Having provoked debates interrogating all things “Architectural” from its base in east London, “Negroni talks…!” is hitting the road to discover how the Politics Of Architecture plays out in other parts of the UK. Heading North, South, East and West, The Negroni Talks On the Road Tour aims to hold ‘4 talks in 4 towns’, taking a look at what’s happening on the ground by focusing on local factors that shape the built environment, and what this means for it’s inhabitants. In overview, the Series pr...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 34
The Recognitions (architecture’s gentrification guilt) Vyner Street is a locus for the shifting identity of London’s East End. Artists and creatives moved into the area and integrated themselves into the local culture and communities. However, their arrival was a catalyst for regenerative change that they didn’t necessarily want. Architects play a key role in this economic shift and are still present in Hackney and Tower Hamlets. Should they take a stronger position in the development of the are...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 33
What will Brexit actually look like ? The UK is leaving the EU and it seems that some politicians believe in the same kind of economic and cultural self-sufficiency as proposed by the 1930s Italian concept of Autarchia. The truth of the matter is that London’s built environment is about to transform and no one knows what it’s going to end up looking like. The current demographic of European property owners, contractors and architects are likely to change in ways we don’t yet understand. Will it ...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 32
Beatniks, punks and other countercultures were borne out of a restless discontent with the status quo and a desire to shift ideologies for new generations. These ideas and movements manifested themselves through art, music and literature but architecture has trodden a safer creative path. Rebellious architects appeared from time to time but what is their legacy today? Can the industry shake off its timid approach and demonstrate that buildings can affect real change? Speakers: Tim Abrahams, Arch...
Feb 23, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 31
Craftwork: Man . Machine _ How Should Architects Be Material Synthesisers In An Electronic Age? In Association With Material Matters: Lots of architects claim that they 'craft' a building. They point at beautiful clay or paper models but in reality architecture is produced through Revit and follows strict rules of compliance and regulation. Materials are a great way to connect buildings and craft together, however, are people really convinced that a corporate office is baked in a kiln? And what ...
Feb 23, 2023•52 min•Ep. 30
By The Seat Of Their Pants? Architects Designing Chairs. In Association With Material Matters: The Eames did it, Mies did it, even architecturally-educated fleas did it. Let's do it, let's design a chair. Why do architects think they can dip their toes into furniture design? And, perhaps more interestingly, why do product designers think they can have a pop at architecture? We all agree that interdisciplinary crossovers are interesting, but surely professionals train for years for a particular p...
Feb 23, 2023•49 min•Ep. 29
Social housing is incredibly important as one of the sectors where the work of architects and planners can have the most direct impact on cities and their populations. If done properly it should create inclusive, good quality places to live for the more vulnerable and less well off in our society. However, the ideals for post-war inner-city housing moved from utopian vision to dystopia in the public perception, thanks to inconsistent execution, poor maintenance and the sense that Brutalism is so...
Feb 01, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 28
The Picturesque #3: Vernacular Schmernacular What the hell does ‘vernacular’ mean in architecture? The term is defined as "the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region” “architecture concerned with domestic and functional rather than public or monumental buildings”. In today’s planning and design setting, it seems to revolve solely around aesthetics, material and style. Hip architects and mass house builders alike, knowingly reference traditional/histor...
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 27
In collaboration with Always Thinking & The Festival Of Hospitality The Negroni Talks have partnered up with the Festival of Hospitality as part of their new Devil’s Advocate series. Much like the existing programme, these events are intended to be open, provocative and engaging. Featured expert speakers will tackle difficult subjects head on but we also want to hear from the audience too, as part of a live and unfiltered discussion. For Meta or Worse? is the first event and it provides an o...
Nov 28, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Ep. 26
Every year, the great and the good of the British architecture scene gather to find out who will be crowned with the award for the best building in the UK. The final shortlist features six projects, which have been whittled down from hundreds of submissions that stretch across the length and breadth of the land, reflecting every scale and type of client. Sometimes it seems like an impossible set of criteria to judge and therefore prizes for the best small project, best house and best housing hav...
