Insisting on Beauty in a Code-Obsessed World – Ep 122 with Internationally Acclaimed Architect, Alison Brooks

2026-02-04

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This week on Better Buildings for Humans, host Joe Menchefski welcomes a true visionary—renowned architect Alison Brooks—for another unforgettable conversation. From her early inspirations in Ontario to leading one of the UK’s most acclaimed practices, Alison continues to redefine contemporary architecture with generosity, light, and deep-rooted humanism.In this episode, she expands on her award-winning housing innovations, the cultural power of home, and why beauty and craftsmanship still matter in a world obsessed with ...

This week on Better Buildings for Humans, host Joe Menchefski welcomes a true visionary—renowned architect Alison Brooks—for another unforgettable conversation. From her early inspirations in Ontario to leading one of the UK’s most acclaimed practices, Alison continues to redefine contemporary architecture with generosity, light, and deep-rooted humanism.

In this episode, she expands on her award-winning housing innovations, the cultural power of home, and why beauty and craftsmanship still matter in a world obsessed with energy codes. Alison unpacks how deeper windows, thoughtful proportions, and sculptural forms can reconnect us to light, sky, and one another.

Whether she’s revitalizing historic social housing or shaping Oxford’s iconic Cohen Quad, Alison insists that every space tells a story—and that great architecture should always elevate the human experience. This visit is rich with insight you won’t want to miss.

More About Alison Brooks

Alison Brooks is one of the UK’s most highly awarded and internationally acclaimed architects. Since founding her practice in 1996 she has emerged as one of the UK's most inventive architects with works encompassing urban design and housing, higher education buildings, private houses and public buildings for the arts. She is the only UK architect to have received all the RIBA’s most prestigious architectural awards: the Stirling Prize, the Manser Medal (twice) and the Stephen Lawrence Prize. Alison Brooks has contributed to architectural education for over fifteen years as External Examiner for University of Central London, University of Bath, University of Lincoln and the Architectural Association. In 2018 Alison was appointed as the John T. Dunlop Design Critic in Architecture at Harvard GSD. Alison is currently the Gensler Visiting Critic at Cornell’s AAP School and was awarded the Bethune Award by the University at Buffalo.

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