In this episode of Architecture, Design & Photography, Trent Bell sits down with architect and author Danish Kurani to discuss his latest book, The Spaces That Make Us: Why Design Is Broken and How We Can Create a Happier, Healthier World.

Trent and Danish explore the powerful ways architecture and environmental design shape our psychology, behavior, relationships, and overall well-being. From the spaces we grow up in to the cities we move through every day, the discuss how thoughtful design can influence how we connect, feel, and live.

The Spaces That Make Us: Why Design Is Broken and How We Can Create a Happier, Healthier World: https://www.amazon.com/Spaces-That-Make-Us-Healthier/dp/1400249120

About Danish Kurani: Danish Kurani sees how buildings are failing to nourish people. After witnessing how poorly designed environments hold back people across the globe – from the middle of Manhattan to villages in India – he’s made it his mission to remake architecture for human flourishing. His groundbreaking designs for New York City, Google, and communities on four continents prove that thoughtful architecture can unlock human potential.

Named one of the World’s Most Innovative Architects by Fast Company, Kurani has pioneered a human-centered approach that’s transforming lives worldwide. His work spans from floating homes in disaster-prone areas to schools in informal settlements, always focusing on one question: how can architecture solve our most pressing social challenges?

A Harvard-trained architect and urban designer, Kurani’s architectural ideas have been shared at leading institutions including Stanford, MIT, Harvard, and Columbia, and featured in TIME, World Economic Forum, and the Wall Street Journal. National governments recognize him as a leading voice in social impact architecture – not because he builds beautiful buildings, but because he builds spaces that work for real people.

More from Danish Kurani:

Website - https://danishkurani.com
Architecture Website: https://kurani.us/
LinkedIn - https://linkedin.com/in/danishkurani

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In this episode of Architecture, Design & Photography, Trent Bell sits down with Mike Corsie of Terrapin Landscapes to talk about building a business from the ground up, evolving from lawn care into high-end design-build work, and creating landscapes that feel deeply rooted in Maine.

Mike reflects on 25 years in business, the turning points that helped shape Terrapin’s identity, and the importance of craftsmanship, trust, and doing what you say you’re going to do. The conversation also explores how landscape can tie architecture to place, why native plants and stone matter, and how great outdoor spaces become part of the experience of home.

They also get into the bigger picture: the realities of running a seasonal business, the pressures of creative work, the changing character of coastal Maine, and the tension between thoughtful development and preserving what makes a place feel authentic.

About Terrapin Landscapes:
In 2001, Terrapin consisted of Mike Corsie, a truck, and a mower. He built a network of clients in the community around his home of Kennebunkport and delivered on the promise of deeply personal, quality work. Over the years, he invested what he earned back into the business, adding equipment and building an equally committed team. He connected with clients who wanted much more than a manicured lawn and began flexing the design principles that you recognize in Terrapin today: natural stonework, native plants, careful shoreline stabilization, and an overarching sense of belonging.

Today, Terrapin is recognized as one of Southern Maine’s premier landscape companies, with a full-time crew of landscapers, masons, and horticulturists, a fleet of hard earned trucks, and a gorgeous design office in Arundel, ME.

More from Terrapin Landscapes:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terrapinlandscapes/
Website: https://terrapinlandscapes.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terrapinlandscapes/

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In this insightful interview, Bruno Carvalho discusses the invention of the future, urban development, and the impact of technological and societal changes on cities from Lisbon to the US. Trent and Bruno explore how history, religion, law, and innovation shape our cities and societies, with a focus on creating sustainable, inclusive, and adaptable urban environments.

More about is new book: THE INVENTION OF THE FUTURE: A History of Cities in the Modern World.

The future has always been inextricable from urban planning. As the sea level rises and the effects of climate change become harder to ignore, plans for futuristic urban centers like Saudi Arabia’s mirrored megacity (The Line) and a floating city in the Maldives make for splashy headlines. Our modern cities—sources of greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution, overcrowding and urban sprawl—pale in comparison. Bruno Carvalho argues in THE INVENTION OF THE FUTURE that while modern-day New York City may not be designed for a period of climate emergency, its nineteenth-century architects certainly had the future in mind when laying out the plans.

Carvalho details the feats of engineering that restored Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake, transformed Paris from a medieval city into a grand metropolis, and made sprawling cities like Manhattan easier to plan and develop via the implementation of a grid system. He considers how technological innovations (steel, steam-powered engines, automobiles) and social change (the abolition of slavery, the overthrow of colonial rule) led to the rapid growth and expansion of cities in the global South, from Buenos Aires to Brasilia to Lagos.

The future may appear bleak from our vantage point, but “there is a lot of space for reinvention,” Carvalho writes, “and if we must reinvent, there might be no better place to look than the history of the future.”

Bruno Carvalho is a professor at Harvard University, where he teaches courses on cities. He is the author of Porous City: A Cultural History of Rio de Janeiro.

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Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/architecture-design-photography/id1447381737
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