Explore every episode of the podcast Architecture Archive

Rory Gardiner is an Irish-Australian photographer working primarily in Switzerland, Mexico, and Australia. He studied photography at RMIT in Melbourne, before building his practice in London. He has emerged as one of the most highly regarded architectural photographers working today. In this interview he describes his path into photography, the evolution of his practice, and where he thinks his is situated now. We discuss photography as a wider discipline, creative practice and collaborations, and radical changes already underway in architectural photography which will likely soon render its traditional form unrecognisable.

Rory Gardiner

Photographers and architects referenced:

Hélène Binet
Takashi Homma
Tim Richardson
Max Creasy
Bernd and Hilla Becher, The Düsseldorf School
Maxime Delvaux
Andrew Power
Colby Vexler
Jesús Vassallo, Epics in the Everyday
Olivier Campagne Architectural visualizer and digital artist in Paris
Bharat Sikka. The book is "Elephant in the Room"
Lee Friedlander

In this episode we speak with Matt Grudnoff, a senior economist at The Australia Institute in Canberra. He explains how today's high house prices are not a physical design problem that can be solved by architects, but a problem of wealth concentration caused by tax law. Our discussion unpacks this, and how wealth concentration has affected architecture and urbanism in Australia. We talk about the levers for change and how new legislation on this is imminent. We also discuss a key role for architects in housing, but in a space which is currently getting little focus in the profession.

The Australia Institute

Sean Tran is the founder of his eponymous design studio in Sydney. He is a former architect who over a decade migrated away from buildings toward designing and making garments. The studio has become successful, with its third showing in Paris and distribution of its 11 collections internationally. All items are painstakingly handmade by a small team in the Sydney studio. The evidence of Sean’s architectural leanings are everywhere in his work, from the meticulous drawings to the exploratory and dialectical relationship with materials, and an obsession with craft and detailing. Sean is also an interesting example of creative people in architecture taking their trajectories into their own hands, as well as a timely reminder of the rich contribution that immigrant families make to the life of the city.

Website of the atelier: Shhorn
Instagram: @ateliershhorn