USModernist Radio - Architecture You Love

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#229/Deep Into Louis Kahn: Michael Merrill + Nathaniel Kahn + A Few Minutes with Frank Harmon Jan 03, 2022

Show notes

Architect Louis Kahn has been gone almost 50 years, but his legacy and influence only grows as architects the public alike cherish his enduring importance. His major works include the National Parliament in Dhaka, Bangladesh; the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California; the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth Texas; and the Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island in New York City. Kahn was also a revered educator, teaching at Yale and The University of Pennsylvania. Joining us today Michael Merrill, author of the new book Louis Kahn, the Importance of a Drawing, and filmmaker Nathaniel Kahn. Yes, he's related.

#228/The Architects Newspaper: Diana Darling + Aaron Seward + Louisa Whitmore + Musical Guest Kate Earl Dec 27, 2021

Show notes

Oh, how times have changed for the newspaper world. From 2008-2020, about two-thirds of newsroom jobs went away. Then the pandemic hit and more than 90 local papers shut down or were slashed in headcount. Even big papers like the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and the New York Times are smaller and more focused, with digital and video media adding to but more often replacing coverage of cultural topics like architecture and design. While the big papers still cover stories like glamourous supertall buildings - and lawsuits when the pipes break - one newspaper burrowed away in the heart of New York City continues to put out some of the best, most detailed, most comprehensive architecture coverage. Joining us is Diana Darling, founder and publisher of The Architect's Newspaper, and its new-ish editor-in-chief, Aaron Seward. Later on, architecture commentary from our special Gen Z correspondent, Louisa Whitmore, and music with Kate Earl.

#227/Case Study Houses: Happy Holidays with Elizabeth A. T. Smith + Erin Sterling Lewis + Musical Guest Donna Loren Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

Happy Holidays with George, Tom, Raleigh architect Erin Sterling Lewis, and author Elizabeth A. T. Smith, whose famous book on the Case Study Houses is an architecture heavyweight champion. The New York Times said "You need a California workout to lift it, but the book, an exhaustive homage to the houses, is worth the effort." Architecture critic J. P. Cohen said, "This book is a true gem, and considering its size it's the Hope diamond." Later on, the John Lautner homeowner who's been on Batman, The Monkees, and the ultimate 60s teen movie, Beach Blanket Bingo, musical guest Donna Loren.

#226/Columbus, Indiana: Richard McCoy + Mary Chandler + Musical Guest Judy Carmichael of Jazz Inspired Dec 13, 2021

Show notes

Columbus, Indiana is a city of just over 47,000, yet the national AIA ranks it 6th in the nation for architectural innovation and design – behind Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington DC. Like Marfa, Texas is for artists, Columbus is a modernist architecture fan's heaven with an astonishing lineup of buildings by celebrated architects like Eero Saarinen, Richard Meier, I. M. Pei, and Kevin Roche. Joining us is Richard McCoy, founding director of Landmark Columbus, and Mary Chandler, Vice President of Cummins, the company that funded the design of all of these great buildings. Later on, musical guest Judy Carmichael, host of NPR's Jazz inspired.

#225/Zoinks! The Gregory Ain / Museum of Modern Art House Mystery, Solved + Musical Guest Alice Peacock Dec 06, 2021

Show notes

In 1950, a modest glass-walled Modernist house designed by Gregory Ain was on exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art's garden, another in the Museum's series of full scale builds of Modernist houses. A system of movable walls made flexible spaces even though there were only two-bedrooms. But once the exhibition closed, the entire house, and any knowledge of it, disappeared. Countless people over the decades searched for it. The New York Times published an article in 2017 extolling the mystery and highlighting efforts from filmmakers, academics, and the Museum to find it. Our George Smart solved this Modernist mystery, and today we'll hear from guests Emily Ain, Cornelia Cotton, Soni and Lisa Bell, David Stevens, Shaun Kelly, and New York Times reporter Eve Kahn. Later on, musical guest Alice Peacock, for which we swoon.

#224/Seattle's Paul Hayden Kirk: Dale Kutzera + Musical Guest Deana Martin Nov 29, 2021

Show notes

Remember our show a while back on Seattle Modernism with Jim Olson of Olson Kundig? Well before Jim Olson and Tom Kundig came along, the Pacific Northwest had architect Paul Hayden Kirk creating amazing Modernist houses. Joining us today is Dale Kutzera, author Paul Hayden Kirk and the Rise of Northwest Modern. Later on, travel in time back to 1961 and the Rat Pack with music from Deana Martin, daughter of one of the coolest dudes ever, singer and actor and producer Dean Martin.

#223/Research Triangle Park: Scott Levitan + Suzanne Somers Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

Research Triangle Park in North Carolina is the largest planned research center in the United States, and it's getting bigger - much bigger, at least in terms of buildings. During its first heyday in the 1960's, Research Triangle Park boasted several Modernist corporate campuses, most notably Paul Rudolph's complex of buildings for Burroughs Wellcome. Now under the leadership team of today's guest, Research Triangle Foundation CEO Scott Levitan, the park has over a billion in new investment going up – in addition to a brand new Apple Campus. Later on, a chat with Suzanne Somers about the famed Richard Neutra-designed Kaufmann house in Palm Springs, which can be yours for a consumer-friendly $17 million, $8 million off original retail price.

#222/New Palm Springs Modernism: Architect Sean Lockyer + Comedian Aaron Kominos-Smith Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

Architects like Chambers, Clark, Cody, Frey, Kaptur, Krisel, Wexler, and Williams put the Modernist architecture of Palm Springs on the map from the 1940's through the 2000's, and in Hugh Kaptur's case, still going at age 90. Behind them are a new generation of Modernist architects and today we talk with one of the area's most successful, Sean Lockyer. Later on, comedian and former architecture student Aaron Kominos Smith.

#221/Palm Springs' Desert Maverick, William Cody: Cathy Cody + Raice McLeod + Music by Eva Cassidy Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

One of the great architects of midcentury Palm Springs was William F. Cody, featured in the Leo Zahn documentary Desert Maverick. Joining us is the author of a new book on Cody - his daughter, Cathy Cody, and later on, drummer Raice McLeod remembers the amazing singer Eva Cassidy and shares two of her songs.

#220/When No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Ross Johnston + Mike and Nina Marco + Musical Guest Susannah Clifford Blachly Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

When we hear about a Modernist house by an important architect being bought and destroyed, there's widespread outrage from preservationists. Why didn't these people try to save them? Why didn't the buyers consult architectural historians? The owners should be forced to do whatever it takes, and whatever it costs, to keep the houses intact, right? It's a classic struggle between property rights and preservation ideals. Turns out, though, that some of those dastardly owners actually followed the rules, got the approvals, met with the committees, consulted the historians, and still got criticized by the preservation community. Today we talk with Ross Johnston, owner of the Largent House in San Francisco, designed by Richard Neutra, and Mike and Nina Marco, owners of the Biggs House in Delray Beach Florida, designed by Paul Rudolph. Later on, music with Susannah Clifford Blachly.

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