Shows / Open City
Open City
Open City is a charity dedicated to making architecture and built heritage more open, accessible and equitable.
Providing you with essential listening, inspiring voices and built environment insights – the Open City Podcast covers news and current events as well as in depth studies of landmark buildings, and cities around the UK and world.
At the centre of our line-up is our flagship show The Brief – an award-winning review of the big stories in architecture, planning and housing news – hosted…
Episodes
Open CityLondon Museum Deconstructed: Part Two - Turning a Market into a Museum
This is the second episode in our new Deconstructed miniseries, for which we’ve been given special access to London’s most ambitious cultural project: the…
Open CityLondon Museum Deconstructed: Part One - Smithfield in Context
This is the first episode of a new Deconstructed miniseries, for which we’ve been given special access to London’s most ambitious cultural project: the…
Open CityDeconstructed: BBC Broadcasting House - Palace of the Ether
In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Elizabeth Darling to discuss 'Palace of the Ether', her new book about BBC Broadcasting House published by…
Open CityDeconstructed: Lloyd's Building - Inside-Out Architecture
In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Graham Stirk, Senior Director at RSHP, to discuss Lloyd’s of London, the first building Stirk worked on…
Open CityDeconstructed: Vanbrugh Castle - Crenellations in Greenwich
In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by the architect Piers Gough, co-founder of CZWG and a major figure in post-modern British architecture. They…
Open CityDeconstructed: The BBC Television Centre - Broadcasting to a Nation
In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Samira Ahmed, journalist, broadcaster, presenter and President of C20, to discuss the BBC Television…
Open CityDeconstructed: Leighton House - Art and Orientalism
In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Hannah Lund, Curator of Exhibitions and Displays at Leighton House and Sambourne House. Leighton House was…
Open CityDeconstructed: Grosvenor Square - Protest and the State
In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by the historian Katrina Navickas to discuss the history of Grosvenor Square in Mayfair as a site of protest…
Open CityThe Home That Made Me: 1 Plot, 3 Families
In this episode Fiona Chilton is joined by Miriam, who lives in rural Devon in a home that she bought together with two other households so that they could…
Open CityDeconstructed: Culling Road Ventilation Shaft - Adventurous Vents
In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Judy Ovens, one of the authors of the new book ‘Adventurous Vents: A Journey through the Ventilation Shafts…
Open CityIn the Room at Accelerate Debates: Healthy Competition
In The Room at Accelerate Debates is a podcast which broadcasts the live debates from Accelerate, Open City’s free educational programme. In this episode…
Open CityFour more new towns announced and the future of the Museum of London
This week on The Brief Sahiba Chadha is joined by Henrietta Billings. Henrietta is the director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, an organisation dedicated to…
Open CityThe Home That Made Me: The place that raised me
In this episode of the Home that Made me, Nabil Al Kinani reflects on his experience growing up on the Chalk Hill Estate in Wembley, and how his sense of self…
Open CityThe UK government hires AI to help speed up planning decisions and the new architects of the BT Tower revamp
This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by Ben Stuart. Ben is director and co-founder of architecture studio able partners, and the host of Able…
Open CityDeconstructed: Peckham Library - Millenium Culture
In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by John Puttick to discuss Peckham Library, one of a number of civic and community projects commissioned to…
Open CityRetail giant John Lewis closes its housebuilding venture and what style of homes do Londoners want?
