Open City

Dive into London's swimming culture with Merlin, and 20th Century Society President, Catherine Slessor this week on the Londown. Shock as Croydon blocks sale of Brick by Brick to Urban Splash, fees hiked at Hampstead Ponds casting shadows over London’s swimming culture, David Chipperfield submits plans for new Chinese Embassy in Tower Hamlets, a new Building Safety Bill promises leaseholders rights to sue developers, and why architecture needs more (and better) public speakers.The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Zoe spoke with Will Hurst, the managing editor of the AJ. Together they discussed the police raid of Hackney’s annual Antepavilion site, Robert Jenrick's blocking of the old London Fire Brigade HQ redevelopment, the leading London architects chosen for enormous Moscow estate re-generation, and why the RIBA has revised its climate targets downwards.The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Merlin spoke with Edwin Heathcote, the architecture and design critic at the Financial Times. They discuss a new competition looking to design a pedestrian-friendly Oxford Circus, the backlash over government planning reforms after shock by-election defeat, the late Charles Jencks’ Cosmic House to open as a museum this September, and how better pay could be the real way to boost architects' mental wellbeing.The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week was the four year anniversary of the Grenfell disaster, and Merlin reflects on Architecture's response with journalist Ella Jessel. Also on the menu; Protestors gather in Brick Lane to fight the Truman Brewery’s redevelopment; Peter Barber, Sumita Singha and others receive Queen’s birthday honours; and GB News - television’s latest rolling current affairs channel - blames the housing crisis for growing cultural divides.The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to Open City’s on-demand audio tour of Marylebone, one of central London’s most attractive and atmospheric neighbourhoods and home to The Howard de Walden Estate.This fun and engaging audio walking tour led by expert guide Mike Althorpe — an urban historian, architectural researcher, educator and storyteller — follows the route of our popular real-life tour exploring the architecture and history of this urban village.Listening point 1: St Marylebone Parish Church1817 landmark by architect Thomas Hardwick in a grand classical style. It is the fourth such building to serve the parish of Marylebone and symbolic of early 19th century urban changes.Listening point 2: Devonshire StreetDevelopment of Portland Estate summary close to fine examples of 18th century streets and speculative building pattern and site of old Marylebone Gardens - a popular rural entertainment spot.Listening point 3: Marylebone High StreetHome to Marylebone Village. It started life as a rural lane between the highway of Oxford Street and the Manor House. In recent decades carefully curation by The Haward de Walden Estate has created a retail destination with genuine balance and character. – unlike so many other cookie cutter high streets.Listening point 4: Grotto PassageBehind the scenes Grotto Ragged and Industrial School opened in 1846 and Ossington Estate model dwellings1888 and 1892 - landmarks of the urban diversity of the area and shifting pattern of living.Listening point 5: Paddington Street GardensHistoric 1880s landscaped gardens and former site of 18th century Marylebone workhouse - important story of urban change on the edge of the historic estate and life of the parishListening point 6: Manchester SquareLandmark square developed with Hertford House in the 1760s, home to international Wallace collection since 1900. Former site of EMI offices and iconic Beatles photo shootListening point 7: Hinde & Mandeville StreetsLandmark neoclassical Hinde Street Methodist church 1887 by James Weir created in aftermath of impressive 1870s urban clearance projects in French renaissance style at bottom of high streetListening point 8: Scheon ClinicLandmark new development with hidden depths on site of former ironworks with sculpture marking gateway to Marylebone High Street from south.Listening point 9: Debenhams & Wigmore HallColossal department store designed by architects William Wallace and James Gibson in 1907 in an grandiose Edwardian Baroque style and covered in dolton carrara ceramics. And celebrated 1901 concert venue by Thomas Edward Colcutt.Listening point 10: Henrietta PlaceFormer private estate chapel of St Peters, 1724 by James Gibbs and nearby Royal Society of Medicine.Listening point 11: Cavendish SquareFirst move of the historic Portland estate in 1719, mixed fortunes landmark architectural set pieces, sculpture and new development as part of public realm enhancements.Listening point 12: Chandos HouseSpeculatively landmark house built between 1769 - 1761 by Robert Adam, the most prominent architect in Georgian Britain. Rare London house in Edinburgh quarried stone.Listening point 13: Harley StreetThe Harley Street Medical Area (HSMA) is a community of Marylebone-based hospitals, clinics and specialists, renowned for their outstanding patient care, pioneering treatments and use of cutting-edge technologies. – The Centre of which is Harley Street which was first laid out in 1729.Listening point 14: Portland PlaceLandmark urban space laid out by the brothers Robert and James Adam as part of second wave of historic Portland estate surviving terraces of 1780s, transformed in 1820s as part of Nash’s royal route, remade in 1930s with apartments and office. RIBA Landmark at heart of space subject to proposals to change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Merlin caught up with Shawn Adams - writer, architectural designer, and cofounder of POoR Collective. They discuss Sumayya Vally's long-awaited Serpentine Pavilion, the government’s chief architect's resignation, the contentious South Kensington tube station overhaul, and the RIBA’s 2021 fellows lack of diversity.The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Zoe catches up with architectural historian Barnabas Calder. They discuss a new contest seeking radical cycle infrastructure concepts, Catherine Slessor being tipped to become the new 20th Century Society president, the human impacts of estate demolition, and Barnabas’ new book ‘Architecture: From Pre-history to Climate Emergency’.The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Merlin speaks with Olly Wainwright - the architecture and design critic at the Guardian - about his recent visit to this years’ Venice Biennale. Also on the menu; A south London school built outside approved plans faces demolition, Keir Starmer criticised for backing new fence around Primrose Hill, and the Barbican Centre’s new exhibition on 1980s feminist design collective Matrix.The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Merlin speaks with Guardian journalist Hettie O'Brien about her investigations into the contentious Whitechapel Bell Foundry redevelopment approved by the government. Also on the menu; Downing Street aide apologizes for perceived conflicts of interest on approving a property loan to a company he worked for, the government moves to ‘carefully’ taken down Grenfell Tower, and Open City announces a major new book on the social and cultural history of London pubs.The Londown is produced in association with the Architects’ Journal. If you enjoyed the show, we recommend you subscribe to the AJ for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis, and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Merlin speaks with Maddie Kessler, co-curator of The Garden of Privatised Delights pavilion at the Venice Biennale opening next week. Also on the menu; Radical planning reforms set down in the Queen’s Speech, the winners of Enfield’s Meridian Four contest named, and Urban Splash in final stage talks to buy Croydon’s Brick by Brick.If you enjoy The Londown we recommend subscribing to the Architects’ Journal – for all the latest news, building studies, expert opinion, cultural analysis and business intelligence from the UK architecture industry. Listeners can save 15% on a subscription using this link. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.