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The Reflective Urbanist: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Peter Hendee Brown
The Reflective Urbanist is for all city-builders, from design professionals, developers, and civil servants to elected officials, interest groups, and community members. Each episode combines a story, a theory, and a lesson, bridging between ideas and practice to illuminate how things get done in the city.
Latest Episodes
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- 1 weeks ago16 min
#P060: Urban Design, part 1
Who gets to decide what our cities look like and how they work? Architects, planners, landscape architects, developers, elected officials, or the people who live there? The answer, of course, is complicated. In the first episode of a new series on urban design, Peter explores the competing interests, professional turf wars, and philosophical debates behind the places we build. Because designing a city isn't just about buildings. It's about people, priorities, and figuring out how to put the pieces together.Episode music: Hot Club by Giulio Fazio
- 1 weeks ago12 min
#P059: The REAL six phases of a project
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” “Game over, man!” And the timeless office classic: “I’m gonna need you to come in on Saturday.” What do these movie lines have to do with managing a project? They capture the moment when enthusiasm gives way to disillusionment, panic, and the hunt for someone to blame. This week on The Reflective Urbanist, Peter explores the six phases of a project—and why the people who get the credit aren’t always the ones who did the work.Episode music: Happy Place by Christian Larssen
- 2 weeks ago13 min
#P058: Building the ship while you are sailing it
A billion-dollar stadium. Twenty-seven committee members. Twelve months to get the design approved. The process for the Minnesota Vikings’ new stadium was designed to ensure public accountability, but the rules meant to keep everyone involved sometimes made collaboration harder. This week, Peter looks back at the tricky balance between transparency, participation, and getting things done—and how a few informal conversations helped bring everyone on board.Episode music: Asking for a Friend by Jonny Boyle
- 3 weeks ago14 min
#P057: Back when Lou and I were designing the Salk together
Peter is getting old.He knows this because he can remember when Louis Kahn, Edmund Bacon, and Oscar Stonorov were not historical figures—they were people his friends and colleagues actually knew.Forty years later, Peter reflects on his move to Philadelphia, his first architecture job, the people who shaped the city, and a generation of architects who are slowly disappearing from living memory.Episode music: Let the Show Begin by RA
- Sep 30, 202613 min
#P056: You may want to talk to your mother
What does a broken arm have to do with unions?For Peter, quite a lot.This week on The Reflective Urbanist, a personal story about work, bodies, health, and the long road to changing your mind.Episode music: Mojito Man by Jonny Boyle
- Sep 23, 202612 min
#P055: Welcome to d.b.a.
This week on The Reflective Urbanist: a story about New York, memory, and the places that become ours.Episode music: Grasshopper Jump by AirstreamGoes Without Saying by Sky GiengerPopuluxe by Floor ModelMiles Away by WalzMarshmallow by All Good Folks
- Sep 16, 202612 min
#P054: The Little Island - From predators to icons and their civic monuments
Description to come!Episode music: Pharaoh's Groove by Albert Behar
- Sep 9, 202611 min
#P053: GI Joe with the Kung Fu grip
In this week’s episode of The Reflective Urbanist, Peter uses a scene from Trading Places—and the unforgettable “G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu Grip”—to explore career transitions, lingering identities, and how the experiences we accumulate can become our greatest assets. Plus, a little reflection on what happens when an architect realizes he might not actually be an architect anymore.
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About The Reflective Urbanist
The Reflective Urbanist is for all city-builders, from design professionals, developers, and civil servants to elected officials, interest groups, and community members. Each episode combines a story, a theory, and a lesson, bridging between ideas and practice to illuminate how things get done in the city.
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