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Scaffold

The Architecture Foundation

Interviews with architects, artists and designers. Produced by the Architecture Foundation and hosted by Matthew Blunderfield.



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  • 22 episodes
  • monthly
  • Avg 1 hr
  • English

Episodes 22

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  • September 11 · 1 hr 24 min

    John Tuomey

    John Tuomey comes on the pod to discuss Middle Quarter, the second volume of his memoir, recorded live at the Barbican on 27 July 2026 as part of the Architecture Foundation's Architecture on Stage series. Tuomey co-founded O'Donnell + Tuomey with Sheila O'Donnell in 1988. Together they have built the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar, the Glucksman in Cork, the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre at the LSE, and the V&A East in Stratford, and were jointly awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2015. The conversation traces a childhood spent moving every two years between his father's construction sites, an education at UCD in the wake of the Flying Circus, and a first job in James Stirling's office secured by a phone call at six on a Friday evening. Tuomey talks about returning to Dublin in the 1980s to work on a derelict city, the founding of Group 91 and the competition for Temple Bar, the shift from cellular to volumetric thinking at Letterfrack, and the pinball machine that gave the Irish language centre in Derry its plan. He is also candid about the years after the LSE when work dried up entirely, and about being retired from UCD on his birthday after four decades of teaching. Middle Quarter is published by Lilliput Press. First Quarter, the first volume, is also available. Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production. Special thanks to VELUX for supporting this episode: https://velux.com/design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • August 7 · 1 hr 11 min

    Níall McLaughlin (Live at POST PRESS)

    Níall McLaughlin is this year's recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal—awarded for more than three decades of work ranging from a seaside bandstand at Bexhill to the Stirling Prize-winning library at Magdalene College, Cambridge. To mark the occasion, his practice has released a new book, published by Objectif Edition and co-edited with Bryony Jones. And it's far from your typical architecture monograph.Uncle Toby's Garden, and it takes its title from Tristram Shandy, Laurence Sterne's mid-eighteenth-century novel—a book that seems to have arrived from the future, treating the conventions of the still-young English novel as toys to be dismantled, and anticipating experimental fiction by roughly two centuries. It tries to capture real experience, and the movement of consciousness, in a way that tidy, linear narrative can't. Níall's book is similarly non-linear, organised around digressions rather than buildings. Its title character, Uncle Toby, is a wounded veteran who spends his days re-enacting old battles on his bowling green, in a pastime both trivial and profound. In that spirit, the book reframes architecture as a performance of ritual, collaboration, speculation and play. Fittingly, our conversation took place at 10 Bowling Green Lane, home of the Zaha Hadid Foundation, and the temporary site of the Architecture Foundation's summer programme, POST PRESS. It was recorded on Tuesday 21 July 2026. Link to Níall's lecture Circling a Star - a Daylight Talk: https://www.niallmclaughlin.com/media/circling-a-star-a-daylight-talk/ Thanks to Velux for supporting the podcast. Velux.com/design Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • July 10 · 1 hr 9 min

    Michael Mack (Live at POST PRESS)

    Michael Mack is the founder of London-based independent art and photography publishing house MACK. This conversation was recorded live at POST PRESS. More info and upcoming event tickets here. Thanks to VELUX for supporting the podcast: velux.com/design Link to the AF POST PRESS programme Books discussed: W. G. Sebald, On the Natural History of Destruction (Hamish Hamilton, 2003) Le Corbusier, Aircraft (The Studio, 1935) Reconstructing Space: Architecture in Recent German Photography, ed. Michael Mack (AA Publications, 1999) Contemporary Architecture series, ed. Leonardo Benevolo (Cappelli, 1964–) Manfredo Tafuri, Modern Architecture in Japan, ed. Mohsen Mostafavi (MACK, 2022) Andrea Bagnato, Terra Infecta: Disease and the Italian Landscape (MACK Sightlines, 2026) Kwan Queenie Li, Weeds: A Germinating Theory (MACK Sightlines, 2026) Caruso St John, Collected Works: Volume 1 1990–2005 (MACK, 2022) Takashi Homma, Tokyo Olympia (Nieves, 2023) Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin, Holy Bible (MACK / Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013) Collier Schorr, Jens F. (SteidlMACK, 2005) Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game (1943; Winston translation, 1969) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • June 12 · 1 hr 38 min

