Scratching the Surface

Giovanna Borasi is an architect, writer, and curator. She’s currently the director of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, where’s she previous held the positions of Chief Curator, Curator of Contemporary Architecture, and Associate Director of Programs. In all these roles, her work often seeks to challenge the conventional definition of the architect. In this conversation, Jarrett and Giovanna talk about the CCA’s mission and history, how her background studying architecture influences her work, and why she’s interested in the confusion that comes with blurring disciplinary boundaries. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/285-giovanna-borasi — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com

Walter Hood is a landscape architect, architect, artist, and urbanist. He’s the creative director and founder of Hood Design Studio in Oakland, CA and the former chair of the department of landscape architecture at University of California, Berkeley. He’s the author of Blues & Jazz Landscapes, Urban Diaries, and the co-editor of Black Landscapes Matter. In this conversation, Jarrett and Walter talk about thinking of landscapes as a medium, his interest in subverting typologies, and why he refers to his work as a cultural practice. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/284-walter-hood — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com

Oliver Munday is a graphic designer and writer. His new book, Head of Household, is a collection of short stories that explore the conditions of modern fatherhood. Perhaps best known for his book cover designs, Oliver is currently the executive director of art and design at Doubleday, previously designed covers for Knopf and Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and served as associate art director of The Atlantic. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jarrett and Oliver talk about his move into fiction, why he wrote a book about fatherhood, and the limits of working as a graphic designer. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/2823-oliver-munday — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com

Sonja Stummerer and Martin Hablesreiter operate under the name Honey & Bunny. Their work moves between art, photography, performance, video, and writing to explore our relationship to food. With backgrounds in architecture, they are the authors of the books Food Design and Eat Design and the directors of the film Food Design: The Film. In this episode, Jarrett talks with Sonja and Martin about the origins of food design, what they learned from Hans Hollein, and why food is the most important design object. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/282-sonja-stummerer-martin-hablesreiter — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com

Otto von Busch is a designer and professor of Integrated Design at Parsons School of Design. He has a background in arts, craft, design, and theory and his work focuses on how making practices can mobilize community and social activism. His new book, The Design Comedy, repackages Dante’s to explore the broken promises of design, the problems in academia, and the role of design theory. In this conversation, Jarrett and Otto talk about the book and its analysis of the state of design, the value of making in design education, and the relationship between design practice and design theory. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/281-otto-von-busch — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com

Sam Valenti IV is the founder of Ghostly International, a music label and art company he founded in 1999 and known for experimental electronic artists like Matthew Dear, Tycho, and Galcher Lustwerk. On the occasion of Ghostly’s 25th anniversary, they just released We’ll Never Stop Living This Way: A Ghostly International Catalogue, a large coffee-table book celebrating the label’s artists, designers, and ethos. In this conversation, Jarrett and Sam talk about the relationship between music and design, the record label as a cultural brand, and the role of the curator in the age of the algorithm. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/280-sam-valenti — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com

Thomas Weaver is an architectural writer and editor, known for his innovative approach to criticism and mentoring at institutions like Princeton and MIT Press. He explores the Gumshoe series, which frames architecture as a detective story, and discusses the importance of narrative in architectural writing. Weaver advocates for literary standards over dry academia and shares insights on how editing can transform writing through collaboration. The conversation delves into the balance of affection and critique, as well as the role of curiosity in creative processes.

Carlo Ratti is an architect, engineer, author, and academic. He is the curator of the 2025 Venice Biennale of Architecture, where he developed the theme Intelligens: Natural, Artificial, Collective. He runs the Senseable City Lab at MIT and is the author of multiple books including Atlas of the Senseable City, The City of Tomorrow, and Open Source Architecture. In this conversation, Jarrett and Carlo reflect on this year’s biennale, how architecture can act as a connector of multiple intelligences, and how the senseable city is different than the smart city. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/278-carlo-ratti — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com

Maggie Gram is a writer, cultural historian, and designer. She’s the author of the new book, The Invention of Design, and her writing as appeared in n+1 and The New York Times. She also leads an experience design team at Google in New York. In this conversation, Jarrett and Maggie talk about how she wrote her book, the evolution of how we talk about design, design’s relationship to power, and why we need new ways to think about what design can do today. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/277-maggie-gram. — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com

Amale Andraos and Dan Wood are the founders of WORKac, an architecture office working across a range of scales with an emphasis on public, cultural, or civic projects all around the world. Amale is also professor at Columbia GSAPP, where she also served as dean from 2014-2021, and Dan has taught most recently at Columbia and Yale. They’ve also published a series of books including 49 Cities, Above the Pavement, the Farm, We’ll Get There When We Cross That Bridge, and their new monograph, Buildings for People and Plants. In this conversation, Amale and Dan talk with Jarrett about the threads that connect their body of work, the role of publishing in the studio, and why they think of their work as “pop”. Links from this episode are available at www.scratchingthesurface.fm/276-amale-andraos-dan-wood. — Help support the show by joining our Substack: surfacepodcast.substack.com