The Aesthetic City

Join us as we delve into the rich world of classical architecture with our distinguished guest, Pablo Funes. A seasoned architect hailing from Spain, Pablo has laid his professional roots in London. With an impressive educational background that spans the University of Sevilla and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, his journey in architecture has been marked by a noteworthy tenure at Stanhope...

Mark Wilson Jones is an an esteemed academic architectural historian. He is known for his significant contributions to the understanding of architectural history of antiquity, mostly through his seminal work on the Pantheon. He doesn’t limit himself to historical research, but is a practicing architect at his own firm, Apollodorus Architecture.  Previously an Associate Professor at the university...

In today's episode we are joined by Ann Sussman, architect and president of the Human Architecture and Planning Institute, or the Hapi. Her book Cognitive Architecture, which she authored together with Justin Hollander, dives into the cognitive effects that our built environment has on us humans. Cognitive Architecture is an important source for anyone who wants to consider the human experienc...

In today's episode we are joined by Patrick Webb, master plasterer, educator, a strong proponent of traditional architecture and a bit of a philosopher as well. Although Patrick's everyday work is that of a craftsman, this conversation dives deep into today's struggle to create beauty against the backdrop of a society that steadfastly chooses the machine over the human hand, money over long-term v...

Léon Krier is a renowned Luxembourgian architect and urban planner, often hailed as the godfather of the New Urbanism and Traditional Urbanism movement. He has been a vocal critic of modernist architecture, advocating instead for a return to traditional, human-scale urban design. Krier's philosophy emphasizes walkable neighborhoods, a mix of housing types, and a harmonious blend of architectur...

Maria Sánchez and Pedro Godoy are two architects from Guatemala in South America. The couple graduated at Notre Dame School for Architecture in South Bend, Indiana, after which they returned to Guatemala to set up their firm Estudio Urbano. In Guatemala, they have worked on one of the most special and successful masterplans in the world of traditional architecture and urbanism: Cayalá. Together wi...

Michael Diamant is founder of New Traditional Architecture & Urbanism and is a very vocal critic of Modernist architecture and planning. He has fought a long battle against the ugliness that results from Modernism in Sweden, but he is also getting more recognition abroad, with guest talks in various podcasts, getting articles in various magazines and even at the National Capital Commission in...

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Alejandro García Hermida to the podcast today. He is an architect with a PhD and a Master's degree in Conservation and Restoration of Architectural Heritage, as well as an Associate Professor at the Department of Architectural Composition at the School of Architecture of the UPM in Madrid. His professional expertise lies in traditional architecture and building m...

We're thrilled to have none other than Professor Nikos Salingaros as our guest on this episode. He is a distinguished Greek-American mathematician and urban theorist who has made substantial contributions to the realms of architecture and urban design. He has authored numerous influential books and articles, promoting traditional and human-scale architecture while critiquing modernist and post...

We are delighted to host Peter Drijver as our guest today. He is a skilled architect from the Netherlands with a fascinating background. While studying architecture in Delft, the Netherlands, he participated in a group that created a 'counter-project,' providing additional and more affordable student rooms on the same land. He completed his studies with a counter-design for The Hague's...

We're excited to have Eric Norin as our guest on this episode. Eric is a classical architect from Sweden who studied at the School of Architecture in Stockholm, but fully discovered his passion for classical architecture at the Engelsberg summer school. Eric has been actively involved in the Swedish Architecture Uprising for several years, watching its growth and impact on the national conversatio...

Katherine O'Neil is a placemaking consultant, writer, photographer, and community event planner, specializing in urban design and city planning. Over the last ten years, she has worked for various non-profits and start-ups, such as Habitat for Humanity and the Urban Land Institute. Her goal has been to inspire more sustainable, affordable, accessible live, work, and play places. In 2020, Katherine...

Brandon Ro is a professor at Utah Valley University and an experienced Classical architect from the USA. He has over 16 years of experience in both new construction and renovation, and has worked for private sector developers, state universities, governmental agencies, religious institutions and more. At Utah Valley University he has developed a curriculum for new courses. He is active as a resear...