    Jonathan Tuckey

    Jonathan Tuckey founded his design practice in 2000 having previously worked for David Chipperfield Architects and Fletcher Priest Architects. He has long been one of the UK's leading advocates for remodelling and radically transforming old buildings for modern uses. The podcast is supported this week by VELUX and features a short pre-reel interview with Thomas Vonier — architect and former president of the International Union of Architects. th UIA is assembling in Barcelona this month for the World Congress of Architects, which VELUX are also supporting. Jonathan's episode begins around the 12 minute mark. Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production, hosted by Matthew Blunderfield. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • May 15 · 32 min

    Morgan Day (Part 2)

    Morgan Day is a writer based in Tucson Arizona who works across professional architecture writing and literary fiction. Her debut novel,The Oldest Bitch Alive, is out this month from Akoya Publishing in the UK, and Astra House in the US. “We tend to think of our bodies as having barriers, but we’re actually very porous. We’re in this constant state of becoming and effecting our environment, and our environment is constantly affecting and infecting us. I wanted to put these ideas on the page in a story, not only through living creatures, but through built structures too.” –MD Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • May 8 · 40 min

    Morgan Day (Part 1)

    Morgan Day is a writer based in Tucson Arizona who works across professional architecture writing and literary fiction. Her debut novel,The Oldest Bitch Alive, is out this month from Akoya Publishing in the UK, and Astra House in the US. “We tend to think of our bodies as having barriers, but we’re actually very porous. We’re in this constant state of becoming and effecting our environment, and our environment is constantly affecting and infecting us. I wanted to put these ideas on the page in a story, not only through living creatures, but through built structures too.” –MD Image credit: “Ungodly” by Ambera Wellman, 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • May 1 · 34 min

    Jaakko Pallasvuo (Avocado Ibuprofen) Part 2

    Part 2 of our interview with the Finnish artist and writer Jaakko Pallasvuo, author most recently of Amber (Rrose Editions, 2026) and Mouthing the Words (Khaos, 2025) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • April 24 · 1 hr 25 min

    Jaakko Pallasvuo (Avocado Ibuprofen)

    Jaakko Pallasvuo is a Helsinki-based artist and writer, best known for his Instagram account Avocado Ibuprofen. In this episode he reflects on the role he sees for art and writing in a world increasingly shaped by social media platforms and artificial intelligence, and he discusses his recently published collection of performance texts Mouthing the Words (Khaos, 2025). Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production, hosted by Matthew Blunderfield. Download the London Architecture Guide App via the App Store or Google Play Become an Architecture Foundation Patreon member and be a part of a growing coalition of architects and built environment professionals supporting our vital and independent work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • March 26 · 1 hr 20 min

    Vincenzo Latronico

    Recorded live in London at the Barbican Centre earlier this month, this episode marks the publication of Order Prevails in Berlin, a new essay by the Italian novelist Vincenzo Latronico that acts as an autobiographical key to his highly acclaimed and Booker Prize-shortlisted novel Perfection. Published by the Architecture Foundation and translated by Sophie Hughes, Order Prevails in Berlin is available now via the AF's online shop. Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production, hosted by Matthew Blunderfield. Download the London Architecture Guide App via the App Store or Google Play Become an Architecture Foundation Patreon member and be a part of a growing coalition of architects and built environment professionals supporting our vital and independent work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • March 12 · 47 min

