Us Modernist Radio - Architecture You Love

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week, a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, and exhibits. Host  George Smart wraps up our series in conversation with some of the talented people behind Modernism Week: Executive Director Lisa Vossler Smith, early organizer Jacques Caussin, and Chairman William Kopelk.

Modernist fans tend to be foodies - or it is the other way around?  USModernist Radio's biggest fan in Melbourne, Australia is Chef Ben Shewry.  He’s been featured in many publications, including the New York Times as owner of Attica in Melbourne.  He was one of six chefs featured in the inaugural season of the Netflix original documentary Chef's Table and he is author of Origin: The Food of Ben Shewry. Chef Scott Crawford is a four-time James Beard semi-finalist and the owner of Crawford and Son in Raleigh NC, the Triangle’s Restaurant of the Year for 2018.  Crawford also was named among the top 100 chefs in America by Esquire magazine’s longtime national dining critic John Mariani.  Raleigh architect, artist, banjo player, and returning podcast guest Louis Cherry has taught in the NCSU College of Design on and off for over 20 years, and since 1992 he has designed a dozen restaurants.

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week.  It’s a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and you can even order martinis for breakfast. Yes, you can do that anywhere but you'll feel glamorous in Palm Springs. USModernist Radio's George Smart was there with keynote speakers and other special guests who make Modernism Week a blast. Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher is the Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She designed exhibits including A. Quincy Jones: Building for Better Living at the Hammer Museum in 2013 and The Utopian Impulse: Buckminster Fuller and The Bay Area in 2012.  Since 2010, she has been building SFMOMA’s Architecture and Design collection. Christiane Robbins, Professor and Director of USC’s Matrix Program for Digital Media, and Katherine Lambert, Professor at the California College of the Arts join George to discuss their new film, Gregory Ain, t

People who like Modernism show it in various ways. They buy the books, they watch the documentaries, they get a few pieces of furniture, they may visit the work of a few famous architects.  Sometimes they build or buy a Modernist house.  Michael LaFetra is way beyond that. Born in Los Angeles, Michael had a successful career creating restaurants in New York City before he moved back home to LA in 1999.  Since then, he bought a Modernist house.  Then another.  Then another.  As far as we can tell, he may be the foremost collector of Modernist houses in the country; with houses designed by Quincy Jones, John Lautner, Rudolph Schindler, Frank Gehry, Richard Neutra, Paul Williams, Pierre Koenig, Ray Kappe, and more. Dropping by the studio, it’s a special reunion of Lulu and the Lounge Lizards, with Linda Smith as lead singer, Richard Tazwell on piano, David Shore on drums, and Jeff Brown on Sax.      

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week.  It’s a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and you can even order martinis for breakfast. Yes, you can do that anywhere but you'll feel glamorous in Palm Springs. USModernist Radio's George Smart was there with keynote speakers and other special guests who make Modernism Week a blast. Nate Cormier is a Principal working Los Angeles-based Rios Clementi Hale Studios. He discusses the new public space in downtown Palm Springs, a wonderful area that will include the Big Marilyn as well as Frey and Kocher's Aluminaire House. Michelle Delk is a Partner, Landscape Architect and ASLA Discipline Director with Snøhetta, an architecture and design firm that has garnered international acclaim for projects including the Bibilioteca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, the expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the Jim Hunt

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week.  It’s a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and you can even order martinis for breakfast. Yes, you can do that anywhere but you'll feel glamorous in Palm Springs. USModernist Radio's George Smart was there with keynote speakers and other special guests who make Modernism Week a blast. Cory Buckner is an architect, artist, and author from LA.  She is one of the world's experts on A. Quincy Jones Modernist houses loved by celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Ellen Degeneres.  Los Angeles Magazine named Cory as one of Six Women who Changed The Face of LA Architecture and her architecture firm specializes in Modernist design. She was the force behind preserving Crestwood Hills in LA, a neighborhood full of Modernist houses that by now would likely have been extinct if not for her efforts.  Producer Leo Zahn premiered "Sinatra in Palm Springs – The Place He Called Home"

Architect Paul McClean grew up Ireland, thinking of houses and getting in trouble for drawing them in high school.  He graduated from the Dublin Institute of Technology in 1994 and by 2000, he was on his own in Los Angeles. His clients include Irish real estate investor Paddy McKillen, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss of Facebook fame, and developer Niles Niami, a spec Modernist house clocking in at 104,000 square feet, with an asking price of half a billion. It is the largest and most expensive Modernist house in the world. Dropping by the studio, longtime North Carolina swing band Rebecca and the Hi-Tones play "Straighten Up and Fly Right" by Nat King Cole.  We visit with Rebecca and Keith as they share the story of the band.

