About Buildings + Cities

140 — John Summerson's 'The Classical Language of Architecture'

In this episode, the first of a trilogy, we talked about John Summerson's best-selling 1965 book 'The Classical Language of Architecture', developed out of a series of le

*Preview* — Piranesi's Heirs Bonus Episode

This is a preview of a Patreon bonus episode. To listen to the rest, consider supporting the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/about_buildings In this penultima

139 — Piranesi 4 — The Prisons

In the final part of our Piranesi miniseries we talked about his only building, the church of Santa Maria del Priorato, his theoretical writings, his proposals for interi

138 — Piranesi 3 — Ichnographiam Campii Martii

In the penultimate episode of our series on Giovanni Battista Piranesi, we discussed his Ichnographia Campii Martii, one of his stranged and most inventive projects, a va

137 — Piranesi 2 — The Antiquities of Rome

In the second episode of our series on Giovanni Battista Piranesi, we discussed his multi-volume project, Le Antichità Romane de' tempo della prima Repubblica e dei primi

136 — Piranesi 1 — Prima Parte

In the first part of our new series on Piranesi we discussed his upbringing and background in Venice, his earliest travels to Rome and first work with Giuseppe Vasi and T

*Preview* Show and Tell Bonus — Santa Maria del Naranco & Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park

To get full access to this episode, please consider supporting us on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/about_buildings Taking cues from the 'Show and Tell' main episode, E

135 — Show and Tell — Enigmatic Ancient Pavilions

This episode takes a new format! Instead of fitting into a larger series or a particular theme, Luke and George simply chose two interesting pieces of architecture each t

134 — William Golding's 'The Spire'

In our final episode of 2025, we discussed William Golding's 1964 novel 'The Spire', a deeply psychological portrayal of the construction of a cathedral spire in the 14th

133 — Sigfried Giedion's Space, Time and Architecture — 4/4

In the finale of our series on Sigfried Giedion, we discussed the bait-and-switch coda of the book, where Giedion unexpectedly addresses questions of urbanism and town pl

*Preview* — Giedion's 'Mechanisation Takes Command' Bonus Episodes

Some clips from our Patreon bonus episodes on Sigfried Gideion's 'Mechanisation Takes Command'. If you've enjoyed the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon for

132 — Sigfried Giedion's Space, Time and Architecture — 3/4

In part three of our discussion of 'Space, Time and Architecture', we finally got to the Spacetime and the architecture. We examined Giedion's thinking about many canonic

131 — Sigfried Giedion's Space, Time and Architecture — 2/4

In the second part of our discussion of Sigfried Giedion's 'Space, Time and Architecture' we covered the canalpunk aesthetics of cast-iron bridges, the transformation of

130 — Sigfried Giedion's Space, Time and Architecture — 1/4

In this first episode of a new series on Sigfried Giedion's 1941 book 'Space, Time and Architecture', we discussed the approach to architectural history and urbanism in t

*Patreon Bonus Unlocked* — WG Sebald's Rings of Saturn

This is an unlocked Patreon bonus episode from our series on WG Sebald (episodes 77 & 78 in the main feed), if you enjoyed listening to this episode, please consider supp

*Patreon Bonus Unlocked* — Otto Wagner's Unbuilt Projects

This is an unlocked bonus episode from our series on Otto Wagner, released to mark the end of our Plečnik series. You can listen to the whole of our Otto Wagner series, e

*Preview* — 129.5 Plečnik Finale Bonus Episode

This is a clip from our latest Patreon bonus episode, if you'd like to hear our final thoughts on Plečnik in full, please consider subscribing at https://www.patreon.com/

129 — Jože Plečnik 6 — Slovene Acropolis

In the grand finale of our Plečnik series, we discussed the last of his projects for Ljubljana both realised and unrealised. In this episode we covered his Peglezen or Fl

128 — Jože Plečnik 5 — The River & the City

More Plečnik in Ljubljana! Here we talked about his approach to the Ljubljanica, the river that runs through the middle of the city, including the weirs, bridges and slui

127 — Jože Plečnik 4 — Ljubljana Façades and Insurance Palaces

In the first episode of our Plečnik series on his work for Ljubljana, we discussed a few of his less well known works, including his work for the Chamber of Commerce, the