Smith, and from Chicago architectural historian and author Michelangelo Sabatino, who wrote the forward to the book. We're also heading to the Motor City to talk with Detroit architect Michael Poris of McIntosh Poris, helping bring back that city back from some pretty bleak times. Later on, music with returning jazz artist, the delightful Diana Panton.

Moon Over Modernism - April 22-23, 2023 Mar 15, 2023

Show notes

One Weekend - Two John Lautner Houses!

The Kelly Lynch and Mitch Glazer Cocktail Party at the Harvey House, Saturday, April 22, 5-8pm. Explore one of the most envied houses in America! You'll share a beautiful evening overlooking downtown Los Angeles, the Griffith Observatory, and the Hollywood sign through astonishing views. You'll enjoy delicious appetizers plus signature cocktails provided by Vermont Spirits, and in the famous living room...vivacious entertainment by LA jazz vocalist Staci Griesbach and her band.

The Silvertop Tour, Sunday, April 23, 12-5pm. Silvertop is the crown jewel of Silver Lake! The 1964 Reiner-Burchill Residence was designed by John Lautner and built by Wally Niewiadomski. Reiner's business got in trouble and the house sat for a decade, unfinished. In 1974, new owners Jacklyn and Phillip Burchill engaged Lautner to complete it. In 2014, the iconic house was renovated by architect and "Mayor" of Silver Lake, Barbara Bestor.

All events benefit USModernist, a 501C3 nonprofit educational archive. Tickets and Details: www.usmodernist.org/la

#291/Serial Modernists: Susan Orlean + John Gillespie Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

Los Angeles is the epicenter of Modernist houses. There are so many in the TMZ that it would take years to see even half of them. Because of sheer numbers, LA is also the epicenter for serial Modernists – those who have owned more than one Modernist house. And we owe that group huge thanks, because they are the people investing huge amounts, often more than they probably should, to preserve iconic houses by important Modernist architects and preventing these houses from being torn down. Joining us from Los Angeles Susan Orlean and John Gillespie, talking about their love affair with four Modernist homes.

#290/Dylan Turk of Crystal Bridges + NABR's Kate Scott + Vess Ruhtenberg Mar 06, 2023

Show notes

We're going all over the place today, from Bentonville Arkansas to New York City to Indianapolis Indiana with guests Dylan Turk of the Crystal Bridges Museum, Kate Scott of NABR, a development firm doing interesting things with Bjarke Ingels, and Vess Ruchtenberg, grandson of Jan Ruhtenberg, one of the most influential architects and designers you've never heard of.

#289/The Life and Death of Norman Jaffe: Miles Jaffe Feb 27, 2023

Show notes

As New Yorkers grew more prosperous in the 1960's, they wanted to escape to the Hamptons of Long Island, a place at the time of mostly farmland – and where summer is a verb. After working briefly for Philip Johnson, architect Norman Jaffe set up his own practice and within a few years everybody who was anybody in New York society wanted a Jaffe house. Known for meticulous design and detail, and unrelenting creativity, Jaffe soon became top gun in Hamptons Modernism. But by 1993, Jaffe was stricken with prostate cancer, an unhappy marriage, and profound disillusionment from affluent and demanding clients who often refused to pay what they owed. It did not end well. Joining us today in our continuing series, Children of Genius, is his son, architect and artist Miles Jaffe.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

USModernist Radio – Architecture You Love

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected