USModernist Radio - Architecture You Love

Ever wondered how the famed children's book Knuffle Bunny intersects with thoughtful urban planning?  Probably not. However, today's guest is well-versed in both! Allison Arieff is editorial director of SPUR, a San Francisco-based thinktank promoting urban planning in the Bay area. Allison writes about architecture, design, and cities for the New York Times, California Sunday, Wired, MIT Technolog...

One of the problems with preserving futuristic-looking Modernist buildings is that they just don't look that old.  They aren't universally loved, in fact some of them weren't that popular when they were built.  The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private nonprofit organization to decelerate the destruction of important artistic treasures throughout the world.  You might have heard of the Leaning T...

Host George Smart   reports from the USModernist trip to London last May.  He visits architect Alison Brooks who has won the triple crown of the UK's most prestigious awards for architecture: the RIBA Stirling Prize, the Manser Medal and the Stephen Lawrence Prize. Do you know you've arrived as an architect when your building gets a nickname?  And, for the first time, you'll hear the guys all sing...

Host George Smart reports from February's Modernism Week in Palm Springs, the center for all things Mid-Century Modernist!  He spoke poolside from the Hotel Skylark with keynote speakers from the amazing week of design, art, food, lectures, movies - a delightful week. George talks with Penelope Seidler , her daughter Polly Seidler , and documentary producer Daryl Dellora who created a compelling d...

June is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Frank Lloyd Wright , the most famous architect in the world, still showing off 58 years after his death. Few architects have come close to Wright's arrogance, his brilliance, and his incredible output that's still with us plus buildings he designed that never got built. Today we talk with Eric Lloyd Wright , grandson of Frank, and son of Frank Lloyd Wr...

Host George Smart reports from February's Modernism Week in Palm Springs, ground zero for all things Mid-Century Modernist!  He spoke poolside from the Hotel Skylark with keynote speakers from the week. And today is Indiana day! Todd Zeiger is the Northern Regional Director for Indiana Landmarks Director, a nonprofit saving significant and meaningful places.  He's been particularly working saving...

Kate Wagner created the riotously popular blog McMansionhell.com where she tears into the impractically large, ridiculously constructed, and often hilariously furnished monuments to wealth misspent.  As a writer for Curbed and other design publications, she has appeared on 99% Invisible and has her own TEDx talk.  Like us, she's a fan of Modernist evil lairs, writing on buildings used in film to d...

Host George Smart reports from February's Modernism Week in Palm Springs, the Mecca for all things Mid-Century Modernist!  He spoke poolside from the Hotel Skylark with keynote speakers from the week. Annalisa Capurro, aka Ms. Modernism, is a interior designer, design educator, architectural historian, speaker, writer, preservationist, MCM photographer, and mid-century design afficionado who lives...

A lot of Modernist houses you love from the 1950's and 1960's are going the way of unfortunate "renovations" or the bulldozer, largely because few people are aware of their architectural significance.  Although most houses by famous architects are on lists, it's difficult to find where they are actually located. We talk with two expert house trackers who have between them documented thousands of h...

Host   George Smart   reports from February's Modernism Week in Palm Springs, the Mecca for all things Mid-Century Modernist!  He spoke poolside from the Hotel Skylark with keynote speakers from the amazing annual event. Bill Earls is the author of The Harvard Five in New Canaan, Modernist houses by Breuer , Gores, Johansen, Johnson , and Noyes.  A virtual tour of thirty-five landmark houses, 1947...

Today we explore two different approaches to reviving Modernist buildings: preserving them or building them from scratch! Michael Miner is a documentary filmmaker who since 2002 has devoted his career entirely to the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, chronicling the master architect's buildings in a series of films. Miner's first Wright film, Sacred Spaces , was completed in 2005 followed by A Child of...

Host George Smart reports from February's Modernism Week in Palm Springs, the Mecca for all things Modernist!  He spoke poolside from the Hotel Skylark with keynote speakers from the week. Alan Hess is a journalist, historian, architect, and author with 19 books specifically addressing mid-century modernism and countless appearances in architecture documentaries.  He's the Samuel L. Jackson of arc...

