In our last episode of 2024 we thought we would do something a little bit different, and talk about where we think architectural culture is at right now, an archaeology of the present, a dissection of the Now. We took some suggestions and requests from our Patrons, and followed them from recent discoveries at the National Gallery to Kengo Kuma and the Las Vegas Sphere. Thank you to everyone for watching, listening, reviewing, subscribing and supporting us on Patreon this year! We will be back in...
Dec 31, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we discussed The Study of Architectural Design (1926) by John F. Harbeson, a remarkable guide to the Beaux-Arts method of architectural education, with its many idiosyncratic terms of art and the astonishing drawings produced as part of its relentless programme of competition exercises. Do you know your Parti from your Poch? Do you know your way around a Class A? Does Mosaic leave you baffled? Look no further for a guide to all things Beaux Arts. You can follow along with the sli...
Nov 14, 2024•2 hr 36 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the final episode of our series on Sir John Soane we discussed his house and museum on Lincoln's Inn Fields in the centre of London, where the museum kindly allowed us to record this episode. We also talked about Pitzhanger, his country house in Ealing, and the development of his unique collecting practice. To follow along with the images we discussed and see clips from our visit, check out this episode on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/gOzIg5kB2Hg You can see the full length video tou...
Oct 02, 2024•2 hr 48 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a cilp from our latest Patreon bonus episode, a discussion of Soane's contemporary reputation, particularly satirical and critical writing in the periodical press, not least by his estranged son George! You can listen to this episode in full on our Patreon feed: https://www.patreon.com/about_buildings Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other people find us! Fol...
Aug 27, 2024•9 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the sixth part of our series on John Soane, we discussed some major monumental buildings in and around London. We began with Dulwich Picture Gallery, perhaps the first purpose-built public art gallery in the world. Then we discussed his church buildings in Marylebone, Southwark and Bethnal Green respectively. Watch on YouTube to see the images as we discuss them: https://youtu.be/8IFQjALMaW8 Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. ...
Jul 30, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the fifth part of our series on John Soane, we discussed his designs for speculative housing developments in central London, another building in the middle of the city for the Bank of England's National Debt Redemption Office, and his various hypothetical schemes for transforming the city with a thick encrustation of Corinthian columns. We also discussed his work for the Royal Hospital Chelsea, some of which survives to this day. We talked about John Gwynne's 'London & Westminster Improve...
Jul 08, 2024•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this fourth episode of our miniseries on John Soane, we discussed his projects conducted over many years in and around Westminster. This is a tale of confusing canceled schemes, designs by committee, thwarted architectural vision and some of the most electrifying lost interiors of 19th-century London. As always, you get get a better sense of the images we discuss by having a look at this episode of the show on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/xxeGY4LsHdM Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. ...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the third episode of our ongoing series on John Soane, we discussed his magnum opus, and one of the most entrancing lost buildings ever: The Bank of England. This vast administrative complex signalled the transformation of London into the capital of a modern imperial state, but by the 1930s, after just a century of its existence, the bank had outgrown Soane's intricate and weighty toplit classicism and the whole thing was demolished. We attempt here to imagine and reconstruct what it was actu...
Apr 29, 2024•2 hr 44 min•Transcript available on Metacast In episode 2 of our series on John Soane, we discussed the projects he worked on after returning from his Grand Tour of Italy, but before he got his career-defining job as surveyor to the Bank of England. These include several built and unbuilt schemes for country houses, a proposal for a pair of enormous prisons in strict geometrical manner, and several rural outbuildings in a rustic classicism that draw upon the founding myths of architecture. Images for this episode can be found on our YouTub...
Mar 25, 2024•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast We're back!! In this first episode of our new series on John Soane (17531837) we discuss his origins: the child prodigy draughtsman, son of a bricklayer, apprentice of George Dance, winner of a studentship at the Royal Academy, and later with his Design for a Triumphal Bridge, winner of the Royal Academy and a travelling scholarship to Italy, enabling him to join the aristocratic young men of Britain on their Grand Tour. Over the rest of this series we will discuss is iconic works: the Bank of E...