Nov 28, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 25
The history of architectural image making is ancient and, more often than not, involves a bit of propaganda. Designers have had to communicate their ideas to their paymaster - be they church, state or wealthy individual - and selling your vision comes with the territory. Fast forward to today and we’re reached a point where renders are so convincing that they can be mistaken for photos of a finished building. You can’t blame people for being suspicious that they’re being conned by a vision of a ...
Nov 28, 2022•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 24
Bjarking Up The Wrong Tree: STARCHITECTURE And The Role Of The Architect In The C21st The architect as a one-off design genius, an exploder of convention and an instigator of progressive thinking was a character forged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As the millennium drew to a close, the personality of the ‘Starchitect’ arose as a provider of headline grabbing architecture that could sprinkle regenerative fairy dust anywhere in the world. It became doctrine that neighbourhoods and ci...
May 30, 2022•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 23
Many architects and developers talk the talk but can we actually deliver diversity through design? We’re seeing some great new neighbourhoods emerging across both the UK and abroad but the commercial pressures of regeneration tend to steer us towards homogeneity. And how much can the planing process help support the creation of unplanned places, where richness and variety is often found? ‘Branded experiences’ can be delivered by disparate forms and snazzy exteriors, which are then united by equa...
Apr 28, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 22
Energy is a consumption that is killing us by degrees. Its production, usage and waste have long been a threat to the natural world and as a commodity it is now being deployed as a weapon of war. Energy has become a battleground between C20th business models and C21st realities. It trades in cynicism, malevolence and greed. Worse still it illustrates our hubris, our impotence, the compromise of our moral standing and our lack of a truly reforming vision for the future. The lights may be on, but ...
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 21
Talking Rubbish! BINS Local authorities have bin going mad! Whilst many architects, urban planners, housing associations and developers try to design the homes, towns and cities of the future, they are frequently hamstrung by the regulatory hurdles that are focused on the accommodation of waste management. Giant wheelie bins fill our pavements, louvered doors dominate pavement frontages, and the spaces of our streets are oriented around the turning circle of a rubbish truck. With a lack of clear...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 20
Death By Design Construction has always been a dangerous (read: corrupt) game and it seems that the bigger the project, the greater the risks to workers’ safety. Fatalities on building sites were maybe to be expected in the dim and distant past, but in the 21st century haven’t we developed sufficient regulatory control, machinery or digital technologies to rule out death by architecture? This debate has resurfaced recently as some (football) players and activists have urged a boycott of the Qata...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 19
Architecture: Structuring Segregation? Poor Doors have hit the headlines are once again aimed at escalating levels of outrage, declaring that modern housing developments promote segregation and social cleansing. However, we live in a time when cash-strapped councils can’t deliver their own housing programmes and we rely on private developers to provide housing nationwide. With an emphasis on investment returns and the drive to remove all that is deemed to adversely affect market value, certain t...
May 10, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 18
The Airing Architectures Dirty Laundry Series: #03 ARTWASHING Artists and gentrification already have an uncomfortable relationship. Creative communities have often drifted into less desirable areas where the rents are much cheaper, making unconscious changes around them and adding a ‘cool factor’ that in turn shifts the perception of a place. This process is old news and developers have cottoned on to the winning formula and sped up the process. Depressed areas are now targeted by local authori...
Apr 13, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 17
The Airing Architectures Dirty Laundry Series: #02 BAMEWASHING Of the many massive social upheavals of 2020, the BLM protests made us ask difficult questions about persistent levels of racial inequality and how many of us are complicit with the current system. This has resulted in some positive moves within the built environment, with public sector procurement going through a shake-up. Local authority frameworks are being re-imagined and outspoken critics are getting important airtime. Dare we h...
Mar 19, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 16
The Airing Architectures Dirty Laundry Series: #01 GREENWASHING The science is clear on the construction industry, it's one of the biggest polluters and contributors to climate destruction. There is more and more of a push for projects, practices and the whole built environment to be sustainable, but even a term such as that can make the industry's path to real change unclear. With 'Sustainable' being used to describe everything from stuck-on solar panels, net-zero airports to open-plan offices,...
