Unfrozen

29. ”Al” in on Supertalls

Unfrozen interviews Stefan Al, author, Supertall, founder, Stefan Al Architects, designer of Canton Tower, Guangzhou with Information Based Architecture (IBA).
Intro/Outro: “History Rhymes,” by Empty City Squares
Discussed:
Technology: The role of technologies: concrete, elevators, air conditioning and dampers
Society: Culture, social preferences, zoning, aesthetics
The succession of events that led to today’s skyscrapers
New York – zoning
London – view corridors
Hong Kong – transit-oriented development
Singapore – vertical greenery
“History rhymes”
“Progress traps”
Easter Island, Prometheus, and Pandora’s Box
Irregular paths to inventions
Carrier inventing air conditioning when trying to solve printing issues
Using an Oregon optometrist’s office to test potential swaying of the World Trade Center, New York City, in 1965
Rafael Vinoly – 432 Park and the boat-pilot sway / chandelier test
Icebergs, Zombies and the Ultra-Thin by Matthew Soules
Digital Monuments by Simone Brott
Reflexive practitioners

28. Florida in Houston, ”Durbin Renewal” in Chicago, Metabolism Demo’ed in Tokyo

Greg reports from Houston, where he and Richard Florida had some stage-sharing to do. Dan recounts a jaunt to the Canadian Riviera and Pacific Northwest, where mass timber is on the rise. Then on to demolitions, what’s on the bookshelf, future guests, future guesses….
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Intro:
“Livin’ on the Edge (of Houston),” by Reverend Horton Heat
Discussed:
Richard Florida's slightly altered new jam: Live Work Play Connect. Build multifamily, family-oriented apartments of appropriate size, while you’re at it.
NEOM
Mass Timber Conference: Jeanne Gang can hack it – literally
Explore ‘22 – Expedia Conference at Aria, Las Vegas
Band recs (or wrecks)
“Durbin Renewal” – The US Government’s landlord, GSA, wants to demolish two buildings from the 1910s because they present a “security risk” to the Dirksen Federal Building, which has been there since 1964. An Illinois senator just found $52 million to make it happen.
Nakagin Capsule Tower, Tokyo, finally bites the dust.
The stolen bicycle is in the basement of the Ford Foundation, with the built-in brass ashtrays in the auditorium…
This kerfuffle in Northwest Arkansas
Green Obsession – Stefano Boeri Architetti
Celebrating Public Architecture – Success of open architecture competitions in Flanders, Belgium
Supertall – Sfefan Al
Truth and Lies in Architecture – Richard Francis-Jones
Crypto-Schadenfreude and the Electric Bull
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Outro: “Song for America,” by Destroyer

27. A Skyscraper Superfan Aims High

Meet Changsub Lee, a 14-year-old in South Korea who has been designing skyscrapers since he was eight. He's already a celebrity in the tall building world. Ivy League schools of architecture, prepare yourselves now. The recording is a bit soft, but if you crank him up, he's got a lot to say.
Intro/Outro: "Skyscrapers," by OKGO
Discussed:
New Songdo City
Incheon Tower
Infinity (Crystal Top) Tower
Northeast Asia Trade Tower
James von Klemperer
Adrian Smith
Killa Design
eVolo Skyscraper Competition

26. A Tale of Two Toy Cities

Two toy visions of Los Angeles describe two very different future visions: One vision wants you to play with its toys – and would be offended if  you didn’t – the other most assuredly does not. It is strictly  off-limits, and is meant to be admired from a distance. One says “don’t  touch;” the other practically grabs your hand and pulls you into the grid.
Intro/Outro: "Metropolis," by Kraftwerk
Originally posted Jan. 31, 2012 in Unfrozen 1.0.

25. Metal Machine Musings

Original story: Unfrozen 1.0, Sept. 3, 2012
A profile of two metallic sculptures by two design firms in Los Angeles: "A Loose Horizon," by LAYER, at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and "Bloom," by DO|SU, at Materials & Applications.
Intro / Outro: "Metal Machine Music," by Lou Reed

24. Growing Moss, Gathering Pace

Dan and Greg interview Matt Nardella, founder of Moss Design, a Chicago design-build firm with an array of residential and commercial projects, and a bent for nudging clients and neighbors toward sustainability in small, but meaningful increments.
Interviewee: Matt Nardella
Intro / Outro: “Highway Chile”, by the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Discussed:
- NewSchool of Architecture San Diego
- Architects as developers, contractors and multi-disciplinary designers
- In praise of not designing projects on a spreadsheet (and finding the gray zones of zoning)
- Credit due to:
o Ted Smith > The Red Office
o Jonathan Segal
- Architect, Know (and Sell) Thyself!
- The SCI-ARC Blowout
- Ending brute-force office culture > how to not “punch down”
- “We (architects) should be interviewing them (developers)”
- Monocultures of design making people sick and unhappy?
- Nightingale Housing, Melbourne - Jeremy McLeod and Maria Yanez
- You don’t need to spend more money to achieve sustainability – you just need to seriously undertake site analysis and translate that into a building, while thinking like a builder and the client – or being both, potentially.
- Want to build? Blog first!
- “Granny flats” are back in Chicago and the city is building 9,000 new units in the West Looop – will that help the housing crisis?
- On being a “bike warrior”
- Are people in happy countries just driving less?
- Vision Zero
- The best way to make an argument for bike commuting is to just do it
- Park(ing) Day

