Open City

This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by Christopher Martin. Christopher is the managing director and head of urban design at Urban Movement. Together they discuss:

Massive pedestrianisation plans for London’s West End move forward // The Brutalist Southbank Centre is listed after three decades of uncertainty // Controversial plans to overhaul London’s Liverpool Street are approved // And campaigners are fighting a decision to leave Clandon Park House a preserved ruin

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The Open City Podcast is supported by Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture platform and produced in association with the Architects’ Journal, London Society, C20 Society and Save Britain's Heritage.

The Open City Podcast is recorded and produced at the Open City offices located in Bureau. Bureau is a co-working space for creatives offering a new approach to membership workspace. Bureau prioritises not just room to think and do, but also shared resources and space to collaborate.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Sam Elbahja to discuss a vanished building with a complicated history. Robin Hood Gardens was a housing estate in Poplar, designed by Alison and Peter Smithson for the LCC, completed in 1972. It was the first opportunity that the Smithsons had to enact their long-developed ideas about modern residential planning, including 'streets in the sky', a principle for community design grounded in the sociological patterns of kinship in the East End. The building was controversial from the outset, and in 2010, Tower Hamlets Borough Council decided to demolish and redevelop the estate. In 2025, the demolition of the estate was completed, and the V&A Storehouse opened in nearby Hackney Wick, featuring a fragment of the facade of the building as part of their collection.

Sam Elbahja is a Moroccan-Thai poet and artist from East London, and a recent Architecture graduate from the University of Cambridge. Sam is an Eden’s Scholar and recipient of the Cambridge David Flemming Prize, she is also a four-time published poet, with work featured by the V&A, Chicago’s Trope, and in her debut collection Naked Pen. Sam’s greatest passion lies in community engagement and exploring the intersectionality of architecture, poetry, and art - recently co-founding an interdisciplinary collective called ISO.

Subscribe to the Open City Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud or iTunes

The Open City Podcast is supported by Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture platform and produced in association with the Architects’ Journal, London Society, C20 Society and Save Britain's Heritage.

The Open City Podcast is recorded and produced at the Open City offices located in Bureau. Bureau is a co-working space for creatives offering a new approach to membership workspace. Bureau prioritises not just room to think and do, but also shared resources and space to collaborate.

To help support excellent and accessible, independent journalism about the buildings and the urban environment, please become an Open City Friend.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The Brief Sahiba Chadha is joined by Caroline Harper. Caroline is the Managing Director of BeFirst, the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham’s urban regeneration agency. Together they discuss:

Government reveals its latest housing design and placemaking guidance // London house prices need to fall, says the housing minister // Níall McLaughlin wins RIBA Royal Gold Medal // And amid downturn and uncertainty is a career in architecture and the built environment still endlessly rewarding?

Subscribe to the Open City Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud or iTunes

The Open City Podcast is supported by Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture platform and produced in association with the Architects’ Journal, London Society, C20 Society and Save Britain's Heritage.

The Open City Podcast is recorded and produced at the Open City offices located in Bureau. Bureau is a co-working space for creatives offering a new approach to membership workspace. Bureau prioritises not just room to think and do, but also shared resources and space to collaborate.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing a brand new show from Open City: The Home That Made Me.

In this episode Fiona Chilton is joined by Clare who after years of renting managed to buy her dream flat in London. But, within a matter of months, everything changed and her sanctuary became a place of despair. This experience has profoundly changed how she sees the balance of power in the built environment, and has forever changed what she would look for in any future home.

Subscribe to the Open City Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud or iTunes

The Open City Podcast is supported by Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture platform and produced in association with the Architects’ Journal, London Society, C20 Society and Save Britain's Heritage.

To help support excellent and accessible, independent journalism about the buildings and the urban environment, please become an Open City Friend.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by Tom Dollard. Tom is an architect and partner for sustainability at Pollard Thomas Edwards. He was recently appointed Mayor’s Design Advocate and is Chair of the Good Homes Alliance. Together they discuss:

Government launches ‘biggest home upgrade plan in UK history’// Westminster Council puts Retrofit at the heart of the city // New plans to protect architects from unqualified rivals // And Mexico’s LANZA picked for this year’s Serpentine Pavilion

Subscribe to the Open City Podcast on Spotify, Soundcloud or iTunes

The Open City Podcast is supported by Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture platform and produced in association with the Architects’ Journal, London Society, C20 Society and Save Britain's Heritage.

The Open City Podcast is recorded and produced at the Open City offices located in Bureau. Bureau is a co-working space for creatives offering a new approach to membership workspace. Bureau prioritises not just room to think and do, but also shared resources and space to collaborate.

To help support excellent and accessible, independent journalism about the buildings and the urban environment, please become an Open City Friend.

Music credit: Homestead by Punch Deck | https://soundcloud.com/punch-deck
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.