Unfrozen

103. Going for Zero

A former president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Carl Elefante has led the field in finding common ground between two things seemingly in conflict: sustainable design and historic preservation. He is a Principal Emeritus with Quinn Evans and a charter member of the Climate Heritage Network. In addition to his work on the intersection of historic preservation and sustainability, he has spent decades focusing on building-sector decarbonization, community vitality, and urbanism. His new book is Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future.
Intro/Outro:
“24 Hour Limes,” by The Cooper Vane
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Discussed:
The Greenest Building is the One That is Already Built
Work and the City, by Frank Duffy
MASS Design Group
Kéré Architecture
Lo-TEK Design by Radical Indigenism, by Julia Watson
Empire State Building retrofit vs One World Trade Center: Both LEED Gold
Passive House
PassiveLogic
WUFI Modeling
Susan Roth
Mini-splits
 

102. Revitalize | Resettle

Hillary Brown, Professor Emerita of Architecture at the City College of New York, joins Unfrozen to discuss her book Revitalize | Resettle, which explores how climate migration and rural revitalization can solve interlinked crises. Brown emphasizes that large U.S. cities alone cannot absorb climate-displaced populations due to infrastructural limits and rising costs. Instead, she proposes strategic resettlement in small towns and “micropolitan areas”—places often overlooked but rich in cultural value and potential.
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Intro/Outro:
“24-Hour Limes” by The Cooper Vane
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Discussed:
Hero towns leading the charge to accept climate migrants and flourish:
Clinton, IA: Brownfield redevelopment and corridor revitalization
Gorham and Milan, NH: Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program
Madison, IN: Main Street Program
Morris, NY: Livingston County Development Group
Norfolk, NE: North Fork Whitewater Park
Ord, NE: Vibrant Future Fund
Rock Port, MO: Wind Capital Group – First town in U.S. to be 100% wind-powered
West Windsor, VT: Ascutney revitalization
Jesse Keenan – Climate-Proof Duluth
New York State Small-Town Revitalization
T-Mobile hometown grants
Parag Khanna, ecstatic nomad

101. The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon

Chicago’s Wrigley Building, constructed in 1921, is the “whited sepulcher” of Michigan Avenue, gleaming in terra cotta like the rows of teeth ostensibly cleansed by Wrigley’s Chewing Gum, the company that built the Beaux-Arts edifice. But its extravagant looks are only part of the story. Unfrozen hosts Robert Sharoff and William Zbaren, who wrote and photographed the new book from Rizzoli, The Wrigley Building: The Making of an Icon, to hear the rest.
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Intro / Outro:
“24 Hour Limes,” by The Cooper Vane
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Discussed:
Graham, Anderson, Probst & White
Charles Beersman
Julia Morgan
Arts Club of Chicago
Joe Mansueto
Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, Helmut Jahn, 2011
John Vinci
Phillip Wrigley
William Hale “Big Bill” Thompson
Girilda Tower, Seville
Chateau Chambord, Loire Valley, France
New York Municipal Building, Stanford White, 1914
The Carter Family
Tribune Tower, Howells and Hood, 1925
London Guarantee Building, Alfred Alschuler, 1923
333 North Michigan Avenue, Holabird & Roche, 1928
Belden-Stratford Hotel, Meyer Fridstein, 1923
Waldor-Astoria Chicago, Lucien Lagrange, 2009
Chicago Fire Stadium
Stanley Tigerman
Studio Blue, Cheryl Towler Weese

100. Dancing About Architecture

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.”

99. The Venetian Scheme

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

98. Crisis & Criticism with Christopher Hawthorne

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

97. Holding Space

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

96. The Key to the City

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

78. Irreplaceable

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

79. Cities in the Sky

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.--Intro/Outro: “Altitude Blues,” by Ladytron--Discussed:Mythbusting the Home Insurance BuildingFirst Skyscrapers | Skyscraper Firsts ForumLeRoy Buffington’s skyscraper patentMythbusting The Skyscraper IndexThe LineJeddah TowerJoel Garreau’s Edge CityEmaar’s real estate play at Burj Khalifa: Downtown DubaiLegends Tower, Oklahoma CityEmpire State BuildingChina’s “build it” economy“Zero Gravity Living”Nashville and OracleDetroit and Dan GilbertNewark renaissanceCenter City District (Philadelphia) study: DowntownsReboundKaren Seto(Yale)'s studies on tall building height canopies