About Buildings + Cities
@about-buildings.bsky.social
A podcast about architecture, history, literature, science fiction and ideas
Out today, our latest Patreon bonus episode on 'Mechanisation Takes Command' by Sigfried Giedion: www.patreon.com/c/about_buil...
October 29, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Out today, our latest Patreon bonus episode on 'Mechanisation Takes Command' by Sigfried Giedion: www.patreon.com/c/about_buil...
Sigfried Giedion's favourite cast-iron structures from 'Space, Time and Architecture'
October 17, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Sigfried Giedion's favourite cast-iron structures from 'Space, Time and Architecture'
Reposted by About Buildings + Cities
Catch me in the @theguardian.com today, on the history of high-rise housing. We need to remove the distorting goggles of prejudice in order to understand Britain’s extraordinary high-rise heritage. Consider looking up afresh! www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Thumping ambition – and demolition: 10 high-rises that changed modern Britain
Eyesores and scandalously unsafe? Or utopian housing for the working classes? Here are the stories and scandals behind some of the UK’s most revolutionary homes
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Catch me in the @theguardian.com today, on the history of high-rise housing. We need to remove the distorting goggles of prejudice in order to understand Britain’s extraordinary high-rise heritage. Consider looking up afresh! www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
A contentious spread from Sigfried Giedion’s ‘Space, Time and Architecture’, a comparison between the spiral lantern of Borromini’s Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, a possible allusion to the Tower of Babel, and the dialectical helix of Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International
October 1, 2025 at 9:46 AM
A contentious spread from Sigfried Giedion’s ‘Space, Time and Architecture’, a comparison between the spiral lantern of Borromini’s Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza, a possible allusion to the Tower of Babel, and the dialectical helix of Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International
An idiosyncratic answer to the housing crisis in post-war Europe, Jože Plečnik's 'Many Houses under One Roof' imagined a huge colonnade under which homes could be built in heterogenous harmony, balancing the tension between individuality and collectivity in mass housing
August 7, 2025 at 1:09 PM
An idiosyncratic answer to the housing crisis in post-war Europe, Jože Plečnik's 'Many Houses under One Roof' imagined a huge colonnade under which homes could be built in heterogenous harmony, balancing the tension between individuality and collectivity in mass housing
Why not build a monastery in a skyscraper? Some of Jože Plečnik's most intriguing ecclesiastical projects were never built — find out more about his unrealised church architecture in our latest bonus episode, exclusively available for our Patreon supporters
July 15, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Why not build a monastery in a skyscraper? Some of Jože Plečnik's most intriguing ecclesiastical projects were never built — find out more about his unrealised church architecture in our latest bonus episode, exclusively available for our Patreon supporters
Jože Plečnik's Central Market for Ljubljana, an incredibly long and thin building constructed in the middle of WWII and discussed in our latest episode, out now wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube
July 9, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Jože Plečnik's Central Market for Ljubljana, an incredibly long and thin building constructed in the middle of WWII and discussed in our latest episode, out now wherever you get your podcasts or on YouTube
Reposted by About Buildings + Cities
There is still time to get a ticket for our tour of Poundbury with the Ross Sharpe and Hilary Satchwell for @opencity-uk.bsky.social next Saturday 7th June, with options to join us on the train from London! The weather forecast is looking promising! open-city.org.uk/events/pound...
Poundbury on trial — Open City
Join Open City tours for a critic-led tour of Poundbury
open-city.org.uk
May 30, 2025 at 9:27 AM
There is still time to get a ticket for our tour of Poundbury with the Ross Sharpe and Hilary Satchwell for @opencity-uk.bsky.social next Saturday 7th June, with options to join us on the train from London! The weather forecast is looking promising! open-city.org.uk/events/pound...
Reposted by About Buildings + Cities
You sometimes see the elevation photographed, by great to see masterful plan & interiors
Plečnik's Zacherlhaus, 1903–5, Vienna, built for an insecticide magnate, reflected in the creepy Lovecraftish light fittings and gleaming polished stone
May 15, 2025 at 9:43 AM
You sometimes see the elevation photographed, by great to see masterful plan & interiors
Plečnik's Zacherlhaus, 1903–5, Vienna, built for an insecticide magnate, reflected in the creepy Lovecraftish light fittings and gleaming polished stone
May 15, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Plečnik's Zacherlhaus, 1903–5, Vienna, built for an insecticide magnate, reflected in the creepy Lovecraftish light fittings and gleaming polished stone
In episode 2 of our Plečnik miniseries we discussed four of his churches: St. Bartholomew's Church, Ljubljana; Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord, Prague; Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Ljubljana and the Church of the Ascension, Bogojina youtu.be/szuyRFu0wis?...
Jože Plečnik 2 — Four Churches — AB+C 125
YouTube video by About Buildings + Cities
youtu.be
May 8, 2025 at 9:02 AM
In episode 2 of our Plečnik miniseries we discussed four of his churches: St. Bartholomew's Church, Ljubljana; Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord, Prague; Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Ljubljana and the Church of the Ascension, Bogojina youtu.be/szuyRFu0wis?...
