Scratching the Surface

Oliver Wainwright a writer and photographer based in London. He has been the architecture and design critic of the Guardian since 2012. He trained as an architect at the University of Cambridge and the Royal College of Art, and worked in strategic planning at the Architecture and Urbanism Unit of the Greater London Authority and at a number of architecture practices, including OMA in Rotterdam and Muf in London. In this conversation, Oliver and Jarrett talk about the relationship between writing and architecture, the tensions between practice and criticism, and what it means to write for a major newspaper. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Vera Sacchetti is a design critic and curator. She's currently the co-curator of TEOK Basel, one-half of the curatorial initiative Foreign Legion, and was the associate curator of the 4th Istanbul Biennial. Her writing has appeared in Domus, Disegno, Metropolis, and the Avery Review. She is a graduate of SVA's Design Criticism program. In this episode, Jarrett and Vera talk about her move from designer to critic, her curatorial approach, and the process for assembling the Istanbul Biennial under the theme "A School of Schools". Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Paul Bailey is a designer, educator and researcher. He's currently the Course Leader for the MA Graphic Media Design program at the London College of Communication, an advisor at the Jan van Eyck Academie, and is a founding member of the Design Displacement Group. Paul's expanded practice mixes client work with self-initiated projects and take various forms such as exhibitions, publications, performances, workshops and writings. In this episode, Jarrett and Paul talk about this expanded practice and his early education, how he started teaching and how being in the classroom influences his own work, and the value of research and writing in the design process. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Kurt Andersen is a writer, radio host, and journalist. He's the author of novels True Believers, Heyday, and Turn of the Century, and has written for film, television, and stage. He is the host and co-creator of arts and culture radio show Studio 360, co-founder of Spy Magazine, and author of Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire. Oh, he was also the design critic at Time for eight years. In this episode, Jarrett and Kurt talk about how he started writing about design, how design is a constant theme that runs through all of his, and why Fantasyland might be a book about design. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Reinier de Graaf has been a partner at OMA since 1996. He co-founded the studio's think tank AMO and has overseen projects ranging from an exhibition of the history of the European Union to masterplans for projects around the world. He has also taught in Harvard's architecture department and is the author of Four Walls and a Roof: The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession. In this episode, Jarrett and Reinier talk about the origins of AMO and when clients don't need buildings, the intersections of theory and practice, and why he doesn't always preach what he practices. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Craig Mod is a writer, photographer, and designer based in Japan. He’s written extensively about books, publishing, walking, and technology for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and Medium. He also publishes two newsletters, Roden and Ridgeline, and hosts On Margins, a podcast about making books. In this episode, Jarrett and Craig talk about his background as a designer and programmer, the evolution of his own writing and where he’d like to take it, and taking the longview in all of his work. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Kimbro Frutiger is an architect and writer. He studied classical languages and archeology at Amherst College, with a focus on reconstruction of Greek-era sites in Sicily, before receiving an MArch from Yale University’s School of Architecture. Since 2000, he's written about architecture history and culture for a variety of publications and is currently working on a book. In this episode, Kimbro talks to Jarrett about how his varied educational background influences his work as both an architect and writer, the different types of criticism, and the relationship between his writing and architectural practices. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Nate Pyper is an alphabet artist working in publishing, performance, and video. He maintains an ongoing research practice on queer anarcho-punk zines and is a 2018 Graduate of the Yale School of Art. He previously worked as a designer at the Milwaukee Art Museum and organized the Designers Talking series. In this episode, Nate and Jarrett talk about his expanded practice, the role of writing and research in his work, and the importance of dialogue and conversation in his work. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Sam Jacob is an architect, writer, and teacher. He is the founder and director of Sam Jacob Studio, an architecture and design practice based in London, has written for all sorts of architecture publications, and is currently Professor of Architecture at University of Illinois at Chicago and Visiting Professor at Yale School of Architecture. In this episode, Sam and Jarrett talk about how he started writing, the writing classes he's taught in Chicago, and how reading and writing influence his architecture practice. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.

Jeffrey Schnapp is the founder/faculty director of metaLAB (at) Harvard and faculty co-director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. He holds the Carl A. Pescosolido Chair in Romance Languages and Literatures and Comparative Literature in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and is on the teaching faculty in the Department of Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. In this episode, Jeffrey and Jarrett talk about his background as a medievalist and how that influences his research around media and technology, why he likes to call himself a 'knowledge designer', and how form and and content are completely inseparable for him. Links from this episode can be found at scratchingthesurface.fm.