A Lot You Got to Holler

Katherine Darnstadt's architecture firm Latent Design creates objects and urban systems, but it's biggest victories have come from pulling the upstream policy levers that set the context for what architecture can achieve. In her chat with Ben and Zach, Katherine comes out in favor of "extreme vetting" for architects, and how to structure your firm for equity and diversity. And hark! A new segment! A Lot You Got to Holler introduces "Qs for As," a series of rapid-fire questions that gets Katherine riffing on her favorite cities of the world and her least favorite architectural jargon. Special thanks to recording engineer Tim Joyce.

Chicago's most valuable natural asset is its lakefront, forever free, public, and protected by law. This lakefront is so valuable, argues the architects at Port Urbanism, that we need more of it to pay off the city's massive debts. Or (if you ask the designers at UrbanLab) newly built islands in the lake must be drafted into relieving pressure from an overstressed storm drain system by filtering and cleaning the city's water. Featured at the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial, Port Urbanism and UrbanLab's lakefront proposals offer infrastructural fixes to some of Chicago's most dire emergencies. They also colonize a near-sacred urban vista with varying degrees of public and private space; not the type of thing you can do without getting through some pretty contentious community town hall meetings. Hosted by Zach Mortice and Newcity Design Editor Ben Schulman, with guests Andrew Moddrell of Port Urbanism and Martin Felsen of UrbanLab. Special thanks to recording studio engineer Tim Joyce.

Architecture requires massive amounts of money, time, and effort to come together. It's serious business. Most of the time. But here in Chicago there are a handful of designers that work humor into their architecture whenever they can, as a way to satirize the practice of architecture and the cultures that surround it, or as a way to invite new people into the conversation. For A Lot You Got to Holler's fourth episode, we're joined by Stewart Hicks and Allison Newmeyer of Design with Company, as well as Ania Jaworska and artist/musician/designer Beverly Fresh. Free with each download: Design with Company's theme park ride of Midwestern folkways, Ania Jaworska's peerless knowledge of Polish interior design folk tales, and Beverly Fresh's proposal for the Graham Foundation bookstore that's truly, truly ahead of its time. Special thanks to recording studio engineer Tim Joyce and Nick Cage's pores.

Edgar Miller is perhaps the most overlooked artist in the Chicago canon. Art was everywhere and everything to Miller, who used the city as his canvas through painting, woodworking, stained glass, sculpture, printmaking, iron working, industrial design and whatever materials fell his way. His expressionist, bespoke approach to design, art and architecture enlivens some of Chicago's (quietly) iconic spaces, from his Carl Street Studios to collaborations with Andrew Rebori on the Gold Coast's Frank Fisher Apartments. Miller's story embodies the movement of 20th century bohemia gliding across Chicago's landscape, from his early works in "Tower Town," adjacent to Bughouse Square, to his imprint on the nascent artistic enclave of Old Town, and to the rediscovery of his work - and his own personal artistic resurgence - in the 1980s and 1990s. For this episode of "A Lot You Got to Holler," co-hosts Ben Schulman and Zach Mortice look at the life and legacy of Edgar Miller with Zac Bleicher, the director of the Edgar Miller Legacy. You'll want to break out your phone as you listen and follow along with @edgarmillerart on Instagram. Special thanks to producer Tim Joyce.