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CAST

EP · 41

RUSSELL
CURTIS

Podcast38 min·Season 3

Can architecture regain its influence?

Architects once shaped how cities thought about themselves. Russell Curtis on how the profession lost its seat at the table — and the moves that could win it back in an age of AI, automation and data-driven development.

With Russell Curtis — Founding Director, RCKa

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The 15-minute city is dead. Long live the 15-minute building.

Why the next density debate happens floor-by-floor, not block-by-block — and what mixed-use AI scheduling means for the ground plane.

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Designing with agents: when the model drafts the floor plan

A working architect and an ML researcher argue about authorship, liability and taste when generative tools enter the studio.

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Personal brands are the new practices

How a generation of architects is building audiences before they build buildings — and why that rewires how commissions get won.

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Russell Curtis — Can architecture regain its influence?

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Urban Forecast Radar

A living directory of the AI tools actually changing how architects work — vetted, categorised and benchmarked. From concept generation to compliance. No hype, just what ships.

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East London · AI incubator

Build your AI company with us

01 · Free desk space

A seat in our East London studio

No rent, no equity for the desk. Show up and build alongside other founders working on AI for cities and the built environment.

02 · Hands-on support

Product, design & go-to-market help

Direct support from the Ackroyd Lowrie team and the Urban Forecast network of architects, technologists and operators.

03 · Access to VC funders

Warm introductions to investors

We connect you to the funds actively backing AI in cities and the built environment.

Glass-walled meeting room in the East London studio — The studio

Founders sketching and working around a table — Build days

Working session on the studio roof terrace — Roof terrace