Cities as Multiples and Endless Cities (S01-EP06)
In this final double-header episode of Season 1—Cities as Multiples and Endless Cities—we explore architectures at the scale of the metropolis, where form resists boundaries and systems redefine the city itself. At a moment when cities no longer exist as discrete, contained spaces, we interrogate the infrastructure and architecture that shape them—and, in turn, shape our behaviour within them.
Historically, cities were imagined as fixed and bounded: centres of power and culture, surrounded by expanding edges. Today, however, cities unfold as ongoing processes—a series of continuous operations that extend far beyond their traditional cores. From Canberra’s radial roads to Los Angeles’s sprawling freeways; from London’s Metroland to the architectural experiments of Chandigarh and Brasília; from São Paulo through Cairo to Beijing—we witness urbanisation as a vast and ever-evolving network, one that resists being fixed in either time or space.
What happens when the city loses its centre? When nodes, rather than traditional hubs, become the essential units of urban life? When mobility and the constant flow of people, goods, and ideas redefine our experience of place? And what happens when architecture itself becomes a set of adaptable, reconfigurable systems—constantly in flux—an architecture without an end, as envisioned in Cedric Price’s radical proposals for flexible urbanism?
In this episode, we examine how cities are both endless and manifest as multiples—constantly transforming, shifting, and interweaving. We trace the logic of expansion, from the emergence of the car-dominated suburb to the rise of the shopping mall as an urban node. And we engage with speculative practices that imagine a city without boundaries—a city where infrastructure, rather than place, becomes the defining condition.
We step into the networked, fluid, and plural landscapes of Endless Cities and the city as multiples—where urban form is no longer about fixed locations, but about the operations that produce them.
‘SUP is hosted by Ian Nazareth, Graham Crist and Christine Phillips
This podcast is produced with support from the Alastair Swayn Foundation and the RMIT University School of Architecture & Urban Design.
Show Notes and References
1. Urban Theory & Mapping
Camillo Sitte
Urban theorist who promoted organic, human-scale design over rigid planning. Known for his use of figure-ground diagrams to emphasise the spatial qualities of urban form.
Giambattista Nolli
Created the Nolli Map of Rome (1748), the first ichnographic (figure-ground) map offering a public/private spatial logic to the city.
Roma Interrotta (1978)
A project that revisited Nolli’s map through speculative interventions by 12 architects, critiquing modernist planning.
2. Key Urban Thinkers & Designers
Gordon Cullen
British urbanist associated with the Townscape movement; emphasised serial vision and experiential city design.
Edmund Bacon
American planner who led Philadelphia’s redevelopment. Advocated dynamic, human-scaled cities in Design of Cities (1967).
Louis Kahn
Monumentalist architect known for geometric forms and mastery of light and space.
Louis Sauer
Urban housing innovator, contributed to Society Hill (Philadelphia). Advocated for low-rise, high-density housing.
3. Urban Morphologies & Systems
Street Numbering in 19th-century US Cities
Cities like New York adopted grid systems to aid navigation and facilitate urban expansion.
Nodes
Nodes are pivotal intersections in urban systems—where transport, commerce, and culture converge, shaping urban intensity.
4. Global Urban Case Studies
Mumbai – Reclamation of Seven Islands
Mumbai’s urban form emerged through centuries of reclamation, transforming archipelagic geography into a dense city.
Bombay: The Cities Within – Rahul Mehrotra & Sharada Dwivedi
Chadstone Shopping Centre (Melbourne)
One of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest retail complexes. Its expansion reflects suburban spatial multiplicity.
Bunjil Place – Fountain Gate, Melbourne
A multi-functional civic hub with distinctive architectural form.
Sydney Olympic Park (Homebush)
Homebush Bay transformed post-1948 Olympics bid; realised for the 2000 Games.
5. Visionary Architecture & Utopian Futures
Hans Scharoun
German architect behind the Berlin Philharmonie – an expressionist, organic auditorium design.
Alvar Aalto
Finnish architect blending modernism with nature, organic forms, and user comfort.
Buckminster Fuller
Radical systems thinker and futurist known for the geodesic dome and speculative urbanism.
The Disappearing City
Fuller’s provocative vision of technological transformation and spatial decentralisation.
Bartlesville Tower (Bruce Goff)
Iconic, experimental architecture fusing natural and geometric elements.
6. Literature & Critical Perspectives
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
A prescient dystopian novel examining technology, consumption, and engineered societies.
Robin Boyd
Australian architect and critic. Challenged automotive urbanism and suburban sprawl.