This week on The Brief Sahiba Chada is joined by architect Jeremy Walker. Jeremy is the Head of Design at Human Nature, a property developer currently working…
Open CityIn the Room at Accelerate Debates: Designing With, Designing For
In The Room at Accelerate Debates is a podcast which broadcasts the live debates from Accelerate, Open City’s free educational programme. In this episode…
Open CityGenerational pedestrianisation plans for London's West End and a controversial overhaul of Liverpool Street station
This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by Christopher Martin. Christopher is the managing director and head of urban design at Urban Movement. Together…
Open CityDeconstructed: Robin Hood Gardens - Brutalism and Demolition
In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Sam Elbahja to discuss a vanished building with a complicated history. Robin Hood Gardens was a housing…
Open CityGovernment guidance on best practice design and why you should still become an architect in 2026
This week on The Brief Sahiba Chadha is joined by Caroline Harper. Caroline is the Managing Director of BeFirst, the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham’s…
Open CityThe Home That Made Me: When home becomes a prison
Introducing a brand new show from Open City: The Home That Made Me. In this episode Fiona Chilton is joined by Clare who after years of renting managed to buy…
Open CityGovernment launches ‘biggest home upgrade plan in UK history’
This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by Tom Dollard. Tom is an architect and partner for sustainability at Pollard Thomas Edwards. He was recently…
Open CityDeconstructed: Tate Modern - Art and Power
In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Christian Dimbleby to discuss Tate Modern, the former power station converted into a gallery for modern art…
Open CityLabour’s New Towns, rural regeneration and the Da Vinci code of English architectural heritage
Description: This week on The Brief, Merlin Fulcher is joined by Giles Smith, a founding member of the Turner Prize winning art, architecture and design…
Open CityIn the Room at Accelerate Debates: Rethinking Recruitment
In The Room at Accelerate Debates is a podcast which broadcasts the live debates from Accelerate, Open City’s free educational programme. In this episode…
Open CityRIBA vs ARB, Nnena Kalu's Turner Prize win and data centre design
This week on The Brief Merlin Fulcher is joined by curator of Digital Design at the V&A Natalie Kane to discuss: The president of the Royal Institute of…
Open CityDeconstructed: Matilda House - Co-operative Council Housing
Deconstructed. Matilda House - Co-operative Council Housing. In this episode, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Dr Holly Smith to discuss Matilda House, the…
Open CityRough sleeping surges to post pandemic-high
This week on The Brief Fran Williams is joined by the writer and activist, Adam Peggs to discuss: Rough sleeping surges to post pandemic-high // Government…
Open CityIn the Room at Accelerate Debates: Constructive Criticism
In The Room at Accelerate Debates is a new podcast from Open City, broadcasting the live debates from Accelerate, Open City’s free educational programme. In…
Open CityAI nimbyism threatens to upend UK planning
This week on The Brief Sahiba Chadha is joined by the architect and co-founder of We Made That, Holly Lewis, to discuss: AI nimbyism threatens to upend UK…
Open CityDeconstructed: The Old Justice - Multiculturalism and the Public House
In this episode of Deconstructed, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Alfred Yatlong Yeung to discuss British multiculturalism through the lens of The Old…
Open CityA new House of Commons report on child-centred design, financial strain for UK architectural firms and bold changes to the London Plan
In this episode, technical editor and deputy architecture editor of the Architects’ Journal Fran Williams is joined by Dinah Bornat, an architect and…
Open CityIn the Room at Accelerate Debates: Designing a Safer City
In The Room at Accelerate Debates is a new podcast from Open City, broadcasting the live debates from Accelerate, Open City’s free educational programme. In…
Open CityAppleby Blue wins the 2025 Stirling Prize and set back for UK cooling towers
This week on The Brief Sahiba Chadha is joined by the BBC broadcaster, writer and journalist Samira Ahmed to discuss the biggest stories in architecture…
Open CityDeconstructed: Plumstead Common – Policing and Leisure in a Municipal Park
In this episode, the finale in a trilogy to mark 60 years since the end of the London County Council, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Dr Rosamund Lily…
Open CityNew Towns, High Streets, Terry Farrell and 'The House of Architecture'
In this episode, host Fran Williams is joined by Jos Boys, a disability design activist who co-founded Matrix Feminist Design Co-operative and is co-director…
Open CityThe future of new towns, record-breaking revenue at Foster + Partners and a new tax on SUVs?
In this episode, host Merlin Fulcher is joined by Dr Jane Hall, architectural historian and founding member of the Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble…
Open CityA new housing secretary, the RIBA prize shortlist and the UK's first "super-university"
In this episode, host Sahiba Chadha is joined by architecture and design writer and features editor at STIR. Anmol Ahuja. Together they discuss: Can the new…
Open CityDeconstructed: Carlton Cinema — Islington at the Pictures
In this episode Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Nigel Smith, who runs ‘Memory Palaces’, a website and programme of walking tours to explore the history of…
Open CityUK House Prices Fall, Open House Festival 2025 & Trump's 'Make America Beautiful Again' Campaign
In this episode, host Fran Williams is joined by Open House Festival Director Celia Mead. Celia is a management consultant who has run major organisations and…
Open CityBuzzwords: Care with Jasmina Cibic
Buzzwords is a new pilot podcast from Open City, produced in collaboration with the arts and culture podcast EMPIRE LINES. The podcast unpacks words and…
Open CityDangerously hot homes, the Oxford Street redesign and the UK's first Museum of Brutalist Architecture
In this episode, host Merlin Fulcher is joined by the Head of Climate Action and Public Health at Love Design Studio and Shade the UK, Polly Turton. Together…
Open CityDeconstructed: London County Hall – A Palace for Municipal Government
In this episode, the second of a trilogy to mark 60 years since the end of the London County Council, Matthew Lloyd Roberts was joined by Dr Ruth Lang. They…
Open CityKew's Carbon Garden, Selkirk's Brutalist Gem & Relief for Bexhill's De La Warr Pavillion
In this episode, host Merlin Fulcher is joined by the architecture journalist and co-host of The Brief Fran Williams. Together, they discuss the biggest…
Open CityInterCities: Taipei with Brian Hioe
InterCities is a six-part podcast series from Open City. In it, we travel to a number of cities and boroughs around the world that have transformed over time…
Open CityThe Open House Festival catalogue is live, pedestrianising the West End and can office skyscrapers save nightlife?
In this episode, host Sahiba Chadha will be joined by guest Mike Althorpe, an architectural researcher at Karakusevic Carson Architects and the mastermind…
Open CityDeconstructed: Al Manaar Mosque & Cultural Centre - Faith, Space, and Community
In this episode of Deconstructed, host Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Shukri Sultan, a lecturer at Westminster University, to explore the story of Al…
Open CityNorman Foster to design Queen Elizabeth II memorial, the rise of AI in architecture and saving Britain's buildings
In this episode, host and Open City architectural director Merlin Fulcher will be joined by guest Sarah Carrington, the new Director of The Line, a public art…
Open CityInterCities: Jerusalem with Yair Wallach
InterCities is a six-part podcast series from Open City. In it, we travel to a number of cities and boroughs around the world that have transformed over time…
Open CityThe Davidson Prize, Working hours and Oxford Street's pedestrianisation
In this episode, host Sahiba Chadha is joined by Sharon Giffen, Head of Design at The Earls Court Development Company and an architect with more than 20 years…
Open CityDeconstructed: Crystal Palace Park – Sculpture, Sport and the London County Council
In this episode of Deconstructed - the first of a trilogy to mark 60 years since the end of the London County Council - Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Dr…
Open CityA major report casts doubt over Labour’s housebuilding targets
In this episode, host Sahiba Chadha is joined by Billy Reading, Inspector of Historic Buildings and Areas for Historic England to discuss: A major estate agent…
Open CityInterCities: Kharkiv with Ievgeniia Gubkina
InterCities is a six-part podcast series from Open City. In it, we travel to a number of cities and boroughs around the world that have transformed over time…
Open CityThe Mayor of London concedes to green belt housing
In this episode, host Fran Williams is joined by the architect Daniel Innes, committee member of Architecture LGBT+ to discuss: The Mayor of London concedes to…
Open CityDeconstructed: Marlborough Road, Romford - Planning and People
In this episode of Deconstructed, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Calvin Po, Strategic Lead at Dark Matter Labs, Unit Master at the Architectural…
Open CityGeology of Britannic Repair: the British Pavillion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
In this episode, host Fran Williams is joined by Stella Mutegi, founding director of Cave Bureau and co-curator of the British Pavilion at this year’s Venice…
Open CityInterCities: Belgrade with Dubravka Sekulić
InterCities is a brand new podcast from the team at Open City. In this six-part series, we travel to a number of cities and boroughs around the world that have…
Open CityC20 reveals its annual 'Risk List'
In this episode, host Merlin Fulcher is joined by the CEO of Open City, Vickie Hayward to discuss: The Twentieth Century Society reveals its latest list of…
Open CityDeconstructed: Euston Station - Developing the Railway
In this episode of Deconstructed, Matthew Lloyd Roberts is joined by Ewan Harrison, architectural historian and lecturer at the Manchester School of…
Open CityThe UK government announces a £2bn boost for affordable and social homes
On The Brief this week, host Fran Williams is joined by Peter George, Strategic Director of Economy and Sustainability at Ealing Council. Government announces…