Open City

In this episode, host Sahiba Chadha is joined by Sharon Giffen, Head of Design at The Earls Court Development Company and an architect with more than 20 years experience leading large scale masterplans and infrastructure projects. They will be discussing: Plymouth high street regeneration wins the 2025 Davidson Prize // From ‘living wage’ to ‘living hours, how an architecture firm is changing...

In this episode of Deconstructed - the first of a trilogy to mark 60 years since the end of the London County Council - Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Dr Dawn Pereira, historian of architectural sculpture and author of a forthcoming monograph on the artist William Mitchell. They discuss Crystal Palace Park, from its origins as the home of Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace, which was moved from th...

In this episode, host Sahiba Chadha is joined by Billy Reading, Inspector of Historic Buildings and Areas for Historic England to discuss: A major estate agent casts doubt over Labour’s housebuilding targets // Hawkins\Brown wins the contest to upgrade St Pancras // Campaigners call for Central YMCA’s listing // And Norman Foster celebrates his 90th birthday Subscribe to the Open City Podcast...

InterCities is a six-part podcast series from Open City. In it, we travel to a number of cities and boroughs around the world that have transformed over time to discover what we can learn from these places’ achievements, struggles, successes and mistakes. In this episode, our host Owen Hatherley is joined by the Ukranian architect and urban historian Ievgeniia Gubkina. Gubkina was born in the nort...

In this episode, host Fran Williams is joined by the architect Daniel Innes, committee member of Architecture LGBT+ to discuss: The Mayor of London concedes to green belt housing // Five competing visions for a new Queen Elizabeth II memorial revealed // New plans announced to upgrade the Barbican Centre // And a sneak peek inside LGBT+ issue of the Architects’ Journal’s Subscribe to the...

In this episode of Deconstructed, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Calvin Po, Strategic Lead at Dark Matter Labs, Unit Master at the Architectural Association and architecture critic at The Spectator. They discuss 159 Marlborough Road, a house on a typical suburban street in Romford, which was the scene in 1954 of a tragic death resulting from Compulsory Purchase powers created by the 1947...

In this episode, host Fran Williams is joined by Stella Mutegi, founding director of Cave Bureau and co-curator of the British Pavilion at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale. Architecture and ‘colonial afterlives’ take centre stage in this year’s British Pavilion at Venice // Gaza’s reconstruction hangs in the balance as Israel vows 'indefinite' military occupation // Proliferating spac...

InterCities is a brand new podcast from the team at Open City. In this six-part series, we travel to a number of cities and boroughs around the world that have transformed over time to discover what we can learn from these places’ achievements, struggles, successes and mistakes. In this episode, our host Owen Hatherley is joined by the author and academic Dubravka Sekulić. Sekulić was born in...

In this episode, host Merlin Fulcher is joined by the CEO of Open City, Vickie Hayward to discuss: The Twentieth Century Society reveals its latest list of architectural heritage at risk // Architects voice copyright fears over the government’s AI plans // A landowner serves notice on a pioneering food forest garden in Devon // And the barriers holding back a community-led housing boom in Lon...

In this episode of Deconstructed, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Ewan Harrison, architectural historian and lecturer at the Manchester School of Architecture, University of Manchester. They discuss Euston Station, designed by William Robert Headley and Ray Moorcroft of British Railways in the early 1960s, in consultation with Richard Seifert, who later designed the commercial office scheme whi...

On The Brief this week, host Fran Williams is joined by Peter George, Strategic Director of Economy and Sustainability at Ealing Council. Government announces a £2 billion pound boost for affordable and social homes // Design Council warns ‘typical’ approach to new homes may derail zero carbon goals // Studio Egret West reveals plans for the UK’s largest office-to-residential conversion in Cr...

InterCities is a brand new podcast from the team at Open City. In this six-part series, we travel to a number of cities and boroughs around the world that have transformed over time to discover what we can learn from these places’ achievements, struggles, successes and mistakes. In our second episode, our host Owen Hatherley is joined by the broadcaster, writer and photographer Johny Pitts. J...

On The Brief this week, host Fran Williams is joined by Robin Nicholson, fellow of Cullanan Studios, to discuss: Plans for new 100 thousand-seat Manchester United stadium // Top architecture firms announce redundancies // Labour's new planning and infrastructure bill // And the winner of the 2025 Pritzker Prize To help support excellent and accessible, independent journalism about the bu...

