Us Modernist Radio - Architecture You Love

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!

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!

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.

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! 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. 

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!

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! Today USModernist welcomes two California architects building new Modernist houses and one expert sharing how Modernism started:  Joel Turkel founded Turkel Design and created NextHouse, a series of prefab modern homes still marketed by the fine folks at Deck House. In 2014, in an exclusive collaboration with Dwell Magazine, Joel launched the Axiom Series, a line of modern houses that combine sleek modern design with all the benefits of prefab construction. Now he lives in one!  Anthony Poon is an architect, concert pianist, artist, and author. He created new ways to build and promote Modernist home developments while maintaining design integrity and

Debbie Millman is the founder and host of the pioneering, award-winning, long-running, and successful podcast, Design Matters. Going into her 14th year, Millman has interviewed over 400 designers, artists, and others in the creative culture such as Milton Glaser, Malcolm Gladwell, Barbara Kruger, Massimo Vignelli, Marina Abramovic, Thomas Kail, Laurie Anderson, Shepard Fairey, and Steven Heller. She’s a polymath of designer, artist, writer, educator, curator, speaker, and CEO.  Design Matters won the 2011 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, a Webby for Best Individual Episode, and in 2015 Apple designated it one of the best overall podcasts on iTunes.  She is the author of six books, and her art has been included in the Boston Biennale, the Chicago Design Museum, Anderson University, and the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art.

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! You remember books, right?  Those things we had in our hands to read before Kindle? George and Tom welcome author Adele Cygelman, whose newest book is Arthur Elrod: Desert Modern Design. Elrod was one of the country’s most famous interior designers and his John Lautner-designed Palm Springs house became a celebrity (and still is) from an appearance in the James Bond movie Diamonds are Forever. Later on, we move down the road to Rancho Mirage, an oasis of Modernism that’s the subject of a new book, Mod Mirage, by Melissa Riche with photography by Jim Riche. Rancho Mirage had the very first developments on golf courses—a model that soon adopted around t

Kinston is about as typical Eastern North Carolina as you can get.  They have lots of barbeque, a minor league baseball team that’s pretty good, they support what’s left of the tobacco industry, and they keep up the CSS Neuse, one of the last Confederate ironclad ships, although Donald Trump is considering restoring it to attack Canada.  Kinston never had a really great restaurant, but that changed when chef Vivian Howard and artist Ben Knight came to town in 2006 from New York and opened Chef & the Farmer and later the Boiler Room and Benny’s Big Time. Then there was their PBS TV series A Chef's Life, which won two Daytime Emmys and a Peabody award.  They are also Modernist homeowners!  We first came across this talented couple when their Modernist house in Deep Run NC won a George Matsumoto Prize for North Carolina residential Modernist design. Host George Smart and guest co-host, NCModernist's Rebekah Laney, chat with Ben in the studio and Vivian from her car!

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! Music is an important part of Modernism Week.  Host George Smart talks with singer-songwriter AJ Lambert, who just released a debut album and performed to rave reviews at Modernism Week; see if you can guess the Secret Word before George says it.  Plus Joan and Gary Gand of the Gand Band, owners of one of the sweetest mid-century houses in Palm Springs and known across the Coachella valley for their swinging Chicago-inspired blues.

Over the last few months, we’ve been checking out fellow design and architecture podcasts from around America.  We've had Frances Anderton of DnA and Josh Cooperman of Convo by Design – and today we’re excited to welcome the hosts of Midnight Charrette.   Co-host Marina Bourderonnet (bor-dare-ro-nay) grew up in France, training at the Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Architecture with a Bachelor of Architecture degree.  She speaks four languages and loves, we recently learned, suspenders. Co-host David Lee grew up near Disneyland and teaches architecture at Woodbury University.  He also went to school in France, with a degree in Music and Architecture from the American Art School at Fontainebleau.   Marina and Dave’s wideranging repartee with guests and between themselves does indeed cover the known spectrum of human experience from the credibility of Aquaman -- to why you can’t buy a simple cactus plant in Palm Springs.

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! Today George talks with author and longtime Modernist researcher Christine Madrid French, who with Marty Hylton did the first comprehensive survey of Florida mid-century Modernist architecture, accessible here; plus he chats visiting Australian Modernist Amy Jarvis of Canberra; and finally a talk with Ken Topper of Richard Neutra's iconic Lovell Health House, which you’ll remember from the movie LA Confidential.  

Architect Philip Johnson’s father invested 100 years ago in ALCOA, the huge aluminum company, which Johnson a millionaire in his '20s. Before he became an architect, however, Johnson organized a landmark exhibition on International Style at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932 which introduced important Modernist architects as Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Mies van der Rohe. He went on to get formal education in design but by then his reputation as a kingmaker of architects was firmly established.  He is regarded as one of the first architects to achieve celebrity status, as much for his design evangelism and connections than for his buildings. He died in 2005 at the age of 98. Today host George Smart with co-host Kate Wagner of McMansion Hell welcome Mark Lamster, an award-winning architectural critic of the Dallas Morning News and a professor of architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington. For nearly a decade, Lamster studied Johnson’s correspondence, archives, and even his FBI file for a new biogr

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! Today from poolside at the swanky Hotel Skylark, George Smart welcomes one of the show's favorite guests - it's Ms. Modernism, Annalisa Capurro from Australia, who has logged more Modernism Week miles than anyone in the world. Next, the founder of the Palm Springs Modern Committee, Peter Moruzzi.  And we wrap up with Modernism Week CEO Chris Mobley.  Learn about how to build one of the most successful Modernist events in the world - and a super toilet village!

