Michael Bierut, Jessica Helfand|Audio
December 31, 2009
Episode 52: Dictator Style
On this episode, Jessica and Michael talk about an Peter York’s column for Politico about Donald Trump and the design tastes of autocrats, which tend toward Versailles grandiosity. In contrast, Michael says, at the White House
the rooms are actually surprisingly modest. It’s, like, a very small scale, modest, almost domestic kind of building that’s not really designed to have interior spaces. If you say, “Oh my god!” it’s just because of what the White House symbolize conceptually.
Also mentioned:
Peter York, Dictator Style: Lifestyles of the World’s Most Colorful Despots
The Observatory, Episode 1
Sunday in the Park with George on Broadway through April 23
Jake Gyllenhaal sings Finishing the Hat
D.A. Pennebaker, Company: Original Cast Album
BBC News, Children Interrupt BBC Interview
Ben Thompson, Breaking Down the Father on BBC Being Interrupted by His Children
Jessica Dimmock, The Convention
Subscribe to The Observatory on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, or follow Design Observer on Soundcloud.
Observed
View all
Observed
By Michael Bierut & Jessica Helfand
Related Posts
She the People
Aimee Allison|Audio
Make a Plan to Vote ft. Genny Castillo, Danielle Atkinson of Mothering Justice
She the People
Aimee Allison|Audio
Shifting Narratives ft. Moya Bailey, IllumiNative’s Crystal Echo Hawk, & #JoyToThePolls
She the People
Aimee Allison|Audio
The Halls and The Streets ft. Congresswoman Barbara Lee & One Fair Wage’s Saru Jayaraman
She the People
Aimee Allison|Audio
In the Work ft. L’Oreal Thompson Payton, Dr. Christina Bejarano, Dr. Wendy Smooth, & dancing
Recent Posts
What now? Make a Plan to Vote ft. Genny Castillo, Danielle Atkinson of Mothering Justice Black balled and white walled: Interiority in Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”L’Oreal Thompson Payton|Essays
‘Misogynoir is a distraction’: Moya Bailey on why Kamala Harris (or any U.S. president) is not going to save usRelated Posts
She the People
Aimee Allison|Audio
Make a Plan to Vote ft. Genny Castillo, Danielle Atkinson of Mothering Justice
She the People
Aimee Allison|Audio
Shifting Narratives ft. Moya Bailey, IllumiNative’s Crystal Echo Hawk, & #JoyToThePolls
She the People
Aimee Allison|Audio
The Halls and The Streets ft. Congresswoman Barbara Lee & One Fair Wage’s Saru Jayaraman
She the People
Aimee Allison|Audio