USModernist Radio - Architecture You Love

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#112/Design Podcasters Stephen Chung + Donna Sink Aug 19, 2019

Show notes

Over the last few year, we've been checking out design and architecture podcasts from around America. We've had Frances Anderton of DnA, Debbie Millman of Design Matters, Josh Cooperman of Convo by Design, and David and Marina of Midnight Charrette. Today we welcome two new friends who keep the public's design fire going with their interesting and popular podcasts.

Architect Steve Chung is based in Boston, where the good clam chowder lives, focused on residential and hospitality projects. Steve graduated in architecture from Harvard and interned with Richard Meier in New York, worked for Machado Silvetti in Boston and collaborated with designer Philippe Starck. He was the host and creator of the PBS series Cool Spaceswhich ran in 2014 and is currently co-host with Doug Patt on the Design Your Dream Home podcast.

Architect Donna Sink is the host of the Archinect podcast with guests we know and love such as Sekou Cooke and David and Marina from Midnight Charette, plus our buddy Rusty Long from right here in North Carolina. A graduate of the University of Arizona and also Cranbrook, which is like a Jedi school for architecture, her career began at Atkin Olshin Shade in Philadelphia in historic preservation. She joined Rowland Design in 2017 and was President of the Indianapolis AIA.

#111/Modernism's Three Amigos: Architects Tom Kundig + Frank Harmon + Marlon Blackwell Aug 12, 2019

Show notes

Three Amigos: Tom Kundig, Frank Harmon, and Marlon Blackwell. Not only are they the best of friends but they are award-winning rockstars of Modernist residential architecture. Tom Kundig is principal with Olson Kundig Architects and came to national attention with 1998's Studio House and in 2002, the Chicken Point Cabin. Tom's honors include the Cooper Hewitt 2008 National Design Award, eleven national AIA design awards, too many Washington AIA awards to count, and over 450 feature articles worldwide. He is the author of Tom Kundig Houses, Tom Kundig Houses 2, and Tom Kundig Works. Frank Harmon grew up in North Carolina and worked for North Carolina's Ed Loewenstein and New York's Richard Meier, teaching at Auburn University and NC State University's College of Design. He's received over 60 design awards, the most ever for a North Carolina firm. Frank is the author of the book Native Places: Drawing as a Way to See and writes the Native Places blog. Marlon Blackwell is the author of An Architecture of the Ozarks: The Works of Marlon Blackwell and has taught at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville since 1992, serving as head of the architecture department for six years. His firm won more than 120 design awards and he received the 2012 Architecture Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

#110/Modernism Week Wrapup: Paul Rudolph at 100 with Christopher Wilson + Dick Burkett Aug 05, 2019

Show notes

Today we wrap up coverage of Modernism Week 2019 by honoring architect Paul Rudolph. 2018 was the 100th anniversary of architect Paul Rudolph's birth and his work lives on to even high acclaim than when he was alive. Rudolph got on the national radar through innovative Modernist houses in Sarasota, Florida. Later he created masterworks in concrete and steel in New York, New England, and late in his career Singapore and Hong Kong. Host George Smart talks to two big Rudolph fans, returning guest Sarasota Architecture Foundation President Christopher Wilson and the lead moderator of the Modernism Week Paul Rudolph tribute, Dick Burkett.

#109/Not a Modernist: Justin Shubow of the National Civic Art Society Jul 29, 2019

Show notes

Today we welcome back Justin Shubow, President of the National Civic Art Society, a non-profit dedicated to promoting the classical tradition in public art and architecture. President Trump appointed him in 2018 to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency which oversees the design and construction of government buildings and memorials in Washington DC. Shubow is the author of The Gehry Towers over Eisenhower, a 150-page critique of the Eisenhower Memorial, a battle he sort of won, sort of lost against architect Frank Gehry. With a background in philosophy and law, he has taught at Michigan and Yale and speaks on architecture at places like the US State Department, Baylor University, Colorado College, Hamilton College, and the University of Virginia.

