The Building Culture Podcast

#49 Alicia Pederson: How We Designed Families Out of the City

Alicia Pederson spent her twenties living in a 16th-century palazzo in Florence, and it changed everything about how she sees cities, density, and what American urbanism has quietly abandoned. She's the founder of Courtyard Urbanist and holds a PhD in English from Northwestern with a specialty in Renaissance pastoral literature, which turns out to be less of a detour and more of a throughline to everything she now advocates for.In this conversation we cover the history of the courtyard block, why American apartments have failed families for decades, the relationship between lot geometry and livability, why wood-frame construction is a systemic problem, and what it would actually take to build the kind of urban housing that allows families to put down real roots. We also talk about what's happening in my own neighborhood at Wheeler — and why watching my sister, my parents, and my business partners all move within two blocks of each other has made the mission feel more personal than ever.Alicia is working with architects and developers right now to bring this typology back to American cities. We are excited to see the movement on these projects.I think you're going to love this one.0:00 Introduction1:06 Pastoral Literature and the City — from Shakespeare to Santo Spirito6:35 Two Years in a Florentine Palazzo — the experience that changed everything10:41 Wheeler District — what it actually feels like to live near family13:35 What the Courtyard Block Is and Why It Works16:44 How American Cities Became Hostile to Families20:34 The Outdoor Space Problem — what parents of young kids actually need22:56 Why Missing Middle Housing Hasn't Taken Off31:36 Lot Geometry — why European apartments are better to live in38:05 Interblock Urbanism — how Building Culture is solving the same problem39:42 The Case for Masonry — stone, brick, and why it matters47:30 Complex and Vulnerable vs. Dumb and Durable50:15 Energy Efficiency as Greenwashing53:06 Where the Work Is Now — investors, architects, real projects57:03 How to Follow Alicia's WorkLINKS & RESOURCESCourtyard Urbanist Substack: courtyardurbanist.comAlicia on X/Twitter: @UrbanCourtyardCONNECT WITH AUSTIN TUNNELLNewsletter: https://playbook.buildingculture.com/ / austintunnell / austin-tunnell-2a41894a / austintunnell CONNECT WITH BUILDING CULTUREhttps://www.buildingculture.com/ / buildingculture / build_culture / buildculture

#48 Mike Hathorne: The Great Housing Reversal - It's not a housing shortage, but a mismatch.

Mike Hathorne spent 30 years in real estate and development trying to understand why the industry keeps building the wrong thing. His answer is in his book, The Great Housing Reversal.It's not a housing shortage. It's a housing mismatch. 64% of American households are one or two people. Over half the housing stock has three or more bedrooms. Mike walks through the three simultaneous trends reshaping who needs a home in America, why the development industry hasn't caught up, and what the neighborhoods people actually want look like.We also talk about the LDS ward study that revealed what happens to communities built on monolithic housing over time, the Harvard research showing that access across socioeconomic lines raises lifetime earnings by 20%, and what it looks like when a developer finally builds the kind of place the data has been pointing toward for decades.Mike recently relocated to Northwest Arkansas to join High Street, a traditional neighborhood development firm. He's also one of the clearest thinkers I've met on the relationship between how we build neighborhoods and how we live in them.Chapters00:00 Introduction00:44 Mike's background: 30 years in development and the path that led to the book03:10 Housing mismatch, not shortage05:00 The numbers: 64% of households are 1-2 people vs. 54% of homes with 3+ bedrooms07:33 Three simultaneous disruptors: fertility rates, marriage rates, and an aging population14:43 Zoning: 75% of residential land locked into single-family20:07 The comps problem: why real estate financing runs backwards from innovation27:29 Placemaking takes longer: lessons from Wheeler District32:28 What supply that matches the market actually looks like36:35 Connectedness is the new luxury42:45 The LDS ward study: why diverse housing makes resilient neighborhoods49:00 When communities can't support themselves, government fills the gap53:47 Personal stories: when mixed neighborhoods change lives57:18 Finding your tribe: Mike's move to Northwest Arkansas and CNU 34CONNECT WITH MIKE HATHORNEhttps://www.amazon.com/Great-Housing-Reversal-American-Dream/dp/B0G1FG4PXN greathousingreversal.substack.com linkedin.com/in/hathorneCNU 34, Northwest Arkansas (May 12-16): cnu.org/cnu-34CONNECT WITH AUSTIN TUNNELLNewsletter: https://playbook.buildingculture.com/ / austintunnell / austin-tunnell-2a41894a / austintunnell CONNECT WITH BUILDING CULTUREhttps://www.buildingculture.com/ / buildingculture / build_culture / buildculture

