Episodes

  • 100. Dancing About Architecture

    100. Dancing About Architecture
    May 20 2025
    The Unfrozen crew hit the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale with all the furious energy our 100th episode deserved. A rollicking roundup of robots, pans, picks, porches and pavilions, with special guest interviews: Michele Champagne, Kate Wagner, Marisa Moran Jahn, Bekim Ramku, Rafi Segal, Jeanne Gang, and Mark Cavagnero. And finally, while Rome picked a pontiff, we had our own mini-conclave in Venice and humbly offered up our picks for the 20th Biennale curator. Join us for this extra special centenary episode.--Intro/Outro: “Bounder of Adventure,” by The Cooper Vane--Discussed:- Olly Wainwright: Can robots make the perfect Aperol spritz? – Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 review | Architecture | The Guardian- Rowan Moore: Venice Architecture Biennale review: ‘a hot mess of pretension’ | The Observer- The New York Architecture Review crew: Nicolas, Chloe and Sammy- International Exhibition in the Arsenaleo Robots, hemp, bio-concrete, 8-point font with AI-assisted summarieso Kate Crawford and Vladan Joier’s megascale text: Calculating Empireso Bjarke Ingels Group’s entry: Ancient Future, with Bhutanese carvers paced by an ABB roboto Christopher Hawthorne’s Speaker’s Cornero Shades of Rem Koolhaas’ 2014 Fundamentals edition- Kate Wagner’s review:o Dated techno-optimismo Cannibalism of architecture by art and exhibition design- National Pavilions:o Austria: “Agency for Better Living”o Canada: “Picoplanktonics” by The Living Room Collectiveo Denmark: “Build of Site”o Estonia: “Let Me Warm You”o Romania: “Human Scale”o Saudi Arabia: “The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection”o Slovenia: “Master Builders”o South Korea: “Little Toad, Little Toad”, but mainly this cato Spain: “Internalities: Architectures for Territorial Equilibrium”o UAE: “Pressure Cooker”o USA: “Porch: An Architecture of Generosity”§ Curators: · Peter MacKeith, Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas· Rod Bigelow, Executive Director, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art· Marlon Blackwell, Marlon Blackwell Architects· Susan Chin, Design Connects· Stephen Burks, Man Made§ Shades of the timber-themed 2021 exhibit, but with a twist§ Interview with Mark Cavagnero, Mark Cavagnero Associates, on participation in Porch and his work updating the original 1969 design of the Oakland Museum of California by Kevin Roche and Dan Kiley o Uzbekistan: A Matter of Radiance- Interview with collaborators on Art-Tek Tulltorja, conversion of former brick works into a tech hub and community center, Pristina, Kosovo:o Rafi Segal, Associate Professor, Architecture & Urbanism, MITo Marisa Moran Jahn, Director, Integrated Design,Parsons School of Designo Bekim Ramku, OUD+ Architectso Nol Binakaj, OUD+ Architects- Interview with Jeanne Gang, amidst a Bio-Blitz powered by the iNaturalist app and featuring a “disco ball for bees”- Unfrozen’s nominations for 2027 Biennale curator:o Carolyn Whitzman, Senior Housing Researcher, Schoolof Cities, University of Toronto and author of Home Truths: Fixing Canada’s Housing Crisiso Diane Longboat, Senior Manager, StrategicInitiatives, Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto§ See: Sweat lodge at the Centero Patrick Bellew, Chief Sustainability Officer, Surbana Jurong (Atelier Ten)§ Gardens by the Bay cooling system,powered by incinerated tree trimming wasteo Peter Barber, Peter Barber Architectso Eyal Weizman, Forensic Architecture- Stafford Beer: “The purpose of the system is what it does.”
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • 99. The Venetian Scheme

    99. The Venetian Scheme
    May 10 2025

    The Unfrozen squad descends on Venice to experience inperson the full blunt force of the Biennale. Special guests include: Carlo Ratti, the curator of the 19th Architecture Biennale, Anastasia Sukhoroslova, CEO of All Things Urban, and Michele Champagne, graphic artist and contributor to Volume magazine.