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week.  It’s a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and you can even order martinis for breakfast. Yes, you can do that anywhere but you'll feel glamorous in Palm Springs. USModernist Radio's George Smart was there with keynote speakers and other special guests who make Modernism Week a blast. You may not think of Modernism and Denver in the same sentence, but Adrian Kinney is about to change that.  Kinney was born and raised in Lakewood CO.  After college, he stayed in Colorado and became a fulltime realtor specializing in Modern, starting with his own house designed by architect Cliff May. Now he's the force behind Denver's Modernism Week this August.   You also might not think of Indiana and Modern, but that state has a lot going on.  George welcomes back Marsh Davis of Indiana Landmarks to catch up on Modernist preservation in the Hoosier state.

In 1948, most US universities were slow to embrace the growing Modernist movement.  Then NC State University brought in a brilliant Dean from Oklahoma who went all-in on Modernism.  Within two years, Frank Lloyd Wright and Richard Neutra were speaking at the school and students and faculty from all over the world wanted to be there.  He wasn't the greatest architect and only designed a few buildings, but he sure knew how to get NC State's School of Design on the map.  Although he died in 1990, his impact on thousands of careers and tens of thousands of buildings endures. USModernist Radio welcomes former students, old friends, and respected colleagues Abie Harris, Roger Clark, Ben Taylor, and Jerzy Główczewski to talk about the man, the myth, the legend, Henry Kamphoefner.

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week.  It’s a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and you can even order martinis for breakfast. Yes, you can do that anywhere but you'll feel glamorous in Palm Springs. USModernist Radio's George Smart was there with keynote speakers and other special guests who make Modernism Week a blast. The Kaufmann House is one of the most famous residences in Palm Springs.  Designed by Richard Neutra, it passed through a succession of owners and unfortunate renovations until Brent and Beth Harris brought it back to its original glory.  George talks about the house and it's journey from the past into the future with Brent Harris in a rare visit, poolside at the Kaufmann House. Hugh Kaptur is the last living major mid-century modern architect in Palm Springs. He's the Obiwan of Modernism, the last of the Jedi. Alongside other celebrated Palm Springs architects, such as E. Stewart Williams

Architect Ellen Cassilly worked in Paris with Christian DePortzamarc, who you’ll recall was a winner of the Pritzker Prize, and Arata Isozaki in Tokyo, before coming to North Carolina.  After bringing exciting projects together for other firms, such as the NC Museum of Art Ampitheatre, she started Ellen Cassilly Architect in 1999.  She is featured in the book, Drawing From Practice, and she co-teaches the architectural design/build studio at NC State University’s College of Design.  With her husband Frank Konhaus, they gave birth to a spectacular house/museum/gallery called Cassilhaus, a combination of their names. The house now celebrates its 10th anniversary. Cassilhaus is more than just beautifully designed and built, it’s part gallery, part artist quarters, part home!

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week.  It’s a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and you can even order martinis for breakfast. Yes, you can do that anywhere but you'll feel glamorous in Palm Springs. USModernist Radio's George Smart was there with keynote speakers and other special guests who make Modernism Week a blast.  You can't go to Modernism Week without running into our next two guests at some event.  Annalisa Capurro flies in every year from Sydney, Australia, where she is an interior designer, educator, architectural historian, author, and writer.  One of Modernism Week's most popular speakers, Annalisa is passionate about the protection and preservation of mid century architecture. She owns 'The Jack House' on Sydney's Upper North Shore.   Alan Hess is an architect and architectural historian. He's been in so many architecture documentaries, we call him the Samuel L. Jackson of Modernism!  Alan i

In this digital age, everyone’s taking photos, billions of them, primarily with their phones.  We talk today about architectural photography, and how both digital and social changes in photography affect decisions about the kind of buildings we see built, the design competitions where photos play a part, and how you can take better photos of architecture you love, like your own house. Our first guest is architect Harry Wolf, joining us from his home in Portugal.  Harry worked at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill in New York and opened Wolf Architecture in North Carolina and later NY and LA.  If you were watching closely, Harry was in the documentary Concert of Wills about the making of the Getty Center.  Harry won five national AIA honor awards and over 30 regional and state AIA honors.  He is a frequent juror for the George Matsumoto Prize, North Carolina’s highest honors exclusively for Modernist houses.   Raleigh Architect Matt Griffith graduated in Architecture from the NCState College of Design. Before found