#47 Apollo Workspace: There's a Better Way to Work

This episode is a personal one. I sat down with Sarah — my wife, my partner in all of this — to talk about Apollo Workspace: what it is, why we’re building it, and what it means within our larger project, Townsend, in downtown Edmond.We met in the Peace Corps in Uganda, got married after a five-week engagement, and moved to the middle of Oklahoma so I could learn structural masonry from a master mason. Building Culture started around the same time as our marriage, and a decade later, we’re building something that I think pulls together everything we’ve learned — about craft, about community, about what it actually means to make a place where people can do their best work.Apollo is a professional workspace for small teams and solo entrepreneurs — not coworking in the way most people think of it. We’re talking about private offices with real windows, structural brick masonry walls that are 16 inches thick, timber ceilings, and outdoor courtyards with a sauna and cold plunges. The whole thing is embedded in a walkable downtown district with 35+ restaurants and a park across the street.I talk about why we named it Apollo — the Greek god of light, creativity, and knowledge. Why the building materials matter and what people feel when they walk into structural masonry. Why we chose downtown Edmond and how we see it becoming one of the most walkable places in the OKC metro over the next decade.We get into the business case: if you come to Apollo and you don’t make more money than your rent, we’ve failed. This space should pay for itself through better focus, better client impressions, a built-in referral network of 30–40 other small business owners, and the kind of problem-solving community that’s hard to find when you’re running a business alone.We also talk about the Founding Member program — the first people to commit get their name carved in stone on the building. Not a plaque. In the masonry. Because the story of how something begins matters, and the people who take a chance early deserve to be part of that story permanently.If any of this resonates, go to apolloworkspace.com or email hello@apolloworkspace.com. We’re signing LOIs with refundable deposits now — no risk to lock in your space but a great time to get in early. 0:00 Open0:28 Intro & Welcome2:52 The Origin Story — Peace Corps to Oklahoma5:12 Why Build a Workspace?7:37 The Name: Why Apollo?10:00 Workspace, Humanized — What That Means12:15 The Power of Small Business Community14:34 AI, Rapid Change & Learning Together16:51 Structural Masonry: Why the Building Matters19:15 Design with Soul20:14 Mid-Episode Break20:34 Sauna & Cold Plunge at the Office24:06 Why Downtown Edmond?26:33 Apollo at Townsend: The Full Picture28:57 Who Is Apollo For?31:25 Home Office vs. Apollo33:27 Not Networking — Problem Solving37:55 Founding Members Program39:38 How to Get Involved42:13 The Vision: A Thursday Morning at Apollo45:06 Closing & Masonry Event PreviewCONNECT WITH APOLLO WORKSPACEhttps://apolloworkspace.com/https://www.instagram.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/apolloworkspace/hello@apolloworkspace.com CONNECT WITH AUSTIN TUNNELLNewsletter: https://playbook.buildingculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/austintunnell/https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-tunnell-2a41894a/https://twitter.com/AustinTunnellCONNECT WITH BUILDING CULTUREhttps://www.buildingculture.com/https://www.instagram.com/buildingculture/https://twitter.com/build_culturehttps://www.facebook.com/BuildCulture/

#46 Jan Sramek: California Forever - Building the Next Great American City

In this episode, I sit down with Jan Sramek, Founder and CEO of California Forever, to talk about one of the most ambitious development efforts in the country: they're building the next great American city. Chapters 0:00 — Why This Conversation Matters 02:05 — Meeting Jan and the Origins of California Forever 06:45 — Growing Up in the Czech Republic and Coming to America 12:10 — What California Forever Is Actually Trying to Build 17:55 — The Housing Crisis and Why Incremental Fixes Aren’t Enough 23:40 — Walkability, Safety, and Designing for Families 30:15 — Why Cities Should Work for Kids and the Elderly Alike 35:50 — The Reality of Building a New City in California 41:30 — Regulation, Risk, and the Cost of Not Building 47:20 — Reviving American Manufacturing and Shipbuilding 53:10 — Master Planning, Density, and Mixed-Use Neighborhoods 59:00 — Learning from Traditional Urban Design 1:04:45 — Community, Belonging, and Social Trust 1:10:30 — What Success Would Actually Look Like 1:15:40 — Long-Term Vision and Final Reflections CONNECT WITH JAN SRAMEK California Forever - Building the next great American city [https://californiaforever.com/] Jan Sramek | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jansramek/] https://x.com/jansramek?s=11 [https://x.com/jansramek?s=11] CONNECT WITH AUSTIN TUNNELL Newsletter: https://playbook.buildingculture.com/ [https://playbook.buildingculture.com/] https://www.instagram.com/austintunnell/ [https://www.instagram.com/austintunnell/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-tunnell-2a41894a/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-tunnell-2a41894a/] https://twitter.com/AustinTunnell [https://twitter.com/AustinTunnell] CONNECT WITH BUILDING CULTURE https://www.buildingculture.com/ [https://www.buildingculture.com/] https://www.instagram.com/buildingculture/ [https://www.instagram.com/buildingculture/] https://twitter.com/build_culture [https://twitter.com/build_culture] https://www.facebook.com/BuildCulture/ [https://www.facebook.com/BuildCulture/]