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    Intro/Outro: “Bounder of Adventure” by The Cooper Vane

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    34 mins
  • 98. Crisis & Criticism with Christopher Hawthorne

    98. Crisis & Criticism with Christopher Hawthorne
    May 7 2025
    Our guest on this episode is Christopher Hawthorne, the Senior Critic at Yale University’s School of Architecture. His previous roles include architecture critic of the Los Angeles Times, and Chief Design Officer of the City of Los Angeles. His current mission is to assemble the Speaker’s Corner at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. Unfrozen hears his unique perspective as both critic and exhibitor.--Intro/Outro: “Elevator,” by The Cooper Vane--Discussed:2025 Venice Architecture Biennale: “Inteligens: Natural, Artificial, Collective” – Carlo RattiSpeakers’ Corner / Re-staging Criticism series, part of the GENS Public Program- Florencia Rodriguez, Director, School of Architecture, University of Illinois Chicago- Mark Lee, Sharon Johnston of Johnston Marklee- Inspiration: “Vincent Scully: Architecture, Urbanism, and a Life in Search of Community,” by A. Krista Sykes- 9 May: “Exhibition as Critical Vessel”o Florencia Rodriguez, Moderatoro Lesley Lokko, 2023 Biennale curatoro Aric Cheno Pancho Diazo Sarah Herdao Michael Meredith (MOS) > Building with Writing- 10 May: Conversation on L.A. Fireso Michael Maltzano Alejandro Haiek Collo Florencia Rodriguez11 May:o Kate Wagnero Samuel Medinao Sam Jacobo Shumi Bose1980 Venice Architecture Biennale – The Presence of the Past - Paolo Portoghesi- Strada Novissima, feat. Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, Arati Isozaki, Robert Venturi, Denise Scott-Brown- Teatro del Mundo, Aldo Rossi- Critic’s Corner, feat. Vincent Scully, Charles Jencks, Kenneth Frampton & Christian Norberg-SchulzWhy “The Brutalist” Isn’t Really About ArchitectureKazuyo SejimaWriting About Architecture - Alexandra LangeCaught practicing without a license: Frank Lloyd Wright and Thomas JeffersonInternational Committee of Architecture CriticsSalon de MobileAda Louise HuxtableYou Have to Pay for the Public Life, by Charles MooreComplexity and Contradiction in Architecture, Robert VenturiCharles Jencks Foundation
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    51 mins
  • 97. Holding Space

    97. Holding Space
    May 6 2025
    A quick one before we’re away. Dan and Greg sum up theirsprings and get ready for spritzes and socializing with smart people in at the 2025 Venice Biennale.--Intro/Outro: “Bounder of Adventure,” by The Cooper Vane--Discussed:Going Underground -> The Space Below w/ James Parakh· Toronto PATH· Montreal RESO· Chicago Pedway· Minneapolis Skyway· Houston Tunnels· Oklahoma City Underground· Hong Kong Central Elevated WalkwayZohran Mamdami –Make the Subway Great AgainSmart City Expo, New York CityBusiness Facilities Live eXchange, New OrleansCurbivore, Los AngelesJonah BlissJoshua Harris, Fordham UniversityMarchetti’s constantZiplineAustin Baker Tilly ConferenceCosMc’sNational Association of Realtors surveyWaymoRoboCopSidewalk TorontoDownstate IL secession movementSnow Crash – Neal Stephenson, feat. Mr. Lee’s Greater Hong KongPaul RomerCharter CitiesThe Voluntary City - David T. Beto, Peter Gordon and Alexander TabarrokHow to Run the World - Parag KhannaHell on Earth – The 30 Years’ War Podcast The Network State - Balaji SrinivasanGlobal Parliament of Mayors / Ben BarberPolarization of reality > revenge of sovereigntyPraxis: Med Charter City > Greenland feat. Steven HarperThe evermore-relevant Hidden Globe episodeExit, Voice and Loyalty - Albert O. HirschmanPatri FriedmanThe lost art of imagining the future“My Brain Finally Broke,” - Jia Tolentino in The New YorkerBruce Sterling – Atemporality
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    27 mins
  • 96. The Key to the City

    96. The Key to the City
    May 1 2025


    Sara Bronin is an architect, attorney, policymaker, and professor at Cornell University. Born and raised in Houston, the only large US city without zoning, previously served as the Chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission of Hartford, Connecticut. Her book is called Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World, and she joins Unfrozen to demystify the why and wherefore of what you can, cannot, and “must” build in cities all over the US.