    How Three Leading Architecture Practices Are Using AI Today

    Architects from Herzog & de Meuron, Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects discuss how AI is entering the design studio, from generative design tools to new workflows shaping the future of practice. *This episode is supported by Chaos Group, and features a short conversation with the company's Head of Product Operations, Roderick Bates. Chaos develops visualization technologies that empower artists & designers to create photorealistic imagery and animation across all creative industries.* Shajay Bhooshan is a Senior Associate at Zaha Hadid Architects, where he co-founded the Computation and Design research group (ZHCODE). His work bridges computational geometry, structural thinking, and robotic fabrication—enabling new forms and processes that extend the architectural imagination. Michael Drobnik is an Associate at Herzog & de Meuron, where he leads the Design Technologies team. His work focuses on integrating digital tools and data-driven strategies into the creative and technical development of some of the world’s most significant architectural projects. Martha Tsigkari is a Senior Partner at Foster + Partners, leading their Applied Research and Development group. Her team explores computational design, machine learning, and performance-driven optimization. She brings deep expertise in integrating emerging technologies into large-scale, real-world projects. Outro music is by Lil Internet Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production, hosted by Matthew Blunderfield. Download the London Architecture Guide App via the App Store or Google Play Become an Architecture Foundation Patreon member and be a part of a growing coalition of architects and built environment professionals supporting our vital and independent work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • February 18 · 48 min

    Daryan Knoblauch

    Daryan Knoblauch runs the eponymous architecture practice founded in 2024 in Berlin. His approach follows socio-cultural investigations of the present day, articulated in the form of cultural buildings, pavilions, and scenographies. The young Berlin studio works for clients such as Candela Capitán, Mowalola, Rombaut, and Judeline, among others, positioning architecture at the nexus of the cutting-edge cultural sector, while also providing architectural services for institutions such as the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin, the Mies van der Rohe Foundation in Barcelona, and ArkDes, the Swedish Center for Architecture and Design in Stockholm, among others. Since graduating in 2021 from the Architectural Association in London, Daryan has been teaching as a Studio Master at the AA, the Royal College of Art, and Porto Academy 2025, among others. His work has been shown at MoMA NYC, The World Around 2025, the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, and the Seoul Architecture Biennale. Podcast Credits Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production, hosted by Matthew Blunderfield. Download the London Architecture Guide App via the App Store or Google Play Become an Architecture Foundation Patreon member and be a part of a growing coalition of architects and built environment professionals supporting our vital and independent work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • January 30 · 56 min

    Remembering John Morgan

    The graphic designer John Morgan passed away last September at the age of 52. His final book, Baskerville’s Teardrop Explodes, was published this week, and to mark the occasion we've collected som reflections on Morgan and his work from some of his collaborators. These include, in order of appearance, Tom Weaver former editor of the AA files, Shumi Bose and Kieran Long, who both worked with Morgan on the 2012 Venice architecture Biennale, Ros Barr, who worked with Morgan on a altar design for St Augustine’s Church, Nick Hill, who was designing Morgan’s new studio before he passed away, and Tom Emerson, a director of 6a architects whose collaborations with Morgan extend across many years and projects. You’ll note this list is relatively narrow and hews closely to the world of architecture. The more interviews we collected, the more we realised the scope of this memorial episode risked expanding into an entire series - there are so many people who’ve been changed by Morgan and his work, to say nothing of his students and studio colleagues and publishers, none of whom are featured here. This following voices are just a drop in the bucket in terms of conveying who John was and the influence he had. Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production, hosted by Matthew Blunderfield. Download the London Architecture Guide App via the App Store or Google Play Become an Architecture Foundation Patreon member and be a part of a growing coalition of architects and built environment professionals supporting our vital and independent work. Image credit: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Four Corners Books, 2007 Photo: Michael Harvey © John Morgan studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • Dec 20, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min