#108/Modernism Week Documentaries: Dion Neutra + Devon Chivvis Jul 22, 2019

Show notes

Architecture documentaries visually capture the spirit and stories of great Modernist buildings in ways not possible through books and photos. USModernist Radio welcomes architect Dion Neutra and producer Devon Chivvis to our poolside studio at the swanky Hotel Skylark. Neutra stars in PJ Letofsky's new documentary Neutra: Survival Through Design that premiered at Modernism Week; and Devon Chivvis shares the latest progress on her exciting new documentary, The Harvard Five - about the architects that settled in (and unsettled the locals) in New Canaan, Connecticut: John Johansen, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, Phillip Johnson and Eliot Noyes, transforming Modernist design and influencing a generation of architects. Spoiler alert: she grew up in one.

#107/New York's Josh Ramus Jul 15, 2019

Show notes

In an interview recorded at REX in Brooklyn, New York, George Smart sat down with architect Josh Ramus. The Huffington Post named him one of the five greatest architects under 50. Wallpaper Magazine described him as one of the world's most influential young architects. Esquire Magazine dubbed him the young saviour of American architecture. Icon Magazine called him one of the 20 Essential Young Architects. And Popular Mechanics said "Josh who? Is he that cold fusion guy?" Graduating from Harvard in Architecture in 1996, Ramus worked for Rem Koolhaas before forming his own practice, REX, in 2006. Like many famous architects, Charles Gwathmey and Richard Meier come to mind, his mom helped him get the project that rocket-launched his career. He has been a Visiting Professor at Yale, Rice, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, and Syracuse. And in his spare time, he trained for the Olympics!

#106/Modernism Week Celebrity: Alan Hess + Michael Stern + Lindsay Blake Jul 08, 2019

Show notes

Palm Springs has a huge architecture event called Modernism Week every February. It's a fascinating array of architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and the occasional plastic surgery gone awry. Host George Smart was there earlier this year talking with nearly all the speakers, authors, and special guests who make the week (actually 11 days) a blast! Authors Michael Stern and Alan Hess join us poolside at the swanky Hotel Skylark to discuss their new book: Hollywood Modern: Houses of the Stars. They uniquely capture the glamour of each star and how their personality, even their appearance, matches the house they chose. From the Johnny Carson House in Malibu to the ultramodern Gary Cooper House in Holmby Hills, these houses curate our brains just like the movies do. Later on, we welcome back the delightful celebrity expert Lindsay Blake, creator of the hugely popular movie location blog Iamnotastalker. Spoiler alert: she's quite the stalker!

#105/Minoru Yamasaki, Forgotten Architect of the Twin Towers: Author Dale Gyure Jul 01, 2019

Show notes

Despite enormous success, architect Minoru Yamasaki's reputation declined in the 1970's with the negative public reception of the World Trade Center in New York and the spectacular failure of St. Louis's Pruitt-Igoe public housing project.

Author Dale Gyure is associate chair and professor of Architecture at Lawrence Technological University. His most recent book, Minoru Yamasaki: Humanist Architecture for a Modernist World, is the first to closely examine Yamasaki's work and life.

#104/Modernism Week Photography: Emily Bills + Pierluigi Serraino, plus Andrew Pielage Jun 24, 2019

Show notes

The photographers documenting the mid-century movement provide us a wealth of information, perspective, and enjoyment, capturing not only amazing houses but the lives and careers of their owners and architects. From poolside at the swanky Hotel Skylark, you'll meet authors Emily Bills and Pierluigi Serraino talking about one largely undiscovered Modernist photographer, Marvin Rand. Their new book along with Sam Lubell, California Captured, puts Rand front and center in the same world class as Julius Shulman and Ezra Stoller. Later we join photographer Andrew Pielage about his quest to shoot every Frank Lloyd Wright building in the world.

#103/Children Of Genius: Charlee Deaton + Musical Guests the Luca Colonna Trio Jun 17, 2019

Show notes

If you've been listening closely, you know our special series called Children of Genius, featuring Susan Saarinen, daughter of Eero Saarinen, Raymond Neutra, son of Richard Neutra, Emily Ain, daughter of Gregory Ain, and Randy Koenig, son of Pierre Koenig. Today we're thrilled to talk with Charlee Deaton, daughter of architect Charles Deaton. You can also see it from the nearby Interstate. The Sleeper House got world-famous through the Woody Allen movie of the same name in 1973. Deaton's projects included the Wyoming National Bank in Casper and the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City. And in case you're wondering, and we know you are if you saw the movie, the house's orgasmatron is not a real thing!

Plus, dropping by the studio, great mid-century jazz from musical guests the Luca Colonna Trio. There's something special about these guys - listen for more!

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