22. The Engine Room, the City, and Color Commentary

Building on the momentum of Episode 21, this special episode is a back-to-back Rees attack, with Greg and Dan both relaying their respective reports from the City of London’s raconteur-in-chief, from 2017 and 2013, respectively.
Intro: "In the Engine Room," by Mike Watt
The Engine Room
Intermission: "Talk Talk," by Talk Talk
The City and Color Commentary
Outro: "My Favourite Buildings," by Robyn Hitchcock

21. This is London: Rees Reminiscences

Greg, fresh from a trip to London, shares with Dan updates and reminiscences of the hale old town in the throes of ever-later capitalism, doffing hats to its raconteur-in-chief, Peter Wynne Rees.
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Intro: “Hairdresser on Fire,” by Morrissey
Discussed:
Peter Wynne Rees
The Square Mile (City of London)
Skygarden shitshow at the Walkie Talkie – 20 Fenchurch
Cities as information (gossip) machines
Jamaica Wine House
The George and Vulture
Bank of England – John Soane
The Royal Exchange – William Tite
The Cheesegrater (The Leadenhall Building) – Rogers, Stirk Harbour & Partners
The Lloyd’s Building – Richard Rogers
NewCities Podcast interview with Peter Rees
Heron (now Salesforce) Tower - KPF
The Standard London
St. Pancras Station
King’s Cross Station
The Blackfriar
Sir John Betjeman
Selhurst Park – Crystal Palace Club
Canary Wharf
22 Bishopsgate (“The Wedge”) – PLP Architecture; née the Pinnacle (“The Helter Skelter”) - KPF
Everything’s Iconic!
Coal Drops Yard
The Google “Landscraper” – Thomas Heatherwick and Bjarke Ingels Group
When is the Urban Redevelopment Vibe Shift coming?
Everyone wants a High Line
The Compression to Now vs Decades of Urban Accretion
Travel Challenge: the Stratford Olympic Site
Assemble – acupuncture revitalization – Granby Four Streets, Liverpool
Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies at the London School of Economics
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Outro: “In the City,” by the Jam

20. Hopeful Monsters, Strange Creatures and the Freedom of Choice

Designers, urbanists, public policy advocates, and any others are who would join the Urban Technology Program at the University of Michigan are “hopeful monsters” & “strange creatures.” Meet their leader.
Guest: Bryan Boyer, Director, Urban Technology Program, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan // Co-founder, Dash Marshall
Intro: “Hopeful Monsters,” by Charlie Nieland
Discussed:
· Architecture firms grow a spine (?) over Russia v. Ukraine: Is it a moral stand, or admission they won’t get paid? And yet, many are still working for the Saudis, on NEOM and such projects.
· Helsinki Design Lab
· Brickstarter
· The Most Important Mile
· Imagining Future Scenarios for Autonomous Vehicles
· People Party- Generating scale figures for renderings that look like their communities
· Brute-Force Architecture - “Look at all these things that we didn’t choose” >> Exhaust failure. If architecture labor was more expensive, would that be possible?
· George Gilder and the Early Cloud – “Conserve what is expensive, waste what is abundant.”
· Architechie
· REEF
· WSJ – REEF bought the wrong lots
· Renew Newcastle (Australia)
· Participatory City (London)
· Outro: “Freedom of Choice,” by Devo

19. Too-Late Modernism?

Brutalism has had a rough time over the past decade. Can it be redeemed before it’s too late?
Originally published in The Faster Times on October 8, 2012 and on Unfrozen 1.0 on November 22, 2012.
- Intro: “Creep,” by Radiohead
- A Teardown?
o  [“Alma Matters,” by Morrissey]
- Truthiness be Told
- Brutalism is the Prog-Rock of Architecture
o [“2112 – Overture,” by Rush]
o [“The Wives of Henry VIII,” by
o [“Aqualung,” Jethro Tull]
o [“Sailing,” by Christopher Cross]
- NU-Wave
o [“Atomic,” by Blondie]
- Dedicated Followers of Fashion
o [“Dedicated Followers of Fashion,” by The Kinks]
o [“Government Center,” by The Modern Lovers]
- …And When You Smile for the Camera…
o [“Peg,” by Steely Dan]
- Outro: “Aqualung,” by Jethro Tull