The Second Studio (formerly The Midnight Charette) is an explicit podcast about design, architecture, and the everyday. Hosted by Architects David Lee and Marina Bourderonnet, it features different creative professionals in unscripted conversations that allow for thoughtful takes and personal discussions.
A variety of subjects are covered with honesty and humor: some episodes are interviews, while others are tips for fellow designers, reviews of buildings and other projects, or casual explorations of everyday life and design. The Second Studio is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube.
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design discuss whether or not architects are optimists. Many claim to be, but are they? The two cover in what ways architects are optimists, when architects are pessimists, how to be an optimist and how it impacts one’s work, being a realist, and more.
Highlights & Timestamps
(00:00) Why Architects are optimists.
Many architects will say that to be an architect is to be an optimist. They go hand in hand. It's kind of a mad career in a way because everyone is most likely going to work against what you're trying to achieve and you're going to have to rely on so many people and so many things to go right. (...) Architectural creations don't come to life until they're built, whereas for an artist it's a much more immediate process.
(18:35) How to stay optimistic.
(30:35) Are visionaries optimists?
(36:52) Optimists, realists, fatalists
The fascinating thing with architecture is because it's an expression of culture and art and science, it's fundamentally political. The root belief system of an architect should be your political stance and stance on the environment and whether you think these things can change society. If you don't have a belief system about those things, I don't know how you can frame your architecture. And if your goal is for the building to have a positive impact, you are optimistic about that.
(55:14) The power of optimism.
(01:07:35) “Bad Architecture” stickers.
