Mixed Signal Podcast

What stories do architects tell themselves—and how do those stories shape the work they create? This week on Mixed Signals, the MXD crew is joined by Kristen Mimms Scavnicky and Adrienne Economos-Miller, educators, artists, and designers whose work explores the powerful relationship between narrative, identity, and representation in architecture. We begin with a round of Cold Crits featuring stude...

The MXD crew welcomes Dr. Rebecca McConnell to the podcast! We discuss the evolving role of the rendering in Architecture in light of new Artificial Intelligence image generation techniques. We then move into a special edition of Cold Crits, featuring speculative Architectural projects from Artist Ismail Seleit. We then discuss some of the differences between education and Academia in the United S...

The MXD crew talks with Gary Polk (BIG, Penn, Pratt) to break down the boundaries of Architectural representation and drawing. We start by diving into previous year's Archisource' Drawing of the Year Competition finalists—debating the line between a "drawing of architecture" vs. an "architectural drawing"—and discuss why standard diagrams might be ruining the discipline...

The MXD crew welcomes Ryosuke Imaeda to discuss models, materiality, craft, and mysterious architectural objects! We start off the episode with a model-focused edition of Cold-Crits. Ryo tells the MXD crew about his time at global design firms Zaha Hadid Architects and Reiser Umemoto Reiser. We also discuss his design-research through teaching and his perspective on materiality and craft in the pr...

The MXD crew welcomes Brendan Ho from Kent State University's College of Architecture and Environmental Design to the studio. We talk about the artist formerly known as Kanye West (Ye), his impactful and controversial career, his stunning SoFi stage design, and his April Fools / possibly real bid to redesign the West wing of the White House? Matt springs a story on us of his IRL run in with Ka...

The MXD crew is joined by Casey Rehm, Coordinator of the Masters of Science in Architectural Intelligence program at SciArc (Southern California Institute of Architecture). He is an expert in computation and a specialist in Artificial Intelligence and specifically a leader in speculation on its impact on Architecture. He is the perfect person to help us catch up on the state of AI and its impact o...

Joined by Architect and educator Andy Bako, the MXD crew unpack the controversy surrounding the accessibility failures of the Hunter’s Point Library by Steven Holl—and the shocking lawsuit that it has resulted in. Is this a failure of ADA compliance, or a deeper failure of spatial design and architectural thinking? And how does something like this happen at the highest level of practice? We also t...

The MXD crew dives deep into the World-making, Architecture, and game design of the viral Bungie video game Marathon with special guest Joseph Cross, art director behind the game’s bold and polarizing visual identity. We explore how Marathon’s aesthetic—what Cross calls “graphic realism”—blends architecture, product design, branding, and visual culture into a unified world. From construction-site...

Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu of Oyler Wu Collaborative join Mixed Signals to unpack a design approach that refuses to sit in one camp. From line-based experiments to volumetric assemblies, their work navigates between digital and physical, drawing and making, theory and play. Rather than choosing a singular architectural identity, they argue for operating across multiple “camps”—a position that refra...

OMA’s new museum expansion becomes the focal point of this episode of Mixed Signals —not just as a project, but as a case study in how architecture is judged today. The crew unpacks the building’s spatial ambitions, formal logic, and urban presence before confronting a viral critique claiming that “OMA can’t detail.” What follows is a layered discussion on authorship, construction quality, and the...

In this episode of Mixed Signals, the crew is joined by Cathal Crumley for a wide-ranging conversation about the life of the "Online Architect", the rise of meme-based criticism, digital culture, and how architectural ideas are being communicated through new platforms. The episode moves from the “seven wonders of cyberspace” and virtual memory in games like Animal Crossing and Call of Duty: Warzon...

In this episode of Mixed Signals, we debate architecture school culture, spring break studio work, and the strange world of contemporary design competitions. From exceptional student models at UDK Berlin and UPenn Weitzman to the rise of “Eco-blob” and the "Urban Pile" climate architecture, we ask what today’s projects are really proposing—and whether any of them could become a true world wonder....

This week we unpack the NOMA/NOMAS Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition to debates about realism, anti-renders, architectural photography, and why certain images of cities feel more truthful than polished architectural visuals. The MXD crew unpacks student competition work, community-centered design, architectural representation, and the tension between formal design discourse and real-wor...

Some architecture projects have nothing to do with buildings. What happens when architecture moves into film, video games, and speculative world-building? In this episode of Mixed Signals, the MXD crew are joined by Liam Young (Director of the Fiction and Entertainment program at SCI-Arc) and Nate Hume (recently appointed Graduate and Post-Graduate chair at SCI-Arc) to discuss how architecture is...

In this episode of Mixed Signals, we dive into architectural education, student work, and the future of the discipline with special guest Ryan Scavnicky. From a segment of 'cold crits' looking at recent University of Pennsylvania studio projects to debates about Peter Eisenman, post-digital aesthetics, and neo-brutalism, we ask: what is architecture prioritizing right now? The conversation expands...

What happens when the “dream office” looks a lot more like the rest of the industry? In this Mix Signals segment, we get into the uncomfortable reality behind architecture’s prestige economy—where star firms are idolized, but pay, job security, and working conditions can still be fragile. We talk through the reported proposed redundancies at BIG’s London office and why architects protesting public...

The MXD crew discusses Digital and Post-Digital Architecture. What's the difference and does it matter? We also discuss student work from the Bartlett and the role of the animation in explaining the projects. Also, is the corporate glossy render done? We talk about the trend of the 'anti-render'.

The MXD crew discusses Architecture and its agency in the political sphere, a feeling of powerlessness as Architecture is less critically impactful in the wider culture. We also review a new batch of student projects, this time from University of Texas at Austin as well as one more OSU project. We also look at architectural anomalies, "Smol vs Somol", and a round of Architecture DND?! Ma...

In this episode of Mixed Signals, we dive into a heated conversation on architecture, politics, authorship, and education—using The ATTN Podcast by the Architecture Exchange (Season 8) as a jumping-off point. We unpack what it means to talk about democracy, plurality, and politics in architecture without turning the discipline into a catch-all moral project. From post-critical theory and the legac...

Season 2 kicks off with a debate: do architecture books still matter—or has the discourse moved to Instagram, TikTok, and the feed? We unpack “rough-around-the-edges” aesthetics, anti-tech vibes, and why “Architecture (Big A)” feels fragmented into niches—then shift to student work, skyscrapers, and the new digital-art/collage frontier.

The MXD crew is joined by Matt Lopez, Claire Moriarty, and Riley Studebaker to celebrate the Season 1 Finale. #architecturedesign #podcast #art #architecture #design

Ep 14 - our part 2 of our holiday special where we have many guest to discuss the legacy of Frank Gehry, new leadership at Cooper Union architecture program, more AI realted conversations.

Ep 13 - our part 1 of our holiday special where we have many guest to speak changes in the architectural field from ai and rappers emerging into the architecture profession and we discuss contentious architectural education changes needed from retiring the design jury in design reviews; to closing down the studio space after hours.

Matt Lopez joins the crew to discuss the sometimes ugly world of sports architecture.

The MXD crew discusses the legacy of Robert Stern and postmodernism, exploring how facades, ornament, and massing shape some of New York City’s most luxurious buildings. We discuss how architects turn design decisions into capital, why ornament matters even today, and the role of digital craft vs brutalism in modern architecture.