On Cities

About On Cities

Show Description

Publisher

Carie Penabad

Category

arts · arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Jan 2023

Latest episode

24 Nov 2025

Latest episodes

91 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   24 Nov 2025

   Japan Stories: History & Transformations

   In this next episode of ON CITIES, host Carie Penabad engages in a lively conversation with renowned educator and architecture Mohsen Mostafavi. Together, they delve into the rich tapestry of Japan's social and physical environments, exploring their historical underpinnings, current practices and future possibilities. Throughout its history, the Japanese city ahs served as a complex canvas for a multitude of influences and aspirations. Our discussion will explore how these forces have left their marks on the urban landscape, and what the future of the Japanese city may look like. Mohsen Mostafavi is currently the Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design and Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor. He also served as Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 2008-2019. His work focuses on modes and processes of urbanization and on the interface between technology and aesthetics. He was formerly the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning at Cornell University where he was also the Arthur L. and Isabel B. Wiesenberger Professor in Architecture. Previously, he was the Chairman of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He studied architecture at the AA, and undertook research on counter-reformation urban history at the Universities of Essex and Cambridge. Mostafavi is a Trustee of Smith College, an Honorary Trustee of the Norman Foster Foundation, and served on the Board of the Van Alen Institute as well as the Steering Committee and the Jury of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. His research and design projects have been published in numerous journals, and he has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books including Landscape Urbanism: A Manual for the Machinic Landscape (2004); Ecological Urbanism (co-edited with Gareth Doherty) and which was recently translated into Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish); In the Life of Cities (2012); Ethics of the Urban: The City and the Spaces of the Political (2017); Sharing Tokyo: Artifice and the Social World and his forthcoming book: Reinventing Japan.

2. 

   21 Jul 2025

   Exploring Architecture & Material Culture with Nader Tehrani

   In this episode of ON CITIES, host Carie Penabad speaks with acclaimed architect and educator Nader Tehrani. In this illuminating conversation, Tehrani delves into the intricate relationship between material culture and tectonic innovation. He elaborates on the ways that his work seeks to disrupt the construction industry by bridging the gap between the world of ideas and the world of making. Tune in Friday, August 18, 2023 at 11:00 AM EST, 8:00 AM PST on the Voice America Variety Channel https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/4119/on-cities and uncover the artistry and ingenuity behind the creation of spaces that shape our physical environment and impact the quality of our lives. You can find all previous episodes on Spotify, Apple iTunes or your favorite podcast platform. Nader Tehrani is the Principal of NADAAA, an architectural and urban design practice dedicated to the advancement of design innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and an intensive dialogue with the construction industry. He is also the former Dean of The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union in New York and was previously a professor of architecture at MIT, where he served as the Head of the Department from 2010-2014. He received a B.F.A. and a B. Arch from The Rhode Island School of Design and continued his studies at The Architectural Association in London, where he attended the Post-Graduate program in History and Theory. Upon his return to The United States, Tehrani received his M.A.U.D from The Harvard Graduate School of Design. Tehrani has taught at numerous institutions throughout the globe and his work has been recognized with notable awards, including eighteen Progressive Architecture Awards, a finalist for the 2017 Moriyama RAIC International Prize, and a nominee for the 2017 Marcus Prize; and over the past seven years, NADAAA has ranked as a top design firm in Architect Magazine's Top 50 U.S. Firms List. For his contributions to architecture as an art, Nader Tehrani is the recipient of the 2020 Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, to which he was also elected as a member in 2021, the highest form of recognition of artistic merit in The United States.

3. 

   21 Jul 2025

   The Making of Art: Place, Culture & Identity

   "All our knowledge has its origin in our perceptions" stated the great Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci. Thus, perception and place are integral in the making of art. In this episode of ON CITIES, host Carie Penabad will speak with acclaimed artist Gonzalo Fuenmayor, whose intricate charcoal drawings and mesmerizing large-scale installations skillfully explore the complexities of place, identity and the interconnectedness of cultures. His mastery of chiaroscuro creates an ethereal atmosphere that draws the viewer into a surreal and dreamlike world while providing a powerful commentary on history, heritage and societal constructs. Tune in Friday, August 4, 2023 at 11:00 AM EST, 8:00 PST on the Voice America Variety Channel https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/4119/on-cities; and find all previous episodes on Spotify, Apple iTunes or your favorite podcast platform. Gonzalo Fuenmayor is a Miami-based artist. He has been concerned about the effects of modernization and progress not only on natural environments, but mostly on Latin American culture and its ways of being displayed internationally through stereotypes and common places. His aim is not only to denounce banalization but also to understand its aesthetic mechanisms and cultural power. Fuenmayor received an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA in 2004, and a BFA in Fine Arts and Art Education from the School of Visual Arts in 2000. Fuenmayor has been awarded numerous prizes including a Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant in 2022, the 2020 EFG Bank Latin American Award, a 2018 Ellies Creator Award, a 2015 South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship for Visual and Media Artists, a Traveling Fellowship by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2014, among others. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in USA, Latin America and Europe; his work was recently showcased in The Florida Prize 2020, at the Baker Museum in Naples, FL, a solo exhibition "Tropical Mythologies" at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 2015, "Caribbean Crossroads" Exhibition at the Queens Museum, NY. His work is part of numerous private and public collections; and he is represented by Dot Fiftyone Gallery, Miami, Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, Fernando Pradilla Gallery, Madrid and El Museo Gallery in Bogotá.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

12 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

22 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 51 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

72

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

77

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.