CHARLOTTE THOMAS

Editor at De Architect

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About Writing For Change, Empowering Voices, and Rewriting History.

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Charlotte Thomas is a writer, editor, and art historian passionate about exploring the intersections of design, architecture, and storytelling. Currently an editor at De Architect, Charlotte brings her art and architectural history background to every project she touches. With experience at institutions like Stroom Den Haag, VICE, and the Van Eesteren Museum, she has developed a deep understanding of how spaces shape stories and how storytelling can redefine design.

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In this episode, Charlotte discusses her journey from studying history to editing one of the leading architecture publications. She also reflects on the challenges of navigating a creative career, the importance of curiosity, and why storytelling remains at the heart of great design.

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CHARLOTTE THOMAS

Editor at De Architect

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About Writing For Change, Empowering Voices, and Rewriting History.

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Charlotte Thomas is a writer, editor, and art historian passionate about exploring the intersections of design, architecture, and storytelling. Currently an editor at De Architect, Charlotte brings her art and architectural history background to every project she touches. With experience at institutions like Stroom Den Haag, VICE, and the Van Eesteren Museum, she has developed a deep understanding of how spaces shape stories and how storytelling can redefine design.

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In this episode, Charlotte discusses her journey from studying history to editing one of the leading architecture publications. She also reflects on the challenges of navigating a creative career, the importance of curiosity, and why storytelling remains at the heart of great design.

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WHY I ASKED THIS GUEST

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Today I'm joined by Peter Adolf, a visionary garden designer whose work has transformed how we experience landscapes known for projects like a eyeliner in New York and Ry Garden in Chicago. Peter spent decades redefining the relationship between plant spaces and emotion.
In this episode, we dive into his early challenges and creative breakthroughs. He shares how taking risks shape his craftsmanship career, and what the vital role is of intuition in great design.

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LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

RECOMMENDED CLIPS

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DO OR DIE / A OR B

Are you more rational or emotional? 
Piet: Both. 

Practical or romantic? 
Both. 

Structure or color, both controlled the narrative or let the garden tell its own story?
A little bit of both. 

Cherish the process or cherish the result. 
Result and process. 

Your work primarily recognized for its ecological impact or its aesthetic beauty. 
Both. 

Design one final, groundbreaking garden or curate and refine all your previous works?
I would like to have a new project and I think the gardeners that don't work well or refine my own gardens will take a lifetime again to get them where they were. 'cause gardeners have their own life, and also they need to have their own life to change the right way for the legacy. 

The gardens will be taken care of, the gardeners. And is there a wish from you that it's maintained the same way or just let it go? 
Let it grow into the future. I would say so. Let it grow by the good hands of bareness and into something that still is good and especially beautiful because you can imagine and trees grow up with the plants underneath, don't like it that or and years. So you have to change your plans. And if I look back to all the plants of what I've done and no garden looks the same anymore, and you can just rip it out and put it all over from your original design. So that's it.

Focus on mentoring young designers or document your life's work? 
Both. 

Your gardens and your true maintenance or wild and natural growth?
Wild and natural growth doesn't exist because then our garden ends up in metals and BLEs. So, it's always gardens, our gardens and garden. I'll say it's a place where you feel good in and it's extruded from nature, a place for yourself. So you have to treat it, you know, like, you treat yourself and in the best way. So environmentally, right, ecologically, right. And that just wildlife allowed, I see that in that sense. So it's not, Corning is about control. You cannot let it go.

ONE REQUEST

If this conversation resonates, can you please do one thing?
Follow the podcast. And share it with one person in your world who needs it right now.

That’s how these stories travel. That’s how we scale creative impact.

Attracting more listeners, guests, collaborators and sponsors.

Thanks for considering.

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LIVIA & DAN

Founders Atlas of Shows

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On Building Atlas of Shows with Belief, Partnership, and Turning a Thesis Into a Global Platform

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Livia Grigori and Dan Ricciardi are architects and the founders of Atlas of Shows, a Paris-based platform that decodes the scenography and architecture behind fashion’s most influential runways. What began as Livia’s master's thesis has grown into a research-driven practice followed by nearly 100.000 people, blending cultural analysis, design storytelling, and behind-the-scenes insight into the craft of fashion shows. Together, they bridge two worlds — architecture and fashion — translating the ephemerality of catwalks into a lasting visual and academic archive.

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We discuss the tension between art and algorithms, and how they balance creative integrity with online visibility. They talk about collaboration, trust, and growing as partners in both work and life, reflecting on milestones such as their invitation to the Vitra Design Museum. A story about intuition, resilience, and turning curiosity into a global community — built one post, one drawing, and one DM at a time.