Desire by Design

In this episode, Lyssia sits down with Professor Beatriz Colomina, architectural historian, theorist, author, and professor at Princeton University, to explore the hidden forces shaping the spaces we live in and what those spaces reveal about us. Known for her groundbreaking work connecting architecture with media, medicine, sexuality, technology, and modern life, Beatriz has spent her career challenging the idea that architecture is simply about buildings. Instead, she argues that our spaces are psychological, cultural, biological, and constantly changing alongside the way we live.

The conversation breaks down why the idea of “home” has always been psychological. Beatriz explains why feeling at home has less to do with being inside a particular house and more to do with feeling comfortable, protected, and connected to the world around us. They explore how architecture functions as a form of media, how everything from cinema and television to smartphones has changed the way buildings frame our view of the world, and why the spaces around us are communicating far more than we may realize.

Beatriz also shares one of the most surprising ways architecture may be affecting our health: through microbes. Drawing from her research into the relationship between buildings and bacteria, she explains how increasingly sealed, sterilized environments may be separating us from the microbial diversity humans depend on. They discuss why spending time outside matters, how access to nature can influence recovery and well-being, and why the architecture of the future may need to become more porous, open, and connected to other forms of life.

The conversation also gets into a side of architecture rarely discussed: desire. Beatriz explains why sexuality and intimacy have always been architectural questions, and how Playboy became an unexpected force in popularizing modern design. From bachelor pads and round beds to Frank Gehry chairs and cutting-edge mid-century furniture, they explore how Playboy used architecture as part of a larger fantasy of seduction, and why our homes still operate as a form of identity and attraction today.

They also unpack how moments of crisis reshape the way we live. Beatriz traces how epidemics helped create modern sewer systems, clean water infrastructure, parks, terraces, large windows, and ideas about ventilation, while wars accelerated technologies like radio and the telephone. They discuss how COVID normalized working, teaching, and socializing from home almost overnight, blurring the line between public and private life in ways that would have seemed unimaginable only a few years earlier.

Beatriz also reflects on what happens when our homes become stages for our lives. From Zoom calls that suddenly revealed our bedrooms to TikTok videos carefully framed against architectural backdrops, we now show parts of our private spaces that previous generations worked hard to conceal. At the same time, she points to another defining architectural challenge of our era: loneliness. As more people live alone and more of our relationships move through screens, she asks whether architecture can create new ways for us to have solitude without losing connection.

By the end of this episode, you may realize that architecture is shaping far more than where you live. It is influencing how you feel, how healthy you are, what you desire, what you reveal, how you connect with other people, and even what you consider private in the first place.

More Room to Think:

Professor Beatriz Colomina
Princeton University: https://arc-hum.princeton.edu/people/beatriz-colomina
We the Bacteria: https://triennale.org/en/events/we-the-bacteria-notes-toward-biotic-architecture
Privacy and Publicity: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262032148/privacy-and-publicity/

Room to Think
https://roomtothinkpodcast.com/

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