HOSTS

David Lee is an Architect with a Master of Urban Design and a Bachelor of Architecture. He has worked in numerous offices on a variety of project types and teaches undergraduate architecture and urban design in California. He hates to eat vegetables, but loves to drink them.

Marina Bourderonnet is a French Architect with a Bachelor of Architecture. She has studied sculpture and art, worked in several architecture and design offices in New York City and Paris, and currently lives in Southern California. She hates “so many things” and loves cheese.

The two have been practicing for over 12 years and are Co-Founders of FAME Architecture and Design, an architecture and interior design office that specializes in custom contemporary homes.

STORY

CONTEXT: We started the podcast in part because we felt that most of the media covering design & architecture were selling an over-simplified version of it. The content was clichés we’ve heard too often or heavily edited soundbites which lacked explanation. The depth and perspective inherent to great design wasn’t being conveyed… Plus, the stuff was incredibly dry to read, listen to, etc..

As practicing designers and architects, we have always been extremely passionate about our work and the discourse around it. For us, design is not just a profession, but a way of viewing the world. Our podcast was founded on the belief that having casual and honest conversations could be a way to explore design and offer other people insight to our world.

We also had less lofty reasons for starting the show. We liked the idea of having a living project that would evolve with us over time (quite different from a building) and we wanted to have some good laughs! Life’s too short to not have some fun.

WILD BEGINNINGS: The podcast was originally called ‘The Midnight Charette’ and was started from our one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, NY. Yes, we would actually often record at midnight at our kitchen island with wine close by. For the first six months or so we told no one about the show and used pseudonyms. Our stage names gave us the mental freedom to experiment and discuss different things ruthlessly and humorously. The show was wilder than most other design podcasts… and it might still be today.

Fun fact: Charette is French for the word cart. It is used within the profession of architecture to mean an intense and fast-paced working period or project. It stems from the Beaux Arts period, when architecture students would submit their final presentation boards by literally placing them on a rolling cart.

TODAY

NAME CHANGE: Toward the end of 2020 the show was aptly renamed to The Second Studio—it is, after all, a literal second studio within our main practice of architecture and design—a space where we talk and apply design-thinking to various issues.

SHOW STYLE: The show features fives types of episodes:

• GUEST INTERVIEWS: Interviews.

• PROJECT COMPANION: Guides for architecture clients and design enthusiasts.

• AFTER HOURS: Casual & explicit conversations.

• FELLOW DESIGNER: Tips for designers.

• DESIGN REVIEWS: Reviews of buildings and other projects.

Despite the show’s evolution since its blackbox-beginnings, two goals remain intact: Be entertaining and be honest. This means if you’re looking for a PG-rated, NPR-style show, then the DESIGN REVIEWS and AFTER HOURS episodes are not for you.

STATUS: We are fortunate to be consistently ranked within the top ten design podcasts in numerous countries weekly.