The Public Architect 1: Past and Present

This is the first episode of our new miniseries, The Public Architect, an RIBA-funded project exploring the past and present relationship between the architectural profession and the public sector.

In this episode, we speak to the historian John Gold about post-war architecture in Britain, its relationship to the state and local government, and some of the common misconceptions surrounding this period. We are then joined by Mike Althorpe, Andrea Jung, David Knight and Holly Lewis, a group of practitioners and researchers working across architecture and local government, to explore the contemporary relationship between architecture and the public sector.

Contributors

John Gold is Honorary Senior Research Fellow at The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, Professor Emeritus at Oxford Brookes University, and former Special Appointed Professor at Meiji University in Tokyo. A historical geographer with a focus on cities, he has published more than 200 works on architectural modernism, Olympic cities and urban history, and is currently completing The Legacy of Modernism, the final volume in his trilogy on the Modern Movement.

Mike Althorpe is an urban historian, researcher and storyteller. He co-authored Revolutionary Low Rise (2019) and Dual Cities – Social Housing in London + New York (2025). Formerly Public Programmes Lead at the RIBA, he curated exhibitions including A Place to Call Home and Social Housing, and now works independently as The London Ambler.

Andrea Jung is an architect with experience across both private practice and local government. After leading commercial projects at KPF and co-founding TURN Architects, she joined the public sector through the Public Practice Associate Programme. She is now Technical Design Manager in Islington Council's New Homes team.

David Knight is a designer, strategist, author and director of DK-CM. He has led urban strategies for projects across the UK, holds a PhD from the Royal College of Art, teaches at the London School of Architecture, and edited Public House: A Cultural and Social History of the London Pub, an Financial Times Book of the Year.

Holly Lewis co-founded We Made That in 2006 and has led a wide range of urban regeneration and placemaking projects. She champions community involvement in design, equitable city-making and women in the built environment. Holly is a Mayor's Design Advocate for the Greater London Authority, a Design Council Expert, and Town Architect for Hackney Central.

Architectural History is the podcast of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. 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.

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