Us Modernist Radio - Architecture You Love

Richard Neutra was one of the world’s most important architects, and today his work is even more popular.  Neutra designed more than 300 amazing Modernist houses in California and elsewhere. In 1949, Time Magazine featured Neutra on its cover and ranked him second only to Frank Lloyd Wright in American architecture. Neutra hired several architects who went on to independent success, including Gregory Ain, Harwell Hamilton Harris, and Raphael Soriano.  Our first guest is Neutra’s son and a good friend of the podcast, Raymond Neutra, who has been traveling the world photographing his father’s houses.  He is author of Cheap and Thin: Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright. Joining Raymond is Barbara Lamprecht, one of the world’s foremost experts on Richard Neutra’s architecture.  If you’ve been in any Modernist house worth talking about, you’ve seen one of her Neutra books on the Noguchi or Nelson coffee table.  She is an architect and architectural historian and a kind of forensic examiner, performing environmental revi

Gregory Ain was inspired to become an architect after visiting Rudolf Schindler's King’s Road house. He worked for Richard Neutra as well as Harwell Hamilton Harris. As a result of a proposed housing project suspected of being communist by Senator Joseph McCarthy -- because it was racially integrated -- Ain was investigated by the FBI over 30 years.  He was considered the most dangerous architect in America, and this broad and inaccurate accusation caused the loss of many commissions.  Our first guest is Ain’s daughter, Emily Ain.  Architect Pierre Koenig apprenticed in the offices of Raphael Soriano and A. Quincy Jones.  He designed the iconic, world-famous Stahl House, the most famous "case study house," up in the hills above LA.  His innovative steel buildings often hung onto cliffsides and masterfully defied gravity.  We are joined by his son, attorney Randy Koenig, specializing in the legal needs of design professionals.

Johnny Örbäck was about 47 when he had a fantastic idea.  It was 1999, and as Managing Director of a public housing agency in Malmo, Sweden, he decided to commission the world’s most unique housing project from architect Santiago Calatrava. Calatrava, known for wildly creative buildings and bridges all over the world is famous for being an architectural genius, and he’s also famous for enormous cost overruns, for example, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York, with a $3.9 billion price tag, $2 billion over budget. The New York Times has documented every Calatrava financial disaster, including his truly brilliant City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain that came in at four times the original price. What's it like to be a client of Calatrava?  Today, you'll find out.

Covering topics from England to the Congo, today’s show features host George Smart and the stars, producers, and creators of the latest architecture documentaries, recorded in New York at the Architecture and Design Film Festival late last year.  George’s first guest is Sarah Howitt, Producer and Director of Building Hope: The Maggie’s Centres, beautiful architect-designed facilities for patients with cancer and their families in the UK. Next, George is joined by Thatcher Bean, producer of Made in Ilima, which tracks the collective building process of a modern school and community center in Ilima, a town in a remote and ecologically sensitive region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Hugh Hefner passed away last year after decades at the helm of Playboy magazine, the first mainstream magazine featuring nude centerfolds that depending on your point of view, liberated women, demeaned women, or both.  But you may not know that for nearly 20 years, Playboy promoted Modernist design like no other publication. Features on Frank Lloyd Wright, Bucky Fuller, Mies Van Der Rohe, Charles Eames, and others influenced a generation. Professor Beatriz Colomina is Director of PhD Graduate Studies at Princeton University's School of Architecture. Her books include Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media, awarded the 1995 International Book Award by the AIA; Sexuality and Space awarded the 1993 AIA International Book Award; She also had an essay published in the book The Sex of Architecture. In 2016, her exhibition Playboy Magazine and the Architecture of Seduction highlighted the magazine’s role in popularizing Modernism. Originally from New Zealand, Sandra Costa was a Playboy bunny in Mia

Seattle has coffee, and rain, and Amazon, and amazing Tom Kundig houses.  It also has our guest today, Eugenia Woo, one of Seattle’s top advocates for Modernist historic preservation. She is the director of preservation services at Historic Seattle and is a co-founder and board member of Docomomo WEWA. Founded in 1974, Historic Seattle preserves Seattle’s architectural legacy. Eugenia has a BA in political science from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters of Urban Planning and Preservation Planning from the University of Washington. We talk about key Modernist buildings in Seattle and Woo's work to save them.

From the Architecture and Design Film Festival in New York City, held late last year, host George Smart's first guests are Ted Bosley and Lori Korngeibel talking about the Gamble House in Pasadena, America’s most famous Arts and Crafts house, and later, George is joined by Catherine Ledner and Roy Beeson, creators of a new documentary about Catherine’s father, New Orleans architect Albert Ledner, who died shortly after the film premiered.

