The Crit #42: Adam Nathaniel Furman
The Crit, a fortnightly podcast from Disegno, asks designers to evaluate their own careers, reflecting on their greatest hits and biggest missteps.
For those new to the show, each episode sees Disegno’s editor-in-chief Oli Stratford invite a guest to Kef Music Gallery to look back on their past projects. Our guest reveals what worked best; what failed; what pushed their career to new heights; what feedback most shaped their practice; and what they feel needs to be redesigned.
At the end of each episode, to complete their crit, they’ll be asked to give themselves a grade for their career to date: fail, pass, commendation or distinction.
It’s a design-school crit, delivered every fortnight! Subscribe to the show here, or sign up wherever you get your podcasts from.
Our forty-second guest on The Crit is Adam Nathaniel Furman, accompanied by show host Oli Stratford.
Episode #42: Adam Nathaniel Furman
Adam Nathaniel Furman is a London-based artist and designer whose work focuses on using sculpture and architecture to shape and reflect ideas of belonging, identity and place.
Spanning installations, architectural art, furniture, lighting and objects, Furman’s work explores architectural history, ornamentation, colour and pattern, frequently challenging the prevailing norms of heterogeneity and sobriety within the field.
Alongside his built work, Furman has written extensively on postmodernism in architecture, as well as publishing the award-winning Queer Spaces, an atlas of LGBTQIA+ places, and his latest book, Chromatic Architecture: The Craft of Colour in Design.
In his crit, Furman talks about the history of colour in architecture, the challenges of viral design, and his love of skyscrapers.
Show Notes: Adam Nathaniel Furman
Best design: Croydon Colonnade
Worst design: Glowbules
Most successful design: Gateways
Most impactful feedback: Architect Terry Farrell telling him to listen more
Dream design: A skyscraper facade, a train station or a religious space
This episode of The Crit was recorded at KEF Music Gallery London.
The Crit’s graphics were created by Leonhard Rothmoser.
The Crit’s music was created by Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki.