The Public Architect: Past and Present
Shownotes
This is the first episode of our new miniseries ‘The Public Architect’, an RIBA funded project exploring the past and present of the relationship between the architectural profession and the public sector. In this episode we spoke to the historian John Gold about post-war architecture in Britain, its relationship to the state, local government, and some common misconceptions about this period. We were then joined by Mike Althorpe, Andrea Jung, David Knight and Holly Lewis, a group of practitioners and researchers currently working within the architectural profession and local government to explore the contemporary relationship between architecture and the public sector.
Episode Contributors
John Gold is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, Professor Emeritus at Oxford Brookes University and was Special Appointed Professor at Meiji University (Tokyo, Japan, 2014-2021). A historical geographer with strong urban interests, he has written widely about architectural modernism, Olympics cities, and the history of urban festivals. These interests are expressed in more than 200 publications, most notably being the author or editor of 23 books. He is currently working on The Legacy of Modernism, the final part of his trilogy on the impact of the Modern Movement on the twentieth-century city.
Mike Althorpe is an urban historian, researcher and storyteller. In 2019, he co-authored Revolutionary Low Rise: Informing London’s Suburban Densification and, in 2025, Dual Cities – Social Housing in London + New York, published by the RIBA with the American Institute of Architects (AIA). While public programmes lead at the RIBA, he produced the exhibitions ‘A Place to Call Home’, ‘The Brits Who Built the Modern World’ and ‘Mackintosh’. In 2018 he curated ‘Social Housing’ at New York’s Center for Architecture and is currently working on the second edition of ‘Social Housing - Definitions & Design Exemplars – a European-wide survey of best practice. Mike is also an independent curator of walks and events, compiling stories of architecture and the city as The London Ambler.
Andrea Jung is an architect with a broad range of experience. Arriving in London from Berlin in 1996, she led large commercial projects for KPF, a high-profile international practice, for over a decade. In 2006 she founded small practice TURN Architects together with her business partner Gozi Wamuo, focussing mainly on residential work. In 2020 she joined the public sector via the Public Practice Associate Programme, working client-side in Local Authority housing delivery at Newham Council. In 2021 Andrea joined the Islington Council new homes development team as Technical Design Manager.
David Knight is a designer, strategist and author, and a director of DK-CM. Recently David has authored urban strategies for Bristol’s 27ha harbour waterspace, Royal Victoria Dock in Newham, and for the regeneration of South Kilburn. He holds a Phd from the Royal College of Art and is Module Leader at the London School of Architecture, part of the University of the Built Environment. He edited the book ‘Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub’ (Open City, 2021), a Financial Times Book of the Year. David teaches, lectures and writes internationally.
Holly Lewis co-founded We Made That in 2006 and is a trusted voice in shaping healthy, fair and well-designed places. She is a registered architect and affiliate member of the Landscape Institute. She has led a unique range of urban projects for the practice, from pioneering industrial intensification work through to comprehensive high street regeneration projects. Holly advocates for community involvement within the design process, empowering women in the built environment and equitable city-making. Holly is Mayor’s Design Advocate for the Greater London Authority and is a Design Council Expert. Currently, she is the Town Architect for Hackney Central.
Recent Episodes
The Architectural History Podcast
Architectural History is the podcast of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. This miniseries, The Public Architect, was made possible thanks to funding from the Royal Institute of British Architects. It was hosted and produced by Claire Jamieson and Jess Kelly, with editing by Front Ear Podcasts and production support from Matthew Lloyd Roberts.