Mar 05, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast The final part of our series on 'Delirious New York'! We discussed the culture clash between European high modernism and Manhattanism. We also discussed the Appendix at the end of the book, a set of speculative, wry, ironic and beautiful visions of where next for the retroactive manifesto, featuring the work of Madelon Vriesendorp, Zoe Zenghelis, Elia Zenghelis and Richard Perlmutter. Hope you enjoy it! Watch this episode with images: https://youtu.be/ouVLzj-292s Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts....
Nov 28, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast In our second episode on Rem Koolhaas's Delirious New York, we covered his discussion of three heroic skyscrapers of Manhattanism's golden age: The Empire State Building, The New York Athletic Club and The Rockefeller Centre. We also tried to further explain Koolhaas's unique way of thinking about history, and the particular emphases of his project. For images, follow along on YouTube : https://youtu.be/tmOfxCU3dvA Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus con...
Nov 06, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, the first of a 3-parter, we began our discussion of 'Delirious New York' (1978) by Rem Koolhaas, a 'retroactive manifesto' for Manhattan. In this first part we discussed Rem's reputation, his style and his vision of the historical origins of the skyscraper and its formal qualities, a key part of the book's thesis. This takes us from the tabloid sensibilities of the Coney Island funfair to fraudulent 19thC building scams. You can watch along to see our slides on YouTube https://y...
Oct 02, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is an unlocked Patreon bonus episode from last year. To get access to all our bonus content and support the show, please subscribe for just 3 a month: https://www.patreon.com/about_buildings In this bonus episode we discussed Neom, the sci-fi project of the Saudi Arabian government to totally reshape the north-west of the country, including a 170km linear city in the desert. We talked a little bit about the history of linear cities from Leonidov to Superstudio, and reflected on what the poi...
Aug 28, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this one-off summer episode we discussed 'How Buildings Learn' (1994) by Stewart Brand. The book is concerned with the whole lifespan of buildings, and "What Happens After They're Built?" This is a valuable and necessary agenda in architecture, however Brand's methodology is sometimes a little slapdash, often to comical effect. Come for the timeless wisdom of the Duchess of Devonshire, stay for the reductive account of the sins of architects. We talked through the book, the things w...
Aug 08, 2023•2 hr 46 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the final episode of our Antoni Gaud series, we discussed his magnum opus, one of the most famous buildings in the world: La Sagrada Familia. However, as is always the case, not everything is as it seems. We discuss the complex origins of this remarkable building, Gaud's work on it over decades, the tragic circumstances of his death, and the life of the building after his death. In the next couple of days we will be releasing a reflective episode on our Gaud series, looking back at Gaud, his ...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of our ongoing series on Antoni Gaud we discussed the unsolved mystery of the Colonia Gell Church. Perhaps the most enigmatic of Gaud's projects, and the apotheosis of his method and principles, wholly unrestrained. Only the crypt of this vast proposed church was actually built, in a language of burnt bricks, reclaimed stones and baffling geometries. All that survives to us of his plans are photographs of vast models of string, canvas and lead weights used to model the catenary a...
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast In this penultimate episode of our series on Antoni Gaud, we dicussed projects he developed in his later career for Eusebi Gell. We talked about the Bodegas Gell, a complex of wineries and agricultural buildings in the countryside to the south of Barcelona. This project takes cyclopean masonry, a vast A-frame, gravity-defying stone pillars to create a building that calls back and forwards in time. Then we discussed the Park Gell, a consciously anglophile proposal for a garden city on the edge of...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the fourth episode of our series on Antoni Gaud, we discussed two of his large projects in Barcelona. Casa Calvet was built 18981900, in many ways a conventional Spanish townhouse with references to the family's textile business into the scheme, and the rear facade with its bay windows and balconies has much of the horizontal boldness of early 20th-century proto-modernism. Casa Battl was built in 1904 on one of Barcelona's most iconic thoroughfares, with some of Gaud's most radical use of bio...
