Bespoke Careers Podcast

Lucy Carmichael, former Director of Practice at the RIBA and current Board Member for the University of the Built Environment, explains why the traditional, linear path into the industry is failing most students, and what the alternative looks like.

From her upbringing with architect parents, to navigating the "heyday" of design policy at CABE, Lucy has spent her life 'falling in and out of love with architecture.' The thing that keeps her coming back is the huge potential for positive impact on society.

We explore the "radical realism" of the London School of Architecture, the looming impact of AI on graduate roles, and why the most impactful architectural careers are often the ones that look the least traditional.

00:00 Intro
00:56 Route into architecture
5:48 The reality check: first jobs in architecture
8:10 Stepping out of practice
9:38 The CABE movement
14:17 Communication and storytelling in architecture
18:41 Director of Practice at the RIBA
27:10 The profession's lack of engagement with the RIBA
33:08 The school that works differently (joining the LSA)
35:25 "Radical Realism" - the LSA ethos
47:04 AI and the future of the education and the profession
55:18 Has her career turned out how she imagined?
57:54 Career advice for the next generation

Founder of Gustafson Porter + Bowman, Kathryn Gustafson reflects starting a studio in a second language, and learning the business side of practice through trial, mentors, and persistence.

00:00 Intro
0:59 Growing up in the desert
2:35 Discovering design
6:33 Journey from fashion to landscape architecture
12:04 Business vs Art
16:31 Founding her businesses and 'the invisible years.'
25:47 How to be a good leader
28:39 Building a workplace culture
29:21 Key projects and dealing with criticism
35:52 Navigating cultural contexts as a designer
38:59 Key skills designers need
41:05 Working with other designers: "Architects think they can do everything"
43:31 The changing nature of landscapes
47:58 Legacy
49:36 The next generation of designers

Kai-Uwe Bergmann is a Partner at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), where he leads global business development and oversees urban design and landscape projects. Known for his strategic approach to "the political scale," Bergmann has been instrumental in scaling BIG from a Copenhagen-founded practice into a global force operating in over 40 countries. He is a primary contributor to Manhattan’s "Big U," a 10-mile coastal resiliency project designed to protect the city from future climate events.

BIG, often described as "pragmatic utopian," focuses on transforming complex societal challenges (from energy and food distribution to affordable housing) into opportunities for design innovation.

Bergmann’s personal journey, spanning from a German upbringing to an apprenticeship in glassmaking and stone masonry, informs his belief that architecture is a "limitless" field that requires the investigative skills of a detective and the foresight of a strategist.

0:00 Intro
1:09 Why architecture?
7:57 Glass-blowing, apprenticeships, and the value of experiences
13:21 Meeting Bjarke: A 20-year collaboration
17:43 Designing beyond election cycles
20:51 BIG's stratospheric rise
32:51 What architecture school doesn't teach you
36:52 What should architects be doing more of?
42:28 Scaling BIG and navigating the global scale
47:48 Balancing work-life and family life
49:48 The importance of architecture and the role of the architect
51:24 Architecture as a hopeful act

On 1 January 2026, Chris Williamson took a deliberate and provocative step. He allowed his registration with the Architects Registration Board to lapse, describing the framework as 'absurd'.

In practical terms, the sitting President of the RIBA, a practitioner with more than forty years’ experience and the founder of one of the UK’s most successful practices, can no longer legally call himself an architect.

"Since I was 18 it's all I've ever wanted to do. But to be asked to pay an annual fee (which is increasing each year) to the ARB for the title - when the function isn't regulated seems madness."

This conversation was filmed in the weeks leading up to that announcement. It captures Chris at a moment of conviction, before he went public with a decision that challenges how the UK regulates the built environment.

As a working class kid, Chris was told architecture wasn’t for "the likes of him." Decades later, as RIBA President and co-founder of Weston Williamson + Partners, he's reshaped global cities through transport and infrastructure.

If you are interested in how architecture survives the collision of technological shift, class barriers, commercial pressure, and declining influence - this is for you.

0:00 Intro
1:28 Chris' route into architecture
4:55 Class and the barrier to professional entry
6:37 Founding ⁨@wwparchitects⁩
12:27 Why architects are losing influence
14:31 Specialisim vs generalism
19:14 In defence of competitions
22:38 Partnerships, pressure and asking for help
27:08 AI: can anyone be an architect now?
30:19 Handing over WW+P to the next generation
32:58 What do you want you legacy to be?
36:56 How to fix architecture's influence problem
41:10 What Chris is doing as RIBA President
45:08 Why young architects aren't joining the RIBA
49:17 Protection of function vs title
52:21 What success as RIBA President looks like

Simon Allford is never short of a view, and this conversation covers the parts of architecture people usually avoid.AHMM was founded in 1989 at possibly the worst moment in modern British architecture.
Gold cards maxed out to cover office debt, competitions won but never built, consultancy work drying up. Those five years of survival shaped everything that followed. The rule from their student days still holds: the best idea wins, not yours or mine. If everyone's comfortable with a design, it's probably not good enough.
His infamous "first we storm the building, then we take back the asylum" quote came from genuine frustration with an RIBA he felt had lost its purpose. Architecture, not architects.
The internal politics proved harder than expected: some figures were "sinisterly unpleasant," but the House of Architecture concept survived. The collection is returning from storage, Portland Place is opening up, and he's still chairing fundraising for the Museum of Architecture.
AHMM now has seven new executive directors and a global team of 400+. Growth was never the goal, they used to joke about never exceeding thirty people, but scale found them anyway.
If you want an honest take on what architecture is really like from the inside, and how to survive those (sometimes) brutal early years - this is a great place to start.
00:00 Intro
01:28 Becoming an architect
05:30 Founding AHMM
11:09 The first five brutal years
18:37 The success of AHMM
26:07 The RIBA presidency and 'that' quote
28:47 The House of Architecture and the role of the RIBA
32:29 The value of architecture and public engagement
42:12 Succession planning at AHMM
46:40 Mentorship and the next generation of architects
50:30 AI, critical thinking and the future of architecture
56:51 Following in his father's footsteps (and his daughters in his)