Design and the City

The postponed 17th Venice Architecture Biennale asked its 112 participants to consider the question, “How will we live together?”. A question originally posed in 2019 by curator and architect, Hashim Sarkis far before our collective 2020 experience. He originally asked participants “to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together” Answers from 46 countries materialized into the exhibition of 2021. After a year spent living apart, the theme is both hauntingly fitting and reifies our disconnection. The second installment of our special two-part Design and the City episode covers the long-awaited event. An event that signaled something, a community eager to reconnect and a deeper understanding of just how interwoven we are with our spaces spanning the full spectrum of human existence. The exhibition explores that spectrum across five scales: Among Diverse Beings, As New Households, As Emerging Communities, Across Borders, and, As One Planet. For this episode we have it broken down into three parts. The first features none other than the 17th Biennale curator himself, Hashim Sarkis. Hashim is the Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the founder of Hashim Sarkis Studios. Joining him in conversation is NewCities’ Director of Applied Research and reSITE’s own visiting curator, Greg Lindsay, to discuss the meaning and aims of this special Biennale. Following Sarkis and Lindsay’s conversation, we will explore accessibility and hear from the curators of the British Pavilion entitled The Garden of Privatised Delights and wrap up with the curators of the Austrian Pavilion entitled, We Like Platform Austria. Both sets of curators tackled what can often be a rather serious topic regarding accessibility along with the binary that exists between public and private space, but with a bit of whit and a sense of playfulness, ultimately makes the message on accessibility, accessible in itself. --- Design and the City, is a podcast produced by reSITE about the ways we can use design to make cities more livable and lovable. reSITE is a global non-profit and platform connecting people and ideas to improve the urban environment. We work at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, politics, culture, and economics, acting as a catalyst for social action and innovative leadership. We encourage the exchange of ideas about making cities more livable, competitive, resilient, inclusive, mobile, and designed with humans in mind to protect and public space, architecture, and sustainable development in cities. Learn more at www.reSITE.org Join reSITE's Newsletter If you would like to support us as a patron, sponsor, or strategic partner, please get in touch with us at podcast@resite.org. Your support allows us to continue sharing ideas to inspire more livable, lovable cities. Design and the City is a reSITE production. reSITE is a global non-profit connecting people and ideas to improve the urban environment. This episode was directed and produced by myself, Alexandra Siebenthal with support from Martin Barry, Radka Ondrackova, Anna Stava, and Nikkolas Zellers as well as Nano Energies and the Czech Ministry of Culture. It was edited by Andel Sound Studio.

The postponed 17th Venice Architecture Biennale asked its 112 participants to consider the question, “How will we live together?”. A question originally posed in 2019 by curator and architect, Hashim Sarkis far before our collective 2020 experience. He originally asked participants “to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together” Answers from 46 countries materialized into the exhibition of 2021. After a year spent living apart, the theme is both hauntingly fitting and reifies our disconnection. This special two-part Design and the City episode covering the long-awaited event. It has signaled something, a community eager to reconnect and a deeper understanding of just how interwoven we are with our spaces spanning the full spectrum of human existence. The exhibition explores that spectrum across five scales: Among Diverse Beings, As New Households, As Emerging Communities, Across Borders, and, As One Planet. In this episode we’ll hear from the U.S. pavilion curators, Paul Anderson and Paul Preissner; exhibitors Lukas Feireiss and Leopold Banchini; curator from Luxembourg, Sara Noel Costa De Araujo; and finally exhibitors for the Nordic Pavilion, Siv Helene Stangeland, and Reinhard Kropf–all whose work shares a common thread: wood. These wood-based installations make cases for their egalitarian and democratic nature. They offer a particular simplicity, humility, flexibility, and familiarity coupled with considerate retrospectives, to not only answer the pressing question, “How will we live together?” but “how will we thrive together?” -- Design and the City, is a podcast produced by reSITE about the ways we can use design to make cities more livable and lovable. reSITE is a global non-profit and platform connecting people and ideas to improve the urban environment. We work at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, politics, culture, and economics, acting as a catalyst for social action and innovative leadership. We encourage the exchange of ideas about making cities more livable, competitive, resilient, inclusive, mobile, and designed with humans in mind to protect and public space, architecture, and sustainable development in cities. Learn more at www.reSITE.org Join reSITE's Newsletter If you would like to support us as a patron, sponsor, or strategic partner, please get in touch with us at podcast@resite.org. Your support allows us to continue sharing ideas to inspire more livable, lovable cities. Design and the City is a reSITE production. reSITE is a global non-profit connecting people and ideas to improve the urban environment. This episode was directed and produced by myself, Alexandra Siebenthal, and Radka Ondrackova with support from Martin Barry, Anna Stava, Nikkolas Zellers, and Weronika Koleda as well as Nano Energies and the Czech Ministry of Culture. It was edited by LittleBig Studio. 

