Photos, renderings, plans, sections, elevations, 3D visualisations, immersive realities: these are the main narrative and communication tools for architecture and design. In the age of digital journalism and social media, words become almost marginal compared to the need to visualise content – often risking falling into superficiality. At the same time, in recent years, the podcast has become an increasingly widespread and popular format. Audio storytelling is increasingly a key player on the digital infotainment market around the world, with numbers showing an evident growing interest on the part of the public. According to Spotify data, Italy is among the countries that have shown the greatest growth in podcast offerings. The platform has seen its Italian-language catalogue expand by 89% in the last year. Can podcasts meet the storytelling needs of a universe based mainly on the circulation of images? The answer, of course, is yes, because there are always stories to be told, behind-the-scenes facts to be revealed and processes to be highlighted around every artefact. Podcasts also avoid the copy-paste of press releases, and we journalists avoid endless hours of reeling off interviews. We have selected 10 podcasts related to architecture and design.
The best design and architecture podcasts to listen to in 2022
Interviews, anecdotes, lists, biographies and critical analyses: the world of design is also following the trend of audio storytelling. We’ve selected the best podcasts, both Italian and international.
Photo: Evelyn Hofer, Saul Steinberg with his hand, New York 1978, © Estate of Evelyn Hofer
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- Salvatore Peluso
- 10 May 2022
Opening image: “Dannati Architetti”, the podcast edited by architect Maria Chiara Virgili
Journalist, curator and professor at the Politecnico di Milano, Chiara Alessi has recently found in podcasts a means of expression to tell about objects and personalities in a new way. After “Design in Pigiama” and “Il design è donna!”, Alessi created the series “Certe Cose” for Il Post. In each episode she tells the story of an object found in some particular lists: collections of everyday objects found in places and contexts linked to some important moments of the last fifty years.
Francesco Costa was awarded Best Host at the Italian Podcast Awards 2022 and his morning press review, called "Morning", is among the most popular podcasts in Italy. For Triennale Milano, the deputy editor of Il Post has created a series of audios that narrate the works of Saul Steinberg, the context that produced them, the intention that conceived them and above all the person who created them.
“Failed Architecture (FA) reconnects architecture with the real world.” The publishing platform takes a critical look at the built environment using architecture as a tool to discuss social justice, climate crisis, urban countercultures and issues of importance to all of society. Not just for architects.
“SNAP – Architettura Imperfetta”, edited by architect Roberto Marin, is a podcast dedicated to the information technologies that can be used in architectural design: BIM, augmented reality, virtual reality, parametric and algorithmic design...
There is no better way to describe this podcast, edited by Roman Mars, than the words of Chicago Tribune journalist Chistopher Borrelli: “Across a decade now, after more than 430 episodes, 99% Invisible still explains itself as a podcast about design. Which, as the cliché goes, is like saying Moby-Dick is a novel about whales. 99% Invisible, episode after episode, is really about the difference between what you see and a designer sees, what you see and an architect sees, what you see and an engineer sees.”
Three friends – Giuliano, Nanni and Riccardo – talk about design as if they were at the bar: in an informal language that is accessible to everyone. They discuss the various themes that make up the universe of design: from communication to technology, passing through marketing and innovation, trying to demonstrate how design is a discipline that is close to many people.
Maria Chiara Virgili approached the world of podcasting by chance and promptly decided to take an active part in it: “I started asking myself what I would like to listen to, and immediately came up against an obvious problem: architecture can be watched, experienced and done, but not listened to. I thought that's why there aren't so many architecture podcasts.” His “Damned Architects”, is dedicated to biographies of the great masters of modern and contemporary architecture.
“Architecture & Anthropocene” is the first podcast produced by Triennale Milano: a series of conversations to continue exploring the themes of the XXII Milan Triennale “Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival”. During the seven episodes of the series, David Plaisant meets curator Paola Antonelli, Forensic Architecture founder Eyal Weizman, bio-acoustician Bernie Krause, urban planner and theorist Ricky Burdett and architects Shigeru Ban, Tatiana Bilbao and London-based collective Assemble.
British magazine Monocle publishes a weekly podcast focusing on public space, urban planning, new visions of cities, innovative technologies... The aim of “The Urbanist” series is “to guide listeners and inspire them to create better cities.”
Paolo Ferrarini defines his “Parola Progetto” as a “podcast of dialogues with people who live by projects, to tell the story of design without objects and images, only through words and their deep meaning.” These are therefore long interviews through which the author is creating a large archive of voices of design and contemporary culture.