Architecture Topics

1111 Lincoln Road is not the kind of building most people expect to become a landmark. It is, after all, a parking garage. But in Miami Beach, Herzog & de Meuron turned that ordinary building type into one of the city’s most recognizable pieces of contemporary architecture. In this episode, we tell the story of how developer Robert Wennett, architect Christine Binswanger, and Herzog & de M...

Discover the history and architecture of the Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India, officially known as the Bahá’í House of Worship. Designed by Iranian architect Fariborz Sahba, its 27 white marble petals transformed the sacred lotus into one of Delhi’s most recognizable landmarks. This episode follows the project from the purchase of its site in Bahapur to Sahba’s search for a form that could represe...

Discover the extraordinary story of Hagia Sophia, one of Istanbul’s most important architectural landmarks and one of the most influential buildings in world history. Built in the sixth century, when Istanbul was still Constantinople, Hagia Sophia became the great cathedral of the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justinian I. Its vast central dome, dramatic interior space and innovative structural d...

The Citigroup Center, originally known as the Citicorp Center and now officially called 601 Lexington Avenue, is one of the most distinctive skyscrapers in Midtown Manhattan and one of New York City’s great stories of architecture and structural engineering. In this episode, we explore how architect Hugh Stubbins and structural engineer William LeMessurier designed the 59-story tower around an unu...

The KIO Towers, officially known as Puerta de Europa, are two of the most recognizable buildings in Madrid. Standing at Plaza de Castilla on the Paseo de la Castellana, these dramatic leaning skyscrapers have become an unmistakable symbol of the Spanish capital. In this episode, we explore the architecture and history of the KIO Towers, from Madrid’s expansion north and the transformation of Plaza...

Discover the story of the Louvre Pyramid, one of the most famous landmarks in Paris and an essential stop for anyone visiting the Louvre Museum. We explore how architect I. M. Pei transformed the historic Cour Napoléon with a modern glass pyramid, why the project caused such controversy, and how it eventually became one of the defining images of Paris. From François Mitterrand’s Grand Louvre proje...

As heatwaves become more frequent and cities grow hotter, air conditioning is becoming one of the most important architectural questions of our time. But the future of AC is not as simple as installing more machines everywhere. In this final episode of The Architecture of Cool , we explore air conditioning, climate change, home comfort, urban heat, energy use, refrigerants, green roofs, street tre...

Air conditioning changed more than indoor comfort. It changed the way homes, apartments, facades, windows, ceilings, and cities were designed. In this episode of The Architecture of Cool , we explore how AC entered domestic life, from window units in older apartment buildings to central air in modern homes and split systems in historic European cities. A story about architecture, air conditioning,...

Air conditioning is not just a modern convenience. It belongs to one of architecture’s oldest questions: how do we create shelter from the world outside? In this episode of The Architecture of Cool , we explore climate control as a core part of architecture, from shade, walls, courtyards, wind, and water to the invention of modern AC in the early twentieth century. This is a story about heat, comf...

Step into 1920s Chicago and discover the story behind the Carbide & Carbon Building, one of the most striking Art Deco skyscrapers ever built in the United States. In this episode of Architecture Topics, we explore the atmosphere of the roaring twenties, the rise of skyscraper culture in Chicago, and the corporate ambition that transformed architecture into a symbol of power and modernity. Des...

In this episode of Architecture Topics, we explore the story of Casa Batlló, Antoni Gaudí’s extraordinary renovation on Barcelona’s Passeig de Gràcia that helped redefine what architecture could look and feel like in the early 20th century. We talk about the transformation of Barcelona during the rise of the Catalan Modernist movement, the ambitions of the city’s wealthy industrial class, and the...

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most recognizable landmarks in New York City, but when construction began in the 1860s, many people believed it was impossible to build. In this episode of Architecture Topics, we explore the complete story behind the Brooklyn Bridge, from the days when ferries were the only way to cross the East River, to the dangerous construction of the bridge’s underwater foun...