For Trey Trahan, founder of Trahan Architects, human connection, ecology, and unvarnished beauty encompass the core ethos of his work which primarily focuses on creating cultural architectural spaces. With roots in New Orleans and their global perspective based in New York, they have risen to the rank of the number one design firm by Architect 50, an official publication of the American Institute of Architects. He leads his firm with the conviction of bringing humility and awareness into a mindful design process to create authentic spaces that elevate our lives and the human experience. His firm known for projects like the Holy Rosary Church Complex, St. Jean Vianney, Moody Pavilions, Coca-Cola Stage at the Alliance Theatre, as well as the Louisiana State Museum and Sports Hall of Fame and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome renovation post-Katrina, just to name a few. As well as his poetic approach and thorough consideration applied to every aspect of his projects. As well as his poetic approach and thorough consideration applied to every aspect of his projects. He views them as part of the natural ecosystem, including the soil. Soil is the repository for all living, organic matter, and for Trey, our buildings should not be separate from it but constructed in harmony. And, well-constructed spaces foster human connection, both ephemeral and lasting—and it should be no different between architecture and the natural world. We connected with Trey to hear his ideas on the importance of creating sacred spaces devoid of clutter that make way for that human connection, his definition of beauty, and the potential regeneration holds as he presents a different side of that coin. His primary focus is creating lasting, impactful cultural spaces, with the aim to look at the periphery, examining how architecture builds connections between humans and the environment in ways we may have not considered. -- Design and the City, is a podcast produced by reSITE about the ways we can use design to make cities more livable and lovable. reSITE is a global non-profit and platform connecting people and ideas to improve the urban environment. We work at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, politics, culture, and economics, acting as a catalyst for social action and innovative leadership. We encourage the exchange of ideas about making cities more livable, competitive, resilient, inclusive, mobile, and designed with humans in mind to protect and public space, architecture, and sustainable development in cities. Learn more at www.reSITE.org Join reSITE's Newsletter If you would like to support us as a patron, sponsor, or strategic partner, please get in touch with us at podcast@resite.org. Your support allows us to continue sharing ideas to inspire more livable, lovable cities. This episode was directed and produced by myself, Alexandra Siebenthal, and Nikkolas Zellers, with the support of Martin Barry andRadka Ondrackova as well as Nano Energies and the Czech Ministry of Culture. It was recorded and edited by LittleBig Studio.

A city that is good for children, is good for everyone. A concept that has begun to gain more traction as cities look to new urbanism principles to apply to their respective cities. It’s one Tim Gill, author of Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities, has been championing since the nineties. Based in the UK, he has laid a foundation for a career in research on the topic and was the former director of Play England, a children’s play council. In Tim’s book, he asks questions like “what type of cities do we want our children to grow up in? Car-dominated, noisy, polluted, and devoid of nature? Or walkable, welcoming, and green?” He emphasizes that “as the climate crisis and urbanisation escalate, cities urgently need to become more inclusive and sustainable”. His book helps us “look at cities through the eyes of children while strengthening the case for planning and transportation policies that work for people of all ages, and for the planet”. When reviewing Tim’s book ahead of this episode, we found ourselves projecting my own childhoods onto much of what he shared in his work—an experience I think anyone might share upon reading. He invites us to look at cities through the eyes of our inner child, and revisit childhood memories of play.  Tim’s book, Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities, was published this year by the Royal Institute of British Architects. -- Design and the City, is a podcast produced by reSITE about the ways we can use design to make cities more livable and lovable. reSITE is a global non-profit and platform connecting people and ideas to improve the urban environment. We work at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, politics, culture, and economics, acting as a catalyst for social action and innovative leadership. We encourage the exchange of ideas about making cities more livable, competitive, resilient, inclusive, mobile, and designed with humans in mind to protect and public space, architecture, and sustainable development in cities. Learn more at www.reSITE.org Join reSITE's Newsletter If you would like to support us as a patron, sponsor, or strategic partner, please get in touch with us at podcast@resite.org. Your support allows us to continue sharing ideas to inspire more livable, lovable cities. This episode was directed and produced by myself, Alexandra Siebenthal with the support of Martin Barry, Radka Ondrackova, Nikkolas Zellers, and Alexander White, as well as Nano Energies and the Czech Ministry of Culture. It was recorded in the reSITE office in Prague and edited by LittleBig Studio.