Erik Bootsma is a Catholic architect and author, specialised in classical and sacred architecture. He is instructor of sacred architecture at the Catholic Distance University and has given many lectures at various colleges. Over the years, he has built up extensive knowledge about ecclesiastical and other sacred architecture. He is also involved in the planning of several new urban districts, like...

Peter Verschuren is an experienced Dutch urbanist who has worked for the Town Planning Department of both Rotterdam and The Hague and later founded his own urban design consultancy firm, 'Fijne Stad'. He has also been active as a board member for INTBAU the Netherlands, and is a member of the Dutch Chapter of the Council for European Urbanism. In this episode we talk about his experience as an Urb...

Professor Michael Lykoudis is an experienced architect, educator and consultant. He is a professor at the University of Notre Dame's School of Architecture, where he served as its first dean from 2004 until 2020. In this episode, we talk about traditional & classical architecture education, about the origin of the Driehaus prize, building materials, problems with modern ways of building and mu...

Nicholas Boys Smith is founder of CreateStreets, an organisation that exists to help solve the housing crisis and that aims to help actors such as developers, landowners, councils and neighbourhoods to create more beautiful, sustainable places. The places that CreateStreets envisions are of gentle density, popular, and with high probability correlated with good wellbeing and public health outcomes...

Professor Robert Adam has over 40 years of experience as an architect, specialised in Classical architecture. In 1992 he founded ADAM Architecture, having been a partner at an architectural firm since 1977. He authored numerous publications including the well known 'Classical Architecture, A Complete Handbook' and was the founder of INTBAU, the International Network of Traditional Building, Archit...

Sarah Bannister is a promising urban planner from Bath, studying for her masters at the Bartlett School of Planning in London. She has a diverse range of experience, from working for the Swindon Borough Council to working for CreateStreets and the Bath preservation trust. Currently she works for Meristem Design, a company that aims to make our cities more liveable and healthy through urban greener...

Coby Lefkowitz is an urbanist, developer and writer living in New York City. He was a real estate analyst, but left his company to co-found Backyard, a real estate startup. He studied urban and environmental planning at the University of Virginia and writes for the Metropolis column for Medium. In this second interview with Coby we discuss the topic of highrise in various contexts, NIMBYism and de...

Michael Spicher is a writer and philosopher, who is specialised in art and aesthetics. He is based in Boston and earned his PhD in Philosophy from the University of South Carolina. He currently teaches at Massachusetts College of Art & Design and Boston Architectural College. Apart from that he also founded the Aesthetics Research Lab in 2016, with an excellent website that showcases a lot of...

Building Culture creates wonderful structural brick masonry, something not common in current construction practice (to put it very mildly). Their work is beautiful, of excellent quality and above all, authentic . This authenticity sparks a passion and lingering desire for beauty in many who see their work. Starting Building Culture has been a life changing experience for its founder Austin Tunnell...

Steve Wright is a storyteller, educator, advocate and planner with four decades of expertise in planning, urban design, engineering and universal design. His key focus is on how to make our cities and buildings more inclusive and accessible to all. He co-created a universal design course at the University of Miami School of Architecture, together with his wife of 33 years, who has used a wheelchai...

Samuel Hughes is a research fellow at Oxford University and senior fellow at Policy Exchange and Create Streets. He has a background in philosophy, as he completed his PhD in Philosophy in 2020 in Cambridge. He spent time as a visiting researcher at many other universities and served as research assistant to the British governments’ Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission. In this episode,...

Ben Southwood has worked for KPMG, was head of research at the Adam Smith Institute and the head of Housing, Transport and Urban Space at the UK think tank ‘Policy Exchange’. He has also assisted CreateStreets as head of research. Currently he is editor at Stripe, for the online journal Works in Progress. An excellent source for high quality, optimistic articles on scientific progress, innovation...