    Floris van der Poel's Favourite Things

    Floris van der Poel comes on the pod this week to talk about the best work he’s discovered over the past year. Project list (in order of discussion): 1 The rounding of Cape Horn by Charlie Dalin. 2 Atelier Scheidegger Keller + Espazium, Areal Rosengarten Housing, Zurich, 2021 3 Emmanuel Héré de Corny's Palais du Gouvernement from the years 1751-1753 4 Meat cuts, comparing French and American tastes in urbanism 5 Model of an apartment building with 68 units in Tirana by Arquitectura G 6 Volante, housing in Hilversum by Monadnock Architects (2025) 7 Zwhatt housing, Regensdorf 2024. Luetjens Padmanabhan 8 770 Park Avenue, designed by Rosario Candela. 9 Logements Beaunier by Minuit Architecture 10-11 Papieri-Areal, Construction Site B Studio Eschrickenbacher 12-13 Bois-Gentil Housing, 1st Prize — Fruehauf, Henry, Viladoms 14 Door handle — LCLA 15 Ny Østergade, Copenhagen by Praksis Arkitekter 16-17 Office Complex in Hamburg, 2025 by Kawahara Krause Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • Dec 5, 2025 · 39 min

    Kenneth Frampton (Part 2)

    In part 2 of Kenneth Frampton’s Scaffold interview, we focus on his own experiences - from his early desire to become a farmer, and the long hesitation that kept him from starting a family, and his regrets around leaving architectural practice for a life of writing. These biographical threads are woven through his encounters with key thinkers – from Herbert Marcuse and Tomas Maldonado to Juhani Pallasmaa and Hannah Arendt – and with buildings like Corringham and Aalto’s Villa Mairea and the transformation in perspective they represent. The discussion moves between the question of anti-capitalist architecture, the inundation of images in contemporary life, and the importance of what Frampton calls the microcosmos – architecture as the creation of “a small world” where society can begin to recognise itself. Along the way, Frampton reflects on what it might mean not to separate the reality of work from the pleasure of life. Scaffold is an Architecture Foundation production, hosted by Matthew Blunderfield. Download the London Architecture Guide App via the App Store or Google Play Become an Architecture Foundation Patreon member and be a part of a growing coalition of architects and built environment professionals supporting our vital and independent work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • Nov 13, 2025 · 1 hr 9 min

    playbody

    Designing for radical intimacy

  • Nov 6, 2025 · 51 min

    OMA at 50

    A special guest episode marks the launch of the podcast OMA at 50

  • Oct 9, 2025 · 15 min

    Why be an architect today?

    Scaffold is back this week, with an episode that asks a simple question: why be an architect today? The Architecture Foundation is based inside the office of AHMM in Clerkenwell, which, back in July, hosted a summer school for teenagers just beginning to explore architecture. We decided to speak with some of them, to try and understand what draws young people to this profession today, what they think architecture is for, and how they imagine their futures in it. In these short conversations you get a strong impression of the perennial motivations that push people toward careers in shaping the built environment, despite the seemingly diminishing returns of practicing architecture today. Speaking with these students about their convictions give us a lot of hope: that the culture of architecture today, its perceived importance in society, and the esteem it’s held in, might still be elevated, and remain worthy of the ambition and altruism that is clearly in no short supply in this incoming generation. Special thanks this week to all the summer school students, and to Claire Pollock / AHMM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  • Jul 31, 2025 · 1 hr 5 min

    Paul Shepheard

    Paul Shepheard is a British architect and writer known for his philosophical and multidisciplinary approach to architecture. Shepheard was a student at the Architectural Association in the 1960’s, and has worked both in practice, for the likes of James Gowan, and in academia, teaching at institutions like the AA, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Kingston School of Art. As a writer, he is best known for books that explore architecture in relation to broader cultural, technological, and existential themes. His notable works include What is Architecture? (1994), The Cultivated Wilderness (1997), Artificial Love (2003), and How to Like Everything (2013). His most recent book, and the focus of our interview, is called Autobiography, which was published in 2024 by Canalside press. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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