#45 Aleksandr Gampel: Reinventing Homebuilding with Mobile Micro-Factories and Cuby Technologies

What if the future of affordable housing doesn’t come from prefab or 3D printing, but from building vertically integrated factories that travel to where homes are needed most? In this episode, I sit down with Aleksandr Gampel, co-founder and COO of Cuby Technologies, to talk about their radical approach: Mobile Micro-Factories. Instead of shipping oversized boxes across the country, they bring a full factory on-site – producing windows, panels, framing, and even helical piers locally, then assembling homes with unskilled labor. We get into why housing costs have exploded (up 40–50% since pre-COVID), how Cuby’s system cuts hard costs by reducing skilled labor, and why most prefab and modular ventures have failed. Aleks explains how their vertically integrated model works, why they’re targeting small-to-mid-sized builders instead of one-off homeowners, and what it will mean when dozens, or even hundreds, of mobile microfactories are running across the U.S. We also dive into design: steel tube framing, magnetic facades, and the surprisingly elegant logic behind Toyota’s production system applied to housing. If you’ve ever wondered how we might actually build cost-effective, durable homes at scale – without sacrificing beauty or quality – this episode is worth your time. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Introduction to Housing Challenges 02:53 The Concept of Mobile Micro Factories 05:35 Manufacturing Process and Product Offerings 08:24 Building Systems and Structural Integrity 11:17 Cost Management and Market Strategy 14:05 Design Flexibility and Market Demand 17:07 Community Development and Housing Affordability 19:53 Operational Dynamics of Mobile Micro Factories 24:43 Building Efficient Factories with Unskilled Labor 27:30 The Role of Automation in Construction 28:54 Phased Business Plan for Housing Production 30:34 Funding and Capital Efficiency in Startups 32:33 Design Versatility and Limitations in Home Building 34:10 Long-Term Vision and Growth Strategy 35:15 Innovative Problem Solving in Construction 39:13 Challenges of Prefabrication in the Housing Market 41:33 Material Science Innovations for Housing 43:11 The Journey of Co-Founding a Startup 44:33 Connecting with Cuby Technologies CONNECT WITH ALEKSANDR GAMPEL LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergample/?utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/iamaleksandrgampel/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamaleksandrgampel/]  Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/alexgample?utm_source=chatgpt.comhttps://x.com/agampel1 [https://x.com/agampel1]  Cuby Technologies: https://www.cubytechnologies.com/ [https://www.cubytechnologies.com/]  CONNECT WITH AUSTIN TUNNELL Newsletter: https://playbook.buildingculture.com/ [https://playbook.buildingculture.com/]  https://www.instagram.com/austintunnell/ [https://www.instagram.com/austintunnell/]  https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-tunnell-2a41894a/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-tunnell-2a41894a/]  https://twitter.com/AustinTunnell [https://twitter.com/AustinTunnell] CONNECT WITH BUILDING CULTURE https://www.buildingculture.com/ [https://www.buildingculture.com/]  https://www.instagram.com/buildingculture/ [https://www.instagram.com/buildingculture/]  https://twitter.com/build_culture [https://twitter.com/build_culture]  https://www.facebook.com/BuildCulture/ [https://www.facebook.com/BuildCulture/]  SPONSORS Thank you so much to the sponsors of The Building Culture Podcast! Sierra Pacific Windows: https://www.sierrapacificwindows.com/ [https://www.sierrapacificwindows.com/]  One Source Windows: https://onesourcewindows.com/ [https://onesourcewindows.com/]