The Grimshaw Podcast is focussed on the City – and those who shape our cities. The podcast presents engaging and insightful interviews with architects, city planners, developers, strategists and change-makers. These conversations take place between international guests and your host, Tim Williams, Grimshaw’s Cities Group Lead. Organised into series which reflect a specific overarching topic or theme, the podcasts examine how are cities are evolving, how they have dealt with unprecedented recent growth and how they will adapt to change and regenerate for a better future. The complexities and issues facing our cities have never been so topical and the podcast showcases ideas, experiences and strategies for a contemporary world.
Series 1, the inaugural Cities Series features such diverse voices as New York’s urban innovator, Jonathan Rose; Sue Lloyd Hurwitz from Mirvac, one of Australia’s biggest and best developers; Dan Labbad of The Crown Estate; the Hon. Rob Stokes, Minister for Planning in NSW Australia in the Berejiklian Government; Wei Yan, President of the Royal Town Planning Institute; Greg Clark of HSBC; Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney Jess Scully; Lisa Havilah, CEO of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, The Powerhouse; Lance Jay Brown from the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization, NY and Selina Mason of Lendlease, London. An impressive and balanced list.
Series 2 presents Culture & The City: culture both high and low and culture as a catalyst for renewal. Some of the featured conversations are with Melih Fereli of Istanbul’s Arter; Tim Jones of the City of London, Cultural Mile and Sara Hamka who founded and directs a wildly popular poetry slam in Western Sydney. Other voices will join this group of thinkers and doers as the series rolls out here.
About your host
Tim Williams, prior to joining Grimshaw, was formerly Head of Cities for Arup. Between 2011 and 2017 he was CEO of the Committee for Sydney, Australia’s leading urban policy thinktank and capital city business advocacy group. Prior to coming to Australia in 2010 Tim had been special adviser on urban policy and planning to five consecutive UK Ministers and helped to create the Homes and Communities Agency, now Homes England. He advised Lendlease on the London Olympic Village. He is an independent advisor for both Cardiff and Canberra, on the future of their cities. He leads Grimshaw's Cities Group providing advice and strategic urban directions for global cities.
About Grimshaw
Grimshaw was founded by Sir Nicholas Grimshaw in 1980 and today operates with studios in Los Angeles, New York, London, Paris, Dubai, Sydney and Melbourne employing over 650 staff. Grimshaw's international portfolio covers all major sectors and has been honoured with over 200 international design awards. The company's work is characterised by strong conceptual legibility, innovation and a rigorous approach to detailing, all underpinned by the principles of humane, enduring and sustainable design. The practice is dedicated to the deepest level of involvement in the design of its buildings in order to deliver projects which meet the highest possible standards of excellence.