The Oriental Pearl Tower is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world, but it wasn’t built to join a skyline, it was built before the skyline existed. In this episode of Architecture Topics, we travel back to 1980s Shanghai to understand how the city transformed from an inward-looking industrial center into a global financial hub, and how the development of Pudong changed everything. We...

Boston City Hall is one of the most controversial buildings in the world, often ranked among both the best and worst examples of architecture. In this episode, we break down the full story of Boston City Hall, one of the most iconic Brutalist buildings ever designed. From the demolition of Boston’s West End and the urban renewal of the 1950s and 60s, to the creation of Government Center and the ra...

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most famous buildings in the world. But it was never meant to look like this. In this episode, we explore how a 12th century bell tower in Pisa, Italy, became one of architecture’s most iconic accidents. From the ambition of a powerful maritime republic, to unstable soil, halted construction, and centuries of slow movement, this is the story of how a structu...

In this episode of Architecture Topics , we explore Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro , one of the most iconic landmarks in the world and a defining symbol of Brazil. Perched atop Corcovado Mountain , overlooking Guanabara Bay , Sugarloaf Mountain , and the skyline of Rio, this 30-meter tall Art Deco statue attracts nearly two million visitors every year. But how did a reinforced concrete monu...

In this episode of Architecture Topics, we explore the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and completed in 1963, the Beinecke Library stands as one of the most distinctive works of modern architecture on a university campus in the United States. Built during a period of rapid academic...

In this episode of Architecture Topics, we explore the full story behind the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, from their origins in late-20th-century Malaysia to the global controversy that reshaped how skyscrapers are measured. Designed by César Pelli and completed in 1998, the Petronas Towers were declared the tallest buildings in the world, surpassing the Sears Tower in Chicago. That declaratio...

In this final episode of our Case Study House mini series, we step back from individual buildings and look at the experiment as a whole. Launched in postwar Los Angeles, the Case Study House program brought together architects like Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig, Craig Ellwood, Richard Neutra, and Eero Saarinen to rethink modern living through architecture. Over nearly two decades, more than...

Case Study House 22, also known as the Stahl House, designed by Pierre Koenig in Los Angeles, is one of the most iconic examples of mid century modern architecture. Overlooking the city and defined by steel, glass, and extreme exposure, the house became a powerful symbol of modern living in postwar California. In this episode, we explore how Case Study House 22 transformed domestic architecture in...

Designed by Craig Ellwood in the early nineteen fifties, Case Study House number sixteen, also known as the Salzman House, offers a rigorous vision of mid-century modern living in Bel Air, Los Angeles . Here, architecture does not adapt to daily life. Instead, it establishes a clear order, asking its occupants to live carefully within it. In this episode, we explore the Salzman House as an exercis...

Case Study House number eight, designed by Charles and Ray Eames, is often celebrated as an icon of modern architecture. But its true significance lies not in how it looks, but in how it was lived in. In this episode, we explore a house that treated architecture as a flexible framework rather than a finished statement. A place where work, family life, and creativity unfolded side by side, and wher...

After the Second World War, the United States faced an urgent question. How to house a new generation, and what that new way of living should look like. In this episode, we explore the origins of the Case Study House program, an ambitious experiment launched in California to rethink the modern home. Architects, editors, manufacturers, and clients came together to treat the house not as a finished...

For decades, a handful of architects shaped cities, skylines, and the public imagination. They were ambitious, controversial, sometimes flawed, and often brilliant. We called them starchitects. Today, almost all of them are gone, or well into their seventies, eighties, and nineties. And strangely, no new generation has replaced them. In this episode, we look at the data behind the rise and disappe...

Explore the story behind the Unité d’Habitation in Marseille, Le Corbusier’s groundbreaking experiment in collective living. This episode looks at post war France, the housing crisis that shaped the commission, and the ideas that drove Le Corbusier to rethink how communities could live together. From the Modulor and the design of the duplex apartments to the challenges of construction, the first r...