Inhabit

In the Season 04 finale of Inhabit , Erika Eitland and Kimberly Seigel explore how public art is helping us adapt to one of today’s most urgent climate threats: extreme heat. From misting sculptures like Harbor Fog to kinetic installations like Heat Blooms , these public works of art double as education, refuge, and cooling interventions. With insights from public health and creative leaders, they...

What makes public art public ? In this episode, Erika Eitland and Kimberly Seigel explore Boston's evolving public art ecosystem on the MBTA — from subway performers to citywide festivals like the Boston Public Art Triennial. Follow our hosts as they uncover how temporary and permanent works alike shape civic life, activate transit spaces, and respond to challenges like climate change.    To read...

Inhabit is back! With a new season, a new city, and a new co-host. Join us as we explore how design is a future planet intervention. We are uncovering the role of public art in shaping our built environment and collective imagination. In this first episode, our hosts Dr. Erika Eitland and Kimberly “Kimi” Seigel dive into public spaces to highlight how people, art, and design intersect throughout t...

Home is where the dumplings are—and dumplings are best shared in shared spaces. In our Toronto series finale, Eunice reflects on their emotional city, and Erika and Lauren reflect on the public-space lessons they’re taking home to Massachusetts and Atlanta. Also: momo moments. Click here for show notes . Follow us @ inhabit.podcast . Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network .

We’ve been working up to this one all series. They’re the public spaces that show off in plain sight: PARKS! Eunice, Erika, Lauren, and friends of Inhabit take a snowy walk through Eunice’s neighborhood park and then dive deep with public park advocates Adri Stark and Wes Reibeling about designing for dignity and Toronto’s oldest openly queer park space. Also: pigeon fixing. Click here for show no...

Eunice introduces their boss, Paul Kulig, who shares his big thesis about Toronto's suburbs and the walkable city. Then Eunice takes Erika and Lauren to Jane and Finch, where the community has reclaimed an unused corner of a mall parking lot as a proud public space called Corner Commons—a National Urban Design winner! Also: truth bombs. Click here for show notes. Follow us @ inhabit.podcast . Inha...

Dr. Producer Lauren hits the road to NeoCon 2023 with interior designer—and Inhabit nerd—David Cordell. She shares highlights from his panel on the Principles of Sustainable Design, then heads into the podcast booth with him and co-panelist Joey Shimoda to get their hot takes on sustainability in design. Also: the Diddy clan. Click here for show notes .  Follow us @ inhabit.podcast .   Inhabit is...

Erika, Eunice, and Lauren continue their food tour of Toronto’s North York suburb with food writer Suresh Doss. Inside Dream Yunnan Chòng’s new uptown location, they discover Suresh’s tech roots and get his hot takes on big data’s blind spots. Then the very person who inspired Eunice to become an urban planner, Dr. Zhixi Zhuang, shares her keys to planning an emotional city. Also: the Internet of...

Erika, Eunice, and Lauren take the subway north on the longest street in the world for Part 1 of an ethnoburb food tour with acclaimed Toronto food writer Suresh Doss. They start with lattes at a cozy third-wave coffeeshop on what urban planners call a "soft site." Then they go for juicy Shanghai baos at a complex on Yonge Street where developers have made growth AND cultural preservation possible...

Head outside with hosts Eunice Wong and Dr. Erika Eitland as they kick off a new season focused on public space. Together they unpack the tension between who designs our public space and who occupies it. They also explore the power of design, policy, and research with Zahra Ebrahim, CEO and co-founder of Monumental, an organization that specializes in deep, community-led approaches to policy, infr...

Inhabit is back for a third season! Over the coming weeks, co-host Eunice Wong welcomes us to their home city of Toronto. We talk to a food writer, a professor, a parks nonprofit, a public interest designer, a community center—and along the way we learn how to unlock the power of public spaces. Check out the Inhabit website here .  Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network .

Get to know David Favela on his own terms on his own turf—in the beer garden of Border X Brewing in Barrio Logan, San Diego. In this extended interview, the Chicano CEO and brewery owner shares his backstory in the technology industry, his hot takes on culture and sustainable development, and why his community needs a Chicano 2.0. Plus, meet Yanel de Angel, managing director of Perkins&Will’s Bost...

The warm weather is long gone, but hosts Eunice and Erika are still nerding out about Border X Brewing and Barrio Logan in San Diego. In this episode, they ask how we put numbers on the success of thriving communities and businesses. For David Favela, the answer lies in the spatial and soulful statistics. To help understand this story, Eunice and Erika reflect on the importance of “mixing up” how...

Continuing the conversation with David Favela of Border X Brewing in San Diego’s Barrio Logan, Eunice and Erika confront the hard truths about zoning, revitalization, and community engagement. Then David offers his strategy for gente-fication, a more human approach to community development that requires both perspiration and perseverance. Click here for the show notes. Inhabit is a member of the S...

Erika and Eunice invite you into their soulful conversation with San Diegan brewery owner and economic-development expert David Favela. They explore how cultural representation can unlock the power of design at any scale, from our neighborhoods to the beers we drink. They identify key ingredients for authentic design excellence and remind you that “you are cool.” Click here for the show notes. Inh...

Don’t put away the beach bag just yet. The Perkins&Will podcast is back with a new co-host—hello, Eunice Wong!—and a special series focused on the people and places that bring us joy. Over three episodes, Erika and Eunice break down their recent conversation with Chicano brewery owner David Favela and how he designs for equity in Barrio Logan, San Diego. Click here for the show notes. Inhabit is a...

Hear the full interview with our expert guest from Episode 03, Tracy Washington Enger at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Find out how Tracy and the Indoor Environments Division turned knowledge into action with their Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools program and why this is our moment to make our schools "palaces of learning." Plus, hear a special introduction from Rachael Dumas...

Erika and Monica go back to school to understand the dire state of indoor air quality in the buildings at the heart of the Healthy Buildings Movement: U.S. K–12 schools. They connect with healthy schools advocates around the country and talk to Tracy Washington Enger at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about the rock stars who are making an impact in their school districts. Click here for...

Hear the full interview with our expert guests from Episode 02, Alison Mears and Jonsara Ruth, founders of the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design. Learn about who holds the power to make our built environment healthier and a special case study featuring America’s largest landlord, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Plus, hear a warm introduction from Kimberly Seigel, a res...

Hosts Erika and Monica seek out some tough love on one of our most intimate relationships: the one between buildings and our bodies. Learn what happens when chemical manufacturers withhold health information from consumers, specifically about a class of synthetic chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). You’ll hear from environmental-health and design experts as well as Healthy Materia...

Listen to the first installment of “In the Room With,” where we share the full interviews with our thought-provoking guests. Following on the heels of our first episode, we’re taking you into the room for the longer conversation with Dr. Joe Allen, the director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Plus, hear an introduction from Yehia Madkour, innovati...

Get to know our hosts, Dr. Erika Eitland and Monica Kumar as they walk you through the movement that has brought us to this healthy buildings moment. They shed light on the obstacles to healthier spaces and talk to Dr. Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University. You too can use the power of design to make healthy, equitable environments for everyone. Click here t...

Perkins&Will's podcast about the power of design arrives January 2022. In Series 1, hosts Monica Kumar and Dr. Erika Eitland dive into the Healthy Buildings Movement and why "design is a public health intervention." Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.