The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design discuss the local architecture, adobe buildings, and natural landscapes of the southwest region of the United States. The two cover the role nature has in cities, designing experiences, how architecture can co-exist with the natural landscape, craftsmanship, and more. Destinations included the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, and Paolo Soleri’s Arcosanti.
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Highlights & Timestamps
(00:00) Experiencing national parks and modern cities.
Monument Valley is a 360-degree uninterrupted experience of nature. There, nature is the principal actor of the space and if there is any architecture it is very much in the background. If you look at bigger cities, such as Los Angeles, you have to search for nature. Nature is in the background or it is the thing you see out of your window looking at the ocean. It is not this uninterrupted experience and perspective which makes me wonder what was the point [of building if it destroys the beauty that was already there]? (10:20)
(15:48) Creating local and meaningful architecture
The adobe architecture of the southwest is fascinating not just because of how it looks aesthetically. It looks the way it looks because it was built that way out of necessity. With the adobe houses, the relationship between their structure (the thing that supports the architecture), their construction methods, and their aesthetics, and therefore their design, are one and the same. They were conceived as not separate things. That is what makes them beautiful. There's an intense honesty to that type of architecture, whether it be made with Adobe or anything else. (18:50)
A striking feeling that I had when we approached back to civilization (the big cities), it felt like we could have been anywhere. Everything looked the same. Everybody had the same cars. The houses could’ve belonged to anywhere. It didn’t feel like we were somewhere specific. It was sad. This is something that we've noticed, and it's one of my pet peeves, is that the way to build and develop many of the American cities is to have a crappy cluster of chains. There is always a Michaels, a Target, a Walmart, a Costco, a KFC, and a Burger King all within the same spot, and all the buildings that house those programs always look the same anywhere across America… except I think in Santa Fe, the McDonald's had turquoise color instead of the yellow and red. (21:01)
(23:40) Creating experiences through architecture
We often say that we don't design buildings and that instead, we author and design experiences. I like thinking about architecture that way, and designing that way because it takes the focus away from that physical thing (the building) which is only a means to an end. (26:20)
(29:11) Avoiding superficial design decisions
Often what people think ‘beautiful’ is and what they consider to be desirable, is just based on what we have all seen a lot of or it’s based on what someone else has. […] In this mindset, design becomes a copycatting game where everyone's just copying things. One of the biggest challenges we (clients and architects) face is to get away from that. Don't copy what someone else does. […] Instead, let's create something that is specific to the place and to you. The real challenge of designing architecture is to find some truth within it. That's really what it's all about. (29:25)
(34:00) Should architecture blend with the natural environment?
How should human-made structures (architecture) relate to the natural landscape around them? […] In color theory, if you have a green color, an easy way to work with that green is to choose another shade of green. But in color theory, there's the word complimentary, which I’ve always found very interesting. For example, green and red, you would say that they're kind of opposites, but they're also complimentary. Blue and orange, are also very different, but also complimentary. So there's this idea that two things can be aesthetically and on the surface completely different things, but they attract and they work with each other. There's a resonance between them and the two of them actually empower each other. They define a new understanding of each other. I think that's really what architecture should be doing with the natural environment around it. (43:00)
Conceptually, architecture also defines our relationship to the natural environment. In a primitive sense, architecture provides shelter and protects us from the exterior. Because of this, it acts as a mediator between us and nature. (35:55)
(45:35) Craftsmanship & Love
I often feel that craftsmanship has been lost. Meaning, how much care you put into something and how much care you put into making something good, and not just doing a quick deal to make money and move on. Architects can also be considered craftsmen. I'm always thinking about Europe as a point of reference, and in small towns there, people make their own things and they are very proud of that. The local guy who makes bread or the local cheese shop is passionate about what they do... they are craftsmen. Even the signage above the door of the cheese shop would probably be hand-painted and they would've picked the colors very carefully. I think if you put love in what you do, you can transfer that love to people and create more love around you. (46:46)
(56:03) Taliesin West by Frank Lloyd Wright and Arcosanti by Paolo Soleri