Mar 10, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 15
There’s No L In Architecture: Musings On Making Less & More In The Coming New Year. It’s been an interesting year to say the least. The world has witnessed unparalleled change and technology has had to step up and fill the void left behind by restrictions on work and social gatherings. But the architecture industry carries on regardless, as teams meet in virtual spaces and planning authorities make decisions via little Zoom boxes. Builders still build and investors want to put their money in...
Jan 08, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 14
Space Invaders: Architecture and A Freeing From The Physical. In the 2009 trial of the founders of Pirate Bay, the defendants were quoted as requesting that the language of the court be amended "We prefer AFK (Away From Keyboard) to IRL (In Real Life)" they said, "because we think the Internet is real." We've never been closer to breaking down the boundaries between physical and digital environments. However, the alternative worlds of VR, Triple A video games and MMORPGs, provide 'spaces’ - whic...
Jul 01, 2020•2 hr 23 min•Ep. 13
Stand & Deliver: The Roll Of Finance In Architecture On the development highways, when money flows, everything is good. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. It is an environment where money makes money and risks are calculated. It’s a numbers game. Those with land ownership have the asset (the raw materials) and stand to offer those with financial backing and proven experience (the processing) to deliver development. Then its packaged up and sold in the marketplace for a profit thanks t...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 12
Is the icon in architecture about to disappear? Love them or loathe them, there are a series of buildings and structures that have become ‘iconic’ around the world - drawing visitors from far and wide and reshaping city skylines. Many argue that these totemic built forms are key to local regeneration as they attract people and money. This is not a wholly new phenomenon but recent success has led to a new wave of marketing language around buildings, where any small flourish of form on a block of ...
Jun 11, 2020•1 hr 41 min•Ep. 11
Modern Architects Are Rubbish. (Banality II) Architects are supposedly part of the creative community so why are they so incapable of talking about cities and buildings in an engaging way? Unlike many artists, it is rare for architects to fearlessly pursue new ideas and commit themselves to provoking new ways of living and thinking. Are they too consumed with the making of architecture and the broader implications of their work to figure out a way to talk about it? Do architects need a reality c...
May 28, 2020•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 10
The Joy Of Architecture: Does Fun Follow Form, Function Fear & Finance? Where is the fun in contemporary architecture? As a process, creating buildings seems to revolve around function, finance and fear rather than freeing things up for flexible flights of fancy. To add insult to injury 99% of the time the end product is uninspiring and distinctly average. So do architects actually enjoy what they spend most of their time doing? Through building we create new realities, and in doing so we ha...
Apr 23, 2020•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 9
Procurement is a pain. For architects seeking work in the public sector, progressive design & building knowledge is often overlooked for the cheapest and quickest means to meet the end. The requisite qualification seems to be held within organisations and methods that are perceived as being ‘risk adverse’ and in those parties who can offer fees that are just crazy small. Part of this problem is how the public sector is required to comply with OJEU standards and the accompanying bureaucracy. ...
Mar 11, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 8
Awards: What Are They Good For? Absolutely Nuthin’! What is the point of Architectural Awards? Is it to win more work? Boost the ego of architects? Share beautiful projects with the general public? The proliferation of Awards means that they have become something of an industry within an industry and we are all guilty of seeking validation by submitting projects to be judged, despite knowing that more often than not, we will miss out. Why do practices put themselves through this lottery? Meeting...
Feb 19, 2020•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 7
Long hours and low pay are standard, all-nighters are a badge of honour, and leaving on time is derided as lacking the necessary commitment and 'working by the clock’. Why is architecture as a profession so notoriously tough on staff: Is it passion for the craft that piles on the pressure? An old-school macho mentality? Or does it all stem from the competitive unit/crit-system in education? In turn architects are themselves part of a broader property investment and construction industry that can...
Feb 03, 2020•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 6
Architecture has a difficult relationship with privilege. Everyone knows the profession is not diverse enough, which is not surprising given the fees and the length of time it takes to study. The general public see the image of the architect as aloof but when education was free we saw the rise of the working class architect. Norman Foster describes his childhood on the wrong side of the tracks in Manchester and now he is a global powerhouse. Could someone rise to prominence like this today or is...
Jan 28, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 5
