About Buildings + Cities

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 committ…

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 signa…

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 Eng…

We're back!! In this first episode of our new series on John Soane (1753–1837) we discuss his origins: the child prodigy draughtsman, son of a bricklayer, apprentice of George Dance, winner of a stud…

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 …

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 a…

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 reputa…

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In…

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 …

In the final episode of our Antoni Gaudí 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 …

In this episode of our ongoing series on Antoni Gaudí we discussed the unsolved mystery of the Colonia Güell Church. Perhaps the most enigmatic of Gaudí's projects, and the apotheosis of his method a…

In this penultimate episode of our series on Antoni Gaudí, we dicussed projects he developed in his later career for Eusebi Güell. We talked about the Bodegas Güell, a complex of wineries and agricul…

In the fourth episode of our series on Antoni Gaudí, we discussed two of his large projects in Barcelona. Casa Calvet was built 1898–1900, in many ways a conventional Spanish townhouse with reference…

In our third episode on Antoni Gaudí we discussed some of his work that draws on traditions of Gothic, catholic and medieval architecture. Specifically we discussed his Teresian College of Barcelona,…

In the second episode of our series on Gaudí we discussed the remarkable Güell Palace, Barcelona, a work of total design with an unlimited budget built 1886–8. We talked about the mixture of cosmopol…

In the first episode of our new series on Antoni Gaudí, we attempt to place him in the history of 19th-century Spain: a time of civil war, booming industry, declining empire and rapid urbanisation. W…

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". Thr…

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 archit…

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 r…

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
• Te…