Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Visions In Glass | 20210930 | 20211004 (R4) | What do we ask for and what do we receive from the built environment? Engineer Roma Agrawal explores the ways in which the visions and dreams of architects and designers are experienced, co-created and changed by the people who live in their buildings. In the first episode of this series, Roma explores our fascination with glass architecture, delving back into the Expressionist manifestos of Paul Scheebart, an early 20th-century writer who imagined an earth covered in cities of kaleidoscopic buildings. Priya Khanchandani (Design Museum) considers what the ubiquity of glass towers means in different parts of the world, and architectural historian Professor Rosemarie Bletter explores the notions of transparency, transformation, functionalism and luxury associated with the material. We visit The Idea Store on Whitechapel Road in East London. Opened in 2005, the work of Sir David Adjaye, the building's glass fa瀀ades were intended to bring visibility and openness, offering the local community a new kind of library experience for the new century. Citizen researcher Eliza Islam and artist Ruhul Abdin describe what The Idea Store means to them and how the building is being used to house a new exhibit to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Bangladesh. Presenter: Roma Agrawal Producer: Phil Smith A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. Engineer and author Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. |
| 02 | Dreams In The Air | 20211007 | 20211011 (R4) | What do we ask for and what do we receive from the built environment? Engineer Roma Agrawal explores the ways in which the dreams and ideals of architects and designers are experienced, co-created and changed by the people who occupy their buildings. Roma explores a vision for post-war social housing that aims to bring lively street life to the air through generous elevated walkways called Streets in the Sky. At Sheffield's Park Hill estate, we learn how Alison and Peter Smithson's vision of building bustling communities at height is experienced by residents Dana and Tamara to understand how these spaces can facilitate connection and community among the towering raw concrete. Professor Ben Highmore shares the tenets of new brutalism, the building style that centred the provision of social housing, and brought modest and honest raw materials to the fore. Stopping over in Singapore where super-high rises are attempting a similar feat with gardens, bridges and terraces in the sky, Roma considers the role of building at height in places where high density social housing is the norm, and we hear from architect Peng Beng Khoo, whose design for the Pinnacle@Duxton housing scheme includes sky gardens and terraces for residents, and the public on the 26th and 50th floor. Urbanist Ming Cheng reflects on whether similar schemes could ever be feasible in the UK. With Dana Abdulkarim and Tamara Zoe, Park Hill residents; Ben Highmore, Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex; Ming Cheng, Urbanist and Director of Urban Architecture at the London School of Architecture; and Peng Beng Khoo, architect and Director of ARC Studio. Presenter: Roma Agrawal Producer: Mae-Li Evans Researcher: Nadia Mehdi Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey Music and Sound Design by Phil Smith Mix by Nigel Appleton A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. Engineer and author Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. What do we ask for and what do we receive from the built environment? Engineer Roma Agrawal explores the ways in which the dreams and ideals of architects and designers are experienced, co-created and changed by the people who occupy their buildings. Roma explores a vision for post-war social housing that aims to bring lively street life to the air through generous elevated walkways called Streets in the Sky. At Sheffield's Park Hill estate, we learn how Alison and Peter Smithson's vision of building bustling communities at height is experienced by residents Dana and Tamara to understand how these spaces can facilitate connection and community among the towering raw concrete. Professor Ben Highmore shares the tenets of new brutalism, the building style that centred the provision of social housing, and brought modest and honest raw materials to the fore. Stopping over in Singapore where super-high rises are attempting a similar feat with gardens, bridges and terraces in the sky, Roma considers the role of building at height in places where high density social housing is the norm, and we hear from architect Peng Beng Khoo, whose design for the Pinnacle@Duxton housing scheme includes sky gardens and terraces for residents, and the public on the 26th and 50th floor. Urbanist Ming Cheng reflects on whether similar schemes could ever be feasible in the UK. With Dana Abdulkarim and Tamara Zoe, Park Hill residents; Ben Highmore, Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex; Ming Cheng, Urbanist and Director of Urban Architecture at the London School of Architecture; and Peng Beng Khoo, architect and Director of ARC Studio. Presenter: Roma Agrawal Producer: Mae-Li Evans Researcher: Nadia Mehdi Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey Music and Sound Design by Phil Smith Mix by Nigel Appleton A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. Engineer and author Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. |
| 03 | Dreams In The Earth | 20211014 | 20211018 (R4) | What do we ask for, and what do we receive from the built environment? Engineer Roma Agrawal explores how the visions and dreams of architects and designers are experienced, co-created and changed by the people who live in their buildings. In this episode, Roma considers our need to partner with nature in architecture, delving back into Ian McHarg's landscape architecture manifesto Design with Nature. McHarg was a 70s Scottish architect who developed a method to study the landscape before building. Professor Richard J Weller (co-executive director of The Ian L. McHarg Center) examines what McHarg's work meant at the time and what it means now. We visit the NHS Forth Valley Royal Hospital and Larbert Woods in Larbert, a project which won the 2020 Building with Nature award. One of the landscape architects, Sheena Rayburn, explains the unusual ways in which the NHS partnered with specialists in the landscape, while oncology nurse Linnet McGeever explains how the hospital and woods have changed the experience for patients and workers. Palawa Architect Sarah Lynn Rees explores indigenous perspectives on partnering with nature in architecture, and London based architect Micheal Pawlyn reveals his nature-inspired architectural solutions. Presenter: Roma Agrawal Producer: Sandra Jean-Pierre Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey Researcher: Nadia Mehdi Music and sound design by Phil Smith Mix by Graham Puddifoot A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. Engineer and author Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. What do we ask for, and what do we receive from the built environment? Engineer Roma Agrawal explores how the visions and dreams of architects and designers are experienced, co-created and changed by the people who live in their buildings. In this episode, Roma considers our need to partner with nature in architecture, delving back into Ian McHarg's landscape architecture manifesto Design with Nature. McHarg was a 70s Scottish architect who developed a method to study the landscape before building. Professor Richard J Weller (co-executive director of The Ian L. McHarg Center) examines what McHarg's work meant at the time and what it means now. We visit the NHS Forth Valley Royal Hospital and Larbert Woods in Larbert, a project which won the 2020 Building with Nature award. One of the landscape architects, Sheena Rayburn, explains the unusual ways in which the NHS partnered with specialists in the landscape, while oncology nurse Linnet McGeever explains how the hospital and woods have changed the experience for patients and workers. Palawa Architect Sarah Lynn Rees explores indigenous perspectives on partnering with nature in architecture, and London based architect Micheal Pawlyn reveals his nature-inspired architectural solutions. Presenter: Roma Agrawal Producer: Sandra Jean-Pierre Executive Producer: Katherine Godfrey Researcher: Nadia Mehdi Music and sound design by Phil Smith Mix by Graham Puddifoot A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. Engineer and author Roma Agrawal explores how the built environment shapes us. |