USModernist Radio goes to Palm Springs each February for the incredibly popular Modernism Week.  It’s a fascinating array of sunshine, architecture, lectures, parties, tours, exhibits, and you can even order martinis for breakfast. Yes, you can do that anywhere but you'll feel glamorous in Palm Springs. USModernist Radio's George Smart was there with the week's keynote speakers and other special guests who make Modernism Week a blast.  Atomic Ranch Magazine celebrates mid-century houses from 1940's ranch tracts to 1960's architect-designed Modernist homes.  George welcomes Sarah Jane Stone, editor and brand leader, as they chat poolside at the Hotel Skylark.  And later, he talks with Lindsay Blake, location expert, is creator of the blog I Am Not a Stalker.  She's a walking encyclopedia of TV and movie locations all around California.  She'll share the ground rules of not-stalking and her quest for the home of Tal Weaver, an obscure character in her favorite show, Beverly Hills 90210. (Since this show was rec

Richard Neutra was one of the world’s most important architects, and today his work is even more popular.  Neutra designed more than 300 amazing Modernist houses in California and elsewhere. In 1949, Time Magazine featured Neutra on its cover and ranked him second only to Frank Lloyd Wright in American architecture. Neutra hired several architects who went on to independent success, including Gregory Ain, Harwell Hamilton Harris, and Raphael Soriano.  Our first guest is Neutra’s son and a good friend of the podcast, Raymond Neutra, who has been traveling the world photographing his father’s houses.  He is author of Cheap and Thin: Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright. Joining Raymond is Barbara Lamprecht, one of the world’s foremost experts on Richard Neutra’s architecture.  If you’ve been in any Modernist house worth talking about, you’ve seen one of her Neutra books on the Noguchi or Nelson coffee table.  She is an architect and architectural historian and a kind of forensic examiner, performing environmental revi

Gregory Ain was inspired to become an architect after visiting Rudolf Schindler's King’s Road house. He worked for Richard Neutra as well as Harwell Hamilton Harris. As a result of a proposed housing project suspected of being communist by Senator Joseph McCarthy -- because it was racially integrated -- Ain was investigated by the FBI over 30 years.  He was considered the most dangerous architect in America, and this broad and inaccurate accusation caused the loss of many commissions.  Our first guest is Ain’s daughter, Emily Ain.  Architect Pierre Koenig apprenticed in the offices of Raphael Soriano and A. Quincy Jones.  He designed the iconic, world-famous Stahl House, the most famous "case study house," up in the hills above LA.  His innovative steel buildings often hung onto cliffsides and masterfully defied gravity.  We are joined by his son, attorney Randy Koenig, specializing in the legal needs of design professionals.

Johnny Örbäck was about 47 when he had a fantastic idea.  It was 1999, and as Managing Director of a public housing agency in Malmo, Sweden, he decided to commission the world’s most unique housing project from architect Santiago Calatrava. Calatrava, known for wildly creative buildings and bridges all over the world is famous for being an architectural genius, and he’s also famous for enormous cost overruns, for example, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York, with a $3.9 billion price tag, $2 billion over budget. The New York Times has documented every Calatrava financial disaster, including his truly brilliant City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain that came in at four times the original price. What's it like to be a client of Calatrava?  Today, you'll find out.

Covering topics from England to the Congo, today’s show features host George Smart and the stars, producers, and creators of the latest architecture documentaries, recorded in New York at the Architecture and Design Film Festival late last year.  George’s first guest is Sarah Howitt, Producer and Director of Building Hope: The Maggie’s Centres, beautiful architect-designed facilities for patients with cancer and their families in the UK. Next, George is joined by Thatcher Bean, producer of Made in Ilima, which tracks the collective building process of a modern school and community center in Ilima, a town in a remote and ecologically sensitive region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Hugh Hefner passed away last year after decades at the helm of Playboy magazine, the first mainstream magazine featuring nude centerfolds that depending on your point of view, liberated women, demeaned women, or both.  But you may not know that for nearly 20 years, Playboy promoted Modernist design like no other publication. Features on Frank Lloyd Wright, Bucky Fuller, Mies Van Der Rohe, Charles Eames, and others influenced a generation. Professor Beatriz Colomina is Director of PhD Graduate Studies at Princeton University's School of Architecture. Her books include Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media, awarded the 1995 International Book Award by the AIA; Sexuality and Space awarded the 1993 AIA International Book Award; She also had an essay published in the book The Sex of Architecture. In 2016, her exhibition Playboy Magazine and the Architecture of Seduction highlighted the magazine’s role in popularizing Modernism. Originally from New Zealand, Sandra Costa was a Playboy bunny in Mia

Seattle has coffee, and rain, and Amazon, and amazing Tom Kundig houses.  It also has our guest today, Eugenia Woo, one of Seattle’s top advocates for Modernist historic preservation. She is the director of preservation services at Historic Seattle and is a co-founder and board member of Docomomo WEWA. Founded in 1974, Historic Seattle preserves Seattle’s architectural legacy. Eugenia has a BA in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters of Urban Planning and Preservation Planning from the University of Washington. We talk about key Modernist buildings in Seattle and Woo's work to save them.