Today host George Smart and special guest cohost Kate Wagner of McMansion Hell dives into two Modernist house museums by internationally famous architects: Richard Neutra’s VDL house in LA and Philip Johnson’s Glass house in New Canaan CT. Richard Neutra became one of the most important architects in the world. In fact, Time Magazine featured Neutra on its cover and ranked him second only to Frank Lloyd Wright. Our first guest is Sarah Lorenzen, Director of the Neutra's VDL house in Los Angeles, a place where he experimented with new Modernist building materials and techniques.  Philip Johnson was an architect but he thrived on being a kingmaker to the growing Modernist movement.  He organized the profoundly influential exhibition on International Style at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932 which introduced important Modernist architects such as Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Mies van der Rohe. Joining the conversation is Cole Akers of the Glass House, former home to Johnson and his partner David Whitney in

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! Craig Ellwood was one of the most exciting people in American architecture. He took Los Angeles by storm and no one since has fully captured his personal style or his incredible story - but that's on the way. Although he took structural engineering courses at UCLA, Ellwood was not a licensed architect, but that did not matter to him or to his clients. Ellwood was a true design genius. Ellwood could sell, too.  He had a red Ferrari (among other great cars) and was a perfect fit with the celebrity culture of Los Angeles. He was a master of promotion. Derided by the architecture profession of which he was formally not a part, he rose to public fame when

New York City architects Abby Suckle and William Singer are the authors of Cocktails and Conversations: Dialogues in Architectural Design.  AIA New York’s Center for Architecture has a great Friday night format:  invite people to to hear a famous architect paired with a master bartender who creates a custom cocktail to share with a thirsty audience.  Architects have included David Adjaye, Jeanne Gang, Peter Gluck, Frank Harmon, Tom Kundig, Daniel Libeskind, Eric Owen Moss, Billie Tsien, and Tod Williams, among many others. Host George Smart spoke with Abby and William at the Long Island Bar, 110 Atlantic Avenue, in Brooklyn. Joining them were David Moo and Toby Cecchini (inventor of the Cosmopolitan!), master bartenders behind all the cocktail creations.   About a month later, George and co-host Tom Guild met Australian Phillip Jones, the Martini Whisperer, poolside at the swanky Hotel Skylark in Palm Springs. For over a dozen years Jones worked as a fine dining manager and ran restaurants and events companie

Today we kick off Modernism Week coverage with internationally known architect Moshe (mo-shay) Safdie. He’s been famous for over 50 years for many brilliant buildings; first as architect for Habitat 67 in Montreal, in the 2000’s as architect for the Marina Bay Sands, that crazy rich Singapore hotel featured in the movie Crazy rich Asians; and for a special small chapel you might not know about. Safdie won the 2019 Wolf Prize in Architecture and his other honors include the AIA Gold Medal, Canada’s Royal Architectural Institute Gold Medal, and The Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement.  Host George Smart talked with Safdie from the somewhat noisy atrium lobby of the Hyatt Palm Springs.

USModernist has documented thousands of mid-century modernist houses, especially in Los Angeles.  One name that kept popping up when those mid-century moderns needed renovation is Los Angeles architect Barbara Bestor. She’s referred to as the unofficial Mayor of Silver Lake, an area full of great Modernist houses. She also has a robust commercial practice, including the Beats Electronics Headquarters, the Nasty Gal Headquarters, Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea, Ashes + Diamonds Winery and Event Center and the Silverlake Conservatory of Music.  She has taught architecture at Harvard, UCLA, and now at Woodbury University School of Architecture where she is executive director of the university’s Julius Shulman Institute. She is author of Bohemian Modern, Living in Silver Lake.  In 2017 she was elected to the AIA's College of Fellows, which is like making the Baseball Hall of Fame. And she got married in a fantastic Modernist venue that will make you super-jealous.

Most people refer to architect Mies van der Rohe as Mies, which puts him into that rare club of people known by their first names, like Cher or Sting or Wynonna.  Born in Germany, Mies was into totally architect Adolf Loos -- who famously declared that ornament is a crime and pursued unadorned Modernist design to represent the new era of technology and production. Mies got worldwide attention with two projects, the Barcelona Pavilion and the Villa Tugenhat. He joined the avant-garde Bauhaus school as director of architecture and left Germany in 1937 to head up the architecture school at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He designed many buildings on that campus including Crown Hall for the School of Architecture. Along with Gropius and Lecorbusier, Mies is widely regarded as one of the masters of Modernist architecture. Mies died fifty years ago in 1969.  One of this three daughters was named Marianne, and her son became a talented architect in his own right. Dirk Lohan, grandson of Mies van de