I Would Prefer Not To: Recent Episodes
The Architectural League of New York
Why does an architect turn down a commission? What could change if we knew? An interview podcast series produced by MIT's Critical Broadcasting Lab sheds light on a necessary but understudied part of architectural practice.
Ana Miljački speaks with Rodrigo Escandón Cesarman and Guillermo Gonzalez Ceballos of Mexico City-based practice APRDELESP about their case studies, the creation of architectural institutions, and designing appealing “spaces of encounter.”
In this episode of I Would Prefer Not To, Ana Miljački speaks with Adam Yarinsky, Stephen Cassell, and Kim Yao of Architecture Research Office about professional versusacademic research, how adhering to pre-articulated values affects relationships with clients, and the benefits and drawbacks of being generalists.
Ana Miljački and Studio Gang founder Jeanne Gang discuss architects as the nexus of intersecting issues, advocating on behalf of animals as constituents, and growing one’s own building materials.
Ana Miljački speaks with members of the Mexico City-based group about the tumultuous nature of collective practice and a shifting paradigm in civic architecture.
Ana Miljački speaks with Ann Lui and Craig Reschke of Chicago-based studio Future Firm about expanding the role of the architect, absorbing risk, and how to respond when asked to do magic.
In the Season 3 premiere, Ana Miljački speaks with Annabelle Selldorf about how falling in love with projects can result in heartbreak, what it means to transcend style, and the limitations of typological experience.
Ana is joined by Nina Cooke John in this episode to discuss the impulses of feedback loops in the design process, slowness, the different ways in which institutions engage with communities and figuration as it relates to seeing oneself in a monument.
In this episode, Ana speaks with Claire Weisz, founding partner of WXY, on structural flexibility as an office, sharing ethical burdens with clients, advocating on behalf of built and material histories, and using work at large scales to catalyze work for other architectural practices.
Ana talks with Andres Jaque of Office for Political Innovation on what it means to be anarchitectural dissident, the status of formal decisions in his work, and how listening can be animportant tool for architects.
In this episode, Ana hosts Chandra Robinson of Lever Architecture. They discuss ways to support smaller-scale builders, the importance of proximity in sourcing materials, and balancing innovation with the immediate needs of community and client, among other topics.
In this episode, Ana Miljački speaks with Troy Schaum and Rosalyne Shieh of SCHAUM/SHIEH about matching a client’s ambition with economic feasibility, the privilege of being able to refuse work, the space that emerges out of energetic conflict, and the power of doing nothing.
Atlanta-based architects Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam chat with Ana Miljački about inventiveness and emotional specificity.
Michael Maltzan discusses the architect’s role in negotiating complex scenarios and the potential of long-term client relationships to enable large-scale change.
Ana Miljački speaks with Bryan Lee about design justice and challenging the architectural status quo.
Sheila Kennedy and Frano Violich of Boston-based KVA MATx chat with Ana about being proactive, finding the right set of ingredients to create commissions, viewing plants as constituents, and balancing a rejection of architecture-as-service with a commitment to professional skills and rigor.
Liz Diller of New York–based Diller Scofidio + Renfro speaks with Ana Miljački about evaluating a commission’s ethics, translating projects for different audiences, and critiquing institutions from within.
Ana Miljački speaks with Walter Hood about artistic freedom, working with institutions, and succeeding through failure.
Ana chats with Tod and Billie of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects about the contrasts of institutional versus commercial projects, developing relationships with clients, and finding meaning in work.
Tatiana of CDMX-based Tatiana Bilbao Estudio converses with Ana on working with governmental bodies, social housing, changing office culture, and how to engage with leverage points within systems of power.
Sara Zewde and Ana Miljački talk about alternative ways of doing landscape architecture, racial tokenism, design cyphers, and the value of architects as synthesizers.
Florian Idenburg and Jing Liu of Brooklyn-based studio SO–IL chat with Ana Miljački on a wide range of topics, such as discerning a client’s political intentions, the power of an architectural brand, and the possibility for architecture to transcend its relationship with an institutional client.
Amale Andraos and Dan Wood of NY-based firm WORKac talk with Ana Miljački about different facets of sustainability, the lessons learned from saying yes to everything, and regrets among other topics.