Tammy Hauser is Executive Director for the Center for Architecture Sarasota, a nexus for midcentury Modernist houses.  She's the CEO of Blue Sky Thinking, a consulting firm based in Sarasota for nonprofit organizations. This spring, the Center for Architecture Sarasota hosts an exhibition on Larry Scarpa, a Modernist architect based in Los Angeles, who uses conventional materials in unexpected ways and is considered a leader in sustainable design.  She's also a commercial theater producer and creator of The Ultimate Pajama Party™, a theatrical experience for women.

You may recall that a few months ago, host George Smart interviewed Kyle Bergman, director of the Architecture and Design Film Festival in New York City.  Today’s special bonus edition features George and the stars, producers, and creators of the latest architecture documentaries, recorded in New York at the Architecture and Design Film Festival late last year.   Many Americans think the last World's Fair was in New York in 1964 but they've been going on around the world ever since - just without America's participation. George’s first guest is Mina Chow, producer and star of Face of a Nation: What Happened to the World’s Fair, and later on, he talks with Bruce Inglis, director of Photography for the documentary Glenn Morcutt: A Spirit of Place.

Hawai'i is full of Modernist architecture!  Today we talk with Dean Sakamoto who lives and works in both Hawai'i and Connecticut. He worked with the Univ of Hawai'i Department of Urban and Regional planning and he founded SHADE, Hawai'i's first public interest design organization that plans designs and builds in the rapidly urbanizing tropics.  He also is on the board of DOCOMOMO Hawai'i which has their annual tour every October. Returning to the podcast is our good friend Brad Dunning, one of California’s most sought-after interior designers.  He's worked on numerous Richard Neutra houses and offices, including his own, with Tom Ford on his 1955 Neutra home, Courteney Cox on her Neutra office complex, the famous Kaufman house in Palm Springs, and other houses by A. Quincy Jones, Paul Williams, John Lautner, and Wallace Neff.  He gives a rockin’ talk on Hawai'i modernism every so often at Palm Springs Modernism Week, and he has written about architecture and design for Vogue, the New York Times, the Los Angel

There are certain Modernist houses that just can’t be captured in a photo, a video, or even a 3D rendering. For example, Fallingwater in Pennsylvania is considered Frank Lloyd Wright’s greatest residential work.  It continues to attract millions of people, and in 1991 the AIA named Fallingwater the "best all-time work of American architecture."  Denise Miner is Public Tour Supervisor at Fallingwater.  She’s been associated with the house in some way almost all her life and has worked there as a guide for more than 30 years.   Her grandfather and two uncles were part of Fallingwater’s construction and she is the Obiwan Kenobi of Fallingwater, training their team of wonderful guides.   However, there ain’t no party like a west coast party, and in LA there’s a house that’s not only iconic, it’s a true Hollywood movie celebrity.  Former football player Buck Stahl created the vision for the Stahl House, also known as Case Study House 22, designed by Pierre Koenig. The two-bedroom house features a wraparound view f

After WWII, states looked at their aging capitol buildings and considered sweeping new plans to bring technology, commerce, government, and even the performing arts into the full 20th century.  One of the few state capitols to actually achieve this was Albany NY.  The Empire State Plaza is series of Modernist office and cultural buildings that started in the late 1950’s, and it’s gorgeous.  It’s a stunning achievement spearheaded by NY Governor Nelson Rockefeller and designed primarily by architect Wallace Harrison. Albany’s master plan was so successful, other states wanted to do the same thing.  One of those was North Carolina.  In 1965, the State Capital planning Commission issues a report and a design they had been working on for several administrations.  The goal was, like Albany, to transform the epicenter of downtown Raleigh, the state capitol, into a city of the future.  The blue ribbon panel of architects, consultants, and government members presented a beautiful plan. One of those consultants from 1

Australian comedian Tim “Rosso” Ross has starred in countless Australian radio and TV series.  He’s a writer for Men’s Style Australia, Rolling Stone and Sydney Magazine.  He’s interviewed and talked with celebrities like Will Farrell, John C. O’Reilly, and Hugh Jackman through shows such as Merrick and Rosso Unplanned, The B Team, Uncharted, Facing the Hangover, and Australia Versus.  He’s a speaker, giving talks on Modernism at the Museum of Sydney, Government House, and Sydney Design Week.  And he’s been part of an 80’s hair band called Black Rose, where he totally rocks it in lycra. In 2013 Tim started a unique stand-up show ‘Man about the House’ set in real Modernist houses, with sell-out seasons in Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand.  The best part is, he got up 7am his time to talk with us, for which we are profoundly grateful. 

Roberta Leighton "runs the place" for owner Jim Goldstein at the Sheats Goldstein house in Los Angeles, designed by John Lautner. She manages hundreds of movie, commercial, and photo shoots at the house, one of the country's most iconic. One of the most famous movies shot there was The Big Lebowski.  Roberta has also been in a ton of some of the movies and shows we love.  She was Bill Murray's girlfriend in Stripes, plus she's appeared on The Dukes of Hazzard, Barnaby Jones, Switch, Rosetti and Ryan, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, Baretta, and for over a dozen years she played Dr. Casey Reed on the Young and The Restless. USModernist Radio is sponsored by Sarah Sonke of ModHomes Realty.  Listen via iTunes. Listen on Android and Windows PC's via Libsyn.