Episode 1 of our new series on Jože Plečnik is out now on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts! www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8S9...
Jože Plečnik 1 — From Sezessionstil to Deep Time — AB+C 124
YouTube video by About Buildings + Cities
www.youtube.com
April 28, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Episode 1 of our new series on Jože Plečnik is out now on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts! www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8S9...
The final part of our SMLXL series is out now on our Patreon — a shorter version of the episode will appear on the main feed later this week!
March 26, 2025 at 1:26 PM
The final part of our SMLXL series is out now on our Patreon — a shorter version of the episode will appear on the main feed later this week!
who agrees?
March 6, 2025 at 10:26 AM
who agrees?
SMLXL, Part 3, LARGE, or BIGNESS, out now
March 5, 2025 at 9:06 AM
SMLXL, Part 3, LARGE, or BIGNESS, out now
OMA's Rotterdam Kunsthal as depicted in SMLXL accompanied by cryptic quotations from Waiting for Godot
February 12, 2025 at 2:09 PM
OMA's Rotterdam Kunsthal as depicted in SMLXL accompanied by cryptic quotations from Waiting for Godot
Reposted by About Buildings + Cities
Just finished this episode on SMLXL. I was at SCIarc in 97-98 and this book loomed large. Highly recommend the episode for architecture folks and B.Arch drop outs like me 🎧 📐
@about-buildings.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
@about-buildings.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
EPISODE ONE OF OUR NEW SERIES, SMLXL BY REM KOOLHAAS, OMA AND BRUCE MAU, OUT NOW WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS OR ON YOUTUBE
January 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Just finished this episode on SMLXL. I was at SCIarc in 97-98 and this book loomed large. Highly recommend the episode for architecture folks and B.Arch drop outs like me 🎧 📐
@about-buildings.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
@about-buildings.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
Thanks so much @alexbozikovic.bsky.social — check out part one of our SMLXL series here: youtu.be/ljgaQQz-TpY?...
January 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Thanks so much @alexbozikovic.bsky.social — check out part one of our SMLXL series here: youtu.be/ljgaQQz-TpY?...
Photography of OMA's Villa D'Alva, from SMLXL, in a style reminiscent of music video and magazine photography of the 1990s — in our latest episode we talked about Rem Koolhaas's self-fashioning as a 'cool magazine guy' through this singular monograph...
January 27, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Photography of OMA's Villa D'Alva, from SMLXL, in a style reminiscent of music video and magazine photography of the 1990s — in our latest episode we talked about Rem Koolhaas's self-fashioning as a 'cool magazine guy' through this singular monograph...
A typical SMLXL spread: restricted but gorgeous and greasy photography of an OMA building; titillating nudity; wry caption; margin full of quotations. Discussed in our latest episode.
January 24, 2025 at 3:10 PM
A typical SMLXL spread: restricted but gorgeous and greasy photography of an OMA building; titillating nudity; wry caption; margin full of quotations. Discussed in our latest episode.
Reposted by About Buildings + Cities
oh hell yes I am being pandered to and I like it
January 22, 2025 at 2:20 PM
oh hell yes I am being pandered to and I like it
EPISODE ONE OF OUR NEW SERIES, SMLXL BY REM KOOLHAAS, OMA AND BRUCE MAU, OUT NOW WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS OR ON YOUTUBE
January 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
EPISODE ONE OF OUR NEW SERIES, SMLXL BY REM KOOLHAAS, OMA AND BRUCE MAU, OUT NOW WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS OR ON YOUTUBE
Reposted by About Buildings + Cities
This is fascinating and fun in equal measure! A great opportunity to rethink the past 12 months in design terms 🌃✨
What were the vibes of 2024? We did our best to talk about some of them on our latest episode, from unionisation to Tehran to AI to The Sphere! out now wherever you get your podcasts or on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/OJ1VlSKegGA?...
2024 Architectural Vibe Check — AB+C 119
YouTube video by About Buildings + Cities
youtu.be
January 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM
This is fascinating and fun in equal measure! A great opportunity to rethink the past 12 months in design terms 🌃✨
Reposted by About Buildings + Cities
Listening to the lads at @about-buildings.bsky.social talk about the state of architecture, one comment, about most modern buildings being horrible, jumped out at me. I don't know if it is true, especially looking from outside the UK
January 8, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Listening to the lads at @about-buildings.bsky.social talk about the state of architecture, one comment, about most modern buildings being horrible, jumped out at me. I don't know if it is true, especially looking from outside the UK
What were the vibes of 2024? We did our best to talk about some of them on our latest episode, from unionisation to Tehran to AI to The Sphere! out now wherever you get your podcasts or on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/OJ1VlSKegGA?...
2024 Architectural Vibe Check — AB+C 119
YouTube video by About Buildings + Cities
youtu.be
January 6, 2025 at 5:16 PM
What were the vibes of 2024? We did our best to talk about some of them on our latest episode, from unionisation to Tehran to AI to The Sphere! out now wherever you get your podcasts or on our YouTube channel: youtu.be/OJ1VlSKegGA?...