August 2026: Anti-Fascist Architecture, Dallas, Design Workshops, and Calder Gardens

Summer, somehow, is already coming to an end. I’m prepping syllabi for my classes, which begin later this month, and booking guests for the new season of the show, beginning September 2. It’s been fun to revisit some old episodes the last few months but I’m itching to share some new conversation with you. We’ve continued to be active here on Substack, though, with bonus interviews for paying subscribers, and the launch of The Book Review, our new monthly books-focused newsletter. We’ll continue to build out this space as a companion to the conversations we have on the show over the next few months.

In the meantime, if you want to hear me talk about the evolution of the show — as well as my other work in making books, photos, and graphic design — I was on the Chicago Design Club podcast, Underscore, for a really thoughtful and personal conversation with host Christian Solarzano.

If you like what we do here and want to support this work, you can upgrade your subscription for just $5/month or $50/year for full access Paid members get bonus interviews each month — like this month’s interview with Mark Lamster — and help keep the show free for everyone, all the time. Thanks for listening.

See you next month,
Jarrett

Recent essays, interviews, and stories published on our Scratch platform.

Recent work, writing, and news from former guests of Scratching the Surface.

🪄 Kurt Andersen reviews “American Trickster”, the new book by Ru Marshall on the huckster shaman who founded a cult. (NYT)

🌱 Formafantasma announced as Serpentine lead R&D fellows in Ecology. (Serpentine Galleries)

🪑 In conversation with Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, Judd Foundation’s first director of design. (Wallpaper)

💭 Paul Ford says “code is free speech.” (NYT)

📕 Eva Hagberg reviews Architecture Against Architecture, the new book by Reinier de Graaf. (Untapped)

🐃 Michael Kimmelman went to North Dakota to review the new Theodore Roosevelt Library. (NYT)

🇺🇸 What makes american architecture American? asks Kate Wagner. (The Nation)

🌳 Glenn Adamson profiles Hozan Zangana, the Iraqi designer working with urushi, a special tree sap. (Puck)

⚽️ Michael Gericke looks back on his 1994 design for the US World Cup Organizing Committee (Pentagram)

🌊 Justin Davidson on the bland perfection of the Williamsburg Waterfront. (Curbed)

🎓 Christoph Lindner announces RCA and Norwich University are partnering for new jointly-awarded undergraduate degrees. (RCA)

🗣️ Great interview with Mindy Seu on needing deadlines, working across mediums, and academia. (The Creative Independent)

Our monthly column reviewing the latest books in and around design, architecture, art, and culture.

Articles, books, videos, and other ephemera that caught our eye this month.

🎨 The Architect’s Newspaper talks with Joseph Henry, Boston’s new chief of arts and culture. (The Architect’s Newspaper)

🎓 Vanderbilt University announces new College of Art, Architecture, and Design in San Francisco. (The Architect’s Newspaper)

🏳️ Good design is ruining American flags. (Works in Progress)

👍 Making Media and Modernity: A conversation on 25 years of Princeton’s M+M Program. (PIN-UP)

People getting new jobs in and around the design world.

New Museum’s next director will be its longtime artistic director Massimliano Gioni. (NYT)

OMA appoints Marianne Anthonissen, Kaveh Dabiri, and Samir Bantal as new partners. (OMA)

Tate Museum appoints Jessica Morgan, director of the Dia Art Foundation, as its new direction. (NYT)

My birthday was at the beginning of the month and I spent it in Philadelphia, in part, to visit the recently opened Calder Museum. The building was designed by Herzog & de Meuron with an expansive garden designed by Piet Oudolf. It really was a great scene to view Alexander Calder’s sculptures, making for a slow retreat from the bustling city to an environment that felt slower and quiet. Upon leaving, the best comparison I could think of was the feeling of stepping into the Noguchi Museum in Queens, another museum that feels both in the city and outside the city. They both make for immediately transporting environments.