Architect Edward Durell Stone like many of his generation fell in love with Modernism. His first independent commission was a 1933 Modernist house for Richard Mandel, which led to many other prominent commissions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington.  Stone is one of the few architects to make the cover of TIME. Business Week called Stone "the man with a billion on the drawing board" for the number and scale of prestigious projects in development.  About that time, however, Stone had a change of philosophy about Modernist design and moved away from what he called the “transient enthusiasms” of Modernism. Stone was not alone.  By 1970, the Modernist movement was nearly dead.  In North Carolina, Stone worked with Raleigh architects John Holloway and Ralph Reeves on two of the state’s most recognized and treasured buildings, the 1963 North Carolina Legislative Building and 20 years later, the North Carolina Museum of Art.  We talk with Stone’s son, Hicks Stone, and

Design guru and critic Stephen Bayley came to prominence in the 1980's curating the Boilerhouse Project at the Victoria and Albert Museum and later created London’s Design Museum.  In the 1990’s he was briefly the creative director for a notoriously expensive and bureaucratic public boondoogle called the Millennium Dome (now the 02 Arena), and in 2007 he became The Observer's architecture and design correspondent.  We talk about what makes an architect a starchitect, his dust-up with Zaha Hadid, and his appearance on Top Gear, a world-famous BBC car show that’s still running, barely, like a 1977 Ford Capri. 

Emmy-winning filmmaker Jake Gorst is the Steven Spielberg of design documentaries, capturing mid-century modern architecture in at least 12 films on modern design, including a great series on Palm Springs architects such as E. Stewart Williams, Donald Wexler, and Bill Krisel - plus Modern Tide, Modern Ruin with past guest Matthew Silva, Beyond the Beach: The Life and Death of Norman Jaffe, and the upcoming film Frey. Architect Kyle Bergman is director of the upcoming Architecture & Design Film Festival in New York, which he started in 2008 and has expanded to cities all over the world. In 1994 he created and moderated an architectural lecture series about the design/build process for the Smithsonian Institute. An entrepreneur at heart, Mr. Bergman founded Alt Spec in 1999, a publishing company that produced a visual resource of unique and alternative products for architects and designers. Our first musical guests!  Peter Lamb and the Wolves stopped by the studio to perform "Mess Around" and "Night Witches

Rudolph Michael Schindler, who went by Michael, was one of the most important Modernist architects of the 20th century, yet he is largely unknown to the public outside California.  Frank Lloyd Wright hired him in 1918, and soon he was running Wright's studio in Oak Park the later in Los Angeles. Schindler and Wright argued frequently and eventually Schindler quit, becoming a huge success on his own.  Schindler and his wife Pauline were dead center in the Los Angeles creative scene, hanging out with the era's celebrities in art, sculpture, design, and dance. Richard Neutra and his wife lived at King's Road with Schindlers for several years! We talk with Dr. Mary Schindler, his daughter-in-law, perhaps one of the last living people who knew Michael Schindler, who died in 1953.  She was married to his son Mark at the time and lived in their famous King’s Road house with Mark, Michael, and Pauline. We also talk with musician Guillaume Schindler, Schindler's great-grandson, who is a docent at the King's Road house

What makes a house too big?  And is it really anyone’s business other than the owner?  We talk with Thomas Bena and Mollie Doyle, stars and creators of the new documentary One Big Home, based in Martha's Vineyard MA.  Like many wealthy coastal communities, new homes there are not the cottages which have dominated the area for centuries.  10,000 sf and 20,000sf and even larger McMansions started appearing during the 1990’s.  One Big Home is a documentary about Thomas Bena's work to curb the disruption of life on the island by giant houses.  But the film is more than the story of a cause.  Along the way, he found a girlfriend, Mollie Doyle, they married, moved, had a beautiful daughter named Emma - all events that influenced or changed his progress and perspective on the film and his life. 

Fire Island, just 50 miles from New York City, was one of the few gathering places in the 1950’s where gay people could feel safe in a world that certainly did not offer such a welcome.  It was also a haven for the creative class from New York and LA who built houses by Andrew Geller, Harry Bates, and the unbelievably attractive Horace Gifford. Our guest is Chris Rawlins, architect and author of critically-acclaimed Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction.  Chris is an architect who lives in New York City and Fire Island and is founder of Pines Modern, a non-profit preservation initiative documenting the island’s architecture. We also talk with the last living mid-century architect of Fire Island, Harry Bates, whose masterful Modernist coastal residences adorn both Fire Island and the Hamptons.