In this episode of Deconstructed, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Petra Cox – heritage educator, Open City tour guide and Golden Key Academy graduate. They discuss Crossness Pumping Station, constructed from 1859–65 by William Webster to designs by Charles Henry Driver to serve the entire southern half of Joseph Bazalgette's London sewer system. Commissioned by the Metropolitan Board of Works,...

On The Brief this week, host Sahiba Chadha is joined by the editor of London Centric Jim Waterson, to discuss: The man behind Criterion Capital, Asif Aziz // Safety concerns around London Lime bikes // Demonstrations in Peckham against high-rise regeneration // And what this year's winner of the Jane Drew Prize says about architecture in 2025. To help support excellent and accessible, independent...

InterCities is a brand new podcast from the team at Open City. In this six-part series, we travel to a number of cities and boroughs around the world that have transformed over time to discover what we can learn from these places’ achievements, struggles, successes and mistakes. In our first episode, our host Owen Hatherly is joined by the architect Ana Francisco Sutherland, the director of Franci...

In this episode, host Merlin Fulcher is joined by the CEO of Open City, Manijeh Verghese to discuss: UK government unveils plans for dozens of new towns across England // The proposed dismantling of Grenfell Tower is met with strong opposition // Japanese architecture duo SANAA win the 2025 RIBA Royal Gold Medal // And the spiritual leader and champion of Islamic architecture, the Aga Khan, has di...

In this episode of Deconstructed, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by George Saumarez Smith, Design Director at ADAM Architecture. They discuss the church of St Anne's Limehouse, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and consecrated in 1730 as one of the 'Queen Anne Churches' built by the New Church Commission.  St Anne's Limehouse is currently campaigning to raise funds for repairs ahead of their te...

In this episode, host Merlin Fulcher is joined by Jon Wright, an historian and 20 Century lead at Purcell to discuss: Plans to revamp London’s Brutalist Barbican Centre // A redevelopment bid for Denys Lasdun’s ‘glass castle’ // Tributes for legendary Archigram member Dennis Crompton // And a campaign to save Soho’s Prince Charles cinema. To help support excellent and accessible, independent...

This week Sahiba Chadha is joined by Julian Maynard, industrial designer and the managing director of Maynard Design Group.  The Elizabeth Line spurs on new development, but across England, planning approvals for housing have seen record lows // A transformative redesign of London’s Regent Street area is won by Allies and Morrison // The first-ever winner of the RIBA Stirling prize is set to...

In the first episode of Deconstructed , Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Eleanor Marshall, an architectural designer and civil servant at the Department for Transport who runs Open City’s London Public Health Architecture Walking Tour. They discuss Finsbury Health Centre, an iconic modernist building in Clerkenwell, designed by the architect Berthold Lubetkin’s practice Tecton and built for Fins...

This week Merlin Fulcher is joined by journalist and YouTuber Jon Stone to discuss the week's major stories in architecture and the built environment: Ministers warned UK housing crisis threatens the economy and NHS recovery // How 2025 could be transformative for London cycling // A new study suggests doubling London St Pancras International’s capacity // And could the Palace of Westminster witne...

De-constructed is Open City's brand new podcast which explores buildings, places, landscapes and communities, taking apart their architecture piece by piece to better understand what makes them so compelling. Each month, Matthew Lloyd Robert is joined by a different guest and transported to a location of their choice, that reveals something about the past, present and future of the built environme...

This week Merlin Fulcher is joined by Peter Murray OBE, the co-founder of New London Architecture to discuss the week's major stories in architecture and the built environment: Angela Rayner approves M&S’s contentious Oxford Street redevelopment // Keir Starmer sets down new Housing and Infrastructure pledges  // New data shows average house prices are no longer affordable on average inco...

This week Merlin Fulcher is joined by the author, columnist and SAVE founding trustee Simon Jenkins to discuss:  Smithfields meat market closes for good after 850 years // Councils raise concerns over unrealistic government housing targets // Brighton’s i360 enters administration // And cycling in London booms more than 25 per cent in the past five years To help support excellent and accessib...