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    Intro/Outro: “Elevator,” by The Cooper Vane

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    Discussed:

    - How large-lot mandates contribute to the epidemic of loneliness

    - YIMBY prevails in Arlington and Alexandria, VA

    - Re-zoning in Minneapolis, Seattle, Portland, OR, and Hartford

    - Supreme Court ruling on Shelley vs Kraemer, 1948, outlawing racially restrictive covenants

    - Houston’s affordability comes at the cost of flood zones and unpleasant adjacencies

    - Gulfton neighborhood

    - El Principe Azul nightclub

    - Effects of Parking Provision on Automobile Use in Cities: Inferring Causality

    - Albany Avenue rezoning and corridor improvements, Hartford

    - Denise Best

    - Form-based code

    - Washington Commanders’ new DC stadium

    - Code overhauls in Hartford, Charlottesville VA, and Boston

    - Bronin trashes Boston’s zoning code

    - Pittsburgh spends $5.8 million on zoning consultant
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    42 mins
  • 78. Irreplaceable

    78. Irreplaceable
    Apr 25 2025
    Kevin Kelley, a self-described “attention architect,” is aco-founding partner of design firm Shook Kelley and author of Irreplaceable: How to Create Extraordinary Places That Bring People Together. In our digitized world of ghost commerce, he believes there is still a place for real places, and that it is incumbent on architects to stop looking down their nosesat retail, the essential lubricant of urban life, and start designing places that matter. --Intro/Outro: “24 Hour Limes" by The Cooper Vane--Discussed:Bass Pro Shops at the Memphis PyramidAgainst 15-Minute Delivery“The Bonfire Effect,” courtesy Loxahatchie, FloridaParticipation mystique, as per Jung, as per Lucien Levy-Bruhl“TheAnxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt“Harvard Guide to Shopping” by Rem Koolhaas et. al.Prior Unfrozen commentary on the replacement for the Orange County Government Center by Paul RudolphRobert Venturi on Las VegasMaslow's hierarchy of needsYaromir Steiner and Easton Town Center, ColumbusVictor GruenCountry Club Plaza, Kansas CityThe Grove, Los AngelesThe Farmer’s Market, Los AngelesLarchmont, Los AngelesHollywood and Highland (now Ovation), Los AngelesHarley-Davidson dealerships’ Parts BarMercado Gonzalez, Costa Mesa, CA
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    52 mins
  • 79. Cities in the Sky

    79. Cities in the Sky
    Apr 25 2025

    Jason Barr is a professor of economics at Rutgers University Newark and one of the world's foremost experts on the economics of skyscrapers. His new book, out May 14, 2024, is Cities in the Sky: The Quest to Build the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers. In it, Barr takes a global view of why the quest to build up is as fierce as ever, and why skyscrapers remain so controversial. Join the Unfrozen interview with Barr, in which some record-breaking myths get busted.

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    Intro/Outro: “Altitude Blues,” by Ladytron

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    Discussed:

    Mythbusting the Home Insurance Building

    First Skyscrapers | Skyscraper Firsts Forum

    LeRoy Buffington’s skyscraper patent

    Mythbusting The Skyscraper Index

    The Line

    Jeddah Tower

    Joel Garreau’s Edge City

    Emaar’s real estate play at Burj Khalifa: Downtown Dubai

    Legends Tower, Oklahoma City

    Empire State Building

    China’s “build it” economy

    “Zero Gravity Living”

    Nashville and Oracle

    Detroit and Dan Gilbert

    Newark renaissance

    Center City District (Philadelphia) study: DowntownsRebound

    Karen Seto(Yale)'s studies on tall building height canopies
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    42 mins
  • 80. To the Ends of the Earth

    80. To the Ends of the Earth
    Apr 25 2025

    In To the Ends of the Earth: A Grand Tour for the 21st Century, Richard Weller, Professor Emeritus and Co-Founder of the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism & Ecology at the University of Pennsylvania, has condensed a sprawling subject into a compact field guide to 120 of the most significant 21st century objects, from bulldozers to Biosphere II. Call it dystopian, call it optimistic. Just don’t call it “anthroporn.”

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    Intro/Outro: “I Still Wear the Uniform," by The Cooper Vane

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    Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology After the End of the World, by Timothy Morton

    Utopias (and Utopia’s Evil Twins)

    Welwyn Garden City

    Chandigarh

    Burning Man

    EPCOT

    Pruitt-Igoe

    WalmartSupercenter

    Machines:

    Bulldozers + polymetric nodules

    Fish farms

    Solar arrays

    Sand motor + littoral drift

    Tree-planting drones

    Monsters:

    Geo-engineering

    The World Park Project / UN Convention on Biological Diversity

    Y2Y

    Banff Wildlife Crossings Project

    The Atlas for the End of the World
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    42 mins