Apr 06, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Transcript available on Metacast In our third episode on Antoni Gaud we discussed some of his work that draws on traditions of Gothic, catholic and medieval architecture. Specifically we discussed his Teresian College of Barcelona, a female residential educational institution built in the rural Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, absorbed into Barcelona in the 20th century. We also discussed the bizarre Episcopal Palace at Astorga, one of Gaud's strangest works, which we find fairly unsuccessful. We also discussed an unbuilt and sci-fi p...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the second episode of our series on Gaud we discussed the remarkable Gell Palace, Barcelona, a work of total design with an unlimited budget built 18868. We talked about the mixture of cosmopolitan historical references, ornate detailing, and sophisticated urban party house that make up this unique work. We discussed the patron, Eusebi Gell, an industrialist and aristocrat with a reputation as a dandy and a supporter of wayward artists. Lastly we tried to make sense of the house, and some of ...
Feb 17, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the first episode of our new series on Antoni Gaud, we attempt to place him in the history of 19th-century Spain: a time of civil war, booming industry, declining empire and rapid urbanisation. We talked about the complex politics of the time, and movements for devolution and regional autonomy in his native Catalonia. We also discussed the myth of Gaud, his status as one of the most famous architects in the world, but also the fact that he is considered deeply uncool amongst architects today....
Jan 19, 2023•2 hr 40 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we discussed 'Ubik' (1969) by Philip K. Dick, a piece of iconic science-fiction set in a world of psychic corporate espionage and dead relatives suspended in perpetual "halflife". Throughout the novel Gnostic and Platonic philosophy exude through perpetually inventive interpretations of advertising culture, psychotic mental states and satire of domestic mod cons. We talked about Dick's fixation on material culture as it appears in his other stories 'The Man in the High Castle' (1...
Nov 30, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode we discussed the idea of 'The Primitive Hut' in 18th and 19th century architectural theory. A vision of the first building was used by texts dating back to Vitruvius to imagine architecture's origins. We started with Marc-Antoine Laugier, author of Essai sur l'architecture (1753), which used the image of the Primitive Hut to call for a return to austere and structurally declarative classicism after the excesses of the baroque. We also discussed the idea of the Primitive Hut in th...
Oct 20, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this one-off episode we discussed the late Richard Rogers, particularly his Reith Lectures, given for the BBC in the mid-90s on the subject of the 'Sustainable City'. We compare and contrast his rhetoric and his design work, try to decipher his vision for the future of the city, and think about the ways in which architectural culture has and hasn't changed in the intervening decades. You can listen to the Reith lectures here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p00gxnzz This is a one-off episod...
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the final episode of our series on Palladio we discussed four of his great church designs: The facade of San Francesco della Vigna The monastery church of San Giorgio Maggiore Il Redentore Tempietto Barbaro, at Maser For the images accompanying this episode, check out the video version on Youtube. We hope you have enjoyed this series! Let us know what you'd like to see us discuss next Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please ...
Jul 05, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Andrea Palladio's Quattro Libri is one of the most influential and important architectural books ever published. We discuss the four books of architecture, covering everything from masonry construction to proportional principles to the temples of ancient Rome. To see the images as we discuss them, why not watch this episode on YouTube ? Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to he...
Jun 17, 2022•2 hr 40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Some of Andrea Palladio's most powerful and enduring work was carried out for his home city of Vicenza. We discuss some of his civic projects, and his extraordinary unrealised design for the Rialto Bridge in Venice You can find the images on YouTube Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other people find us! Follow us on twitter // instagram // facebook Were on the web at...
May 13, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Though less wholly innovative than his villas, Andrea Palladio's palazzi for the nobility of Vicenza are still full of fascinating ideas, from the treatment of the facade, to the handling of difficult and strangely shaped sites. We discuss the Palazzos Thiene, Valmarana, Chiericati, Schio and Porto (x2). We also discuss their relation to roman villas and city houses, and their presentation in the Quatro Libri, or Four Books on Architecture. Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Pa...
Apr 07, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Andrea Palladio created a new style of classical domestic architecture in his villa designs in the 1540-60s. We talk about some of the big hits: - Villa Saraceno - Villa Barbaro - Villa Cornaro - Villa Foscari 'La Malcontenta' - Villa Capra 'La Rotonda' Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other people find us! Follow us on twitter // instagram // facebook Were on the we...
Mar 17, 2022•2 hr 36 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
