In Part 3 of our series on SMLXL we talked through 'L', including the essay on BIGNESS, including unbuilt schemes for the Très Grande Bibliothèquethe in Paris, the Karlsruhe Zentrum fur Kunst und Medientechnologie and the Zeebrugge Sea Terminal.

To follow along with the images, check out this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cuzdCPh-iIs

We previously discussed some of these projects in episode 48 and bonus episode 48.5 (unlocked!), albeit less in the context of SMLXL as a publication.

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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This is a preview of a bonus episode available on our Patreon feed, please support the show on Patreon for full access: https://www.patreon.com/c/about_buildings

In this bonus we talked about the book-within-the-book, the series of quotations and definitions which run the breadth of the alphabet through SMLXL. It includes the usual Koolhaasian mixture of high and low culture, actress's memoirs, advertising, technical manuals, pornography and even Luke's dad!

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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In episode 2 of our series on SMLXL by Rem Koolhaas, OMA and Bruce Mau, we talked about 'M', including a Panopticon prison, an extension for the Dutch Parliament, the Netherlands Dance Theatre, an unbuilt hotel in Morocco and the Rotterdam Kunsthal.

Follow along with images on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cqlABdVpeZ8

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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SMLXL (1995) was the brainchild of Rem Koolhaas, principal of OMA, rhetorically and stylistically a rejection of the norms of architectural monographs, this 1400 page silver brick was one of the most iconic art books of the 1990s. It is a strange piece of architectural publishing, and very 90s, a mixture of post-modern literary sensibilities, greasy full bleed photography and polemic against Koolhaas's teachers and peers. We will talk about the book part-by-part over the next 4 episodes, with bonus content for Patreon subscribers.

Catch this episode on YouTube to see the slides: https://youtu.be/ljgaQQz-TpY

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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In our last episode of 2024 we thought we would do something a little bit different, and talk about where we think architectural culture is at right now, an archaeology of the present, a dissection of the Now. We took some suggestions and requests from our Patrons, and followed them from recent discoveries at the National Gallery to Kengo Kuma and the Las Vegas Sphere.

Some of the stories we talked about:

National Gallery: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/08/27/sainsbury-wing-contractors-find-1990-letter-from-donor-anticipating-their-demolition-of-false-columns

Architectural unionisation: https://jacobin.com/2024/10/bernheimer-architecture-union-faect-cio

Matt's essay about AI: https://recessed.space/00186-AI-neural-networks-architecture-AI

Thank you to everyone for watching, listening, reviewing, subscribing and supporting us on Patreon this year! We will be back in January with a new series on Koolhaas's S,M,L,XL.

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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In this episode we discussed The Study of Architectural Design (1926) by John F. Harbeson, a remarkable guide to the Beaux-Arts method of architectural education, with its many idiosyncratic terms of art and the astonishing drawings produced as part of its relentless programme of competition exercises.

Do you know your Parti from your Poché? Do you know your way around a Class A? Does Mosaic leave you baffled? Look no further for a guide to all things Beaux Arts.

You can follow along with the slides on our YouTube: https://youtu.be/Jj1anRYMmLI

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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In the final episode of our series on Sir John Soane we discussed his house and museum on Lincoln's Inn Fields in the centre of London, where the museum kindly allowed us to record this episode. We also talked about Pitzhanger, his country house in Ealing, and the development of his unique collecting practice.

To follow along with the images we discussed and see clips from our visit, check out this episode on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/gOzIg5kB2Hg

You can see the full length video tour of the house excerpted in this episode on our Patreon feed: https://www.patreon.com/about_buildings. Please consider subscribing to support the show!

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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This is a cilp from our latest Patreon bonus episode, a discussion of Soane's contemporary reputation, particularly satirical and critical writing in the periodical press, not least by his estranged son George!

You can listen to this episode in full on our Patreon feed: https://www.patreon.com/about_buildings

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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In the sixth part of our series on John Soane, we discussed some major monumental buildings in and around London. We began with Dulwich Picture Gallery, perhaps the first purpose-built public art gallery in the world. Then we discussed his church buildings in Marylebone, Southwark and Bethnal Green respectively.

Watch on YouTube to see the images as we discuss them: https://youtu.be/8IFQjALMaW8

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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In the fifth part of our series on John Soane, we discussed his designs for speculative housing developments in central London, another building in the middle of the city for the Bank of England's National Debt Redemption Office, and his various hypothetical schemes for transforming the city with a thick encrustation of Corinthian columns. We also discussed his work for the Royal Hospital Chelsea, some of which survives to this day. We talked about John Gwynne's 'London & Westminster Improved (1766) and the ongoing problem of London and Westminster's disorderly urbanism, which Soane's unbuilt schemes cannot convincingly overcome — as always, he is at his best when constrained!

To see the images as we discuss them, check out this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/_Rr-GRqsc4Y

Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts.

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We’re on the web at aboutbuildingsandcities.org