If you've seen a thriller like North By Northwest or Diamonds are Forever (or many others since) you may have noticed that the bad guy has impeccable taste.  The classic villain has custom-tailored suits (or dresses, let's not be sexist), a high-end car you can't even buy used at Carmax, a British or vaguely Russian accent, and a gorgeous Modernist house, preferably with a killer view as certainly...

Tom goes around the world!  Frank is Shanghai'd!  And George mumbles something about an evil lair!  Learn more about what's coming up as USMR resumes March 6 with great guests.

In 1957, architect Jorn Utzon unexpectedly won the commission for the iconic Sydney Opera House.  His submission was one of 233 designs from 32 countries, many of them from the most famous architects of the day.  Saarinen described the design as "genius" and declared he could not endorse any other choice. Yet building the project was rife with politics, cost overruns, incompetent cost estimators i...

Sean Knorsandi of the Paul Rudolph Foundation Every year, Sarasota Mod in Sarasota FL throws a great conference on mid-century modern and this year was focused on Paul Rudolph , an architect who made his name in exciting coastal architecture before moving on to become Dean of Architecture at Yale.  Rudolph's work is recognized around the world for bold, progressive masses.  People are polarized ar...

Stephanie Grosskreutz of Visit Sarasota Every year, Sarasota Mod in Sarasota FL throws a great conference on mid-century modern and this year was focused on Paul Rudolph , an architect who made his name in exciting coastal architecture before moving on to become Dean of Architecture at Yale.  Rudolph's work is recognized around the world for bold, progressive masses.  People are polarized around h...

Every year, Sarasota Mod in Sarasota FL throws a great conference on mid-century modern and this year was focused on Paul Rudolph , an architect who made his name in exciting coastal architecture before moving on to become Dean of Architecture at Yale.  Rudolph's work is recognized around the world for bold, progressive masses.  People are polarized around his work.  Modernists praise his visionar...

Every year, Sarasota Mod in Sarasota FL throws a great conference on mid-century modern and this year was focused on Paul Rudolph , an architect who made his name in exciting coastal architecture before moving on to become Dean of Architecture at Yale.  Rudolph's work is recognized around the world for bold, progressive masses.  People are polarized around his work.  Modernists praise his visionar...

Every year, Sarasota Mod in Sarasota FL throws a great conference on mid-century modern and this year was focused on Paul Rudolph , an architect who made his name in exciting coastal architecture before moving on to become Dean of Architecture at Yale.  Rudolph's work is recognized around the world for bold, progressive masses.  People are polarized around his work.  Modernists praise his visionar...

Every year, Sarasota Mod in Sarasota FL throws a great conference on mid-century modern and this year was focused on Paul Rudolph , an architect who made his name in exciting coastal architecture before moving on to become Dean of Architecture at Yale.  Rudolph's work is recognized around the world for bold, progressive masses.  People are polarized around his work.  Modernists praise his visionar...

Hi folks, here's a few minutes of fun, our "best of" clips from 2015.  Happy New Year!  George, Frank, and Tom

Todd Kosmerick is University Archivist for NC State University's Archives.  He and his staff collect, preserve, and make accessible vast physical and online resources that document the growth and development of the university and its continued service to the people of North Carolina.  It provides a resource for study and scholarship while ensuring that future generations will have resources availa...

Architect Harwell Hamilton Harris FAIA never reached the celebrity status of his peers such as Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright , yet his quieter career work stands as some of the most brilliant of the 20th century.  Practicing primarily in California, Texas, and North Carolina, his achievements in residential, commercial, and academic settings earned national admiration and awards including...

In the deep woods of Wisconsin, about an hour outside of Madison, sits one incredible house.  If you didn't know otherwise, you'd be sure it was a Frank Lloyd Wright design.  And you'd be close.  It was designed by his son-in-law, William Wesley Peters.  The place has been immaculately maintained and restored by a loving couple who are looking to downsize.  You'll hear from those owners, their rea...